Donald Trump is finally faltering? We’ve heard that before: What I’m reading, March 31, 2016

The Horse Race

I comment on Prokop’s article here.

Andrew Prokop, “Donald Trump has collapsed in general election polls,” Vox, March 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/3/31/11336884/donald-trump-polls-winning


Hillary Clinton

It appears that the claimed number of 147 FBI agents[1] was wildly exaggerated.[2] The original story has been corrected.[3]

Elias Isquith, “The Washington Post’s revealing blunder: Their screwup over the FBI’s Hillary probe is a great example of why Americans hate the press,” Salon, March 31, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/03/31/the_washington_posts_revealing_blunder_their_screwup_over_the_fbis_hillary_probe_is_a_great_example_of_why_americans_hate_the_press/


Footnotes

  1. [1]Robert O’Harrow, Jr., “How Clinton’s email scandal took root,” Washington Post, March 27, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
  2. [2]Elias Isquith, “The Washington Post’s revealing blunder: Their screwup over the FBI’s Hillary probe is a great example of why Americans hate the press,” Salon, March 31, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/03/31/the_washington_posts_revealing_blunder_their_screwup_over_the_fbis_hillary_probe_is_a_great_example_of_why_americans_hate_the_press/
  3. [3]Robert O’Harrow, Jr., “How Clinton’s email scandal took root,” Washington Post, March 27, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html

Trump breaks his vow, so do other Republicans, and the New York Times focus is getting really, really strange: What I’m reading, March 30, 2016

It was Bill Keller, former executive editor of the New York Times, who argued against Glenn Greenwald that news reporting should be “objective.” Greenwald, in contrast, argued that, in fact, reporting is always advocacy of one kind or another.[1] Today, with stories by Maggie Haberman, Binyamin Appelbaum, and Eduardo Porter, I think the Times supplies evidence supporting Greenwald’s view.


Donald Trump

Maggie Haberman, at the New York Times, emphasizes Donald Trump’s reneging of his vow to support the eventual Republican nominee.[2] But, in fact, as the Washington Post put in its lede, “[n]one of the three remaining Republican presidential candidates would guarantee Tuesday night that they would support the eventual GOP nominee for president, departing from previous vows to do so and injecting new turmoil into an already tumultuous contest.”[3] So why does the Times focus on Trump? From the URL, it looks like Jose DelReal and Sean Sullivan at the Post might also initially have written their story focusing on Trump. If so, DelReal and Sullivan updated their story,[4] but while Haberman acknowledges that the Ted Cruz and John Kasich also hedged on the previous promise of support, she retains her emphasis on Trump. (The Washington Post story is listed in a following section, dubbed, “The Horse Race.”)

Maggie Haberman, “Donald Trump, Revoking a Vow, Says He Won’t Support Another G.O.P. Nominee,” New York Times, March 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/29/donald-trump-says-he-no-longer-vows-to-support-the-republicaninee/


The Horse Race

I discuss Appelbaum’s article here.

Binyamin Appelbaum, “Simmering for Decades, Anger About Trade Boils Over in ’16 Election,” New York Times, March 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/economy/trade-donald-trump-bernie-sanders.html

Jose A. DelReal and Sean Sullivan, “All three Republican presidential candidates back away from pledge to support eventual nominee,” Washington Post, March 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/29/trump-waffles-on-pledge-to-support-eventual-gopinee/


Hillary Clinton

Ruth Marcus, “Why a no-indictment for Hillary Clinton would still be a problem for America,” Washington Post, March 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-if-clinton-isnt-indicted/2016/03/29/81a1033e-f5d7-11e5-8b23-538270a1ca31_story.html


NAFTA

I discuss Porter’s article here (the same blog post as with Appelbaum’s article above).

Eduardo Porter, “Nafta May Have Saved Many Autoworkers’ Jobs,” New York Times, March 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/economy/nafta-may-have-saved-many-autoworkers-jobs.html


California Voters

Dan Walters does not delve into reasons why poorer and less educated Californians are less likely to vote. He simply argues that if they did vote, the state would lean “farther” left. But the takeaway is, nonetheless, left-leaning poor and less-educated Californians are effectively disenfranchised.[5] We are, of course, not permitted to question the efficacy of voting. But we should be wondering what is going on here.

Dan Walters, “California’s nonvoters lean more to the left,” Sacramento Bee, March 29, 2016, http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article68869657.html


Syria

British Broadcasting Corporation, “Oxfam urges rich nations to take in more Syria refugees,” March 29, 2016, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35913972


Footnotes

  1. [1]Bill Keller, “Is Glenn Greenwald the Future of News?” New York Times, October 27, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/opinion/a-conversation-in-lieu-of-a-column.html
  2. [2]Maggie Haberman, “Donald Trump, Revoking a Vow, Says He Won’t Support Another G.O.P. Nominee,” New York Times, March 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/29/donald-trump-says-he-no-longer-vows-to-support-the-republicaninee/
  3. [3]Jose A. DelReal and Sean Sullivan, “All three Republican presidential candidates back away from pledge to support eventual nominee,” Washington Post, March 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/29/trump-waffles-on-pledge-to-support-eventual-gopinee/
  4. [4]Jose A. DelReal and Sean Sullivan, “All three Republican presidential candidates back away from pledge to support eventual nominee,” Washington Post, March 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/29/trump-waffles-on-pledge-to-support-eventual-gopinee/
  5. [5]Dan Walters, “California’s nonvoters lean more to the left,” Sacramento Bee, March 29, 2016, http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article68869657.html

Not how I want to be proven right: What I’m reading, March 29, 2016

Apple

In a recent blog entry, I wrote, “Either there is a ‘back door’ or other security vulnerability allowing access to what should be secure devices or there isn’t (and very much more often than not, there is).”[1] That parenthetical part? In the case of the iPhone that the FBI wanted access to so badly it sought a court order to compel Apple to help it break in, that parenthetical part was right. But then there was, evidently, a “non-government ‘outside party’ that showed agents how to get past the phone’s security defenses. . . . Apple responded by saying it will continue to increase the security of its products.” And the FBI has dropped the case against Apple.[2]

There are a couple reasons for not being happy with this outcome. First, “[t]he surprise development punctured the temporary perception that Apple’s security might have been good enough to keep consumers’ personal information safe even from the U.S. government.”[3] It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it most definitely is a disappointment. As I was trying to explain with that blog post, whatever we think of the owner of that phone and whatever we think of the FBI, there are other actors who may also find the vulnerability[4] that the FBI has now exploited.

Second, “[t]echnology and civil liberties organizations say they’re concerned the case is far from settled, with some worrying that smaller companies might not have the resources to fight off similar demands.”[5] Yup. It looks like there is a case to be made that the U.S. government’s demand was illegal on its face and that a law Congress passed to prevent this sort of demand was specifically intended to prevent this kind of abuse.[6] But the government will now be free to try again:

A law enforcement official said the FBI would continue to aid its local and state partners with gaining evidence in cases — implying that the method would be shared with them. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly comment.

High on the waiting list for assistance likely is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who told a U.S. House panel earlier this month that he has 205 iPhones his investigators can’t access data from in criminal investigations. Apple is also opposing requests to help extract information from 14 Apple devices in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York.[7]

Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey, “US hacks iPhone, ends legal battle but questions linger,” McClatchy, March 29, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article68750762.html?rh=1


Footnotes

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Absolutely, there is a bug,” Not Housebroken, March 12, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8816
  2. [2]Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey, “US hacks iPhone, ends legal battle but questions linger,” McClatchy, March 29, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article68750762.html?rh=1
  3. [3]Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey, “US hacks iPhone, ends legal battle but questions linger,” McClatchy, March 29, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article68750762.html?rh=1
  4. [4]David Benfell, “Absolutely, there is a bug,” Not Housebroken, March 12, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8816
  5. [5]Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey, “US hacks iPhone, ends legal battle but questions linger,” McClatchy, March 29, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article68750762.html?rh=1
  6. [6]Susan Crawford, “The Law is Clear: The FBI Cannot Make Apple Rewrite its OS,” Backchannel, March 16, 2016, https://backchannel.com/the-law-is-clear-the-fbi-cannot-make-apple-rewrite-its-os-9ae60c3bbc7b
  7. [7]Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey, “US hacks iPhone, ends legal battle but questions linger,” McClatchy, March 29, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article68750762.html?rh=1

At least with Republicans, I know what I’m getting: What I’m reading, March 28, 2016

I’ve previously noted[1] that the Democratic National Committee had the fix in for Hillary Clinton.[2] Now, Michael Sainato pulls together a summation of the case to be made against the Democratic National Committee for having done so.[3] Suffice it to say, it’s even worse than I thought, and bad enough that even the Wall Street Journal notices, excusing the possibility that the Republican Party might steal the nomination from Donald Trump by pointing out that “the Democratic establishment has done far more to rig the nominating process”—in other words, a Republican version of “the other guys are worse”—and sneering that “Democratic elites prefer a nominee who disguises her socialism better than he does.”[4]

Meanwhile, Clinton’s email scandal continues to rumble on with, reportedly, “[o]ne hundred forty-seven FBI agents . . . deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. The FBI has accelerated the investigation because officials want to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election.”[5] Supposedly, “she is not likely to face legal jeopardy”[6] and “chances she will be found criminally liable are low” even though “U.S. law makes it a crime for someone to knowingly or willfully retain classified information, handle it in a grossly negligent manner or to pass it to someone not entitled to see it.”[7] Uh, huh.[8]

Oh, but remember to vote. It really counts.


Hillary Clinton

Robert O’Harrow, Jr., “How Clinton’s email scandal took root,” Washington Post, March 27, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html

Michael Sainato, “The Countless Failings of the DNC,” Observer, March 27, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/03/the-countless-failings-of-the-dnc/

Del Quentin Wilber, “Clinton email probe enters new phase as FBI interviews loom,” Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-clinton-email-probe-20160327-story.html


The Horse Race

Wall Street Journal, “Bernie Sanders Gets No Respect,” March 27, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-gets-no-respect-1459117222


Footnotes

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Two thumbs on two scales,” Not Housebroken, December 19, 2015, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8456; David Benfell, “Updated (again and again and again): Damnation by faint praise: Sanders claims to be more electable than Clinton,” Not Housebroken, March 6, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8802
  2. [2]Ryan Cooper, “Hillary Clinton and the awful risk of winning ugly,” Week, December 21, 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/595141/hillary-clinton-awful-risk-winning-ugly; Christian Drake, “New Information Shows DNC Violated Its Own Rules When It Shut Down Sanders Campaign Data Access,” Addicting Info, December 19, 2015, http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/19/new-information-shows-dnc-violated-its-own-rules-when-it-shut-down-sanders-campaign-data-access/; Jonathan Easley, “Dem rivalry takes nasty turn,” Hill, December 19, 2015, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/263784-dem-rivalry-take-nasty-turn; Ben Kamisar, “Sanders sues Democratic Party,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party; Lauren McCauley, “Thumb on the Scale? DNC Backs Off Bernie But Questions of Neutrality Linger,” Common Dreams, December 19, 2015, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/19/thumb-scale-dnc-backs-bernie-questions-neutrality-linger; Greg Sargent, “The DNC needs to restore Bernie Sanders’ access to voter data — fast,” Washington Post, December 18, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/18/the-dnc-needs-to-restore-bernie-sanders-access-to-voter-data-fast/; Megan R. Wilson, “DNC rolls back restrictions on lobbyist donations,” Hill, February 12, 2016, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/269266-dnc-rolls-back-restrictions-on-lobbyist-donations; Caitlin Yilek, “Ex-Obama adviser: DNC ‘putting finger on scale’ for Hillary,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263792-ex-obama-adviser-on-sanders-scandal-dnc-putting-finger-o
  3. [3]Michael Sainato, “The Countless Failings of the DNC,” Observer, March 27, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/03/the-countless-failings-of-the-dnc/
  4. [4]Wall Street Journal, “Bernie Sanders Gets No Respect,” March 27, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-gets-no-respect-1459117222
  5. [5]Robert O’Harrow, Jr., “How Clinton’s email scandal took root,” Washington Post, March 27, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
  6. [6]Del Quentin Wilber, “Clinton email probe enters new phase as FBI interviews loom,” Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-clinton-email-probe-20160327-story.html
  7. [7]Robert O’Harrow, Jr., “How Clinton’s email scandal took root,” Washington Post, March 27, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
  8. [8]Rachael Bade, “FBI steps up interviews in Clinton email probe,” Politico, November 10, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/hillary-clinton-email-fbi-probe-215630; Rachael Bade and Josh Gerstein, “Hillary Clinton camp: Email ‘thumb drive is secure’,” Politico, July 30, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-email-thumbdrive-security-120833.html; Bill Curry, “This is why Hillary’s losing: The issue Jeb Bush and Donald Trump understand, which may keep Clinton from the White House,” Salon, July 26, 2015, http://www.salon.com/2015/07/26/this_is_why_hillarys_losing_the_issue_jeb_bush_and_donald_trump_understand_which_may_keep_clinton_from_the_white_house/; Ken Dilanian, “Investigators found classified information in Clinton’s email, but what does that mean?,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 31, 2015, http://www.startribune.com/what-s-considered-classified-is-a-judgment-call/320244911/; Josh Gerstein, “Intelligence agencies say 2 Clinton emails were ‘top secret,’ but one is no longer,” Politico, December 15, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/hillary-clinton-emails-top-secret-216802; Josh Gerstein and Nick Gass, “Clinton’s email woes deepen as classified messages pile up,” Politico, September 30, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/hillary-clinton-email-state-department-release-214246; Evan Halper, “Federal investigators want Justice Department probe of Hillary Clinton emails,” Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2015, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-clinton-email-20150724-story.html; Rosalind S. Helderman, Tom Hamburger, and Carol D. Leonnig, “Tech company: No indication that Clinton’s e-mail server was ‘wiped’,” Washington Post, September 13, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tech-company-no-indication-that-clintons-e-mail-server-was-wiped/2015/09/12/10c8ce52-58c6-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html; Mark Hensch, “Poll: Majority believe Clinton lied about emails,” Hill, August 14, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/251192-poll-most-think-clinton-knowingly-lied-about-emails; Annie Karni, “Allies fault Hillary Clinton’s response on emails,” Politico, August 19, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/allies-fault-hillary-clinton-response-on-emails-121509.html; Anita Kumar, Marisa Taylor, and Greg Gordon, “‘Top Secret’ emails found as Clinton probe expands to key aides,” McClatchy, August 11, 2015, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article30714762.html?rh=1; Trevor Timm, “Sorry, Hillary Clinton fans: her email errors are definitely newsworthy,” Guardian, August 1, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/01/hillary-clinton-email-errors-newsworthy; Jonathan Turley, “Clinton: ‘Pretty Clear’ No Emails Were Classified Despite Contrary Findings Of Inspector General,” July 26, 2015, http://jonathanturley.org/2015/07/26/clinton-pretty-clear-no-emails-were-classified-despite-contrary-findings-of-inspector-general/; Jonathan Turley, “The State Department Flags More Than 300 Clinton Emails As Possibly Classified,” August 18, 2015, http://jonathanturley.org/2015/08/18/the-state-department-flags-more-than-300-clinton-emails-as-possibly-classified/

The ‘fix’ for Hillary Clinton is in: What I’m reading, March 27, 2016

The Horse Race

The pattern I’m perceiving is that Bernie Sanders wins moral victories in states with low delegate counts. Where he wins in states with more delegates, he does so by only a small margin. And even if he manages to further reduce Hillary Clinton’s lead in pledged delegates, the superdelegates are the ‘fix’ for Clinton. And one way or another, this ‘fix’ is what the Democratic Party has been about for the last forty years.

I understand Sanders’ decision to run as a Democrat. This is an institutionalized two-party system; winning the Democratic Party nomination truly did offer him his best shot in a situation where third party or independent runs function as ‘spoilers,’ meaning that Sanders would have split the left vote from the not-quite-so-far right vote, easing the path for a Republican candidate. But the Democratic Party establishment was determined to shut Sanders down.[1] And they have.

That’s one reason I object to voting: Participation legitimizes a system the prevents real change,[2] even the very limited and extremely inadequate change that Sanders promises. And our survival as a species depends on real change.[3]

Associated Press, “Sanders’ win in Hawaii caucuses caps a 3-victory day,” Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-sanders-wins-hawaii-20160327-story.html


References

  1. [1]Ryan Cooper, “Hillary Clinton and the awful risk of winning ugly,” Week, December 21, 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/595141/hillary-clinton-awful-risk-winning-ugly; Christian Drake, “New Information Shows DNC Violated Its Own Rules When It Shut Down Sanders Campaign Data Access,” Addicting Info, December 19, 2015, http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/19/new-information-shows-dnc-violated-its-own-rules-when-it-shut-down-sanders-campaign-data-access/; Jonathan Easley, “Dem rivalry takes nasty turn,” Hill, December 19, 2015, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/263784-dem-rivalry-take-nasty-turn; Ben Kamisar, “Sanders sues Democratic Party,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party; Lauren McCauley, “Thumb on the Scale? DNC Backs Off Bernie But Questions of Neutrality Linger,” Common Dreams, December 19, 2015, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/19/thumb-scale-dnc-backs-bernie-questions-neutrality-linger; Greg Sargent, “The DNC needs to restore Bernie Sanders’ access to voter data — fast,” Washington Post, December 18, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/18/the-dnc-needs-to-restore-bernie-sanders-access-to-voter-data-fast/; Megan R. Wilson, “DNC rolls back restrictions on lobbyist donations,” Hill, February 12, 2016, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/269266-dnc-rolls-back-restrictions-on-lobbyist-donations; Caitlin Yilek, “Ex-Obama adviser: DNC ‘putting finger on scale’ for Hillary,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263792-ex-obama-adviser-on-sanders-scandal-dnc-putting-finger-on
  2. [2]David Benfell, “Why I do not vote,” Not Housebroken, February 25, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8743
  3. [3]David Benfell, “‘We have found the enemy, and he is us’ — and our system of social organization,” March 6, 2013, https://parts-unknown.org/drupal7/journal/2013/03/06/we-have-found-enemy-and-he-us-and-our-system-social-organization

The Republican Race Just Got Even More Edifying: What I’m reading, March 25, 2016

The Horses’ Asses Race

Ted Cruz, we are to understand, “has no affiliation with the super PAC” that ran an advertisement on his behalf featuring an old nude photograph of Donald Trump’s wife and, we are further to understand, Cruz “denounced the ad.” In apparent response, Trump “threaten[ed] to ‘spill the beans’ on Mr. Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, who suffered a bout of depression years ago, [and] he retweeted a post from someone who made a side-by-side photo comparison of Mrs. Cruz at an unflattering angle, and Mrs. Trump.” Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. “Calling Mr. Trump a ‘sniveling coward,’ Mr. Cruz told his rival to ‘leave Heidi the hell alone.’”[1]

I couldn’t care less that Melania Trump posed nude and I’m not thrilled that she’s now being slut-shamed for it. I’m equally unthrilled that Heidi Cruz is being shamed for mental illness. Looking ahead, Hillary Clinton clearly needs to prepare a defense for the inevitable and much more substantive attacks on her husband’s record of alleged sexual abuse, assault, and rape; her own treatment of the victims of such crimes; and the benefits she enjoys apparently at the expense of her husband’s victims.[2] But if you’re asking me to believe that Cruz really had nothing to do with that ad with Trump’s wife, sorry, I grew up in the era of ‘plausible deniability,’ these political action committees that support particular candidates but claim no connection to their campaigns appear to me to be expressly set up for ‘plausible deniability,’ and I’m just not buying it. In my estimation, Cruz started this; even if he didn’t start it, he took a risk in accepting the support of this supposedly independent organization; he and they had to know how Trump would respond; and for him to whine when Trump did just what Trump does is just way too rich.

Maggie Haberman, “Arguments Get Personal Between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz,” New York Times, March 25, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/25/arguments-get-personal-between-donald-trump-and-ted-cruz/

Ted Cruz

I suppose it’s inconceivable that Ted Cruz was meeting any of these women, who were apparently depicted “with barely-pixelated headshots” and described well enough as to “[leave] little to D.C. insiders’ imaginations as to who the Enquirer had accused of being Cruz paramours,”[3] on legitimate business.

Asawin Suebsaeng and Betsy Woodruff, “Ted Cruz ‘Affair’ Rumors Peddled by Marco Rubio’s Allies,” Daily Beast, March 25, 2016, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/25/ted-cruz-affair-rumors-peddled-by-marco-rubio-s-allies.html

  1. [1]Maggie Haberman, “Arguments Get Personal Between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz,” New York Times, March 25, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/25/arguments-get-personal-between-donald-trump-and-ted-cruz/
  2. [2]Amy Chozick, “’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women,” New York Times, January 20, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/us/politics/90s-scandals-threaten-to-erode-hillary-clintons-strength-with-women.html; Maureen Dowd, “When Hillary Clinton Killed Feminism,” New York Times, February 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/when-hillary-clinton-killed-feminism.html; Liza Featherstone, “Hillary Clinton’s Faux Feminism,” Truthout, February 28, 2016, http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35006-hillary-clinton-s-faux-feminism; Silpa Kovvali, “Bill, Hillary and the women: Should millennials care about Bill Clinton’s sex scandals?” Salon, January 8, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/01/08/bill_hillary_and_the_women_should_millennials_care_about_bill_clintons_sex_scandals/; Karen Tumulty and Frances Stead Sellers, “For Hillary Clinton, old news or new troubles?” Washington Post, January 6, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-bill-clinton-scandal-machine-revs-up-and-takes-aim-at-his-wife/2016/01/06/a08cf550-b4be-11e5-a76a-0b5145e8679a_story.html
  3. [3]Asawin Suebsaeng and Betsy Woodruff, “Ted Cruz ‘Affair’ Rumors Peddled by Marco Rubio’s Allies,” Daily Beast, March 25, 2016, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/25/ted-cruz-affair-rumors-peddled-by-marco-rubio-s-allies.html

Donald Trump is a caricature, as a caricature: What I’m reading, March 24, 2016

Donald Trump

I’m ill at ease with caricatures. Gillian Brassil’s article takes one caricature (Donald Trump) and compares him with other caricatures. But the time has come to wonder what this guy will really be like as president.

Gillian Brassil, “Donald Trump Tweets Like a Latin American Strongman,” Politico, March 24, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/2016-donald-trump-latin-america-twitter-213759


Unemployment

Matthew Loftus, “Building the Virtuous Neighborhood,” American Conservative, March 23, 2016, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/building-the-virtuous-neighborhood/


Hillary Clinton

Julian Hattem, “Lost emails from Clinton server discovered,” Hill, March 24, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/274230-lost-emails-discovered-from-clintons-server

Round-ups will be next: What I’m reading, March 22, 2016

Surely the terrorists have ‘won’ when the level of political discourse—all of it, from both Republicans and Democrats—is reduced to this level. The lesson we should have learned from India,[1] if not before, is that “terrorism” is caused by colonialism and until we abandon the colonialism that pervades our system of social organization, we will never be done with these attacks. But not one candidate from either major party responds with even an elementary level of understanding.


Ted Cruz

Nolan D. McCaskill and Eliza Collins, “Cruz calls for patrols of Muslim neighborhoods,” Politico, March 22, 2016, http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/ted-cruz-syrian-refugees-221093


TSA

Seung Min Kim, “After Brussels, Democrats to push for tighter airport security in FAA bill,” Politico, March 22, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/faa-airport-security-bill-democrats-221096


Donald Trump

David Edwards, “Donald Trump: ‘I wonder if they’re setting up a little area in Cuba for the Muslim population,’” Raw Story, March 22, 2016, http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/donald-trump-i-wonder-if-theyre-setting-up-a-little-area-in-cuba-for-the-muslim-population/

Bethania Palma Markus, “Trump responds to Brussels attack by insulting the ‘city’ of Belgium — and calling for torture,” Raw Story, March 22, 2016, http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/trump-responds-to-brussels-attack-by-insulting-the-city-of-belgium-and-calling-for-torture/


The Horses’ Asses Race

Julian Hattem, “Brussels attacks roil WH race,” Hill, March 22, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/273891-brussels-attack-roils-white-house-race

  1. [1]Edward W. Said, Culture and Imperialism (New York: Vintage, 1994).

California Community Colleges might keep present accreditor after all: What I’m reading March 21, 2016 (updated)

Updated for stories on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Too Big To Fail

California Community Colleges

Eric Kelderman, “California’s 2-Year Colleges Explore a New Accreditation Model,” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 18, 2016, http://chronicle.com/article/California-s-2-Year-Colleges/235775


House of Representatives

Theodoric Meyer and Elena Schneider, “Trump puts GOP House majority in jeopardy,” Politico, March 21, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-gop-house-majority-jeopardy-221004


Supreme Court

I don’t expect to agree with John Roberts on much. He is a conservative at the pinnacle of a system of injustice that I disagree with profoundly. But having noted that U.S. elections have become contests to see who will be tyrannized by whom, it’s interesting to hear Roberts say, “the [confirmation] process is being used for something other than ensuring the qualifications of the [Supreme Court] nominees.” The politicization he objects to[1] becomes important because as a country, we are no longer even interested in, let alone willing to accommodate the views of our opponents. Instead, our opponents will tyrannize us if they are in power, especially but not exclusively when they can claim a “bipartisan consensus,” as we see, for example, with neoliberalism, which no longer cares about human beings, but instead reduces all value to exchange value and offers no solace whatsoever to the poor or the unemployed. In response, if we have a loud enough voice, we might lay claim to human rights, but we only need do so because we are not otherwise cared about, we need those rights to be enforced, and those rights are meaningless unless they are enforced.[2]

Adam Liptak, “John Roberts Criticized Supreme Court Confirmation Process, Before There Was a Vacancy,” New York Times, March 21, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/us/politics/john-roberts-criticized-supreme-court-confirmation-process-before-there-was-a-vacancy.html


Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton burnished her neoconservative credentials in a speech to AIPAC. For all that, many neoconservatives seem to still find her repulsive and may well support an independent or third party candidacy.

Ted Rall, March 21, 2016
Jerry Holbert, March 21, 2016.

Lauren McCauley, “Critics Aghast at ‘Disgusting Speech’ Clinton Just Gave to AIPAC,” Common Dreams, March 21, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/21/critics-aghast-disgusting-speech-clinton-just-gave-aipac


Donald Trump

Dave Johnson, “Fact-Check This: Arrogance Of Elites Helps Drive The Trump Phenomenon,” Common Dreams, March 22, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/21/fact-check-arrogance-elites-helps-drive-trump-phenomenon


The Economy

Simon Johnson, “The End of Big Banks,” Project Syndicate, February 29, 2016, https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/blockchain-technology-end-big-banks-by-simon-johnson-2016-02

Footnotes

  1. [1]Adam Liptak, “John Roberts Criticized Supreme Court Confirmation Process, Before There Was a Vacancy,” New York Times, March 21, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/us/politics/john-roberts-criticized-supreme-court-confirmation-process-before-there-was-a-vacancy.html
  2. [2]George Kent, Ending Hunger Worldwide (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2011).

The Senate might flip: What I’m reading, March 20, 2016

U.S. Senate

The possibility that Democrats might win both the presidency and control of the Senate in November raises the stakes considerably for Republicans in their effort to obstruct President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. I still think Hillary Clinton cannot win,[1] but if anything is clear, establishment Republicans (functionalist conservatives) are not so confident, in part because even if I’m right, the Republican president might well be authoritarian populist Donald Trump, a “wild card”[2] (who also seems to be drawing paleoconservative support).

Lisa Hagen, “Ten Senate seats most likely to flip in 2016 elections,” Hill, March 20, 2016, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/273631-ten-senate-seats-most-likely-to-flip-in-2016


Same Sex Marriage

Aximill [pseud.], Pope fires Vatican ambassador to U.S. over Kim Davis,” Daily Kos, March 16, 2016, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/03/16/1502183/-Pope-fires-Vatican-ambassador-to-U-S-over-Kim-Davis

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Updated (again and again and again): Damnation by faint praise: Sanders claims to be more electable than Clinton,” Not Housebroken, March 6, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=8529
  2. [2]Alexander Bolton, “Nightmare builds for Senate GOP,” Hill, February 23, 2016, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/270364-nightmare-builds-for-senate-gop; Dylan Matthews, “Merrick Garland’s probably doomed, strategically interesting nomination, explained,” Vox, March 16, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/3/16/11249220/merrick-garland-supreme-court-explained; Eli Stokols, “Sen. Graham: Obama’s Supreme Court pick needs to be a ‘consensus’ choice,” Politico, February 13, 2016, http://www.politico.com/blogs/south-carolina-primary-2016-live-updates-and-results/2016/02/supreme-court-justice-appointment-lindsey-graham-219249