The Commentariat -- July 6, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

AP: "President Barack Obama made a rare visit to the Pentagon Monday to get an update from military leaders on the campaign against the Islamic State. Obama's meetings with top Pentagon officials and other national security advisers follow a wave of weekend airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria. The coalition says it was one of the most sustained aerial operations carried out in Syria to date." ...

     ... CW: President Obama is scheduled to speak to the press at 3:55 pm ET from the Pentagon.

The New York Times is liveblogging the Greek debt story. 2:50 pm: "The European Central Bank will maintain emergency loans of about 89 billion euros, or about $98.4 billion, to Greek banks, enough to keep the banks from failing but not enough to prevent them from running out of cash that they can issue to depositors within a few days." 2:43 pm ET: "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France said on Monday that Europe was ready to negotiate with Greece." ...

... Liz Alderman & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Germany maintained a hard line with Athens on Monday after Greek voters rejected Europe's austerity policies in a referendum, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to restart bailout talks and opening a rift with European countries that appeared more inclined now to consider softening the push for austerity. As Mr. Tsipras changed his finance minister Monday and laid plans to restart bailout negotiations with creditors, however, it appeared the jubilation that followed the no vote in Greece could fade quickly as signs of financial collapse become more evident." This is an update of the story linked below.

Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "The ample crowds and unexpectedly strong showing by Senator Bernie Sanders are setting off worry among advisers and allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believe the Vermont senator could overtake her in Iowa polls by the fall and even defeat her in the nation's first nominating contest there. The enthusiasm that Mr. Sanders has generated ... has called into question Mrs. Clinton's early strategy of focusing on a listening tour of small group gatherings and wooing big donors in private settings. In May, Mrs. Clinton led with 60 percent support to Mr. Sanders' 15 percent in a Quinnipiac poll. Last week the same poll showed Mrs. Clinton at 52 percent to Mr. Sanders's 33 percent."

Lindsay Dunsmuir of Reuters: "Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will return as a partner at the law firm he had left [-- Covington & Burling --] to become the nation's top law enforcement official, his new employer said in a statement."

*****

Suzanne Daley of the New York Times: "Greeks delivered a shocking rebuff to Europe's leaders on Sunday, decisively rejecting a deal offered by the country's creditors in a historic vote that could redefine Greece's place in Europe and shake the Continent's financial stability. As people gathered to celebrate in Athens's central Syntagma Square, the Interior Ministry reported that with more than 90 percent of the vote tallied, 61 percent of the voters had said no to a deal that would have imposed greater austerity measures on the beleaguered country." ...

... Here's the Guardian's liveblog. Jill Treanor of the Guardian looks ahead to what's next. ...

... Liz Alderman & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Greece's combative finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who took a strong stand in demanding that creditors write off some of his country's debts, abruptly resigned on Monday morning.... Mr. Varoufakis had threatened last week to resign in the event of a yes vote, and his decision to step down after he and his allies prevailed in the referendum was unexpected. His resignation appeared to be the first move at conciliation toward Greece's creditors by the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras." ...

... Daniela Deane of the Washington Post: "... Combative Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis left his government post Monday in his trademark way -- by sparing no words hitting back at the euro zone governments he accuses of trying to break the back of his economically-embattled country. In a blog post more akin to a war cry, Varoufakis, a 54-year-old Greek-Australian economist, said Sunday's referendum will go down in history as the time when a 'small European nation rose up against debt-bondage.'" ...

     ... Here's Varoufakis's post. ...

... Paul Krugman: "Tsipras and Syriza have won big in the referendum, strengthening their hand for whatever comes next. But they're not the only winners: I would argue that Europe, and the European idea, just won big -- at least in the sense of dodging a bullet.... European institutions have just been saved from their own worst instincts." ...

     ... Update. Ode on a Grecian Turn (thanks, W!): Here's Krugman's full column on the Greek crisis: "The [European Central Bank] now faces an awkward choice: if it resumes normal financing [for Greece] it will as much as admit that the previous freeze was political, but if it doesn't it will effectively force Greece into introducing a new currency."

What's going on with the austerity is really class war. -- Noam Chomsky

... Joshua Keating of Slate: "Greece called Europe's bluff.... In a confusing referendum over a potential bailout package that hasn't actually existed for several days, many voters in the 'no' camp seem to have been motivated less by specific economic concerns than by a desire to end the humiliation of having unpopular policies forced on them by foreign governments, resulting in dire economic conditions. They've won a victory today, and have been cheered on by anti-establishment figures around the world ranging from Britain's far-right UKIP leader Nigel Farage to Bernie Sanders." ...

What struck me while I was writing is that Germany is really the single best example of a country that, throughout its history, has never repaid its external debt. Neither after the First nor the Second World War. However, it has frequently made other nations pay up.... When I hear the Germans say that they maintain a very moral stance about debt and strongly believe that debts must be repaid, then I think: what a huge joke! Germany is the country that has never repaid its debts. It has no standing to lecture other nations. -- Thomas Piketty, in a Die Zeit interview, translated from German

Karen DeYoung & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Sunday tamped down growing optimism that agreement on a nuclear deal with Iran is near, saying that negotiations 'can go either way' as a Tuesday deadline approached. 'I want to be absolutely clear,' Kerry told reporters after exiting a session with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, his third of the day. 'We are not yet where we need to be on several of the most difficult issues.'"

Frank Bajak & Nicolle Winfield of the AP: "Latin America's first pope returned to Spanish-speaking South America on Sunday for the first time, bringing a message of solidarity with the poor and with an ailing planet as he began an eight-day tour that will take him to some of the continent's most impoverished countries.... [Francis,] the 'pope of the poor,' will highlight in his visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay his priorities of protecting the marginalized and the planet from injustice and exploitation."

Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Over the past six years, Colorado has conducted one of the largest ever real-life experiments with long-acting birth control.... Teenagers and poor women were offered free intrauterine devices and implants that prevent pregnancy for years.... The birthrate for teenagers across the state plunged by 40 percent from 2009 to 2013, while their rate of abortions fell by 42 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There was a similar decline in births for another group particularly vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies: unmarried women under 25 who have not finished high school.... The private grant that funds the state program has started to run out, and while many young women are expected to be covered under the health care law, some plans have required payment or offered only certain methods, problems the Obama administration is trying to correct.

... CW: Just one more egregious example of how right-wing ideology trumps equal rights, economic pragmatism & common sense. As Laura Clawson of Daily Kos wrote exactly a year ago, "Colorado is saving money thanks to the drop in teen pregnancy: Medicaid costs are lowered by $5.68 for every dollar spent on the contraception program."

... Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "The South Carolina legislature is expected on Monday to take up the fate of the Confederate battle flag that flies on the State House grounds, responding to demands that it be removed after the June 17 massacre of nine people at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston. The State Senate, encouraged by Gov. Nikki R. Haley and many other elected officials, is scheduled to consider a bipartisan proposal to move the battle flag, long viewed by African-Americans as a defiant tribute to South Carolina's segregationist past, to the state's Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia." ...

... Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "If teaching history is how society shows younger generations who they are and where they came from, the Civil War presents unique challenges, especially because of the fundamental differences in the way the cause of the war is perceived 150 years after its last battle. Nowhere is the rejection of slavery's central role more apparent than in Texas, where elected members of the state board of education revised state social studies standards in 2010 to correct for what they said was a liberal slant.... Historians acknowledge that disagreements over states' rights played a role in the Civil War. But the states' rights issue was inseparable from slavery, they say: The right that states in the South were seeking to protect, after all, was the right to buy and sell people." ...

... Susan Haigh of the AP: "The massacre at a predominantly black South Carolina church has institutions from Alaska to Connecticut evaluating whether they should continue enshrining the names of historical figures linked to slavery and the Confederacy. ...

... This March 2014 story by Carol Bass in Yale Alumni Magazine has some background on Yale's Calhoun College, including the baudlerization of that stained-glass window depicting John C. Calhoun proudly standing over "a black man in shackles, in tatters, [who is] kneeling before him." ...

... Look Away, Dixieland. digby stitches together some ostensibly unrelated stories to demonstrate how "the southern cavalier never came to terms with the South's defeat and the blow to his sense of natural superiority, not just over former slaves, but over Yankees. Old times there may not be forgotten, but some things must not be mentioned." ...

... ** CW: As to those Democratic Jefferson-Jackson dinners Haigh cites, read Jonathan Chait: Andrew Jackson was "the father of the modern Republican Party.... Jackson was a populist, but he directed his populism not at the local elites (of which he was one) but at the federal government. He favored the gold standard, and his opposition to a National Bank served the interests of the local banks that competed against it. He believed the Constitution prevented the government from taking an active role in managing economic affairs. He was instinctively aggressive, poorly educated, anti-intellectual, and suspicious of bureaucrats. (Jackson replaced more qualified federal staffers with partisan hacks.) He resisted any challenge to racial hierarchies."

Los Angeles Times Editors: "The Department of Homeland Security announced recently that it would release hundreds of mothers and children who are seeking political asylum, so that they can await their hearings in freedom rather than in detention facilities. That was a welcome move, but the government should go further and undertake a top-to-bottom review of the entire immigration detention system with an eye toward jailing as few people as possible."

Erwin Chermerinsky in the New Republic: "Although Senator [Ted] Cruz has the right intention, his proposed solution [-- retention elections --] would endanger the independence of the Court, rather than bolster it.... However, there is a reform that truly deserves thoughtful consideration: term limits for Supreme Court justices.... Term limits appropriately does not favor either political party or any ideology and has strong bipartisan support.... The best idea is that each justice should be appointed for an 18-year, non-renewable term, thus creating a vacancy every two years.... A system of government that allows a handful of men and women to hold great power for such an extended period of time is, by nature, more feudal than democratic.... No other country in the world gives life tenure to its judiciary. Only one state (Rhode Island) does."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Steve M. wants to know: "Why is Maureen Dowd still at The New York Times? Why hasn't she joined the likes of Dick Morris and Judy Miller and become the regular Fox contributor she's obviously qualified to be? Her fixation on the Lewinsky scandal would make her perfectly at home in Wingnuttia, where old scandals are endlessly rehashed and grievances are nurtured for decades.... Give it up, MoDo. Go over to the dark side. We're sick of you here."

Presidential Race

Jana Kasperkevic of the Guardian: "As he surges in the polls, closing the gap on Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders is being taken increasingly seriously as a potential presidential candidate. In a 10-minute interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, Sanders -- an independent senator from Vermont running for the Democratic nomination as a self-described 'democratic socialist' -- fended off tougher questions about that identification than he had previously been asked. Repeating a familiar line from his campaign and TV appearances so far, he said his popularity was in part due to the fact that ordinary American voters wanted a candidate who was willing to take on the establishment."

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "In the lush countryside and teeming city neighborhoods where Senator Marco Rubio's family cut sugar cane, toiled in tobacco mills and scraped by to make a better life for their children, the first Cuban-American to have a plausible chance to become president of the United States is the island's least favorite son.... [Rubio] has argued for years that normalized relations with the United States would only strengthen an oppressive Cuban government that impoverishes its people, limits access to information and violates human rights.... Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the other Cuban-American Republican running for president, hardly registers." Rubio blames state-controlled media for his unpopularity among Cubans.

Ben Gittelson of ABC News: "Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said he didn't believe that his fellow 2016 contender Donald Trump 'understands the challenge' of strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border, adding he was 'offended' when Trump labeled Mexicans 'rapists' during a speech last month." ...

... Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post (July 4): "Jeb Bush says he's 'absolutely' personally offended by Donald Trump's recent incendiary comments about Mexico and immigrants coming from the country. Bush, the former Florida governor whose wife is from Mexico, made his comments about Trump to reporters at the end of two Independence Day parades in the first-in-the-nation primary state." ...

... CW: One has to wonder why it took these profiles in courage three weeks to mention it wasn't okay to characterize Mexicans as criminals & rapists. ...

... Ali Elkin of Bloomberg: "... Ted Cruz says he won't attack primary rival Donald Trump for his comments on Mexican immigrants.... 'I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration,' the Texas senator said on NBC's Meet the Press in an interview that aired Sunday. 'The Washington cartel doesn't want to address that.'... To his 3.1 million Twitter followers, [Trump] urged Rubio to 'stand up for US'; said Romney 'lost an election against Obama that should NEVER have been lost!'; said Perry 'failed at the border' and 'needs a new pair of glasses to see the crimes committed by illegal immigrants'; and said Bush 'will never secure our border or negotiate great trade deals for American workers." ...

... AND, if you just happened to miss Chuck & Ted's excellent conversation, Driftglass reprises all the parts you need to know. Just for the record, Chuck & Ted were unable to solve some minor problems, like the 11 million-plus undocumented people living in the U.S. But as Chuck wisely noted, the segment was short, & the boyz would figure it out in a future installment of Press the Meat. Tune in next week, people, when Chuck will not solve other pressing issues: Grexit! Iranian nukes! Wealth inequality! ...

... Ali Breland of Politico: "Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday announced that he had raised more than $51 million in his first few months as a presidential candidate, split between his official campaign and the super PACs supporting his 2016 bid."

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday blamed the media for continuing to link him to the Bridgegate scandal that has ensnared two of his top former aides, saying he deserves an apology. 'Three different investigations have verified exactly what I said the day after this incident happened, that I have no knowledge of it and had absolutely nothing to do with it,' Christie said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" CW: I'll be looking for the fact-checkers on that one. "Couldn't find fingerprints" and "verified innocence" have quite different meanings, Mr. Former Prosecutor. And I'm awfully, awfully sorry for linking to all that liberal trash talk.

Rand Paul -- Still Making Up the Stuff He Doesn't Plagiarize. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "By a wide margin, the most popular fact check of June is a Four-Pinocchio ruling concerning an oft-told tale by Sen. Rand Paul about an elderly man imprisoned for having 'dirt on his land.' Little of Paul's account turned out to be true."

... He was convicted of a RICO conspiracy. RICO's something you're supposed to be going after gangsters for. You know what his conspiracy was? Conspiracy to put dirt on his own land. We've gone crazy. We've run amok. -- Rand Paul, June 9

Lucas was convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy and environmental violations -- not of organized crime. He was convicted for his role in developing 67 lots inside federally protected wetlands, building on wetlands without approval and knowingly selling land with illegal sewage systems that were likely to fail. And he did not serve the full nine-year sentence in prison. -- Glenn Kessler

Beyond the Beltway

Chad Terhune of the Los Angeles Times: "In a scathing audit, state tax officials slammed nonprofit health insurer Blue Shield of California for stockpiling 'extraordinarily high surpluses' -- more than $4 billion -- and for failing to offer more affordable coverage or other public benefits. The California Franchise Tax Board cited those reasons, among others, for revoking Blue Shield's state tax exemption last year, according to documents related to the audit that were reviewed by The Times. These details have remained secret until now.... The company continues to appeal the state's revocation."

Hector Tobar, in a New York Times op-ed: "... a survey by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found an 85 percent increase in the number of people [in L.A.] living in tents and cars over the past two years.... California has both the most 'ultrarich' (people worth more than $30 million) and the worst poverty rate in America."

Sam Collins of Think Progress: "Hours after [Philadelphia Police Chief Charles] Ramsey announced the rollout of a new policy that mandates the public disclosure of officers in police-involved shootings, Lodge 5 Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the union organization representing the employees of the Philadelphia Police Department, filed an unfair labor complaint against him, saying that he implemented the new policy 'without negotiating with or securing the approval of the FOP.'"

News Ledes

ABC News: "As Americans were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, four Russian long-range bomber aircraft flew close enough to the US shores that they were intercepted by military fighter jets. The first set of two bombers flew near Alaska and just 30 minutes later a separate set flew far off the west coast of California. According to officials at NORAD the flights stayed within international airspace and at no time did any of the Russian bombers enter or get close to entering sovereign North American boundaries." CW: Sarah Palin saw them from her porch.

Los Angeles Times: About 18,000 attended a birthday celebrate for the Dalai Lama at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

New York Times: Pope Francis is in Equador.

AP: "The surviving escapee from a prison break and three-week manhunt will spend 23 hours a day in a maximum-security cell, much more confined than he and a fellow murder convict were in the prison from which they managed a getaway, officials said Sunday. David Sweat, who was shot and wounded during his June 28 capture, was taken early Sunday from Albany Medical Center to the infirmary at the Five Points Correctional Facility in the central New York town of Romulus...."

New York Times: The U.S. took the Women's World Cup in a 5-2 victory against Japan.

The Commentariat -- July 5, 2015

Internal links removed.

Linda Greenhouse: "Not that any of the Republicans have asked me for advice, but I'll give them some anyway: Fomenting backlash [against the Supreme Court] is not a winning strategy.... Stoking public anger against the Supreme Court can't succeed in a vacuum. Backlash needs to be fed and sustained by fear: fear of crime; fear of a threat to 'our Southern way of life'; fear, in the case of abortion, of a revolution in women's traditional role in the family and in society. And what, exactly, are people supposed to be afraid of now? A same-sex married couple with affordable health insurance?"

Julie Bosman of the New York Times on sex offender registries. You could get on one for peeing in public or "swapping lewd texts." In the featured case, it appears the judge & prosecutor just didn't approve of young people hooking up via Websites, & they use that view as an excuse to ruin the lives of young people who aren't so prissy. CW P.S. Though the young man featured in the story is white, sex-offender statutes seem like an excellent way for racist judges to get away with criminalizing young black men.

Ben Wofford of Politico Magazine: The U.S. "has only one federally funded slave memorial -- and it's been falling apart." At least read the part about how Saint George Washington successfully finagled Pennsylvania's gradual abolition law.

John Hooper & Helena Smith of the Guardian: "Greeks have begun voting in a referendum that presents the biggest challenge to the running of the euro since its adoption and risks sending shock waves through the world's financial markets."

God News

Barbara Hoberock of the Tulsa World: "The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol must be removed. The plaintiffs said its placement at the Capitol constituted the use of public property for the benefit of a system of religion, which is banned by the Oklahoma Constitution. The monument, a gift from Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and his family, was recently reinstalled after a man drove a vehicle into it." Outrage ensues. Via Steve Benen.

Presidential Race

Kevin Hardy of the Des Moines Register: "On the tail end of a three-day Iowa swing, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's feeling good about his momentum here and across the country. More than 150 supporters marched with Sanders on Saturday in Waukee's Independence Day parade, the last of his eight Iowa stops this week.... Sanders drew both traditional Democrats and conservatives on Saturday. 'This will be the first time I've caucused with the Democrats,' said Michael Tallman, 25, of Des Moines... Micheal Davenport, 35, of Des Moines said he generally votes conservatively. But he marched in support of Sanders Saturday. Davenport is an anti-abortion Catholic.... But Davenport said Pope Francis' call for tolerance and more moderate rhetoric surrounding social issues has made him rethink some issues." ...

... Annie Karni & Jonathan Topaz of Politico on "Bernie & Hillary's holiday weekend." ...

... Philip Rucker & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: In New Hampshire, the candidates paraded; hecklers heckled. ...

... Jennifer Kasperkevic of the Guardian: "As 2016 presidential candidates flocked to spend Independence Day in early voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton found herself defending her record on policy and the size of crowds at her events." ...

... Annie Karni: "Hillary Clinton arrived in this liberal New England [-- Hanover, N.H. --] enclave with a message for anyone thinking about voting for Sen. Bernie Sanders of next-door Vermont: 'I take a backseat to no one when you look at my record in standing up and fighting for progressive values.'... And at the first stop of her two-day swing through the early-voting state, Clinton highlighted contrasts with her main Democratic rival without mentioning him by name." ...

... Liam Stack of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton offered moral support to a distraught gay youth who shared his anxiety about his future in a viral photograph posted on the Humans of New York Facebook page, telling him on Friday that it would be 'amazing.'" CW: What? No comforting words from Ted Cruz?

Belatedly, Marco Thumps Trump. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "On Friday, Rubio released a strongly worded statement which said: 'Trump's comments are not just offensive and inaccurate, but also divisive.'... On Saturday, speaking on the Fox & Friends morning show, Trump attacked Rubio for being 'very weak on immigration'. He also said the former New York governor George Pataki, who has criticised his remarks, was 'a sad figure' and 'a terrible governor of New York' who had 'zero numbers in the polls'.... Trump said he 'respected' the Texas senator Ted Cruz, who has defended his remarks on immigration.... On Friday, Trump lost the support of another US institution when the chairman of Nascar said the auto-racing series would not host its season-end awards at his Trump National Doral resort in Miami." ...

... Steve M. is very excited about the Trump-Cruz ticket. ...

... Me-Too Mitt. Cassie Spodak of CNN: "Mitt Romney said Saturday that Donald Trump's comments on Mexico and undocumented immigrants have hurt the Republican Party, [link fixed] making the 2012 presidential nominee the latest Republican to slam the billionaire over his controversial remarks. Romney made his remarks during a Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which was also attended by presidential candidates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Asked if Trump's comments on Mexicans have hurt the Republican Party, Romney replied, 'Yes; I think he made a severe error in saying what he did about Mexican-Americans,' Romney said...." CW: Mitt's father George was a Mexican-American.

AP: "In a sudden reversal amid a stinging backlash, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and GOP legislative leaders said they agreed Saturday to completely remove a part of the proposed state budget that would severely roll back open records laws.... The restrictions, which Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee slipped into the proposed budget late Thursday, would shield nearly everything created by state and local government officials from Wisconsin's open records law, including drafts of legislation and staff communications. The proposal drew heavy criticism from liberals and conservatives alike, and was the subject of a withering front-page editorial in Saturday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." ...

... Here's the Journal Sentinel editorial. ...

... Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel: "Walker, speaking with reporters Saturday before participating in the Wauwatosa Independence Day Parade, acknowledged that he had 'a lot of concerns about' the proposals. His comments were echoed by Republican legislative leaders early Saturday, including those who backed the changes just two days earlier. Though he holds one of the most powerful veto pens in the nation ... Walker early Saturday had stopped short of pledging to veto the open records overhaul. But by the end of the day, it became clear he wouldn't have to face that decision, because he and other lawmakers agreed to drop the proposal." CW: In other words, Scottie will get away with as much as he can. ...

... CW: Contributor Nadd2 points us to this video of Scottie's weasling out of muliple questions about his part in the scheme. I thought Scottie was no good at deflecting questions. Turns out he's a master of misdirection, dissemblng & deception. Bottom line: his dirty paws are all over the last-minute insert:

The Commentariat -- July 4, 2015

Internal links, defunct graphic & video removed.

Afternoon Update:

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Another day on the presidential campaign trail, another crowd of eye-popping size for Bernie Sanders. The independent senator from Vermont attracted more than 2,500 people to a convention center [in Council Bluffs, Iowa] on Friday night.... Appearing Friday at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the country's first primary state, [Hillary] Clinton attracted about 850 people."

Yes, Virginia, There Is an Uncle Sam. Maybe. Sam Roberts of the New York Times: "Two centuries ago, in Troy, N.Y..., Samuel Wilson, the upstate New York butcher known locally as Uncle Sam and considered the inspiration for the national symbol..., stamped the meat he delivered to American troops poised to invade Canada during the War of 1812 with the initials 'U.S.,' earning him a permanent spot in the nation's iconography."

White House: "In this week's address, the President wished everyone a happy Fourth of July. He honored the individuals who, throughout the history of America, have struggled and sacrificed to make this country a better place, from our Founding Fathers, to the men and women in uniform serving at home and overseas":

** Claire Moser, in Think Progress: "Just in time for the Fourth of July -- when millions of people across the country will visit America's national parks and other public lands -- the Koch brothers are rolling out their latest campaign against these treasured places: pushing for no more national parks. In an op-ed published in Tuesday's New York Times, Reed Watson, the executive director at the Koch-backed Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), along with a research associate at the Center, call for no more national parks, citing the backlog in maintenance for existing parks.... PERC has a long history of advocating for the privatization of America's national parks and other public lands, and has significant ties to the Koch brothers and fossil fuel industries." ...

... In this regard, it is worth re-reading Tim Egan's 2010 essay on the people's parks. ...

... "These Disunited States." Colin Woodard in Politico Magazine: "Long before the Civil War, the United States had been torn between competing visions of what the American experiment was all about, with the northernmost tier of the country emphasizing collective action to build an allegedly stronger, better and more just Union while the southernmost tier championed self-government, the liberties of local rulers and the sanctity of local tradition. The other regions -- and there were well more than two -- found themselves caught in between. Strikingly little has changed." ...

... Michael Lind in Politico Magazine: "Minus the South, the rest of the U.S. probably would be more like Canada or Australia or Britain or New Zealand -- more secular, more socially liberal, more moderate in the tone of its politics and somewhat more generous in social policy.... We'd be less violent, more mobile and in general more normal if not for Dixie." ...

... Colbert King of the Washington Post: "The political freedom resulting from the [American Revolution] was earned on battlefields at Lexington and Concord, at the Battle of Bunker Hill and beyond, with the help of black soldiers, both free and enslaved, who fought with the Continental Army. The Revolutionary War victory was every bit theirs, as well.... At the start of the war, George Washington opposed the recruitment of blacks, whether free or slave. Washington had plenty of company. Many slave owners considered the training and arming of slaves akin to inviting insurrection. But they soon found that there weren't nearly enough white men willing and able to fight the British, so Washington relented." ...

... Contra King, Dylan Matthews writes in Vox, "... Simon Schama writes in Rough Crossings, his history of black loyalism during the Revolution, the war was 'a revolution, first and foremost, mobilized to protect slavery.' Slaves also understood that their odds of liberation were better under British rule than independence. Over the course of the war, about 100,000 African slaves escaped, died, or were killed, and tens of thousands enlisted in the British army, far more than joined the rebels." ...

     ... Remains of the Day. CW: Matthews' post, titled "3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake," is well-worth a read. However, in my own counterfactual, I would argue that Great Britain would soon tire of the American colonies & arrange to leave us mostly to our own devices, perhaps with the sort of autonomy that most of the remains of the Empire enjoy today. Downside: no Independence Day holiday. ...

... Michael Twitty in the Guardian: "... if America is about people creating new worlds based on rebellion against oppression and slavery, then barbecue is the ideal dish: it was made by enslaved Africans with inspiration and contributions from Native Americans struggling to maintain their independence.... Barbecue is laced with the aspiration of freedom, but it was seasoned and flavored by the people who could not enjoy any freedom on Independence Day for almost a century." Thanks to safari for the link.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Sometime in the next few weeks, aides expect President Obama to issue orders freeing dozens of federal prisoners locked up on nonviolent drug offenses. With the stroke of his pen, he will probably commute more sentences at one time than any president has in nearly half a century."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back."

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Federal and local authorities have found that ... [accused mass murderer Dylann Roof] had been in contact with white supremacists online, although it does not appear they encouraged him to carry out the massacre, according to law enforcement officials.... The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reported on Thursday that the investigation had widened to include others who may have helped [Dylann] Roof." ...

... Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: Amber Roof, Dylann's sister, who cancelled her wedding -- which had been planned for four days after Dylann (allegedly) massacred nine people -- decided to crowdfund a new wedding & honeymoon. After receiving -- and deleting -- negative comments, Amber took down her GoFundMe page. CW: One can hardly blame the poor dear; there is not a word of guidance in any of the wedding etiquette books on how a disappointed bride should conduct herself in such a circumstance. So she proceeded in the way she thought most tasteful (though even I would have suggested she use the spellcheck).

Dana Milbank: The ascendant populist movement appears to be leaving behind top Democrats like President Obama, Hillary Clitnon [Update: sometimes a typo is just a typo.] & New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

On Facebook, actor George Takei issues an appropriate apology for a remark he made about Justice Clarence Thomas. ...

... Simon Maloy of Salon: "... support for nullification theory [link fixed] tends to rise in the context of civil rights struggles, as the opponents of equal rights claim that the Supreme Court can't tell their (usually Southern) state what to do.... The important thing to understand with the current gay rights battle is that the proponents of the 'religious freedom' argument aren't actually talking about 'protecting' religious freedom -- they're talking about expanding the definition of what can be considered an expression of religious faith. When Ted Cruz and Ken Paxton argue that county clerks can refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses in defiance of the Supreme Court, they're essentially saying that the act of doing one's government job is an act of faith and should be protected as such."

... George Rede of the Oregonian: "The owners of a shuttered Gresham[, Oregon,] bakery must pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple for refusing to make them a wedding cake, the state's top labor official said Thursday. State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay the women for emotional and mental suffering that resulted from the denial of service. The Kleins had cited their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage in refusing to make the cake. Avakian's ruling upheld a preliminary finding earlier this year...."

Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times: "After nearly a decade of recession, Puerto Rico's government says it cannot pay its $73 billion debt much longer. Gov. Alejandro García Padilla warns that more austerity is on the way, a necessity for an island now working feverishly to rescue itself. With so many bracing for another slide toward the bottom, the sense of despair grows more palpable by the day."

Griff Witte & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Dueling rallies of tens of thousands of people apiece took over central Athens on Friday evening, with demonstrators making their final push before a referendum on Sunday that has passionately divided this flailing nation between those terrified Greece will lose its place in Europe and others determined to transform the continent at all costs." ...

... Suzanne Daley of the New York Times: "On Friday, a day of dueling yes and no rallies, when a top Greek court swept aside a constitutional challenge to the referendum, the role of the news media emerged as one of the most contentious issues. Ads predicting doomsday scenarios and long newspaper articles on the plight of retirees have been coming fast and furious from Greece's oligarch-dominated news organizations, which critics say are all in on the yes side. ...

... Paul Taylor of Reuters: "Euro zone countries tried in vain to stop the IMF publishing a gloomy analysis of Greece's debt burden which the leftist government says vindicates its call to voters to reject bailout terms, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. The document released in Washington on Thursday said Greece's public finances will not be sustainable without substantial debt relief, possibly including write-offs by European partners of loans guaranteed by taxpayers." ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Greece isn't going to cut, or reform, or grow it's way to debt sustainability. Either it will default on virtually all of its loans and adopt a new currency, or it will need debt forgiveness of the sort that Germany enjoyed after the Second World War, when more than half of its loans were written off." ...

... Noah Feldman in Bloomberg: "Greece is doing democracy wrong.... In a crisis, effective democracy requires an elected leader to do what he or she thinks is right -- and take the consequences later, when elections are called. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's failure to do this isn't democratic -- it's irresponsible hedging in the hopes of maintaining popularity even after a change in the policies that elected him."

Presidential Race

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney is hosting [N.J. Gov. Chris] Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, at his waterfront compound on picturesque Lake Winnipesaukee on Friday night.... Fellow GOP hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and his wife, Jeanette, also joined the Romneys for Friday night's slumber party.... On Saturday morning, the Christies and Rubios will also be marching in Wolfeboro's celebrated Fourth of July parade." CW: Aw, shucks, I have to clean out my car & do some laundry, so I won't be able to make it. ...

... Steve M.: "Romney seemed to be deferring to Jeb when he decided not to run for president this year, but I'm starting to wonder whether he's looking for a way to help Jeb's rivals at Jeb's expense.... Jeb, by the way, is holding "two intimate campaign events" (a dinner and a staff briefing) in Kennebunkport this weekend, according to the New York Post's Page Six." ...

... BUT, Philip Rucker: "Romney and his wife, Ann, plan to meet this coming week with former Florida governor Jeb Bush for lunch at Walker's Point, the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.... In past years, the Romneys have visited with the Bushes at Walker's Point." The summer residences are about a 50-mile drive from each other.

"A Lesson in Inequality." Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times: New York City, under the Bloomberg administration, paid Donald Trump $127 million (& tax breaks) to build & operate a public golf course in the Bronx. "A stretch of housing projects borders the links and so does a tightly packed cemetery, St. Raymond's...." The city was supposed to equip a free public park that is next to the grounds, but the "equipment" is nothing but a slide. ...

... Missed this, but it's worth noting. Erik Matuszewski of Bloomberg (July 1): Donald Trump "was quoted as saying in an interview with the Golf Channel that he's received 'tremendous support' from those in the golf world because 'they all know I'm right' [about Mexican immigrants].... The U.S. PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association and the LPGA Tour said Wednesday in a joint statement that Trump's remarks don't reflect the views of those organizations.... 'While the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour and USGA do not usually comment on presidential politics, Mr. Trump's comments are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf,'" they said.

... Last week Lindsay Abrams of Salon interviewed Anthony Baxter, who made a documentary, "You've Been Trumped" about Donald Trump's golf course project in Scotland. "Trump's no less loathed in Scotland. There, however, the problem is less about what Trump says, and more about what he's actually done -- run roughshod over protected dunes to build an elite golf course, attack an offshore wind energy project because it 'ruined' his view, cajole politicians into supporting his every whim. He's also run into trouble for the promises he's failed to keep...." Also, of course, his 18 golf courses for the elite -- especially the courses in deserts -- are environmental disasters.