The Commentariat -- May 29, 2013

Gov. Christie & President Obama spoke at the Jersey Shore yesterday:

... "One and Done." Christie bests Obama without even trying:

... Michael Shear of the New York Times reports on the Obama-Christie buddy events.

... AND it takes the genius of Rush Limbaugh to see the recovery effort engineered by the federal & state governments as a "master-servant" relationship between Obama & Christie. Notice how Rush makes the point that he's not going to say "master-slave." Rush is so fucking evolved:

Maureen Dowd reproduces her "Obama Is Aloof" column, this time getting Jonathan Alter to write it for her. Dowd & Alter wonder if it's too late for Obama to learn to spend quality-time with Louis Gohmert & Tailgunner Ted so he can be famous for something besides being the first African-American president.

David Savage of the Los Angeles Times: "The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to the campaign of abortion opponents to 'defund' Planned Parenthood. Without comment, the justices turned away Indiana's defense of a 2011 law that would ban all Medicaid funds to an organization such as Planned Parenthood whose work includes performing abortions. The high court let stand decisions by a federal judge in Indiana and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago that blocked the measure from taking effect. The 'defunding law excludes Planned Parenthood from Medicaid for a reason unrelated to its fitness to provide medical services, violating its patients' statutory right to obtain medical care from the qualified provider of their choice,' Judge Diane Sykes said last year for the 7th Circuit." ...

... Adam Liptak of the Times reports on the decisions.

New York Times Editors: "On Tuesday, the Supreme Court handed down two important criminal procedures decisions, both allowing defendants to seek habeas corpus review of their convictions in federal court. The 5-to-4 majority, with Justice Anthony Kennedy joining the court's four moderate liberals, reached the right result in each case. But, in a larger sense, the two decisions show how much the scope of habeas review has been curtailed by the Supreme Court in the last three decades, so that it now must work around earlier precedents to avoid doing injustice.... The ... cases show how heavily engaged the court has gotten in the regulation of criminal justice. Even when the court does the right thing, as it did in these two cases, it often appears to be finding exceptions to harsh rules that it created or upheld in earlier cases."

Republicans Are Outraged Obama Is Doing His Job. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Republican senators are fuming about President Barack Obama's attempt to fill empty seats on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, charging him with 'court-packing' and alleging that his push to confirm nominees is all politics. But not only is Obama not 'court-packing' -- a term describing an attempt to add judges to a court with the goal of shifting the balance, not filling existing vacancies -- but Republicans' efforts to prevent Obama from appointing judges amount to their own attempt to tip the scales in their favor. What's more, some of the GOP senators trying to prevent his nominees from advancing previously voted to fill the court when there was a Republican in the White House."

Charles Pierce: "I don't believe there ever has been a time like this in our history.... Right now, we have a polarization based on the fact that an uncontrollable faction of one of our two political parties -- a faction with its own sources of money and power that exist outside conventional political accountability -- has decided that the only thing that the national government should do is nothing, a faction that is perfectly situated to make that at least part of a political reality, and a faction that is growing even faster out in the states than it is in Washington." ...

... Jonathan Bernstein, in the Washington Post: the GOP's nihilistic approach to government is hurting even the interests of groups that normally align with Republicans. ...

... What's an Idle Congressman to Do? -- Issue Subpoenas! Ginger Gibson of Politico: "Rep. Darrell Issa issued a subpoena on Tuesday demanding more documents from the State Department for records related to the controversial talking points used in the days after the attack on the Benghazi consulate."

When Rigid Ideologies Clash -- Just Pretend They Don't. David Nather of Politico: "Members of a House immigration group are considering a rule that would force immigrants to buy their own health insurance while they wait for citizenship. The Republicans and other conservatives say their rule wouldn't be like Obamacare's at all. Their argument: It's simply fair to ask immigrants to show they won't be a drain on the system before getting full citizenship. Some conservative groups that support immigration reform think the contradiction is so glaring -- no mandate for citizens, but one for immigrants -- that Republicans should rethink their position. 'That is virtually the opposite of the main point they made against Obamacare,' said Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute.... Under the health care law, illegal immigrants are not entitled to purchase plans in the exchanges and they aren't eligible for subsidies."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: in the Senate, the Gang of Eight has successfully fought off ultra-conservatives' attempts to derail or substantially weaken the immigration reform bill. (Nakamura doesn't write anything about the GOP's success in forcing Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) to withdraw his amendment extending the law to gay immigrants.)

** Walter Pincus of the Washington Post: "I believe the First Amendment covers the right to publish information, but it does not grant blanket immunity for how that information is gathered. When First Amendment advocates say [James] Rosen [of Fox "News"] was 'falsely' characterized as a co-conspirator, they do not understand the law. When others claim this investigation is 'intimidating a growing number of government sources,' they don't understand history. The person or persons who told the Associated Press about the CIA operation that infiltrated al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and [Stephen Jin-Woo] Kim -- or someone else -- who informed Rosen about North Korea, were not whistleblowers exposing government misdeeds. They harmed national security and broke the law."

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath during his May 15 testimony on the Justice Department's (DOJ) surveillance of reporters.... 'In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material -- this is not something I've ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy,' Holder said during the hearing. However, NBC News reported the following week that Holder personally approved a search warrant that labeled Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen a co-conspirator in a national security leaks case." ...

... Philip Bump of the Atlantic: "Justice ... acknowledged that Holder had been involved in the Rosen case -- officially, U.S. vs. Kim, after Rosen's alleged source for the leak, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim.... Rusty Hardin, a Houston-based attorney ... [who] represented Roger Clemens when the pitcher faced perjury allegations after testifying on the Hill..., was blunt. 'Do we really believe seriously that the Attorney General is going to sit up there in a public hearing with the intent to obstruct justice? Really? Seriously? Give me a friggin' break.' The only people who might think so, he said, were 'insane partisans.'" ...

... Winger Rich Lowry, winger editor of the winger National Review, writes a funny piece titled "Being Eric Holder."

Hope Yen of the AP: "America's working mothers are now the primary breadwinners in a record 40 percent of households with children -- a milestone in the changing face of modern families, up from just 11 percent in 1960. The findings by the Pew Research Center, released Wednesday, highlight the growing influence of 'breadwinner moms' who keep their families afloat financially. While most are headed by single mothers, a growing number are families with married mothers who bring in more income than their husbands."

"Taxing the Rich." Paul Krugman: "... over the past three decades we've seen a soaring share of income going to the very top of the income distribution ... even as tax rates on high incomes have fallen sharply, with the recent Obama increases clawing back only a fraction of the previous cuts.... If we choose to raise less revenue from the rich than we can without hurting the economy, we will be forced either to raise more taxes from or provide fewer valuable services to everyone else." With a chart.

Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "Paul Volcker ... plans to begin a foundation called the Volcker Alliance, aimed at improving how government works at the local, state and federal levels."

Congressional Race

** Gerry Mullany of the New York Times: "Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican who made an ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year. She made the announcement just six months after being re-elected in what was her most challenging Congressional campaign since she was first elected to the House in 2006. Her announcement also comes as her former presidential campaign faces inquiries into its fund-raising activities.... She also said she expected 'the mainstream liberal media to put a detrimental spin' on her decision...." ...

     ... CW: huh. How is it that god answered my prayers & has been pretty much ignoring Bachmann's prayers to tank ObamaCare? I should ask Pat Robertson if that means I'm a better Christian than Bachmann, which would be a trick because I'm not a Christian. Worth noting: Mullany completely ignores Bachmann's exhortations that her decision has nothing to do with the close race she won last November or with the ethics committee inquiry. I guess Mullany is a "mainstream liberal media" hack. ...

... The Star-Tribune story, which includes Bachmann's announcement video, is here.

Local News

Washington Post Editors: "Robert F. McDonnell took office admirably determined to change a scandalously antiquated system by which the state has deprived several hundred thousand felons of their voting rights -- permanently. To his credit, he's done a better job than any of his predecessors at restoring the vote for former offenders who have served their sentences.... The essential problem is a provision in the state's constitution, reaffirmed by racist lawmakers more than a century ago, that deprives felons of the vote unless their rights are individually restored by the governor. Mr. McDonnell (R) has supported a change in the constitution, and so has the state Senate. But they’ve been blocked by Republicans in the House of Delegates, who may fear an infusion of African American voters.... The result is that more than 7 percent of the state's voting-age population is ineligible to vote, even though most of them have already served their sentences. The racial imbalance is appalling. Twenty percent of the state's voting-age population of African Americans, and about a third of its black males, is ineligible to vote." [Emphasis added.]

Texas Legislature, Governor, Cut Off Their Noses to Spite Texans. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "1.5 million low-income Texans may go without health care coverage after lawmakers in the state voted against expanding Medicaid using $100 billion in federal funds offered under President Obama's health care law.... 'Texas will not be held hostage by the Obama administration's attempt to force us into this fool's errand of adding more than a million Texans to a broken system,' [Gov. Rick] Perry said. The decision means a loss of approximately $7 billion for Texas hospitals, which comes on top of the $700 million a year reduction in Medicaid payments from state budget shortfalls and cuts under sequestration." As a result of the decision, Texas's working poor also will lose out on federal tax credits for purchasing health insurance. "Texas will continue paying for the taxes that pay for Medicaid expansion but will be sending those dollars (and benefits) to other states." CW: No master-servant relationship here! ...

... Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times: "Unlike [Gov. Jan] Brewer [RTP-Az.], Mr. Perry has made the ideologically consistent choice rather than the responsible one." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "... quite a few (including most of the South) [are] just flat out refusing to do anything for people with incomes under the federal poverty line. And that creates a very large 'coverage gap,' leaving an estimated 5.7 million folk who don't qualify for Medicaid or for the Obamacare health exchange subsidies. While this coverage gap is reminiscent (though much larger and more devastating to those affected) of the 'doughnut hole' that existed in Medicare Part D before the Affordable Care Act began closing it, we don't have a name for it just yet. I'd suggest the 'wingnut hole.'"

Tom Canavan of the AP: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that he has 'absolute confidence' in the president of Rutgers University even as some lawmakers have called for Robert Barchi to step down amid a string of embarrassing revelations for the university's athletic department. Christie said he doesn't want to micromanage the university and won't say whether incoming athletic director Julie Hermann should start at the school as scheduled on June 17. 'Not my call,' he said Tuesday during his monthly call-in show on TownSquare Media." The Star-Ledger story is here.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "A Chechen man who was fatally shot by an FBI agent last week during an interview about one of the Boston bombing suspects was unarmed, law enforcement officials said Wednesday. An air of mystery has surrounded the FBI shooting of Ibragim Todashev, 27, since it occurred in Todashev's apartment early on the morning of May 22."

New York Times: "In a shock to humanitarian aid workers, suicide bombers in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday assaulted the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, an organization that has worked in the country for more than 30 years without suffering a concerted attack and has received praise from all sides."

New York Times: "The Swiss government is considering a proposal to disclose bank client names and pay a multibillion-dollar fine to the United States to help resolve a long-running dispute between the two countries over the handling of tax-evasion cases, American and Swiss sources briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. The fine, which could reach at least $7 billion to $10 billion according to these people, could be paid in part by the Swiss government, which would then seek reimbursement from the banks."

Reuters: "Accused Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan will ask a U.S. military court on Wednesday to rule he can represent himself at his trial this summer which could bring the death penalty on charges he killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage. Jury selection in Hasan's military trial at Fort Hood was delayed until next week after he asked the judge, Colonel Tara Osborn, to let him fire his lawyers and represent himself."

AP: " Moscow's highest court has rejected an appeal by punk group Pussy Riot against their sentence for a protest against Vladimir Putin."

The Commentariat -- May 28, 2013

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama will soon accelerate his efforts to put a lasting imprint on the country's judiciary by simultaneously nominating three judges to an important federal court, a move that is certain to unleash fierce Republican opposition and could rekindle a broader partisan struggle over Senate rules. In trying to fill the three vacancies on the 11-member United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit at once, Mr. Obama will be adopting a more aggressive nomination strategy. He will effectively be daring Republicans to find specific ground to filibuster all the nominees."

Eyal Press in a New York Times op-ed: "... a barely noticed memo quietly released by the Obama administration earlier this year ... instructs the director of national intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management to establish standards that would give federal agencies the power to fire employees, without appeal, deemed ineligible to hold 'noncritical sensitive' jobs. It means giving them immense power to bypass civil service law, which is the foundation for all whistle-blower rights."

As the Tan Man Shrivels. Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen of Politico, the Beavis & Butthead of political reporting, do have a point here: "House Speaker John Boehner, who by title and position should be the second most powerful person in Washington..., has little ability to work his will with fellow House Republicans. He has quit for good his solo efforts to craft a grand bargain on taxes and spending. And he hasn't bothered to initiate a substantive conversation with President Barack Obama in this calendar year. All of this recently prompted Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, herself a former speaker, to declare on MSNBC that if Boehner were a woman, he would be known as the weakest speaker in U.S. history." ...

... Tim Alberta of the National Journal: "For 40 years, the Republican Study Committee has prized ideological purity over partisan loyalty. That mindset now dominates the GOP.... For decades, the group was seen as a parasitic anomaly -- a fringe organization of hopeless ideologues surviving off the perception of undue moderation among Republican leadership.... But the 2010 midterms -- thanks to an influx of ideologically charged lawmakers converging with an increasingly conservative GOP -- changed everything.... The committee ... was now, for the first time in history, a majority of the House majority." Take a look at that chart of how RSC members dominate important House committees.

Grumpy Old Meddler. Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters: Republican Senator John McCain..., an outspoken advocate for U.S. military aid to the Syrian opposition, met with some of the rebels during a surprise visit to the war-torn country on Monday, his spokesman said." CW: I'd like to know if McCain got State Department clearance for his hotdogging expedition. ...

     ... Update. Margaret Hartmann of New York: "McCain's trip was coordinated by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an American nonprofit supporting the Syrian opposition. A State Department official said the department was aware that McCain crossed into Syria.... The White House ... declined requests to comment on the senator's excursion." ...

... Andy Borowitz: "During a meeting yesterday with Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Syrian rebels told the senator that he still seemed 'really bitter' about losing the 2008 election to President Obama and advised him to 'get over it.'" ...

... On a much more serious note, Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker: "... the war in Syria has spread to Lebanon. In an extraordinary speech Saturday, Hassan Nasrallah, the bearded and bespectacled leader of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, promised an all-out effort to keep the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in power in Syria.... This is a terrifying development; the beginning of a regional war.... It's difficult to overstate how dangerous this new phase is."

Digby has news for the Village People: "CNN with the latest polling on Obamacare: 'Fifty-four percent of Americans oppose President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, according to a CNN poll released Monday, while 43 percent support the law.' But, for once they asked the most relevant follow-up question: 'Thirty-five percent of the country opposes the law because it's too liberal, while 16 percent argues it isn't liberal enough.' That's right. It is not a majority position against a national health care plan or 'big gummint' or any other of the typical beltway signifiers of a 'center right nation.; It turns out that only 35% of the country has that attitude. The majority either support the plan or want more." ...

... You won't find out that a majority supports ObamaCare or wants something more if you read Politico. Kevin Robillard's report carefully omits Digby's critical yeah-but. ...

... Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog finds more polls that support the CNN finding: "... the GOP position (Obamacare is the worst law ever passed in the history of human civilization, and is the end of American civilization as we know it) has support well under 40% in every poll -- and majorities absolutely want our health care system improved."

** See No Evil. Mike McIntire & Michael Luo of the New York Times: "The world's firearms manufacturers have been largely silent in the debate over gun violence. But their voices emerge from thousands of pages of depositions in a series of liability lawsuits a decade ago, before Congress passed a law shielding them from such suits in 2005, and the only time many of them were forced to answer such questions.... A review of the documents, which were obtained by The New York Times, shows the industry's leaders arguing, often with detachment and defiance, that their companies bear little responsibility, beyond what the law requires, for monitoring the distributors and dealers who sell their guns to the public." CW: one reason not to buy guns: to avoid enriching these unusually repugnant scumbags.

One-Way Ticket, Please. Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "Conventional wisdom holds that most of the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in America illegally sneaked across the southern border. But Homeland Security Department officials estimate up to 40% -- or 4.4 million people -- arrived on legal visas and never departed." The immigration reform bill currently mandates a system for tracking visitors who leave the country -- something the U.S. does not now do -- but such a system would not help locate those who overstay their visas.

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a former Marine and several active-duty Marines after they allegedly posted threatening and lewd messages on social media sites that targeted President Obama and a California congresswoman [Jackie Speier (D-Calif.)], according to a government official informed of the investigations."

Paul Krugman's "maudlin memories" of his youthful stay in Portugal ends on a substantive note: "... the European project, the construction of peace, democracy, and prosperity through union, is one of the best things that ever happened to humanity. And that's why the misguided policies that are tearing Europe apart are such a tragedy."

BBC News: "Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has said he is 'perplexed' by the ongoing debate over the company's tax contributions in the UK. Mr Schmidt told the BBC that the company did what was 'legally required' to pay the right amount of taxes.... Mr Schmidt said it was up to the government to change its tax system if it wanted companies to pay more taxes." CW: big corporate executives are right to fault legislators for Swiss-cheesing tax laws with loopholes, but of course it is these very same corporations who bribe lobby lawmakers into writing the loopholes. Nothing too "perplexing" about that, Eric.

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker on what News Corp. knew about the James Rosen subpoenas and when they knew it. Not surprisingly, there are conflicting accounts. ...

... Mr. Holder Regrets. Daniel Klaidman of the Daily Beast on AG Eric Holder's culpability in the Rosen case & how he intends to think about thinking about establishing guidelines that might prevent him from signing off on subpoenas of reporters' correspondence in the future. Bear in mind as you read that Klaidman's source is Eric Holder.

"Sex & the City" Comes to White House. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post stroganoffs Kathryn Ruemmler: "It may say more about Washington than White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler that she's known in the West Wing for her fabulous shoes.... She wears Manolo Blahniks and Christian Louboutins into the Oval Office." CW: yes, indeed. Jack Lew is known for his wingtips & when anyone mentions Jay Carney, his Gucci glasses come first to mind.

** Frank Rich writes a moving & "elliptical" account of an early mentor -- Clayton Coots, a closeted gay man.

Local News

Kelly Heyboer of the Star-Ledger: "Rutgers President Robert Barchi released a statement today backing the university's new athletic director as she faces allegations she verbally and mentally abused players while she was a volleyball coach in the 1990s."

News Ledes

Our Far-Flung Diplomatic Corps. New York Times: "Two staff members of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, were shot and wounded at a strip club there early Tuesday, according to officials. The two men were members of the support staff in the office of the defense attaché, according to a State Department official.... The official said there was no immediate indication of a political motive behind the shootings, which appeared to have occurred after a fight broke out in the club."

The PayPal of the Underworld. New York Times: "The operators of a global currency exchange, [Liberty Reserve,] ran a $6 billion money-laundering operation online, a central hub for criminals trafficking in everything from stolen identities to child pornography, federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday."

The Commentariat -- May 27, 2013

On Memorial Day, Juan Cole remembers conscientious objector Henry David Thoreau.

hollowed: having an indentation or inward curve
hallowed: holy, consecrated, sacred, revered

-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Of Course They Were "Targeted." Nicholas Confessore & Michael Luo of the New York Times: "Representatives of these organizations have cried foul in recent weeks about their treatment by the I.R.S., saying they were among dozens of conservative groups unfairly targeted by the agency, harassed with inappropriate questionnaires and put off for months or years as the agency delayed decisions on their applications. But a close examination of these groups and others reveals an array of election activities that tax experts and former I.R.S. officials said would provide a legitimate basis for flagging them for closer review." ...

     ... CW: congratulations to the Times for finally getting around to the crux of the controversy, something liberal writers have been on top of since the "scandal" broke. Also, good on the editors for making this a front-page story. (Plus, let's not forget the other part of the story: all 3 branches of government contributed to giving IRS functionaries an impossible task, then derogates them for doing the best they can with a mess of the accusers' making.) ...

... T. Steelman of Addicting Information: Fox "News," "the same network that is up in arms over this whole IRS 'scandal,' ..., in July of 2011 ... was on a campaign to have Media Matters' non-profit status revoked." Fox on-air personalities were teaching listeners how to complain to the IRS about Media Matters' tax status & urging them to spam the IRS. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

     ... CW: Fox "News"s attempt to get the IRS to revoke Media Matters' tax-exempt status is not entirely analogous to the current controversy. The IRS reviews of 501(c)(4) applications were not about revoking any group's tax-exempt status, but rather about determining if these organizations should be "pre-cleared" to conceal the names of their donors. AND the IRS was not exclusively flagging right-leaning groups for this "pre-clearance" status. While I don't agree with the Supremes' interpretation that money = speech, even accepting that as a given, the First Amendment does not guarantee anonymous free speech. Nino & the Gang would agree with me on that. So what Fox was doing to Media Matters -- had the IRS bit -- would have had a much more serious direct financial impact on Media Matters than would an IRS review of Tea Party R-Us (c)(4) status.

Thanks to Jeanne B. for the lesson. CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE. It's worth it.

I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says closed for repairs, until New Year's Day next year, and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas. -- Bob Dole, on today's GOP ...

... Bernie Becker of the Hill: "Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) on Sunday sharply criticized both his own party and the Senate he served in for close to three decades. Asked on 'Fox News Sunday' if the Senate was broken, Dole responded that 'it is bent pretty badly.'"

... Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog points out that Dole himself, according to a 1998 New York Times report, masterminded & orchestrated "a form of scorched-earth partisan warfare unprecedented in modern political life." That is to say, the party has simply gone from bad to worse.

Ben Ambruster of Think Progress: Peter King (R-N.Y.) "The House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said on Sunday that he was 'offended' that President Obama considered moral questions about U.S. counterterrorism policy in his major speech on national security last week.... Civilian casualties as the result of drone strikes, lack of transparency in the President's targeted killing program, and indefinite detention without charge or trial and torture-like force-feeding at Guantanamo, these are all issues Obama sought to address in his speech last week and ones Peter King seemingly could [sic.] care less about. In fact, he said 'we should be proud' of U.S. counterterror policy and 'defend what we're doing and stop apologizing for America.'" ...

... CW: I'm not surprised King was upset by Obama's speech. As Jane Mayer of the New Yorker pointed out last week, Obama rejected the cowboy/"might is right" mentality that underlay the Bush administration's foreign policy. Worse than Bush, King has a sickening jingoistic worldview, bashing Muslims at every opportunity, something that Obama also clearly rejects. American foreign policy is supposed to follow moral guidelines -- we used to pride ourselves on that (even when the pride was unjustified) -- but King & his ilk are not ashamed to put raw power before morality. There's little difference between his POV & that of any two-bit despot. He does help explain why the right hates & fears the United Nations -- because its charter is to promote peace & tolerance among all nations, with no special exception for U.S. interests.

Paul Krugman: "... it does look as if there's an Obamacare shock coming: the shock of learning that a public program designed to help a lot of people can, strange to say, end up helping a lot of people -- especially when government officials actually try to make it work." ...

... CW: one possible outcome -- further dividing the country along red state/blue state lines. People in red states will envy/resent the lucky duckies who live in blue states where health insurance is affordable, but that won't make red-staters demand that they get the same deals. Conservatism thrives on existential resentment, so this will just be one more tick on a long list going back to the War of Northern Aggression -- & before. ...

... Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Wall Street investors hungry for advance information on upcoming federal health-care decisions repeatedly held private discussions with Obama administration officials, including a top White House adviser helping to implement the Affordable Care Act. The private conversations show that the increasingly urgent race to acquire 'political intelligence' goes beyond the communications with congressional staffers that have become the focus of heightened scrutiny in recent weeks." ...

... Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: "... even as Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan [of the New York archdiocese] insists that requiring some religiously affiliated employers to pay for contraception services would be an unprecedented, and intolerable, government intrusion on religious liberty, the archdiocese he heads has quietly been paying for such coverage, albeit reluctantly and indirectly, for thousands of its unionized employees for over a decade." CW: somehow the Church manages to tolerate the intolerable when it is in its interest to do so. The fact that unions have been able to muscle the archdiosese into covering women's health needs is another example of why they are important & why the successful efforts to squelch them have been devastating to ordinary Americans.

Phillip O'Connor of the Oklahoman: "President Barack Obama came to Oklahoma on Sunday to comfort grieving families, laud the work of emergency responders and offer assurances that the nation stands ready to assist with recovery from last week's deadly tornadoes."

     ... Video of the President's full remarks is here.

Congressional Races

Politico Sounds the Alarm. James Hohmann of Politico: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) "looked to be a top GOP pickoff target next year after his agonizing seven-month recount and legal battle put him in the Senate in 2009 by a mere 312 votes. Yet, in a turnabout few could've predicted, Franken has yet to draw a Republican opponent.... Franken's success so far fending off a serious challenger speaks to the broader recruitment challenge Republicans face in 2014.... Also of help: Minnesota — genuinely purple a decade ago -- has taken on a more bluish hue. And the state Republican Party is reeling, debt-ridden and seeking to find its way after its Ron Paul-affiliated Senate nominee lost to Sen. Amy Klobuchar by 34 points in November."

Local News

Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post on how North Carolina is becoming a model for an ultra-conservatives agenda because Republicans control both houses & the governorship, thanks in some part to the financial support of multimillionaire Art Pope, whom Gov. Pat McCrory made the state's budget chief.

Three strikes and you're out. A great university with great students and alumni deserve better. From the mishandling of the Rice situation to the Eddie Jordan thing, where they didn't know that he didn't have his degree, to a woman who can't remember that every member of her volleyball team called her to leave. You remember that on your death bed. She should go, too. You can't make this stuff up. -- Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey (D), calling on Rutgers President Richard Barchi to resign ...

... Craig Wolff of the New Jersey Star-Ledger: "Political leaders from across the state reacted with a mix of dismay and astonishment yesterday that Rutgers found itself flush with yet-more controversy after Julie Hermann, the school's athletic director in waiting, had been accused of mental and verbal abuse by former players while she was the volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee.... Gov. Chris Christie told NBC on Sunday morning in Asbury Park that he will 'be asking questions' about Hermann's past and of Rutgers officials."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Designs for many of the nation's most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry."

New York Times: "Divisions among European Union foreign ministers on Monday prevented the renewal of the arms embargo on Syria, raising the possibility of a new flow of weapons to rebels fighting to bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad."

Washington Post: "Hoping to use economic promise as a bridge to a peace deal between Palestinians and Israel, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced an estimated $4 billion economic development proposal for the West Bank on Sunday that he said could cut the 21 percent unemployment rate by two-thirds."

AP: " Washington state plans to install within weeks a temporary fix for an interstate highway bridge that crumpled after being hit by a truck, tossing cars and people into a chilly river but causing only minor injuries. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Sunday that the temporary spans for the Interstate 5 bridge will be installed across the Skagit River by around mid-June, if plans go well." Seattle Times story here.

Reuters: "Heavy fighting raged on Monday around the strategic border town of Qusair, [Syria,] and the capital Damascus, amid renewed reports of chemical weapons attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces."

Reuters: "A gunman randomly firing from his pickup truck killed one person and wounded five, including the sheriff of Concho County, Texas, on Sunday before the suspect was killed in a shootout with law enforcement, officials said. Authorities recovered an assault rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the suspect, who was said to be 23 years old and from North Carolina. The name was withheld pending notification of relatives, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement." ...

     ... Update: " A Texas gunman who killed one person and wounded five others before being shot to death by police was stationed at a North Carolina Marine base, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Monday. The gunman was identified as Esteban Smith, 23, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune...."