The Commentariat -- April 21

Krugman writes that the Times' whole comments system has gone down. You can always post on the Off Times Square page. I'll ignore the off-topic rule today. You'll probably want to allude to or link the article you're commenting on. Update: in an e-mail exchange with Karen Garcia, who first alerted me to Krugman's post, I theorized that the Times problem might have to do with Amazon's hosting service going down (see today's Ledes). As Karen discovered, that was the case. From the Times: "The [Amazon] problem also affected some functions of the Web site of The New York Times, including readers’ ability to comment on articles and blog posts."

Digby, writing under her real name, Heather Parton, in The Hill, demonstrates that Congressional Republicans have already decided to raise the debt ceiling. "It’s clear everyone understands the debt limit will be raised. The crazy Republicans aren’t completely crazy (and according to The Washington Post, Wall Street is having a very special chat with those who are).... So the only real question is why the White House and the Democrats are pretending that they need to negotiate at all." CW: Democrats like to lie down and roll over, even though Republicans never stratch their bellies. ...

... So Naturally ... Jake Sherman & Jonathan Allen of Politico: "One day after being named to a presidential task force to negotiate deficit reduction, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor fired off a stark warning to Democrats that the GOP 'will not grant their request for a debt limit increase' without major spending cuts or budget process reforms."

Looking for Tax Revenues in All the Wrong Places. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post makes the case for taxing investment income at a higher rate than ordinary income: "Only bankers and the depraved believe that income from other people’s labor rates a moral discount over income from one’s own labor. The case for taxing capital at a lower rate is economic: that low tax rates on investment spurs more investment, and more jobs, in the American economy. Plainly, that’s no longer the case. The dividends that go to shareholders in America’s major corporations increasingly derive from investments those corporations make overseas."

Ben Bernanke Steps Out. Jon Hilsenrath of the Wall Street Journal: "Next Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will do something no Fed chief has done before: Stand before a room full of journalists after officials conclude a policy meeting and answer questions about the central bank's decisions.... In stepping out now, the chairman has a chance to assert his voice over the Fed's cacophonous internal debates—before any of his colleagues can get to a microphone—and reassure the public that he'll keep inflation under control."

Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "Not since antitrust officials took on Microsoft in the 1990s has the [Department of Justice] taken on this much responsibility enforcing restrictions on some of America’s most dominant companies. Some experts worry that the agency, now reviewing the blockbuster deal between AT&T and T-Mobile, is trying to regulate complex businesses when it should instead be blocking controversial mergers in court."

Gail Collins writes one of her most affecting columns on the Texas fiscal crisis and how the state legislature plans to make it worse by cutting family planning funds. Post your own comment on the Off Times Square page. CW Note: my comment on Collins has the word "sex" in it, so it's been held back. You can read it on the Off Times Square page.

Nicholas Kristof defends his friend Greg Mortenson against charges of misuse of charitable contributions. Post your own comment on the Off Times Square page, which also contains background info on the Mortenson matter.

"Lessons from Bradley Manning's Transfer." Glenn Greenwald: the Bradley Manning detention" episode should be a potent antidote to defeatism, as it provides a template for how issues that would be otherwise ignored can be amplified by independent voices creatively using the democratizing and organizing power of the Internet, and meaningful activism achieved."

Dahlia Lithwick in Slate: "Opponents and supporters of abortion appear to have taken the position that Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land." Although state after state has introduced &/or passed legislation that violates Roe, pro-choice groups are afraid to bring cases through the courts, as they fear Justice Sam Alito will cast a deciding vote to overturn Roe. "The end result is that Roe remains on the books, while for all practical purposes women can't get an abortion in Ohio, North Dakota, or Florida. I suppose you can call it half a loaf, but then, having half a loaf only really works if you are sort of pregnant."

The Washington Post has a retrospective of the work of photographer Chris Hondros, who was killed in Libya Wednesday.

Dana Milbank. "Obama likes Facebook. Facebook likes Obama."

Right Wing World *

Magical Thinking. Andrew Leonard of Salon: Texas Gov. Rick Perry's official solution to the effects of climate change is to pray to God! "He's officially declaring the next three days as 'Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas....' It's almost too classic -- let's ignore all the science that might help prepare us to confront the challenges of the future, and then, when disaster hits, we'll just do a rain dance! It's not like we're, uh, civilized or anything." But Leonard thinks God-fearing Texans should worry that "God is punishing them for their flagrant disregard of the human impact on his (or her) beauteous creation!"

Here's what happens when facts intrude into Right Wing World. Scott Keyes of Think Progress posts this video of Paul Ryan defending tax cuts for the wealthy at a community meeting in Milton, Wisconsin. A man who describes himself as "a lifelong conservative" complains about growing income disparity & says "we're wrong" not to let tax cuts for the wealth expire & not to raise the Social Security cap. The audience boos Ryan's response:

... Jonathan Chait of The New Republic demonstrates why Paul Ryan "and his defenders have to stop insisting that he doesn't propose tax cuts for the rich. He indisputably does so."

I Got Mine, but You Won't Get Yours. Kase Wickman of Raw Story: "Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's most outspoken advocate for cutting and privatizing Social Security, has already benefited from Social Security himself, in the form of survivor benefits he received after his father's untimely death."

CW: I've been avoiding Sarah Palin stories, including the latest brouhaha over the Birth of Trig "Hoax," but this article by Geoffrey Dunn in Business Insider is measured and sensible. Dunn ably backs up his contention that Palin's account(s) of Trig's birth are more troubling than the hoax theory. I don't have any idea who Trig's natural mother is, but there's very little reason to think she is Sarah Palin.

T. W. Farnam of the Washington Post: "Many of the Republican freshmen in the House won election vowing to shake up Washington, so it’s a little surprising that many of them seem to be playing an old Washington game: raising much of their campaign money from corporate political action committees. More than 50 members of the class of 87 GOP freshmen took in more than $50,000 from PACs during the first quarter of 2011, according to new campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Eighteen of the lawmakers took in more than $100,000." CW: "A little surprising?" Hardly. Consistency is the hobgoblin of Right Wing World.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, I published a photo of candidate Barack Obama's certificate of live birth from the State of Hawaii. It was/is WIDELY available online. "As recently as Tuesday night [Michelle Bachmann] called questions about President Obama's birthplace 'legitimate.'" So yesterday morning, George Stephanopoulos showed Bachmann a certified & sealed copy of that same document that the State of Hawaii has made available for at least two-and-a-half years. Watch her reaction:

     ... Okay, George, time to book the Donald. ...

... Steve Benen: "When 47% of Republicans, literally years after the birther garbage was debunked, believe the president was born in another country, it reinforces the notion that there's a deeply ugly strain of madness that runs through Republican politics."

"No Honor among Scoundrels." Jed Lewison of the Daily Kos: Andrew Breitbart complains that Glenn Beck "threw me under the bus" by publishing the unedited Shirley Sherrod tape (which completely exonerated Sherrod & proved Breitbart had edited the tape to falsely make her appear to be a racist) & calling for Breitbart to apologize.

* Where facts occasionaly intrude, with unpleasant results.

The Commentariat -- April 20

** Janny Scott, writing in the New York Times Magazine, profiles Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham.

Jon Cohen & Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "... a new Washington Post-ABC News poll ... finds that Americans prefer to keep Medicare just the way it is. Most also oppose cuts in Medicaid and the defense budget. More than half say they are against small, across-the-board tax increases combined with modest reductions in Medicare and Social Security benefits. Only President Obama’s call to raise tax rates on the wealthiest Americans enjoys solid support." A graphic illustration of the poll results is here. CW: now contrast this with traditional  Republic fear-mongering against raising taxes on the rich, as outlined by Steve Kornacki -- linked below under Right Wing World. ...

... OR, as Ezra Klein reads the number, "84 percent oppose Ryan's Medicare plan." CW: so wiith Republicans planning the destruction of the overwhelmingly popular Medicare program, how could Democrats lose in 2012? Let them show you the ways.

Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times: "U.S. corporations have enjoyed a two-year bull run on Wall Street. They are sitting on a record amount of cash and are back to paying bonuses that are the envy of executives around the world. And the icing on the cake for many of them might be just around the corner: a tax cut that has bipartisan support in Congress. As part of their budget plan passed last week, House Republicans want to cut the corporate tax rate to 25% from 35%. The Obama administration and many Democrats also are looking to slice the current rate, but not as much.... Yet ... U.S. corporations have been paying an increasingly smaller share of federal taxes over the last half-century. Nearly a third of all federal taxes came from corporations in 1952. Last year, they paid just 8.9%..., [thanks to] loopholes, credits and the ability to shelter earnings abroad."

Maureen Dowd must have been traveling lately, as she's just getting around to complaining about TSA pat-downs. The Off Times Square comments page for Dowd is up. (Comments on Brooks, BTW, are excellent.)

Karen Garcia is less than impressed with the Obama Administration's plan to charge pharmaceutical companies with instructing doctors on how to prescribe fewer meds. "Meanwhile, the Administration is 'absolutely committed to legislation that will make prescriber education mandatory,' R. Gil Kerlikowske, the Obama Drug Czar" said. Garcia has a few choice thoughts on Kerlikowske, too. ...

... Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Democrats and Republicans are joining to oppose one of the most important features of President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan, a powerful independent board that could make sweeping cuts in the growth of Medicare spending.... Under the law, spending cuts recommended by the presidentially appointed panel would take effect automatically unless Congress voted to block or change them. In general, federal courts could not review actions to carry out the board’s recommendations." ...

... BUT Sometimes the King Is a Good King. Ken Vogel of Politico: "The Obama administration is considering a number of measures to compel disclosure of the kind of anonymous campaign contributions that helped finance millions of dollars of attack ads against Democrats during the 2010 elections. The White House last week began circulating a draft executive order that would require companies seeking government contracts to disclose contributions – including those that otherwise would have been secret – to groups that air political ads attacking or supporting candidates.... Taken together, the moves represent a broad administrative push to implement reforms that Congress failed to pass last year to blunt the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. FEC in January 2010."

Michael O'Brien of The Hill: "Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip who's negotiating with two other Democrats and three Republicans on a major deficit-reduction plan, broke from more liberal members of his party, who want to safeguard Social Security from any changes. Durbin said he wouldn't be signing on to a 'Sense of the Senate' resolution by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ... saying that benefits should not be cut. And he warned that revisions to the program, such as means-testing benefits for wealthier Americans, could be among the changes suggested by the negotiators."

This list of Congressional participants in President Obama's deficit panel at least gives us some hope that the group won't do anything. What do you think the likelihood is that Democratic leader James Clyburn will find a meeting of the minds with Republican Sen. Jon Kyl?

E. J. Dionne: "The decision by Standard & Poor’s to move U. S. government debt to a negative outlook is really a political intervention by a ratings agency into the country’s debt and deficit debate.... Unfortunately, the GOP took the S&P move as an indication that they are right to want to tie spending cuts to any increase in the debt ceiling. This is a willful misreading.... The real problem is that markets don’t believe Congress will raise taxes enough...."

Mark Bittman of the New York Times: "... when it comes to wrecking our oceans, the accidental BP spill was small compared with the damage we do with intent and ignorance." Bittmann discusses CO2 emissions, which -- among other ills -- lead to "ocean acidification, which might be thought of as oceanic global warming and is a greater catastrophe than any spill to date," and on overfishing.

CW: We know Republicans are always swimming against the tide of change, but here's a stunner from The Economist: "RISING debt and lost output are the common measures of the cost of the financial crisis. But a new global opinion poll shows another, perhaps more serious form of damage: falling public support for capitalism. This is most marked in the country that used to epitomise free enterprise. In 2002, 80% of Americans agreed that the world’s best bet was the free-market system. By 2010 that support had fallen to 59%, only a little above the 54% average for the 25 countries polled. Nominally Communist China is now one of the world’s strongest supporters of capitalism, at 68%, up from 66% in 2002. Brazil scores 68% too. Germany squeaks into top place with 69%." ... So as Paul Ryan, with the backing of most Republicans, touts his Ayn Rand-inspired capitalist manifesto realized in the form of his "Path to Disparity," Americans are increasingly just not that into capitalism.

Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is receiving accolades from the New York Times editors for vetoing the state legislature's birther bill. But Jan Moller of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Louisiana "Gov. Bobby Jindal would sign a bill requiring presidential candidates to provide a copy of their birth certificate to qualify for the Louisiana ballot if it reaches his desk, a spokesman said Monday.

Right Wing World *

Forget History. Steve Kornacki of Salon: today's GOP dire warnings of the economic woes that would rain down upon the nation if the federal government raised taxes on the rich are pretty much word-for-word the same argument they used in 1993 (see video) when President Clinton & the Democratic Congress -- raised taxes on the rich. The results, of course, were the opposite of what Republicans predicted:

... the tentative recovery turned into a full-fledged recovery and economic growth eventually exploded.... What's more, with the higher rates in place thanks to the Clinton budget (and the Bush budget, for that matter), Uncle Sam benefited from an unprecedented infusion of revenue. By 1998, the country was running surpluses and rapidly paying down the debt.... By any measure, the Clinton tax increases had worked -- spectacularly.

"A Contemporary P. T. Barnum." Michael Isikoff, now of NBC News, reports:

     ... Here's a related print item.

The Daily What brings you the Celebrity Endorsement of the Day: "Much sought-after kingmaker Gary Busey has officially thrown the immeasurable weight of his support behind his former boss Donald Trump, in what is undoubtedly a major coup for the potential Presidential candidate":

"Donald Trump Is Running for President of Your Bathroom." John Cook of Gawker: "On April 6, Donald Trump learned that he had come out of nowhere to tie for second place in the GOP nomination race. The next day, he did what any bona fide contender would: He filed a trademark application for a new Trump-branded line of bath salts.... Trump filed to trademark the phrase 'SUCCESS BY TRUMP' for use in selling 'cologne; perfume; fragrances; after-shave lotions; skin moisturizer; shampoo; conditioner; deodorant; soaps for hand, face, and body; body powder; bath oil; bath gel; bath salts; [and] bubble bath.' ... So yeah, he's definitely running for president. Everyone knows the only way to punch through the news cycle and get voter attention these days is through a fragrance line." ...

... Trump Was Against Reagan before He Was For Him. Evidently reconizing that the Cult of Reagan, which includes every voting Republican, would require him to glorify Ronald Reagan, fake presidential candidate Donald Trump suggesed to Sean Hannity that Reagan was his Favorite President Ever. But this evidently wasn't so when Trump was writing his book The Art of the Deal. In the book, Trump compared Reagan unfavorably with Jimmy Carter, whom Trump sometimes chooses as the World President Ever. Judd Legum of Think Progress reports. Here's Trump on Reagan ca. 1987:

Ronald Reagan ... is so smooth and so effective a performer that he completely won over the American people. Only now, nearly seven years later, are people beginning to question whether there's anything behind that smile.

... In Right Wing World, you can pretend you never wrote what your wrote. ...

... Or You Can Just BE Delusional. Dana Milbank: Judge Roy Moore, "who was removed at chief justice of Alabama in 2003 for refusing to remove his stone pillars [carved with the Ten Commandments] from the courthouse," and who came in 4th in a Republican primary for Alabama governor, has formed an exploratory committee for a run for president. His Website proves he's qualified: it includes a facsimile of his Born in the U.S.A. birth certificate.

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg asked Wednesday for a statewide recount -- the first in 22 years -- to check the results in the April 5 state Supreme Court race she lost to Justice David Prosser. That recount will start next week, at taxpayers' expense, the state Government Accountability Board said."

Washington Post: "The United States and its allies have entered a new stage of involvement in Libya, sending assistance and advisers directly to opposition military forces, which have been unable to break Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s stranglehold over much of the country despite help from NATO airstrikes. France and Italy said Wednesday that they would join Britain in dispatching military advisers to assist the inexperienced and disorganized rebel army, primarily in tactics and logistics. President Obama authorized sending $25 million worth of nonlethal equipment, including body armor, tents, uniforms and vehicles."

New York Times: "Tim Hetherington, the conflict photographer who was a director and producer of the film “Restrepo,” was killed in the besieged city of Misurata on Wednesday, and three photographers working beside him were wounded." Story has been updated: "... three photographers working beside him were wounded, one fatally, when they came under fire at the city’s front lines. Chris Hondros of the Getty photo agency died within a few hours of devastating brain trauma. The third photographer, Guy Martin, suffered a severe pelvic wound, according to Andre Liohn, a colleague who was at the triage center where the photographers were rushed by rebels after they were struck." ...

... The News York Times' Lens has a tribute to Hetherington which features his photographic work.

New York Times: "The Syrian government tried to placate protesters with declarations of sweeping reform on Tuesday while also issuing harsh threats of reprisals if demonstrations did not come to an end, as one of the Arab world’s most repressive countries struggled to blunt the most serious challenge to the 40-year rule of the Assad family."

Los Angeles Times: "Misurata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya, has asked that NATO troops be sent to fight alongside the rebels holding off Libyan forces, a local government representative said Tuesday." ...

... New York Times: "Britain’s decision to send experienced military officers to Libya, to advise rebels fighting forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, marks the latest development in the international community’s search for a means to end a bloody military stalemate that has killed hundreds in the contested cities of Misurata and Ajdabiya and left the rebels in only tenuous control of a few major coastal cities."

AP: "Federal officials are expanding a tarmac-delay rule to prohibit airlines from holding passengers on stranded international flights for longer than four hours. The change stems from a late-December debacle in which several planes loaded with international travelers were stuck for up to 10 hours on snowy New York runways."

The New York Times has more on the incident that forced Michelle Obama's plane to abort its landing at Andrews AFB: "... the controllers in the tower at Andrews ultimately ordered the Boeing to 'go around' because they were concerned that the cargo jet [in front of it] would not have time to touch down, decelerate and exit the runway on a taxiway before the passenger plane crossed the runway threshold. That problem occurs dozens of times a day with airliners at civilian airports around the country, according to aviation experts. The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Monday, the F.A.A. said in a statement, adding that 'the aircraft were never in any danger.' The agency did not say in its statement that the problem was controller error."

And more from the Times on the President's meeting yesterday re: immigration law reform: "President Obama told a gathering of business, labor, religious and political leaders at the White House on Tuesday that he remains committed to an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws and wants to try again in the coming months to push Congress to pass a bill. Here's the White House readout of the meeting.

The Commentariat -- April 19

Ben Bradlee & Bob Woodward at the Nixon Library Museum. AP photo.

Barry Goldwater was a tremendously useful source. No one thought that Barry Goldwater would have a friend at The Washington Post, but he was my wife’s mother’s — should I say it? — boyfriend. We saw a lot of Barry Goldwater. -- Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post editor, speaking at the Nixon Library

** "Watergate's Last Chapter." James Hohmann of Politico. "When the museum at Richard Nixon’s library opened in 1990, the only American to resign the presidency was still alive, and his loyalists were still fighting the battles of the early 1970s. The museum’s display on Watergate quoted a book accusing Bob Woodward of 'offering bribes' to get scoops. The library director made his own views plain: 'I don’t think we’d ever open the doors to Bob Woodward. He’s not a responsible journalist.' On Monday evening, the library did indeed open its doors to Woodward and his old boss, former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee.... A crowd of almost 1,000 welcomed Woodward and Bradlee with a standing ovation...."

President Obama tells off Texas newsman Brad Watson of WFAA. Via Michael Scherer of Time:

     ... Too bad President Obama didn't do this with Bill O'Reilly, who during his Super Bowl interview confrontation, interrupted the President 48 times, by this count:

Democrats are already running against Paul Ryan & his nasty budget plan:

CW: This story is firewalled, so the link is useless for nonsubscribers, but the lede is enough. Dave Wessel of the Wall Street Journal: "U.S. multinational corporations, the big brand-name companies that employ a fifth of all American workers, have been hiring abroad while cutting back at home, sharpening the debate over globalization's effect on the U.S. economy. The companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show. That's a big switch from the 1990s, when they added jobs everywhere: 4.4 million in the U.S. and 2.7 million abroad." CW: I guess we'll have to ask GE CEO Jeff Immelt, President Obama's top outside advisor on jobs creation, what to do. Update: thanks to reader Barbara S. who found this link to the full article, which is good for a limited time. ...

... A reader suggests this post from David Sirota on Ikea's "race to the bottom": Ikea opened a plant in Danville, Virginia, to build the same products Ikea makes in its home country of Sweden because the Danville plant pays less than half the minimum wage & benefits paid in Sweden. Don't kid yourself that the U.S. "won" by paying its workers a pittance compared to European standards. "... workers in Danville have lost ground in the overall transaction — just as workers in the rest of America and around the world are losing ground in what has become a destructive wage-cutting race to the bottom." Here's the underlying story by Nathaniel Popper of the Los Angeles Times.

Fracking Joe Nocera of the New York Times has dropped his advocacy for natural gas drilling to get back to something he knows something about: "the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ... is a coddler, a protector, an outright enabler of the [financial] institutions it oversees." Comments are here.

Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "Income for the Obama household continued to slip in 2010, tax returns show, as proceeds from President Obama’s best-selling books tapered off. But just as he has said, his income is easily high enough to make the family eligible for a tax increase under his own deficit-reduction proposals." ...

... Also from Calmes: "Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on May 5 will host the first meeting on deficit reduction with members of Congress since President Obama last week called for a bipartisan group to start negotiating an austerity plan, the White House announced late on Monday. One problem, though: The Republican House and Senate leaders have not named their negotiators and show little inclination to do so. The Democratic leaders were hardly more enthusiastic in announcing their designees over the weekend." ...

... Adam Sorensen of Time: "When political debate grinds to a standstill and all hope for compromise seems lost, there’s nothing quite as cathartic as getting everyone together in a room and… restating irreconcilable differences in front of the cameras. President Obama’s deficit reduction proposal and Paul Ryan’s “Path” are miles apart, and there’s limited enthusiasm on both sides about a yet-to-be-detailed plan from the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Six. But all those parties will likely be represented at a May 5 Blair House summit just announced by the White House."

Jay Newton-Small of Time: "... everyone is still playing politics with the debt ceiling. This shouldn’t be that surprising: we’re months away from a deal and now is the time to draw lines in the sand. But the S&P’s bleak outlook should serve as a warning: The next two months of public negotiations could have real repercussions on the markets." ...

... Brian Beutler of TPM: "... House Democrats are coalescing around the view that the debt limit should be hiked without major concessions to the GOP attached to it.... If House Democrats hold to that position, they'll force House Republicans to pass a debt limit hike with only Republican votes.... There's a high likelihood [Republican Tea Party members] would reach way too far, and be a non-starter in the Senate and with the White House.... [Speaker] Boehner ...knows the debt limit needs to be lifted. He knows that to get a debt limit bill through the Senate, he needs Democratic buy in. And if [Minority Leader] Pelosi and her leadership team keep Democrats aligned, he knows that means ditching just about all the concessions Republicans want."

Bill Saparito of Time: "It's been an interesting couple of days in the place where money and gambling intersects, otherwise known as Wall Street. Over the weekend, the Internet gambling sites PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker got taken down by Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which among other things covers lower Manhattan, where the NYSE lives. On Monday, the stock market got taken down by Standard & Poors.... This is hypocrisy doubled down. The connection between the two events is that Wall Streeters absolutely love poker.... Hasn't Bharara now charged more people (11) for running poker sites that people like and that have harmed few, than he has for causing the financial collapse that has harmed all of us?"

Greg Sargent: Texas Democrats are pushing retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to run for the Senate in 2012. Because of Sanchez' culpability in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, for which "Senate Dems excoriated Sanchez, if Sanchez does enter the race, we could very well see a full and public airing of the Abu Ghraib scandal. Could get very interesting."

David Ingram of the Legal Times: "House Republicans have hired former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement to lead their defense of the ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriage, giving lawmakers the benefit of one of the nation's best-recognized appellate lawyers." ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Speaker John Boehner’s (R) office announced that American taxpayers would pay former Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. Clement, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, is widely viewed as one of nation’s leading appellate attorneys. He is also one of the most expensive."

House-Hunters International. Missed this one. David Sanger & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Obama administration has begun seeking a country, most likely in Africa, that might be willing to provide shelter to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi if he were forced out of Libya, even as a new wave of intelligence reports suggest that no rebel leader has emerged as a credible successor to the Libyan dictator."

NEW. The Tea Party, Finnish Edition. Karl Ritter & Matti Huuhtanen of the AP: "They call themselves the True Finns: down-to-earth, hardworking people who love their country but feel neglected by its political elite. They're tired of bailing out southern Europeans who lived beyond their means. And wary of Somali, Iraqi and other immigrants who are slowly reshaping the homogenous nation of their forefathers — the tenacious Finns who halted the advance of the mighty Red Army during World War II. Overnight they've redrawn the political map of this Nordic country and caused a major headache for European countries negotiating a bailout package for debt-ridden Portugal."

Right Wing World *

A Downside to Constantly Lying to Your Base? -- Donald Trump. Adam Serwer: in the Washington Post: "Trump’s candidacy is largely a problem of the GOP’s own making. It’s a symptom of circumstances Republicans have spent the last two years tacitly cultivating as an asset. Republican leaders have at best refused to tamp down the most outlandish right-wing conspiracy-mongering about the president and at worst have actively enabled it. The result: A substantial portion of their base believes a complete myth about the president’s birth certificate, and Republicans are stuck with a candidate shameless enough to exploit the issue without resorting to the usual euphemisms more respectable Republicans tend to employ when hinting at the president’s supposed cultural otherness." ...

... After running down some of Donald Trump's "qualifications," Gene Robinson says, in view of the lackluster field of Republican presidential candidates, "If he now has decided to take himself seriously, I’m afraid we’re going to have to follow suit."

Susan Page of USA Today: All of the GOP candidates for president are "fatally flawed," & each is trying out different methods of hiding or getting around their "afflictions." "As the Republican presidential field begins to form for 2012, the major contenders have been trying different strategies — apologies, explanations, rebuttals and more — to try to deal with flaws that could be fatal in the eyes of GOP primary voters. (P.S. Luckily, John McCain is ready with some good advice for them.)

Right Wing World's favorite "intellectual" magazine, the National Review, proves one thing: a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Roger Ailes Is Nuts. John Cook & Hamilton Nolan of Gawker: "The small-town newspapers in New York's Hudson Valley that Fox News chief Roger Ailes owns with his wife Elizabeth are in a staff revolt after employees caught Ailes spying on them with News Corp. security goons." The Ailes, who own a large retirement home in the area, bought two local papers which Elizabeth "manages." "Ailes ... has run the papers with the singularly paranoid and abusive management style he brings to all his projects, resulting in the defection of his hand-picked editor and two top reporters earlier this month after Ailes told them he'd had them followed, and their private conversations surveilled, to catch them saying mean things about him. The spying followed years of intense weirdness between the editor and the Aileses, who once asked him to personally stop a break-in at their home and who implied that, after Roger's death, he'd be expected to replace him in their marriage." And the beat goes on.

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

President Obama held a townhall meeting at Northern Virginia Community College this morning:

Washington Post: "A White House plane carrying Michelle Obama came dangerously close to a 200-ton military cargo jet and had to abort its landing at Joint Base Andrews on Monday as the result of an air traffic controller’s mistake, according to federal officials familiar with the incident. Ultimately controllers at Andrews feared the cargo jet would not clear the runway in time, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for their agencies."

New York Times: "Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking classified government documents to the Web site WikiLeaks, will be moved from near-solitary confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico, Va., to another prison under conditions that may be less restrictive.... Last week, a United Nations torture investigator said that he had been denied an unmonitored visit to Private Manning , while Amnesty International has said that his treatment may violate his rights."

Pioneer Press: "More than enough signatures have been collected in an effort to recall Republican Wisconsin state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, organizers announced Monday. Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Graeme Zielinski said a petition will be filed with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Tuesday.... Across the state petitions to recall three other senators — Luther Olsen, R-Ripon; Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac; and Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse —already have been filed with the Government Accountability Board."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The state's top election watchdog agency has satisfied itself that results certified by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus for the April 5 election are consistent with totals reported by municipalities, though 'a few anomalies' were found in a four-day investigation."

The Hill: "Despite long odds against immigration reform, President Obama on Tuesday urged a wide range of activists and officials to keep pushing the issue. The president told the group, which included Rev. Al Sharpton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, that for Congress to act, they will have to put pressure on Capitol Hill."

Los Angeles Times: "At least three people were killed and a large number were arrested early Tuesday after Syrian security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in Homs, the country's third-largest city, said a resident who participated in the demonstration." With horrifying AP video.

AP: "The storms that chugged across the South last week killed at least 44 people in six states, but the worst devastation came over about four hours Saturday in North Carolina.... Statewide, costs will likely be at least in the tens of millions because the weather raged through densely populated cities, trashing homes, businesses and public buildings."

Michelle Obama on White House laundry duty: