The Commentariat -- March 15, 2016

Presidential Race

Amy Chozick & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The chorus of anyone-but-Trump from Republicans reached a roar as voters prepared to go to the polls in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida.... Mrs. Clinton, who has struggled to connect to white working-class voters in the pivotal Midwestern states, faced intense criticism over comments she made in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday. 'We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,' she said, in explaining her plan to create clean energy jobs. America Rising, an anti-Clinton 'super PAC,' said the comment showed a 'brazen disregard for the men and women who help power America.'"

Leo Shane & George Altman of the Military Times: "In an exclusive survey of American military personnel, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders emerged as active-duty service members' top choices to become the next commander in chief.... Trump was the most popular candidate in a subscriber poll that closed Sunday, with 27 percent saying they would back the business mogul if the election were held tomorrow. Sanders ... was a close second at 22 percent. The results -- based on responses from 931 active-duty troops, reservists and members of the National Guard -- do not offer a scientific status of military voting preferences. However, they do show that the outsider candidates' messages are resonating with individuals in uniform."

** Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker on the "great divide" in the Democratic party: "By the time Sanders made his decision to run, last April, there was a restless base ready to support a candidate who broke with the perceived centrism of both the Clinton and the Obama Administrations.... Hillary's campaign was slow to grasp the scale of that movement and to acknowledge the momentum of the Sanders campaign."

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Bernie Sanders, campaigning at a feverish pace on Monday, made last-minute pitches to supporters on the eve of crucial primaries, holding five rallies in four states as he seized on his anti-trade message to rally people to turn out to vote on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: Bernie Sanders "has spent a quarter-century in Congress working the side door, tacking on amendments to larger bills to succeed at the margins, generally focused on working-class Americans, income inequality and the environment.... Yet in spite of persistent carping that Mr. Sanders is nothing but a quixotic crusader -- during their first debate, Hillary Clinton cracked, 'I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done' -- he has often been an effective, albeit modest, legislator -- enacting his agenda piece by piece, in politically digestible chunks with few sweeping legislative achievements.... Over one 12-year stretch in the House, he passed more amendments by roll call vote than any other member of Congress. In the Senate, he secured money for dairy farmers and community health centers, blocked banks from hiring foreign workers and reined in the Federal Reserve, all through measures attached to larger bills."

Here It Comes. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A North Carolina pastor warmed up the crowd at a Donald Trump rally by urging Sen. Bernie Sanders to become a Christian. Televangelist Mark Burns spoke to Trump supporters at a campaign event in Hickory ahead of Tuesday's North Carolina primary election, reported the Friendly Atheist blog. 'Bernie Sanders, who doesn't believe in God, how in the world (are) we going to let Bernie -- I mean, really?' Burns said, as the crowd applauded. 'Bernie's got to get saved, Bernie's got to meet Jesus. He's got to have a coming to Jesus meeting.'"

Matthew Daly of the AP: "Nearly two years after it was created, the House Benghazi Committee is ... promising a final report 'before summer' that is certain to have repercussions for Democrat Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency.... 'The only real deadline is the presidential election' in November, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the Benghazi panel and a longtime [Trey] Gowdy critic." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hot Mic Moment. Abby Philip of the Washington Post: "... during a commercial break while taping an MSNBC town hall on Monday, [Hillary] Clinton and host Chris Matthews chatted it up about the state of the race. Clinton scolded the media for its constant coverage of ... Donald Trump, speculated about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's political future and his motivations for endorsing Donald Trump.... 'Did he have a debt?' Clinton mused [about the reason for Christie's endorsement]. ...

... MEANWHILE, Trump himself mocked Christie, who sat dutifully behind his master at a rally in Columbus, Ohio. ...

... As for the debt thing, it may be the other way around: Trump is paying off Christie. According to NJonline, Christie may have spent a couple of days last week vacationing at an unspecified "Trump resort" in Florida. Christie won't say. Meanwhile, the folks back home are understandably criticizing him for doing the Trump roadshow instead of attending the funeral of a state trooper killed in the line of duty. CW: Living it up on other people's (including taxpayers') money is what Christie does.

Paul Singer of USA Today: "While you were sleeping, a few hundred people in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were voting, and most of them voted for Donald Trump. Trump took 343 votes of the 471 total cast in the CNMI Republican caucuses, giving him about 73% of the total and all 9 delegates. Ted Cruz got 113 votes, John Kasich got 10 and Marco Rubio got 5 votes. Turnout on the tiny islands was down quite a bit from 2012, when 848 people voted in the CNMI GOP caucuses, and Mitt Romney won with 87% of the vote."

John Santucci & Lisette Rodriguez of ABC News: "... Donald Trump today said that despite some of the recent violence at his rallies, he has no plans to change the script. 'Well, I don't think I should be toning it down,' the real estate mogul told 'Good Morning America' in an interview this morning. 'We have had very little difficultly.'"

The Art of the Demagogue. Dana Milbank sat with the crowd at a "relatively tame for a Trump rally [in Boca Raton, Florida], in part because Trump supporters fingered suspected infiltrators in the crowd and had them removed by private security guards before Trump spoke.... Those around me were almost all white and mostly men. Their T-shirts and caps said they were gun owners, veterans, Marines and Harley riders. I heard nothing racist or angry or paranoid in their conversations. But once Trump arrived, they became ominously transfixed and aggressive. They pumped their fists, flashed thumbs up..., chanted 'Trump! Trump! Trump!' and hung on the candidate's every word -- often with looks of ecstasy and some visibly trembling." ...

... Daniel Lippman, et al., of Politico Magazine: "Donald Trump says he is a truthful man.'"Maybe truthful to a fault,' he boasted last week at a North Carolina rally.... But truthful he is not.... Politico subjected a week's worth of his words to our magazine's fact-checking process. We chronicled 4.6 hours of stump speeches and press conferences.... The result: more than five dozen statements deemed mischaracterizations, exaggerations, or simply false.... It equates to roughly one misstatement every five minutes on average." CW: When a lying liar inspires "ecstasy & trembling" in his followers, what you have is more a pseudo-religious cult (with a sexual undercurrent) than a political movement. ...

... Charles Pierce pointed out a moment on Press the Meat that illustrated in real time Trump's uncanny denialism: "My man Chuck Todd is playing the clip under discussion while He, Trump denies what is plainly happening on the electric teevee machine. Isn't this about where a rational television show would conclude that this man is a Gong-Show caliber crank and cut him off? Isn't this where the average late-night radio talk-show would drop the call?"

Wing-Nuts Also Notice Trump Is Winging It. Seung Min Kim of Politico: "The candidate of 'build that wall' is suddenly having a hard time with ... immigration hard-liners.... 'He hasn't done a very good job of connecting what he's been saying in both debates and his other press appearances and in his pep rallies ... versus what he wrote in his immigration policy,' Chris Chmielenski ... of Numbers USA, said in an interview on Monday. 'I think for us, what is posted on his website is very, very helpful. But the rhetoric hasn't matched.'... 'I thought it was an excellent paper written by someone in [Sen. Jeff] Sessions' office,' added Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. 'And it's apparent that he never read it.' Others who call for stricter immigration laws are also adopting an increasingly critical tone toward Trump. 'He doesn't know enough about the subject and won't listen to his own staffers to be able to distill a clear, coherent message,' added Mark Krikorian ... of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that calls for more restrictive immigration policies. 'In other words, I'm not sure he's so much flip-flopping as just making this stuff off the top of his head.'

More on the Alternate Reality of Drumpf. Jose DelReal & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump ... insist[ed] during an event [in Hickory, N.C.,] that violence has not been an issue [at his rallies]. 'The press is now going, they're saying, "Oh but there's such violence." No violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think, like, basically none except maybe somebody got hit once,' Trump said at Lenoir-Rhyne University after several protesters were escorted out during the first of three interruptions. 'It's a love fest. These are love fests,' Trump added later. 'And every once in a while ... somebody will stand up and they'll say something.... It's a little disruption, but there's no violence. There's none whatsoever.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... That's odd, because ...

David Fahrenthold & Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina sheriff's office is investigating whether Republican front-runner Donald Trump's actions at a Fayetteville, N.C., rally last week 'rose to the level of inciting a riot,' according to a statement from the department's lawyer.... The statement said the sheriff's office was also looking into further charges against John Franklin McGraw, 78, who allegedly was the man seen sucker-punching a protester as that person was being led out of the Trump rally by police. In addition, Mitchell said, the office was investigating how its own deputies reacted -- or didn't -- during the incident." CW: Huh. Drumpf has said President Drumpf would look into prosecuting Hillary Clinton because "she seems to be guilty." Maybe he'll end up being the one behind bars. I just hope that can get him an orange jumpsuit that perfectly matches his hair. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Disappointing Update. The story's new lede: "Republican front-runner Donald Trump will not face charges of inciting a riot after a raucous rally in North Carolina last week, the investigating sheriff's office announced in a news release Monday night."

Andy Borowitz: "Republican front-runner Donald Trump was crying foul on Monday after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders allegedly dispatched an army of vegan thugs to attack a rally of peace-loving Nazis in Cincinnati." CW: I'm pretty sure this is satire. However, witn Trump, it's hard to tell, isn't it? Thanks to D.C. Clark for the link.

Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "Nobody who knows [former Italian PM Silvio] Berlusconi and has watched the rise and rise of Donald Trump can fail to be struck by the parallels. It's not just the real-estate-to-television path. It's not just their shared admiration for Vladimir Putin. It's not just the playboy thing, and obsession with their virility, and smattering of bigotry, and contempt for policy wonks, and reliance on a tell-it-like-it-is tone. It's not their wealth, nor the media savvy that taught them that nobody ever lost by betting on human stupidity. No, it's something in the zeitgeist. America is ripe for Trump just as Italy was ripe for Berlusconi."

In his own words:

The Wisdom of Joe. Joe Scarborough, in a WashPo op-ed, says Trump's Chicago spectacle was deliberate. He wishes the protesters had been more articulate. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wild Man. Ken Vogel, et al., of Politico: "Donald Trump's staff and advisers have expressed concerns about campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's quick temper and heavy-handed leadership, and some even planned a coup against him last month.... A series of presidential primary victories ended the talk of deposing Lewandowski, the sources said.... In interviews with more than 20 sources who have dealt with Lewandowski during his nearly year-long tenure with the Trump campaign and in his previous job with the Koch brothers-backed advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, complaints emerged about Lewandowski being rough with reporters and sexually suggestive with female journalists, while profanely berating conservative officials and co-workers he deemed to be challenging his authority." CW: Still think (former) Breitbart "reporter" Michelle Fields was making up the manhandling incident?

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Sarah Palin ... canceled a planned campaign event in Florida to support Donald J. Trump on Monday because her husband was hospitalized after a snow machine accident, according to Mr. Trump's campaign." CW: My apologies. It was on the front page of the NYT, so I kinda have consider this news. (Also linked yesterday.)

What Confederate Elites Really Think about the Base. Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... you probably can't understand the appeal of Trump to white working class voters without understanding that there's a widespread suspicion that Republican elites think ... these communities are filled with white trash junkies who should die quicker so they cost less to maintain." Read the whole post. ...

... It's little wonder the elites disdain their base. digby points out that today's Trump fanboy is yesterday's Reagan Democrat. "They've been part of the GOP coalition or more than 30 years. And their views have always been the same. Nativism/racism, authoritarian/lawandorder, nationalist/militarist, economic populists. These are blue collar white people who used to vote for Democrats until Democrats became the party of civil rights, civil liberties and anti-war protests."

Dave Weigel of the Washington Post on Mitt Romney's non-endorsement endorsement of John Kasich. "It looked like an endorsement, and it sounded like an endorsement.... 'You look at this guy, and unlike the other people running, he has a real track record. He has the kind of record that you want in Washington. That's why I'm convinced that you're going to do the right thing tomorrow,'" Romney said at a Kasich event in North Canton, Ohio. CW: I'd say this was Mitt, keeping open the option for a Draft Mitt moment at the GOP convention.

Hadas Gold of Politico: "Two more staffers for Breitbart have resigned from the company, citing the website's pro-Donald Trump stance. National security correspondent Jordan Schachtel and associate editor Jarrett Stepman sent their resignations to management on Monday afternoon. '... Some of us have been fighting behind the scenes against the party-line Trump propaganda for some time, but without any success, unfortunately,' Schachtel said in a statement. "Breitbart News is no longer a journalistic enterprise, but instead, in my opinion, something resembling an unaffiliated media Super PAC for the Trump campaign. I signed my contract to work as a journalist, not as a member of the Donald J. Trump for President media network...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Michelle Grynbaum of the New York Times: "... Breitbart ... is now facing a problem similar to the one roiling the Republican Party it likes to torment: a scathing internal dispute, with Mr. Trump at its center." CW: Kinda breaks your heart, doesn't it? P.S. Still thinking of you, Shirley Sherrod.

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Giving what sounded like a valedictory address, Sen. Marco Rubio on Monday cited 'the disintegration of our culture' for the increasingly nasty nature of American politics. Rubio made the comments amid a final campaign bus trip along the eastern coast of Florida before Tuesday's Republican presidential primary." ...

... Steve M.: "Rubio's fall is so dispiriting to the national political press that there's a 2,777-word elegy for his presidential campaign running in The New York Times right now. The article, by Mark Leibovich, suggests not that Rubio is a failure as a candidate, but that -- tragically -- he just wasn't made for these times.... [Steve sez] If he never gets back into politics, he'll find himself on a lot of corporate boards, and he'll show up on a lot of political talk shows. At worst, he'll be a Republican Harold Ford, a moderately ethnic, moderately telegenic corporatist who plays a savant on TV. He'll land on his feet. So shed no tears for him after he loses today."

Ben Carson Is Still Ben Carson. Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Ben Carson said on Monday that even if Donald Trump turned out to be a lousy president, he'll only be in office for four years." CW: If only Ole Doc could be more like Gov. Chrisco.

Senate Races

Greg Sargent: "In a preview of what Republicans will face from Democrats if Trump does win the nomination, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee just released this new video:

Other News & Views

Suzanne Goldenberg of the Guardian: "The Obama administration is expected to put virtually all of the Arctic and much of the Atlantic off limits for oil and gas drilling until 2022 in a decision that could be announced as early as Tuesday. The decision reverses Barack Obama's move just last year to open up a vast swathe of the Atlantic coast to drilling -- and consolidates the president's efforts to protect the Arctic and fight climate change during his final months in the White House. The five-year drilling plan, which will be formally announced by the interior department, was expected to block immediate prospects of hunting for oil in the Arctic...." ...

... Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Obama administration is expected to withdraw its plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those states' top leaders.... The decision represents a reversal of President Obama's previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Americans will be allowed to travel to Cuba for individual 'people-to-people' exchanges under new regulations announced Tuesday by the Treasury Department ahead of President Obama's trip to the island this weekend. Those previously wanting to visit Cuba were required to travel under a general license issued to organizations sponsoring authorized trips. Although visits purely for tourism remain prohibited, the new regulations shift the responsibility for legal trips to individuals who declare they will engage in 'educational' purposes. They follow the signing of a new U.S.-Cuba commercial airlines agreement that is expected to bring the first U.S. flights to Cuba later this year."

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The Republican National Committee (RNC) is teaming up with a prominent conservative advocacy group to block President Obama's effort to nominate a justice to the Supreme Court. The RNC has formed a task force to launch radio and digital attack ads, petitions and media appearances to back up Senate Republicans, who have pledged not to hold hearings or votes on Obama's replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "The EPA's role as a national regulator of water is questioned by Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, who said the Flint crisis demonstrated serious flaws in the federal agency's ability to protect the public.... On Tuesday, the committee will hear from former EPA regional administrator Susan Hedman and Darnell Earley, the former emergency manager of Flint.... Hedman resigned in the wake of the disaster, after it emerged the EPA was aware of problems long before a state of emergency was declared in December. In a previous committee hearing, the EPA said it warned of the crisis but was 'met with resistance' from Michigan authorities, with scientists ignored and officials sidelined when concerns were raised." ...

... Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator, in a Washington Post op-ed: "This week, I will testify along with Gov. Rick Snyder and others from Michigan and Flint about the health crisis in the city.... Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Congress gives states primary responsibility for enforcing drinking water rules for the nation's approximately 152,000 water systems, but the Environmental Protection Agency has oversight authority. The EPA's relationship with states under the act is usually a strong and productive partnership. But looking back on Flint, it is clear that, from day one, Michigan did not act as a partner. The state's interactions with us were dismissive, misleading and unresponsive."

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Monday called on state judges across the country to root out unconstitutional policies that have locked poor people in a cycle of fines, debt and jail.... In a letter to chief judges and court administrators, Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department's top civil rights prosecutor, and Lisa Foster, who leads a program on court access, warned against operating courthouses as for-profit ventures. It chastised judges and court staff members for using arrest warrants as a way to collect fees. Such policies, the letter said, made it more likely that poor people would be arrested, jailed and fined anew -- all for being unable to pay in the first place." (Also linked yesterday.)

Des Bieler of the Washington Post: "A top official with the NFL made a stunning admission Monday, agreeing with a neuropathologist before a Congressional panel that a link exists between football-related brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The league had never before publicly acknowledged such a connection."

Beyond the Beltway

Lynh Bui, et al., of the Washington Post: Landover, Maryland, police officer Jacai Colson was likely shot & killed by another officer amidst a man's unprovoked attack on the town's police station & passing vehicles. The attackers two brothers, standing nearby, recorded the attack. The man, Michael Ford, who was attempting suicide by police, survived. "Police Chief Henry Stawinski ... said Ford, who was shot during the incident and is still at a hospital, and his two brothers would face 21 charges for the baffling and coldblooded attack, including conspiracy, second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Police said the Ford brothers did not work with any outside groups...." CW: And here's hoping these horrible SOBs remain guests of the state for life.

Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "A white former state trooper pleaded guilty Monday to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for the 2014 shooting an unarmed black driver seconds after a traffic stop. Ex-Trooper Sean Groubert faces up to 20 years in prison.... He will serve some prison time. The shooting was captured on dash-cam video from the trooper's patrol car and shocked the country, coming during a wave of questionable police shootings. The video shows Levar Jones walking into a convenience store in September 2014 when Groubert gets out of his patrol car and demands Jones' driver's license. Jones turns back to reach into his car and Groubert fires four shots. Jones' wallet is seen flying out of his hands." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Wow! Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has ordered the start of a military withdrawal from Syria, where Russian forces have been bombing insurgent enemies of the government for five months, Russia's state news media reported Monday....The United Nations special envoy on the Syria conflict, Staffan de Mistura, resumed his efforts on Monday to broker a peace deal between [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad's forces and the array of insurgent groups aligned against him." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... CW: Count the hours till Donald Trump takes credit for this.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "In an unprecedented move, officials will shut down entire Metrorail system for at least 24 hours starting at midnight tonight so that crews can inspect 600 electric cables in tunnels throughout the system, General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld announced at a late-afternoon news conference Tuesday." The WashPo's Dr. Gridlock has some advice on alternative means of transportation.

New York Times: "Three police officers were shot and slightly wounded on Tuesday afternoon during a counterterrorism operation in Brussels linked to the Paris terrorist attacks of Nov. 13, according to Belgian news reports."

BBC News: "Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who worked with the poor in the Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta), is to be declared a saint on 4 September, Pope Francis has announced."

The Commentariat -- March 14, 2016

Afternoon Update:

David Fahrenthold & Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina sheriff's office is investigating whether ... Donald Trump's actions at a Fayetteville, N.C., rally last week 'rose to the level of inciting a riot,' according to a statement from the department's lawyer.... The statement said the sheriff's office was also looking into further charges against John Franklin McGraw, 78, who allegedly was the man seen sucker-punching a protester as that person was being led out of the Trump rally by police. In addition, Mitchell said, the office was investigating how its own deputies reacted -- or didn't -- during the incident." CW: Huh. Drumpf has said President Drumpf would look into prosecuting Hillary Clinton because "she seems to be guilty." Maybe he'll end up being the one behind bars. I just hope that can get him an orange jumpsuit that perfectly matches his hair.

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The Republican National Committee (RNC) is teaming up with a prominent conservative advocacy group to block President Obama's effort to nominate a justice to the Supreme Court. The RNC has formed a task force to launch radio and digital attack ads, petitions and media appearances to back up Senate Republicans, who have pledged not to hold hearings or votes on Obama's replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia."

Hadas Gold of Politico: "Two more staffers for Breitbart have resigned from the company, citing the website's pro-Donald Trump stance. National security correspondent Jordan Schachtel and associate editor Jarrett Stepman sent their resignations to management on Monday afternoon. '... Some of us have been fighting behind the scenes against the party-line Trump propaganda for some time, but without any success, unfortunately,' Schachtel said in a statement. "Breitbart News is no longer a journalistic enterprise, but instead, in my opinion, something resembling an unaffiliated media Super PAC for the Trump campaign. I signed my contract to work as a journalist, not as a member of the Donald J. Trump for Presidentmedia network...."

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Bernie Sanders, campaigning at a feverish pace on Monday, made last-minute pitches to supporters on the eve of crucial primaries, holding five rallies in four states as he seized on his anti-trade message to rally people to turn out to vote on Tuesday."

Wow! Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has ordered the start of a military withdrawal from Syria, where Russian forces have been bombing insurgent enemies of the government for five months, Russia's state news media reported Monday....The United Nations special envoy on the Syria conflict, Staffan de Mistura, resumed his efforts on Monday to broker a peace deal between [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad’s forces and the array of insurgent groups aligned against him." ...

... CW: Count the hours till Donald Trump takes credit for this.

The Alternate Reality of Drumpf Jose DelReal & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump ... insist[ed] during an event [in Hickory, N.C.,] that violence has not been an issue [at his rallies]. 'The press is now going, they're saying, "Oh but there's such violence." No violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think, like, basically none except maybe somebody got hit once,' Trump said at Lenoir-Rhyne University after several protesters were escorted out during the first of three interruptions. 'It's a love fest. These are love fests,' Trump added later. 'And every once in a while ... somebody will stand up and they'll say something.... It's a little disruption, but there's no violence. There's none whatsoever.'"

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Sarah Palin ... canceled a planned campaign event in Florida to support Donald J. Trump on Monday because her husband was hospitalized after a snow machine accident, according to Mr. Trump's campaign." CW: My apologies. It was on the front page of the NYT, so I kinda have consider this news.

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Monday called on state judges across the country to root out unconstitutional policies that have locked poor people in a cycle of fines, debt and jail.... In a letter to chief judges and court administrators, Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department's top civil rights prosecutor, and Lisa Foster, who leads a program on court access, warned against operating courthouses as for-profit ventures. It chastised judges and court staff members for using arrest warrants as a way to collect fees. Such policies, the letter said, made it more likely that poor people would be arrested, jailed and fined anew -- all for being unable to pay in the first place."

Matthew Daly of the AP: "Nearly two years after it was created, the House Benghazi Committee is ... promising a final report 'before summer' that is certain to have repercussions for Democrat Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency.... 'The only real deadline is the presidential election' in November, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the Benghazi panel and a longtime Gowdy critic."

The Wisdom of Joe. Joe Scarborough, in a WashPo op-ed, says Trump's Chicago spectacle was deliberate. He wishes the protesters had been more articulate.

Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "A white former state trooper pleaded guilty Monday to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for the 2014 shooting an unarmed black driver seconds after a traffic stop. Ex-Trooper Sean Groubert faces up to 20 years in prison.... He will serve some prison time. The shooting was captured on dash-cam video from the trooper's patrol car and shocked the country, coming during a wave of questionable police shootings. The video shows Levar Jones walking into a convenience store in September 2014 when Groubert gets out of his patrol car and demands Jones' driver's license. Jones turns back to reach into his car and Groubert fires four shots. Jones' wallet is seen flying out of his hands.

*****

 

Forget the depressing news. As D.C. Clark points out in today's Comments, today is a very special Pi Day: 31416, one that, obviously, occurs only once a century (tho last year aficionados ignored the rounding error & celebrated 31415).

Presidential Race

Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump has postponed his Monday night rally scheduled in Florida and will instead hold an event in Ohio. Trump was planning to hold an event Monday night at Trump National Doral. Instead, the candidate will hold a 'massive rally' in Youngstown, Ohio, according to the campaign."...

     ... CW: I don't doubt that the Trump campaign chose Youngstown because the Youngstown area is "the most racist region in America." ...

... Sunday, Trump held a rally in Bloomington, Illinois.

Judd Legum of Think Progress: When Donald Trump told Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press" Sunday that he was considering paying the legal fees of John McGraw, the guy who sucker-punched Rakeem Jones at a Trump rally, he was expressing support for "a man who threatened to murder a non-violent protester.... In another appearance on Sunday on Fox News, Trump was played the video of McGraw's murder threat. Although Trump made sure not to endorse the specific threat, he immediately attacked Jones and defended McGraw. Whether or not Trump ultimately provides McGraw with financial support he is already providing him with substantial rhetorical support."

Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "A defiant Donald Trump touched off a political maelstrom Sunday that didn't spare his Republican and Democratic presidential rivals, as he threatened to encourage supporters to stage protests against Sen. Bernie Sanders and drew escalating criticism from GOP opponents desperate to slow him ahead of Tuesday's crucial nominating contests."

Rosie Gray & McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the site's handling of Donald Trump's campaign manager's alleged assault on Fields.... Fields and Shapiro informed Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon of their decision Sunday night."

Jonathan Chait: "Last month, I made the case that a Donald Trump nomination would be better for America than the nomination of one of his Republican rivals. I no longer believe that."

Maggie Haberman & Alexander Burns of the New York Times wrote a somewhat entertaining piece for Sunday's paper in which they try to trace the genesis of Donald Trump's presidential ambitions. Guess what? Trump is Obama's fault, according to Haberman & Burns. They argue that Trump was so hurt by President Obama's needling him at the 2011 White House Correspondents' dinner that he decided to gain some respect by running for president. Trump denies Obama hurt his feelings. ...

... MEANWHILE, Jamelle Bouie also says Trump is all Obama's fault. Suddenly finding the country led by a black president -- a guy who seemed to come out of nowhere (or Kenya!) -- white voters, especially less-educated ones, panicked. They realized/feared they had lost their dominance in the American hierarchy. They want to go back to the days when affirmative action was for whites only & "hope Trump will restore the racial hierarchy upended by Barack Obama." Bouie has done the research to support his point, but it sure is pathetic.

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "To many members of minority groups, the sight of Trump and Trumpism atop a national ticket would represent a grievous insult to their dignity, and a potential threat to their well-being; to many moderates, liberals, and leftists of all backgrounds, it would represent a moral outrage. The anti-Trump forces won't stand back and let him parade around the country unopposed. They will exercise their democratic right to protest against him and what he represents, and some of them will be disruptive." CW: Frankly, the whole Republican party represents a grievous insult to American dignity. Period.

Paul Krugman: "The truth is that the road to Trumpism began long ago, when movement conservatives -- ideological warriors of the right -- took over the G.O.P. And it really was a complete takeover. Nobody seeking a career within the party dares to question any aspect of the dominating ideology, for fear of facing not just primary challenges but excommunication." ...

     ... Greg Sargent (linked above): "Another way to put all of this: Maybe Trump is proving to be better at misleading GOP base voters than GOP establishment figures are."

The Hollow Man. Charles Blow: Ben "Carson’s endorsement [of Donald Trump] further tarnished his already tarnished reputation. He validated and rubber-stamped a grandiloquent fascist who is supported by a former grand wizard. All Carson's calls for civility were in that moment proven hollow.... But the more I thought about it, the more sense it began to make. Carson and the real estate developer are not so different from one another in this predilection for outrageous utterances, it's just that one smiles and the other scowls." CW: You forgot the grifter part, Charles.

Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Documents and interviews reveal the personal role Trump played in negotiating [a deal to manufacture & market men's clothing under his label]. Participants said they could not recall him expressing a preference that products be made in the United States." And they're not. "Donald J. Trump Collection shirts -- as well as eyeglasses, perfume, cuff links and suits -- are made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and other low-wage countries.... Trump's rivals and critics say he is a hypocrite, enriching himself with overseas labor while blasting the practice for political gain." ...

... Greg Sargent explains how Trump turns revelations like this -- which might devastate anyone else's candidacy -- into arguments for his election.

Charles Pierce opposes in-house protests against Trump: "Having watched almost every second of the appalling events of the weekend just passed, I have a modest suggestion for all the groups working in rough alliance to keep the Republic out of the hands of a vulgar talking yam. Stay out of the buildings."

Hallie Jackson of NBC News: "Mitt Romney will campaign with John Kasich Monday at two stops in Ohio.... Romney is not expected to endorse the Ohio governor during the campaign swing, the source said, but it will be the first time Romney has campaigned on behalf of a Republican candidate this cycle." ...

... Also, I didn't bother to mention it, but John Boehner (you remember him) endorsed John Kasich Saturday. Not exactly earthshattering.

E. J. Dionne, without mentioning her name, presents the argument for a Hillary Clinton presidency. It's a rather weak argument. ...

... Jeff Greenfield, in Politico Magazine, in more specific terms, on why Hillary is hardly the ideal "anti-Trump": "First, Hillary Clinton commands little trust among an electorate that is driven today by mistrust. Second, her public life the posts she has held, the positions she has adopted (and jettisoned) define her as a creature of the 'establishment' at a time when voters regard the very idea with deep antipathy. And finally, however she wishes it were not so, however much she argues that she represents the future as America's first prospective female president, Clinton still embodies the past, just as she did in 2008 when she lost to Barack Obama.... If the discontent with the economy persists in the fall..., there is no Democrat more in the cross-hairs of an angry electorate than Clinton. Everything from her Wall Street financial links to her work as secretary of state become targets of opportunity. Those targets, further, are independent of the more obvious vulnerabilities...." Read the whole article. ...

... CW: When voters express their antipathy to "Washington politicians," I think maybe what they mean is "snobs." And Hillary Clinton is a snob. Trump, ironically, comes across as a guy they'd like to have a beer with (he doesn't drink) & who made it big despite his humble outer-borough roots (oh, & something like a $200MM inheritance). Even when his words don't match his actions -- like when complaints about trade deficits while selling clothing made in foreign factories (see above) -- it's only because he is forced to work within a corrupt system of of the Clintons' making.

... Over the weekend, Driftglass tried to track down the time & place of a supposed "town hall" in Springfield, Illinois, featuring Hillary Clinton. No luck. "Dear Clinton Campaign and MSNBC -- You don't get to call it a 'Town Hall' if you won't tell anyone in the damn 'town' where the damn 'hall' is." Much later, Driftglass learned that the fake town hall would be held at the Old State Capitol & that "a limited number of tickets ... had already been given out." MEANWHILE, Ted Cruz was hosting a rally in the same area with a "y'all come on down" invitation. So says Driftglass, "Dear Clinton Campaign and MSNBC -- when you are losing an open-door-and-welcome-one-and-all contest to Ted Cruz, you are hanging on way too tight. Also for what it's worth. no Bernie Sanders event I ever heard of ever turned away the great unwashed."

Salon excerpts a chapter of Thomas Frank's book Listen, Liberal. The chapter is devoted to Bill Clinton's "centrist" presidency. CW: Frank tends to be a bit over-the-top, but his assertions here comport with my memory of the Clinton administration. I thought it was terrible. Frank alludes to Hillary Clinton's promotion of her husband's anti-liberal philosophy. Can she have changed over the years? Of course. I just don't think she has. I'll admit Obama is no Bernie, but he learned some of his anti-liberal views from Clinton people: Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Daley, etc. What passes for pragmatism is an elitist disdain for ordinary Americans. ...

Rachel Bade of Politico: "A State Department staffer who oversaw security and technology issues for Hillary Clinton is refusing to answer Senate investigators' questions about the former secretary of state's use of a private email server -- marking the second time an ex-State employee has declined to talk to lawmakers. John Bentel, a now-retired State employee who managed IT security issues for the top echelon at the department, declined to be interviewed by GOP staff on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, according to a letter obtained by Politico." CW: This is being treated as Big News; that's the only reason I'm linking it.

Other News & Views

Edward-Isaac Dovere & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "As soon as President Barack Obama announces a Supreme Court nominee from his short list -- which is now set -- the White House and its allies will unleash a coordinated media and political blitz aimed at weakening GOP resistance to confirming the president's pick. Administration allies have already started putting a ground game in place. Obama campaign veterans have been contracted in six states -- New Hampshire, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where GOP incumbents are most vulnerable, plus Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley's Iowa." ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress on the ugly counter-attack, parts of which the right is already rolling out, against the President's nominee. Millhiser shows how the attacks undermine not just the nominee but our Constitutional rights.

Jared Bernstein in a New York Times op-ed: "... we should welcome the end of the era of [free trade agreements], which had long devolved into handshakes between corporate and investor interests on both sides of the border, allowing little voice for working people. With such noise behind us, we might be ready to foster the next generation of advanced production and help our exporters fight back against currency manipulators. That would be more productive than fighting tooth and nail over the next big trade deal."

Colin Dickey of the New Republic: "As the political debate over gun control stagnates and stalemates..., white men will continue to display AR-15s openly and brazenly, threatening mosques and people they don't like in the name of the Second Amendment, like the slave patrols of the Antebellum South. Mass shooters will continue to walk around with guns drawn, law enforcement powerless to stop them until they start firing. Black men and women and young children will continue to be shot on sight for holding pellet guns, or for any vague movement that might be later classified as 'reaching for a waistband.'"

CW: If, like me, you don't watch the Sunday morning showz, you can rely on Driftglass to tell you what you missed, even when he doesn't watch in real time. (So what, it ain't real anyway.)

Beyond the Beltway

Lenny Bernstein & Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "Republican Rick Snyder called himself #onetoughnerd when he swept into the Michigan governor's office in 2010, winning election easily after pledging to run the state more like the businesses that generated his substantial wealth.... Yet now, as he prepares for congressional hearings on the water-contamination debacle in Flint, Mich...., no fewer than three efforts to recall him are formally underway, and a special prosecutor is investigating whether the governor or others in his administration should face criminal charges. Some people want him jailed."

In the South, They're Still Whistling Dixie. Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Public sentiment is mixed, but support for Confederate symbols remains."

Way Beyond

Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "German voters on Sunday appeared to send a message to Chancellor Angela Merkel: Close the door on migrants. Her center-right Christian Democratic Party suffered universal setbacks in local elections -- in a vote widely seen as a referendum on Merkel's humanitarian stance allowing vast waves of migrants to cross German borders."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Lloyd S. Shapley, who shared the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for work on game theory that has been used to study subjects as diverse as matching couples and allocating costs, died on Saturday in Tucson. He was 92."

New York Times: "An American fighting for the Islamic State was captured in northern Iraq early Monday morning, according to Kurdish and American officials. The American, identified by Kurdish officials as a young man from Virginia, was captured near the city of Sinjar, which Kurdish forces retook from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in November."

The Commentariat -- March 13, 2016

Presidential Race

District of Columbia: With 100 percent reporting, Rubio got 37.3 percent of the vote & 10 delegates, followed by Kasich with 35.5 & 9 delegates, Trump with 13.8 & no delegates & Cruz with 12.4 & no delegates. ...

... The Washington, D.C., Republican caucuses end at 9:00 pm ET. ...

... Katherine Shaver of the Washington Post: "Thousands of District Republicans -- usually such a small cohort that they joke about holding meetings in phone booths -- waited in long lines Saturday to vote in what many saw as the city's most influential GOP presidential primary in years."

Wyoming is holding "county conventions" Saturday which will "allocate twelve pledged delegates on March 12. The remaining delegates will be allocated at the state convention on April 16," per the New York Times. At 8:00 pm ET with all of the counties reporting, Cruz has 67 percent of the vote & 9 delegates, Rubio 19.5 & one delegate, & Trump has 7 percent & one delegate. That only adds up to 11 delegates, but then Republicans don't do math. Update: According to Politico, "Uncommitted" gets one delegate.

CNN: "Ted Cruz ... picked up a delegate in Guam, but the state's other five delegates remain uncommitted."

Dangerous Times. Karen Tumulty, et al., of the Washington Post: "An already ugly presidential campaign has descended to a new level -- one where the question is no longer whether Donald Trump can be stopped on his march to the Republican presidential nomination, but whether it is possible to contain what he has unleashed across the country. Violence at Trump's rallies has escalated sharply, and the reality-show quality of his campaign has taken a more ominous turn in the past few days.... The racially tinged anger that has both fueled Trump's political rise and stoked the opposition to it has turned into a force unto itself....

     "But Trump should not be viewed in isolation or as the product of a single election, President Obama said Saturday at a fundraiser in Dallas. Obama said those who 'feed suspicion about immigrants and Muslims and poor people, and people who aren't like "us," and say that the reason that America is in decline is because of "those" people. That didn't just happen last week. That narrative has been promoted now for years.'...

     "GOP political consultant Stuart Stevens, who was a top strategist for 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, said Trump's rhetoric is 'almost verbatim' what segregationist George Wallace was saying in his third-party 1968 presidential campaign." ...

     ... CW: It's nice to see the MSM & public figures catching up to what we've been saying here since last year. ...

... NEW. Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Donald Trump early Sunday accused Bernie Sanders of lying by saying the Vermont senator's 'disrupters' aren't told to go to the GOP front-runner's events. Trump also threatened in a tweet that his supporters would go to Sanders events if the Democratic hopeful wasn't 'careful.'" ...

All I know is what's on the Internet. -- Donald Trump, Sunday, on why he accused a man who tried to jump on stage with him of probably being linked to ISIS

... Kevin Robillard of Politico: "Donald Trump ... said Sunday he would consider paying the legal bills for an elderly man who was arrested after sucker-punching a protester at a Trump rally in North Carolina, while defending his claims a man who rushed the stage at Trump rally was linked to ISIS. 'We'll see,' Trump said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet The Press. 'I'm going to take a look at it.'"

... Evelyn Rupert of the Hill: "Video from outside of Donald Trump's rally in Kansas City, Mo., shows at least five police officers using pepper spray against protesters." ...

... Evelyn Rupert: "Trump ... promis[ed] to press charges against people who interrupt his events from now on. 'I'm going to start pressing charges against all these people,' he said at a rally in Kansas City, Mo. 'And then we won't have a problem.'"...

     ... Update. Mark Tracy of the New York Times: "During the event, inside a grand old theater with inlaid carvings, a chandelier, a mezzanine and upper deck, Mr. Trump, notably hoarse, called on the police to arrest people who were merely demonstrating. He drew some of the audience's loudest cheers when he pledged, 'I'll file whatever charges you want.' The police escorted people out throughout the event, though they did not appear to have arrested anyone just for speaking up. At one point Mr. Trump held up the protesters as examples of the kind of people his campaign was massed against: 'It's all a little group that wants free lunch.'" ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump announced from the stage at a rally in Kansas City, Mo., that a man who had charged him at an event earlier Saturday was 'probably' linked to the Islamic State, appearing to base his statement on an Internet video that has been described as a hoax." CW: So, speaking of suing people, it sound like that guy has a pretty good case of defamation of character against Trump. On the other hand, all bets are off if Trump should become president because there's a good chance he would declare himself not-sueable. ...

... Jose DelReal & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "An unidentified man charged at ... Donald Trump on Saturday during a campaign event ... in Dayton, [Ohio,] one day after increased security concerns forced his campaign to cancel an event in Chicago. The Secret Service quickly surrounded the real estate mogul after a man attempted to get beyond the barricades to the dais where Trump was standing. The man, whose motives remain unclear, was charged with disorderly conduct and inciting panic by the Dayton Police Department, according to an official familiar with the matter." ...

... CW: Trump told the crowd he was "ready for it"; that is, to take on the interloper, "but it's much easier if the cops do it." Yeah, right. Our superhero. ...

... It's All Obama's Bernie's Fault. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "In the wake of last night's canceled Chicago rally, Donald Trump has taken to blaming Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and supporters of his Democratic Party bid for president for incitement. He debuted the argument on Friday night's cable news coverage, as footage of protesters cheering 'Bernie' played under Trump's phoned-in interviews. He honed the argument at rallies Saturday. 'They were taunted, they were harassed by these other people,' said Trump at his [Saturday] morning rally in Dayton, Ohio. 'These other people, by the way, some represented Bernie, our communist friend. With Bernie, he should really get up and say to his people: stop. Stop. Not me, stop.' In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Sanders chose not to do that. 'As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar,' Sanders wrote. "Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trump's rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organize the protests. What caused the protests at Trump's rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama. What caused the violence at Trump’s rally is a campaign whose words and actions have encouraged it on the part of his supporters.'" ...

... Alex Seitz-Wald of MSNBC: "When Ja'Mal Green, a prominent black activist and Bernie Sanders supporter in Chicago, saw that Donald Trump was coming to the University of Illinois Chicago, he knew what he had to do. 'Everyone, get your tickets to this. We're all going in!!!! ‪#‎SHUTITDOWN‬,' he posted on Facebook last week. Little did he know they actually would shut it down." Seitz-Wald reports on how activists organized via social media & developed a plan to disrupt the rally. MoveOn.org, which has endorsed Sanders, assisted the protesters. This all happened within a four-day span.

... CW: The Audacity of Both-Siderism. Michael Barbaro, et al., of the New York Times write a classic both-sides-do-it report. If you want to know how Trump gets away with blaming Sanders for the violence at the Chicago rally, you need only read this above-the-fold New York Times "analysis." Why, it's kinda like the reporters got together with Hillary Clinton to blame the anti-Trump protesters. ...

... NEW. Evelyn Rupert: "Hillary Clinton penned an article in Medium Saturday, expanding on her previous apology for praising Nancy and Ronald Reagans' response to HIV and AIDS." Her essay is here. ...

... Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton's message about "political unity" in response to the violence at Donald Trump's rallies failed to even mention Trump &, by the way she invoked the massacre in Charleston, S.C., seemed to blame black protesters. "Later on Saturday, [perhaps in response to reaction to her initial statement,] Clinton addressed Trump more directly in a statement, criticizing him for encouraging violence at his rallies." ...

... CW: I have no idea what Barbaro & Clinton really think, because, like Will Rogers, I only know what I read in the papers. And what the papers say is that the problem isn't Trump so much as it is the reaction to Trump & his ilk. The idea is that the rest of us should show more restraint & let the demagoguery proceed. I'll bet that's what a lot of well-mannered Germans thought in 1930s Germany. Sorry about the argumentum ad Hitlerum, but I kinda mean it. In the meantime, over the course of 24 hours, Clinton has managed to alienate gay voters, black voters & everyone in solidarity with their interests. Something is way off here. ...

... Marc Caputo of Politico: "Donald Trump claimed Saturday that he's 'asking law enforcement to check for dishonest early voting in Florida,' but neither the state's law enforcement agency nor elections officials have received any complaints or reports of voting irregularities." ...

... The Trump supporter who made a Nazi salute outside the Chicago rally to fend off protesters says she was born in Germany but she's not a Nazi. Great. ...

     ... The Nut Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree. Daniel Politi of Slate: Donald Trump, Jr., retweeted a claim by the "Supreme Dark Lord" that the not-Nazi woman was actually Bernie Sanders campaigner Portia Boulger in disguise; Junior complained "the media will never run with this." Perhaps because it's not true. Boulger, who doesn't look like the not-Nazi lady, was in Ohio. ...

... Robert Mackey of the Intercept: "For months now, Donald Trump has been complaining about the level of violence inflicted on protesters at his campaign rallies. Complaining, that is, about protesters -- who have been tackled and kicked, pushed, spat on, and sucker-punched -- not being subjected to nearly enough violence." ...

... Ezra Klein: "Violence is scary. But violence-as-ideology is terrifying. And that's where Trump's campaign has gone.... The great mistake the media makes with Donald Trump is to pretend he has no ideology.... Like most nationalists, the emotional center of Trump's ideology is an Us vs. Them argument.... He is a man with an evident appetite for suppressing dissent with violence, a man who believes America's problem is that it's too gentle to its dissidents. Trump is making an argument for a politics backed by force, for a security service unleashed from 'political correctness,' for a country where protesting has consequences. The results are playing out before us, night after night, on our televisions." ...

... Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "It was once easy to root for Trump to blow up the GOP. Not anymore." ...

... Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak ordered staffers in an internal chatroom to stop defending Michelle Fields, the staffer who was allegedly manhandled by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski."

Beth Reinhard of the Wall Street Journal: "One day after he officially endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, former rival Ben Carson said he would be 'willing' to be his vice president.
Asked at a Republican Party fundraiser in Broward County, one of the biggest counties in Florida, whether he would be amenable to the No. 2 slot, Mr. Carson said, 'I've told Mr. Trump that if it was really going to make a big difference I'd be willing to.'" CW: Okay, then, one more thing I don't have in common with Ben Carson.

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "A day after many of his supporters protested at a rally for Donald J. Trump [in Chicago], Bernie Sanders defended the demonstrators and pointedly attacked the city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, for closing schools and firing teachers."

Amy Chosick of the New York Times: Hillary Clinton said Saturday that Bernie Sanders "had not always been such an advocate [for healthcare reform].... 'I don't know,' Mrs. Clinton said. 'Where was he when I was trying to get health care in '93 and '94?'... The answer: 'Literally, standing right behind her,' a Sanders spokesman, Mike Casca, said on Twitter, posting a photo from a 1994 news conference that shows Mr. Sanders next to Mrs. Clinton when the then first lady spoke about the White House's proposed health care overhaul. A spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, Jennifer Palmieri," responded, 'Exactly, he was standing behind her. She was out in front.'"

Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg tweeted a 1993 vintage photo of Clinton & Sanders conferring one-on-one & side-by-side, apparently about healthcare; at the bottom of the photo is a handwritten note from Clinton to Sanders: "With thanks for your commitment to real health care access for all Americans...." Includes photo with readable inscription. CW: Clinton is really off her game. Or else she thought Bernie had burned the evidence & she was free to make up stuff.

Other News & Views

Edward O. Wilson, in a New York Times op-ed: "Unless we wish to pauperize the natural world drastically and permanently, believing that later generations will be smart enough to find a way to bring equilibrium to the land, seas and air, then we, the current inheritors of this beautiful world, must take more serious action to preserve the rest of life." CW: I'd be happy to let the species Drumpfus donaldus go extinct; unfortunately, there's already a Drumpfus donaldus secundus, & he's just as much a mutant form as the primus.

Oh, Good Lord! Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "The Christian Educators Association International, an organization that sees the nation's public schools as 'the largest single mission field in America,' aims to show Christian teachers how to live their faith -- and evangelize in public schools -- without running afoul of the Constitution's prohibition on the government establishing or promoting any particular religion.... Although the Christian Educators Association is small, it is at the center of a pending Supreme Court case that has the potential to substantially weaken public sector unions in more than two dozen states. The association is a plaintiff in the case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which challenges the right of teachers unions to collect dues from nonmembers."