Month: May 2016

Roy Moore does not lack for chutzpah: Daily Bullshit, May 31, 2016 (updated)

benfell

Updated for a story on how voters feel about the major parties.

Same-sex marriage

Just so I’m clear: Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is asking a federal judge for relief from consequences of his attempt to usurp a federal judge’s authority.[1] Okay, then.

Jay Reeves, “Ala. Chief Justice Sues State Agency That Suspended Him For Ethics Charges,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roy-moore-sues-state-agency-ethics-charges

Hillary Clinton

To the extent that one accepts an incrementalist approach, Hillary Clinton’s arguments in response to dramatic Obamacare insurance premium increases[2] are probably decent. Whether they will wash with voters paying hundreds of dollars more is another question. The real problem is that Barack Obama, just as he sought to take care of banks rather than people,[3] sought to take care of health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies rather than people.[4] And now, just as happens whenever politicians adopt a trickle-down approach, the people are getting screwed.

Peter Sullivan, “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem,” Hill, May 30, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem

Harambe the gorilla

The thing that catches my attention about this incident is that the zoo apparently had a gun far closer at hand than someone to consider Harambe’s side of this. The authoritative voices mostly back up the zoo—and they mostly (maybe not the Cincinnati Fire Department) have an interest in advocating for zoos. Witnesses suggest that Harambe’s actions seemed far more ambiguous than the zoo and its backers make it out to be.[5] What doesn’t seem to have happened is that “[w]hen gorilla or other apes have things they shouldn’t have, keepers will negotiate with them, bring food, their favorite treats, pineapple or some kind of fruit that they don’t know and negotiate with them.”[6] And that leads me to suspect that maybe food, fruit, or treats ought to have been at least as close at hand as that gun.

Dylan Matthews’ article is interesting in that it points to the hypocrisy of consuming chicken or eggs. He omits the suffering of cattle in slaughterhouses or of fur-bearing animals in fur farms or of other animals raised and kept for production. He doesn’t touch on the environmental catastrophe of the livestock industry in general.[7] These omissions are curious; mostly, when I see criticisms of meat and animal product consumption, they aim at cattle first.

Mark Curnutte, “Social media turns ugly after zoo episode,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 30, 2016, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/30/social-media-turns-ugly-after-zoo-episode/85145396/

Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat

Tony Norman, “The gorilla had to go. But why keep them?” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 31, 2016, http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/tonyman/2016/05/31/Tony-Norman-The-gorilla-had-to-go-But-why-keep-them/stories/201605310085

Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html

Bernie Sanders

Nika Knight, “Bernie Sanders Slams The New York Times for Ignoring ‘Real Issues,’” Truthdig, May 30, 2016, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/fighting_for_ca_workers_sanders_slams_nyt_for_ignoring_real_issues_20160530

U.S. Senate

Kristina Peterson, “Business Makes Senate Push,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/business-makes-senate-push-1464650851

“Thank you for your service”

The sense I got doing some research towards the end of my Master’s program was that veterans felt omitted from the glory heaped upon World War II veterans and sought some sort of recognition. That’s clearly not the whole story.[8] “However kindhearted that ‘thank you’ is, it’s made without much interest in what they’re thanking you for, which is killing people. And, even if one doesn’t personally do it, you’re part of something where that’s the whole purpose or function of it all.”[9]

Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans

Brexit

Joel Stonington, “UKIP’s Deputy Chair on Brexit: “A huge gamble for both sides,” Deutschewelle, May 31, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/ukips-deputy-chair-on-brexit-a-huge-gamble-for-both-sides/a-19295750?maca=en-newsletter_en_Newsline-2356-html-newsletter

Horse Race

Lauren McCauley, “‘Rigged’ 2016 Election Has Voters Feeling Helpless, Unheard, and Ashamed,” Common Dreams, May 31, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/31/rigged-2016-election-has-voters-feeling-helpless-unheard-and-ashamed

Footnotes

  1. [1]Jay Reeves, “Ala. Chief Justice Sues State Agency That Suspended Him For Ethics Charges,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roy-moore-sues-state-agency-ethics-charges↩
  2. [2]Peter Sullivan, “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem,” Hill, May 30, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem↩
  3. [3]Neil Barofsky, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (New York: Free Press, 2012); David Benfell, “Dickens Redux,” August 3, 2011, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=4279; Silla Brush & Robert Schmidt, “How the Bank Lobby Loosened U.S. Reins on Derivatives,” Bloomberg, September 4, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/how-the-bank-lobby-loosened-u-s-reins-on-derivatives.html; J. Andrew Felkerson, “Bail-out Bombshell: Fed ‘Emergency’ Bank Rescue Totaled $29 Trillion Over Three Years,” Alternet, December 15, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/story/153462/bail-out_bombshell%3A_fed_%22emergency%22_bank_rescue_totaled_%2429_trillion_over_three_years; Henry A. Giroux, “Neoliberalism and the Machinery of Disposability,” Truthout, April 8, 2014, http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/22958-neoliberalism-and-the-machinery-of-disposability; Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, “What Krugman & Stiglitz Can Tell Us,” review of End This Depression Now!, by Paul Krugman, andThe Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, New York Review of Books, September 27, 2012,http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/sep/27/what-krugman-stiglitz-can-tell-us/; Paul Krugman, “The Forgotten Millions,” New York Times, December 6, 2012,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html; Paul Krugman, “Rich Man’s Recovery,” New York Times, September 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/krugman-rich-mans-recovery.html; Paul Krugman, “The Excel Depression,” New York Times, April 18, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/krugman-the-excel-depression.html; Paul Krugman, “The Big Shrug,” New York Times, June 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/opinion/krugman-the-big-shrug.html; Paul Krugman, “Defining Prsoperity Down,” New York Times, July 7, 2013,http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/opinion/krugman-defining-prosperity-down.html; Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, “Getting Away With It,” review of The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery, by Noam Scheiber, Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right, by Thomas Frank, and The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall, New York Review of Books, July 12, 2012, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jul/12/getting-away-it/; Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress,” Bloomberg, November 28, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “Questions From a Bailout Eyewitness,” New York Times, October 13, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/business/sheila-bairs-big-questions-about-bank-bailouts.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “One Safety Net That Needs To Shrink,” New York Times, November 3, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/business/one-safety-net-that-needs-to-shrink.html; Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story, “In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures,” New York Times, April 14, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/business/14prosecute.html; Michael Powell and Andrew Martin, “Foreclosure Aid Fell Short, and Is Fading,” New York Times, March 29, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/30foreclose.html; Robert Scheer, “Obama’s Friends in Low Places,” Truthdig, September 24, 2013,http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_friends_in_low_places_20130924; Yves Smith, “Quelle Surprise! San Francisco Assessor Finds Pervasive Fraud in Foreclosure Exam (and Paul Jackson Defends His Meal Tickets Yet Again),” Naked Capitalism, February 16, 2012, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/quelle-surprise-san-francisco-assessor-finds-pervasive-fraud-in-foreclosure-exam-and-paul-jackson-defends-his-meal-tickets-yet-again.html; Matt Taibbi, “Why Obama’s JOBS Act Couldn’t Suck Worse,” Rolling Stone, April 9, 2012, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/why-obamas-jobs-act-couldnt-suck-worse-20120409; Jim Tankersley, “As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency,” Washington Post, May 20, 2013,http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-rich-gain-optimism-lawmakers-lose-economic-urgency/2013/05/20/0e4104d2-bf09-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Statistical Discrimination Against the Long-Term Unemployed,” Slate, April 23, 2013,http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/23/long_term_unemployed_face_ferocious_statistical_discrimination.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Amy Klobuchar Asks Bernanke a Great Question and the Fed Chairman Has No Good Answer,” Slate, May 22, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/22/klobuchar_asks_the_question_on_the_federal_reserve_and_the_dual_mandate.html↩
  4. [4]Brad Jacobson, “Obama received $20 million from healthcare industry in 2008 campaign,” Raw Story, January 12, 2010, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/01/12/obama-received-20-million-healthcare-industry-money-2008/; Gaius Publius [pseud.], “Obama Got $20 Million from Healthcare Industry in 2008. Was Killing Single-Payer Part of the Deal?” Naked Capitalism, February 5, 2014, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/02/gaius-publius-obama-got-20-million-healthcare-industry-2008-killing-single-payer-part-deal.html↩
  5. [5]Mark Curnutte, “Social media turns ugly after zoo episode,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 30, 2016, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/30/social-media-turns-ugly-after-zoo-episode/85145396/; Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat; Tony Norman, “The gorilla had to go. But why keep them?” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 31, 2016, http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/tonyman/2016/05/31/Tony-Norman-The-gorilla-had-to-go-But-why-keep-them/stories/201605310085; Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html↩
  6. [6]Ian Redmond, quoted in Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html↩
  7. [7]Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat↩
  8. [8]Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans; Rory Fanning, “Thank You for Your Valor, Thank You for Your Service, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You… Still on the Thank-You Tour-of-Duty Circuit, 13 Years Later,” TomDispatch, October 26, 2014, http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175912/tomgram%3A_rory_fanning%2C_why_do_we_keep_thanking_the_troops/; Doug Rawlings, “Don’t Thank Me for My Service,” Toward Freedom, April 17, 2015, http://towardfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3873:don-t-thank-me-for-my-service&catid=29:activism&Itemid=101; Matt Richtel, “Please Don’t Thank Me for My Service,” New York Times, February 21, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html↩
  9. [9]Tim O’Brien, quoted in Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans↩

How can David Cameron possibly hope to win on ‘Brexit’ when his government is on the precipice? Daily Bullshit, May 30, 2016 (updated again)

benfell

Updated for Jake Johnson’s response to Robert Reich’s proposed capitulation to Hillary Clinton and for an Observer article criticizing Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Brexit

Ashley Cowburn’s story corroborates the Guardian story[1] I included in this space yesterday. Suffice it to say, British Prime Minister David Cameron is in real trouble, with his political future staked on the ‘Brexit’ referendum.[2] To the extent that it is possible to reduce British unease with the European Union to economics,[3] it’s reasonable to suggest that European economic policy and the Euro combine to produce economic disaster, with southern European countries suffering mightily for relative northern prosperity.[4] But Britain retained its own separate currency. Some of this also seems to be about immigration;[5] economists rarely acknowledge its effects on working class employment even though it fairly obviously depresses worker leverage in the labor market.[6]

This is not a comfortable topic for me to take up. For one thing, I’m viewing this from afar and frankly haven’t paid as much attention as I would prefer before holding forth. Another issue is my belief that borders support an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality that presumes that human beings on the other side of an arbitrary line are somehow less entitled to human rights and privileges available on the near side,[7] or worse, as would be the probable result of British neoliberal deregulation, fewer rights on the near side than on the far. At the same time, as an anarchist, I oppose any authority, let alone centralized authority.

But Britain without the E.U. is only one level of hierarchy less centralized than it is with. Much of the motivation for ‘Brexit’[8] appears authoritarian populist and, with the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), paleoconservative. These are horribly ugly impulses.

On the other hand, the argument against ‘Brexit’ dismisses worker concerns in favor of so-called ‘free’ trade and is thus classically neoliberal. Ick.

I hate the political arguments being made on both sides. And even though my impulse is to favor decentralization, and thus both Scottish independence[9] and Brexit, I have to weigh whether on balance the E.U. is better than its member governments. In the case of Britain, I think the answer is unequivocally yes—the European move toward open access,[10] for example, demonstrates a recognition too rarely seen in neoliberalism that not all value can be reduced to profit and loss—and I see little hope for improvement in the near future. So my head and heart are not in unison. My heart says yes to Brexit. My head says remain.

Ashley Cowburn, “David Cameron ‘toast within days’ if Britain votes to leave European Union, says Tory MP,” Independent, May 29, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-toast-within-days-if-britain-votes-to-leave-european-union-says-tory-mp-a7054696.html

Open Access

Martin Enserink, “In dramatic statement, European leaders call for ‘immediate’ open access to all scientific papers by 2020,” Science, May 27, 2016, http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/dramatic-statement-european-leaders-call-immediate-open-access-all-scientific-papers

Donald Trump

It’s hard to imagine an independent bid coming together at this even later stage than when it seemed to be failing before[11] and Talking Points Memo now reports that Bill Kristol claims to have recruited a third party candidate.[12] That said, the prospects of a strong Libertarian party bid[13] and an independent run make rubbish of all predictions of the outcome in November.

To some extent, the hoopla appears misguided. My guess right now is that the small neoconservative vote—which matters even less in the electoral college than in the popular vote—will split between Bill Kristol’s independent bid (if it materializes), Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. Purist capitalist libertarians who forced a second ballot on both the Gary Johnson presidential and William Weld vice presidential nominations for the Libertarian Party[14] are also relatively small in number; they also amount to virtually nothing in the electoral college. This whole thing gets traction both among those pushing for a third party or independent bid and among pundits because very few properly understand the divisions within the conservative movement.[15] For example, capitalist libertarians ludicrously think the Tea Party derives from their movement; in fact, the Tea Party is largely authoritarian populist (a separate tendency), much more warlike, and much less socially liberal. Authoritarian populists often resemble neoconservatives but will uniformly despise Hillary Clinton and tend to much more strongly align in favor of “states’ rights” and a smaller federal government. And I think authoritarian populists, paleoconservatives, and probably a plurality of social conservatives have united behind Donald Trump. That, by the way, is the bulk of the Republican base, which is why Donald Trump is looking strong against Hillary Clinton.[16]

What remains to be seen is what happens on the Democratic side, what Independents do, and the extent to which the prophesy of a relatively strong independent and/or third party performance becomes self-fulfilling.

Katherine Krueger, “#NeverTrump Ringleader Bill Kristol: We’ve Got A Third Party Candidate,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-kristol-third-party-candidate

Sophie Tatum, “Trump jabs at Bill Kristol over independent candidate prediction,” CNN, May 30, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/29/politics/bill-kristol-donald-trump-independent-candidate/index.html

Chinese economy

Simon Denyer, “Along the new Silk Road, a city built on sand is a monument to China’s problems,” Washington Post, May 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/along-the-new-silk-road-a-city-built-on-sand-is-a-monument-to-chinas-problems/2016/05/29/982424c0-1d09-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html

Uber

Evan Bush, “All’s still not smooth for Uber after its bumpy ride to Sea-Tac Airport,” Seattle Times, May 28, 2016, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/alls-still-not-smooth-for-uber-after-its-bumpy-ride-to-sea-tac-service/

Horse Race

It’s of course beyond absurd that functionalist conservatives are taking so long to figure out that the financial crisis that began in 2007 and in which elites completely neglected ordinary people but rushed to rescue the financial sector[17] has had a long-lasting impact on voter attitudes. But what I want to call attention to is this passage: “Nominally the economy has been expanding for 6½ years, well above the average for a post-World War II recovery. The economy has added jobs for 74 straight months.”[18] Seib is far from alone in calling attention to the length of this so-called recovery. What’s notable is what he leaves out, the weakness, both in terms of GDP and employment, of this ‘recovery,’ which has never appeared healthy in part, and as Seib does acknowledge, because ordinary people haven’t shared in it.[19] Seib notes “a sense of eroding confidence born of stagnant or declining wages and job insecurity. Just 23% said they expected their income to be higher in the coming year. Almost half of adults said they couldn’t cover an emergency expense costing $400, or would have to cover it by selling something or borrowing money.”[20] As I said, none of this should be a surprise. The pessimism here is longstanding. And it may take a Donald Trump victory in November for functionalist conservatives to realize that this so-called recovery was no way, no how, good enough and that they actually need to do something.

Instead, the other thing to note in that passage is that these downturns are supposed to be normal. Six and a half years, Seib writes, is “well above the average for a post-World War II recovery.”[21] And even though the labor force participation and adult employment rates remain low,[22] he points to “74 straight months” of added jobs.[23] The entire mainstream political establishment expects the rest of us to find this situation acceptable, which is why they failed to expect Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump to do as well as they have. They need to get a clue.

Jake Johnson, “No, I Won’t Work for Hillary Clinton: A Response to Robert Reich,” Common Dreams, May 30, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/30/no-i-wont-work-hillary-clinton-response-robert-reich

Gerald F. Seib, “Economic Scars Help Explain Bizarre 2016 Race,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-scars-help-explain-bizarre-2016-race-1464622309

Hillary Clinton

Given the disclosure at the end of John Schindler’s article, we can assume the Observer is at least somewhat deferential to Donald Trump.[24] But when Donald Trump promises to go after Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server, this looks like the substance behind that attack.

John R. Schindler, “Game Over: EmailGate Just Crippled the Clinton Express,” Observer, May 26, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/05/game-over-emailgate-just-crippled-the-clinton-express/

Existential Comics, May 30, 2016, fair use.

Footnotes

  1. [1]Andrew Sparrow, “Tory MPs escalate party turmoil with open call for Cameron to quit,” Guardian, May 29, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/29/andrew-brigden-conservatives-david-cameron-fractured-eu-debate-election↩
  2. [2]Ashley Cowburn, “David Cameron ‘toast within days’ if Britain votes to leave European Union, says Tory MP,” Independent, May 29, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-toast-within-days-if-britain-votes-to-leave-european-union-says-tory-mp-a7054696.html; Andrew Sparrow, “Tory MPs escalate party turmoil with open call for Cameron to quit,” Guardian, May 29, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/29/andrew-brigden-conservatives-david-cameron-fractured-eu-debate-election↩
  3. [3]Boris Johnson, “Of course our City fat cats love the EU – it’s why they earn so much,” Telegraph, May 15, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/15/of-course-our-city-fat-cats-love-the-eu–its-why-they-earn-so-mu/↩
  4. [4]Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (Oxford, UK: Oxford University, 2013).↩
  5. [5]Boris Johnson, “Of course our City fat cats love the EU – it’s why they earn so much,” Telegraph, May 15, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/15/of-course-our-city-fat-cats-love-the-eu–its-why-they-earn-so-mu/; Jules Johnston, “Boris Johnson compares EU to Nazi superstate,” Politico, May 15, 2016, http://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-compares-eu-to-nazi-superstate-brexit-ukip/; Tim Ross, “Boris Johnson: The EU wants a superstate, just as Hitler did,” Telegraph, May 15, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/14/boris-johnson-the-eu-wants-a-superstate-just-as-hitler-did/↩
  6. [6]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).↩
  7. [7]David Benfell, “Humans Without Borders: A Paradox,” October 15, 2013, https://parts-unknown.org/drupal7/journal/2013/10/15/humans-without-borders-paradox↩
  8. [8]Boris Johnson, “Of course our City fat cats love the EU – it’s why they earn so much,” Telegraph, May 15, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/15/of-course-our-city-fat-cats-love-the-eu–its-why-they-earn-so-mu/; Jules Johnston, “Boris Johnson compares EU to Nazi superstate,” Politico, May 15, 2016, http://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-compares-eu-to-nazi-superstate-brexit-ukip/; Tim Ross, “Boris Johnson: The EU wants a superstate, just as Hitler did,” Telegraph, May 15, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/14/boris-johnson-the-eu-wants-a-superstate-just-as-hitler-did/↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Envying the Scots,” Not Housebroken, September 17, 2014, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=6632↩
  10. [10]Martin Enserink, “In dramatic statement, European leaders call for ‘immediate’ open access to all scientific papers by 2020,” Science, May 27, 2016, ↩
  11. [11]Ed O’Keefe and David Weigel, “Some conservatives are still plotting to stop Trump at the GOP convention,” Washington Post, May 16, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/some-conservatives-are-still-plotting-to-stop-trump-at-the-gop-convention/2016/05/16/117166ee-1954-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html; Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, “Inside the GOP effort to draft an independent candidate to derail Trump,” Washington Post, May 14, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-gop-effort-to-draft-an-independent-candidate-to-derail-trump/2016/05/14/1b04682e-1877-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html; Jonathan Swan, “Third-party effort fizzling out,” Hill, May 13, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279749-third-party-effort-fizzling-out↩
  12. [12]Katherine Krueger, “#NeverTrump Ringleader Bill Kristol: We’ve Got A Third Party Candidate,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-kristol-third-party-candidate↩
  13. [13]Shane Goldmacher, “Can Libertarian nominees Gary Johnson and Bill Weld siphon votes from Trump?” Politico, May 29, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/libertarians-johnson-weld-trump-gary-william-223703; Jessie Hellmann, “Gary Johnson wins Libertarian nomination,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281642-johnson-wins-libertarianination; Jessie Hellmann, “Weld wins Libertarian nomination for VP,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281652-weld-wins-libertarianination-for-vice-president; Dara Lind, “The Libertarian Party tries to seize its Trump-sized opportunity,” Vox, May 24, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/24/11740210/libertarian-party-2016; Byron Tau, “More Americans Consider Third-Party Options,” Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2016, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/24/more-americans-consider-third-party-options/↩
  14. [14]Jessie Hellmann, “Gary Johnson wins Libertarian nomination,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281642-johnson-wins-libertarianination; Jessie Hellmann, “Weld wins Libertarian nomination for VP,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281652-weld-wins-libertarianination-for-vice-president↩
  15. [15]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).↩
  16. [16]Patrick O’Connor, “Hillary Clinton’s Lead Over Donald Trump Narrows,” Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clintons-lead-over-donald-trump-narrows-1463922182; Steven Shepard, “Why Donald Trump’s poll numbers are surging,” Politico, May 20, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-poll-surge-223419; David Sherfinski, “Donald Trump’s assurances, Hillary Clinton antipathy unify Republicans,” Washington Times, May 22, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/22/hillary-clinton-antipathy-unifies-republicans-behi/↩
  17. [17]Neil Barofsky, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (New York: Free Press, 2012); David Benfell, “Dickens Redux,” August 3, 2011, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=4279; Silla Brush & Robert Schmidt, “How the Bank Lobby Loosened U.S. Reins on Derivatives,” Bloomberg, September 4, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/how-the-bank-lobby-loosened-u-s-reins-on-derivatives.html; J. Andrew Felkerson, “Bail-out Bombshell: Fed ‘Emergency’ Bank Rescue Totaled $29 Trillion Over Three Years,” Alternet, December 15, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/story/153462/bail-out_bombshell%3A_fed_%22emergency%22_bank_rescue_totaled_%2429_trillion_over_three_years; Henry A. Giroux, “Neoliberalism and the Machinery of Disposability,” Truthout, April 8, 2014, http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/22958-neoliberalism-and-the-machinery-of-disposability; Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, “What Krugman & Stiglitz Can Tell Us,” review of End This Depression Now!, by Paul Krugman, andThe Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, New York Review of Books, September 27, 2012,http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/sep/27/what-krugman-stiglitz-can-tell-us/; Paul Krugman, “The Forgotten Millions,” New York Times, December 6, 2012,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html; Paul Krugman, “Rich Man’s Recovery,” New York Times, September 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/krugman-rich-mans-recovery.html; Paul Krugman, “The Excel Depression,” New York Times, April 18, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/krugman-the-excel-depression.html; Paul Krugman, “The Big Shrug,” New York Times, June 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/opinion/krugman-the-big-shrug.html; Paul Krugman, “Defining Prsoperity Down,” New York Times, July 7, 2013,http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/opinion/krugman-defining-prosperity-down.html; Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, “Getting Away With It,” review of The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery, by Noam Scheiber, Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right, by Thomas Frank, and The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall, New York Review of Books, July 12, 2012, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jul/12/getting-away-it/; Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress,” Bloomberg, November 28, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “Questions From a Bailout Eyewitness,” New York Times, October 13, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/business/sheila-bairs-big-questions-about-bank-bailouts.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “One Safety Net That Needs To Shrink,” New York Times, November 3, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/business/one-safety-net-that-needs-to-shrink.html; Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story, “In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures,” New York Times, April 14, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/business/14prosecute.html; Michael Powell and Andrew Martin, “Foreclosure Aid Fell Short, and Is Fading,” New York Times, March 29, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/30foreclose.html; Robert Scheer, “Obama’s Friends in Low Places,” Truthdig, September 24, 2013,http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_friends_in_low_places_20130924; Yves Smith, “Quelle Surprise! San Francisco Assessor Finds Pervasive Fraud in Foreclosure Exam (and Paul Jackson Defends His Meal Tickets Yet Again),” Naked Capitalism, February 16, 2012, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/quelle-surprise-san-francisco-assessor-finds-pervasive-fraud-in-foreclosure-exam-and-paul-jackson-defends-his-meal-tickets-yet-again.html; Matt Taibbi, “Why Obama’s JOBS Act Couldn’t Suck Worse,” Rolling Stone, April 9, 2012, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/why-obamas-jobs-act-couldnt-suck-worse-20120409; Jim Tankersley, “As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency,” Washington Post, May 20, 2013,http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-rich-gain-optimism-lawmakers-lose-economic-urgency/2013/05/20/0e4104d2-bf09-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Statistical Discrimination Against the Long-Term Unemployed,” Slate, April 23, 2013,http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/23/long_term_unemployed_face_ferocious_statistical_discrimination.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Amy Klobuchar Asks Bernanke a Great Question and the Fed Chairman Has No Good Answer,” Slate, May 22, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/22/klobuchar_asks_the_question_on_the_federal_reserve_and_the_dual_mandate.html↩
  18. [18]Gerald F. Seib, “Economic Scars Help Explain Bizarre 2016 Race,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-scars-help-explain-bizarre-2016-race-1464622309↩
  19. [19]Maz Ali, “Here’s What The Economy Looked Like Then And Now. By Chart #6, I Was Pulling Out My Hair,” Upworthy, n.d., http://www.upworthy.com/heres-what-the-economy-looked-like-then-and-now-by-chart-6-i-was-pulling-out-my-hair; Binyamin Appelbaum, “As U.S. Growth Lags, Some Press the Fed to Do Still More,” New York Times, February 1, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/business/economy/as-growth-lags-some-press-the-fed-to-do-still-more.html; Binyamin Appelbaum, “In Tepid Wage Growth, a Potent Sign of a Still-Fragile Economy,” New York Times, May 5, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/upshot/in-tepid-wage-growth-a-potent-sign-of-a-far-from-healthy-economy.html; Binyamin Appelbaum, “Measuring Recovery? Count the Employed, Not the Unemployed,” New York Times, June 16, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/upshot/measuring-recovery-count-the-employed-not-the-unemployed.html; Dean Baker, “Don’t believe what you hear about the US economy,” Al Jazeera, January 5, 2015, http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/1/us-economy-growthjobswagesobama.html; Jared Bernstein, “An Economy Stuck in Second Gear,” New York Times, August 2, 2013, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/an-economy-stuck-in-second-gear/; Josh Boak, “5 Cautionary Signs In April’s US Jobs Report,” Talking Points Memo, May 4, 2014, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/jobs-report-5-cautionary-signs; Mike Collins, “Job Creation By Tax Reduction,” Forbes, December 3, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikecollins/2014/12/03/job-creation-by-tax-reduction/; Mike Collins, “Job Reduction By Tax Reduction (Part Two),” Forbes, December 4, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikecollins/2014/12/04/job-reduction-by-tasx-reduction-part-two/; Economic Policy Institute, “The Top 10 Charts of 2014,” December 18, 2014, http://www.epi.org/publication/the-top-10-charts-of-2014/; Larry Elliott, “Revealed: how the wealth gap holds back economic growth,” Guardian, December 8, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/09/revealed-wealth-gap-oecd-report; Paul Krugman, “How to Kill a Recovery,” New York Times, March 3, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/opinion/04krugman.html; Paul Krugman, “1937,” New York Times, June 3, 2012, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/1937-2/; Christopher Matthews, “Long-Term Unemployment: A Weak Link in a Fragile Recovery,” Time, August 20, 2013, http://business.time.com/2013/08/20/long-term-unemployment-a-weak-link-in-a-fragile-recovery/; Matt O’Brien, “Why is the recovery so weak? It’s the austerity, stupid,” Washington Post, October 10, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/10/why-is-the-recovery-so-weak-its-the-austerity-stupid/; Catherine Rampell, “Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds,” New York Times, August 30, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/business/majority-of-new-jobs-pay-low-wages-study-finds.html; Robert Reich, “Why Wages Won’t Rise,” January 13, 2015, http://robertreich.org/post/107998491550; Robert J. Samuelson, “A scarcity of economic growth,” Washington Post, September 13, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-scarcity-of-economic-growth/2015/09/13/0ab7e890-58b2-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html; Nelson D. Schwartz, “Recovery in U.S. Lifting Profits, Not Adding Jobs,” New York Times, March 3, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/business/economy/corporate-profits-soar-as-worker-income-limps.html; Alana Semuels, “The Not-So-Good News About Friday’s Jobs Report,” Atlantic, January 9, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/the-not-so-good-news-about-fridays-jobs-report/384335/; Ben White, “Does Obama deserve credit for the economy?” Politico, January 9, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/does-obama-deserve-credit-for-economy-114107.html; Louis Woodhill, “For More Jobs, We Need Faster Growth,” Forbes, July 6, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiswoodhill/2014/07/06/for-more-jobs-we-need-faster-growth/; Matthew Yglesias, “Why Yellen and Obama shouldn’t celebrate last week’s jobs numbers,” Vox, May 4, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/4/5678060/overreaction-to-good-news-is-the-biggest-risk-to-economic-growth↩
  20. [20]Gerald F. Seib, “Economic Scars Help Explain Bizarre 2016 Race,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-scars-help-explain-bizarre-2016-race-1464622309↩
  21. [21]Gerald F. Seib, “Economic Scars Help Explain Bizarre 2016 Race,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-scars-help-explain-bizarre-2016-race-1464622309↩
  22. [22]Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Household Data, Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age,” n.d., http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm↩
  23. [23]Gerald F. Seib, “Economic Scars Help Explain Bizarre 2016 Race,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-scars-help-explain-bizarre-2016-race-1464622309↩
  24. [24]John R. Schindler, “Game Over: EmailGate Just Crippled the Clinton Express,” Observer, May 26, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/05/game-over-emailgate-just-crippled-the-clinton-express/↩

Prosecutors are supposed to be . . . wait for it . . . impartial: Daily Bullshit, May 29, 2016 (updated again)

benfell

Updated for a Politico analysis on the Libertarian Party prospects, for a Tom Tomorrow comic, and for an article on an increasingly visible split among Britain’s Tories over Brexit.

Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World, May 29, 2016, Facebook, fair use.

Roy Moore

I can’t make this shit up:

“We think it’s an outrageous and brazen appointment to have a former legal director of the SPLC be the prosecutor of a complaint that was filed by the SPLC,” said [Harry Mihet of the Liberty Counsel].[1]

Michael Gryboski, “Roy Moore Is Victim of Political ‘Witch Hunt,’ Says Legal Group,” Christian Post, May 29, 2016, http://www.christianpost.com/news/roy-moore-is-victim-of-political-witch-hunt-says-legal-group-splc-164591/

Hiroshima

Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, “Bombing Hiroshima changed the world, but it didn’t end WWII,” Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-stone-kuznick-hiroshima-obama-20160524-snap-story.html

Libertarian Party

The headline on Shane Goldmacher’s analysis misses the Libertarian Party’s “limited government, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, anti-war, pro-drug legalization message” that may draw votes from both left and right.[2] The socially liberal, anti-war, and pro-drug liberalization parts of that message will appeal to many Bernie Sanders supporters—the very folks that Hillary Clinton must win over and really can’t. So the huge question here, really not addressed in the article, is whom does the Johnson-Weld ticket take more votes from?

Shane Goldmacher, “Can Libertarian nominees Gary Johnson and Bill Weld siphon votes from Trump?” Politico, May 29, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/libertarians-johnson-weld-trump-gary-william-223703

Jessie Hellmann, “Gary Johnson wins Libertarian nomination,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281642-johnson-wins-libertarianination

Jessie Hellmann, “Weld wins Libertarian nomination for VP,” Hill, May 29, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281652-weld-wins-libertarianination-for-vice-president

Brexit

Andrew Sparrow, “Tory MPs escalate party turmoil with open call for Cameron to quit,” Guardian, May 29, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/29/andrew-brigden-conservatives-david-cameron-fractured-eu-debate-election

Footnotes

  1. [1]Michael Gryboski, “Roy Moore Is Victim of Political ‘Witch Hunt,’ Says Legal Group,” Christian Post, May 29, 2016, http://www.christianpost.com/news/roy-moore-is-victim-of-political-witch-hunt-says-legal-group-splc-164591/↩
  2. [2]Shane Goldmacher, “Can Libertarian nominees Gary Johnson and Bill Weld siphon votes from Trump?” Politico, May 29, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/libertarians-johnson-weld-trump-gary-william-223703↩

Hillary Clinton has a headache (sexism in headlines?): Daily Bullshit, May 28, 2016

benfell

My headline today follows from Julian Hattem’s headline, “Clinton email headache is about to get worse,”[1] which probably jumps the gun a bit. And speaking of headlines, those of us who have been noting the decline of copy-editing will notice the comma in “Animosity Toward Hillary Clinton, Fuels Republican Unity.”[2]

Hillary Clinton

Julian Hattem, “Clinton email headache is about to get worse,” Hill, May 28, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/281554-clinton-email-headache-is-about-to-get-worse

Horse Race

Julie Pace and Julie Bykowicz, “Animosity Toward Hillary Clinton, Fuels Republican Unity,” Talking Points Memo, May 28, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gop-uniting-under-banner-never-hillary

Footnotes

  1. [1]Julian Hattem, “Clinton email headache is about to get worse,” Hill, May 28, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/281554-clinton-email-headache-is-about-to-get-worse↩
  2. [2]Julie Pace and Julie Bykowicz, “Animosity Toward Hillary Clinton, Fuels Republican Unity,” Talking Points Memo, May 28, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gop-uniting-under-banner-never-hillary↩

Donald Trump in 2016 or something worse in 2020: Daily Bullshit, May 27, 2016

benfell

Yves Smith writes of Wall Street:

The reality is that an entire, large class of people is not accountable for their actions from the perspective of career performance or legal liability. Yet because they went to the right schools and worked for big brand name institutions, they can pass off failing upwards, or even outright predatory conduct, as the proper workings of a meritocracy. This is a blueprint for widespread delegitimation of authority. And if it does not produce a Trump presidency in 2016, it has high odds of yielding something even worse in 2020.[1]

This echoes some of what Christopher Hayes writes of elites generally.[2] And in reading about the State Department Inspector General’s report on Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server,[3] I am reminded of Neil Barofsky’s explanation of how inspector generals must walk a tightrope: He wrote in essence that their bark must be worse than their bite and that they must not actually draw blood.[4]

What we’re getting to here is a fundamental failing of an authoritarian system of social organization: We accept government at a pretty minimum level to impose order and protect us from each other. But while assuming the worst of our fellow humans generally, we expect to be able to suspend that very distrust with those humans we allow to impose control over us. The question of who will watch the watchers doesn’t get asked nearly often enough or nearly seriously enough. And the result is a system that is a lot better at holding subaltern ‘others’ accountable than it is itself. It is hard to see how it can be any other way.

Wulff & Morgenthaler, WuMo, May 27, 2016, GoComics, fair use.
Tom Toles, May 27, 2016, GoComics, fair use.
Matt Wuerker, May 27, 2016, GoComics, fair use.

Wall Street impunity

Yves Smith, “Wall Street Journal Tallies DoJ and SEC’s Pathetic Record in Tacking Wall Street Crime,” Naked Capitalism, May 27, 2016, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/05/wall-street-journal-tallies-doj-and-secs-pathetic-record-in-tacking-wall-street-crime.html

Hillary Clinton

Michael Knigge, “Hillary Clinton has bigger liabilities than email,” Deutschewelle, May 27, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/hillary-clinton-has-bigger-liabilities-than-email/a-19286958?maca=en-newsletter_en_Newsline-2356-html-newsletter

Horse Race

David S. Bernstein, “How Hillary Loses,” Politico, May 27, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/2016-election-hillary-clinton-campaign-loses-defeated-donald-trump-213924

Steven Shepard, “Democratic insiders give low marks to Wasserman Schultz,” Politico, May 27, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/debbie-wasserman-schultz-democratic-insiders-223631

Donald Trump

Hadas Gold, “National Review’s gut check: Can we tolerate Trump?” Politico, May 27, 2016, http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/05/national-reviews-gut-check-can-we-tolerate-trump-004552

Footnotes

  1. [1]Yves Smith, “Wall Street Journal Tallies DoJ and SEC’s Pathetic Record in Tacking Wall Street Crime,” Naked Capitalism, May 27, 2016, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/05/wall-street-journal-tallies-doj-and-secs-pathetic-record-in-tacking-wall-street-crime.html↩
  2. [2]Christopher Hayes, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy (New York: Crown, 2012).↩
  3. [3]Democracy Now! “‘Significant Security Risks’: State Department Says Clinton Broke Rules Using Private Email Server,” May 26, 2016, http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/26/significant_security_risks_state_department_says; Nadia Prupis, “Government Report on Clinton Email Scandal Much Worse Than Expected,” Common Dreams, May 25, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/25/government-report-clinton-email-scandal-much-worse-expected; Byron Tau, “Watchdog Faults Hillary Clinton’s Email Practices at State Department,” Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/watchdog-faults-hillary-clinton-email-practices-at-state-department-1464188308; Jonathan Turley, “State Department Refutes Key Statements By Clinton On Email Scandal; Finds That She Violated Clear Rules,” May 26, 2016, https://jonathanturley.org/2016/05/26/state-department-refutes-key-statements-by-clinton-on-email-scandal-finds-that-she-knowingly-violated-rules/; Jonathan Turley, “‘The Mystery Emails’: State Department Report References Key Emails That Were Not Previously Turned Over,” May 27, 2016, https://jonathanturley.org/2016/05/27/the-mystery-emails-state-department-report-references-key-emails-that-were-not-previously-turned-over/↩
  4. [4]Neil Barofsky, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (New York: Free Press, 2012).↩

#CrookedHillary Clinton vs. the apparently now inevitable Donald Trump: Daily Bullshit, May 26, 2016 (updated)

benfell

Updated for more from Jonathan Turley on Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Hillary Clinton

I was waiting for Jonathan Turley to check in regarding the State Department Inspector General’s report on Hillary Clinton’s email server. He now has. And he sounds much more like a prosecutor than a defense attorney. Even so, he writes, “The odds still favor Clinton in avoiding criminal charges.”[1]

It should be noted that Rich Lowry, though writing for Politico in one of these articles, is editor of the National Review. I’m not wild about folks on the right making an argument attacking Clinton’s alleged feminist bona fides; it smacks of hypocrisy for such men to write that “Hillary Clinton’s self-image as a feminist champion has always been at odds with her political partnership with a serial womanizer whose electoral career has depended on discrediting and smearing the women with whom he’s had dalliances.”[2] But it’s an argument that complements Maureen Dowd’s takedown of Clinton’s alleged feminism a little over three months ago.[3] And he’s not the first to say that “Hillary was always with the sisterhood, except when one of the sisters piped up about Bill having sex with her or grossly mistreating her, in which case Hillary was with the patriarchy — i.e., her powerful, entitled husband — all the way.”[4] Zoë Heller argued a little over a month ago that with Clinton, “[w]henever feminist principles have been at odds with what is politically expedient, expediency has tended to win the day.”[5] And, for what it’s worth, the National Review has been no friend of Donald Trump.[6]

Michael Scherer, “Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Invited Chinese Donor to Hillary Clinton’s Home,” Time, May 25, 2016, http://time.com/4348675/terry-mcauliffe-hillary-clinton-china-investigation/

Democracy Now! “‘Significant Security Risks’: State Department Says Clinton Broke Rules Using Private Email Server,” May 26, 2016, http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/26/significant_security_risks_state_department_says

Rich Lowry, “Yes, Hillary Was an Enabler,” Politico, May 26, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/yes-hillary-was-an-enabler-213919

Jonathan Turley, “State Department Refutes Key Statements By Clinton On Email Scandal; Finds That She Violated Clear Rules,” May 26, 2016, https://jonathanturley.org/2016/05/26/state-department-refutes-key-statements-by-clinton-on-email-scandal-finds-that-she-knowingly-violated-rules/

Jonathan Turley, “‘The Mystery Emails’: State Department Report References Key Emails That Were Not Previously Turned Over,” May 27, 2016, https://jonathanturley.org/2016/05/27/the-mystery-emails-state-department-report-references-key-emails-that-were-not-previously-turned-over/

Donald Trump

It might be worth remembering that on announcing his bid for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump reportedly paid actors $50 each to bolster his crowds.[7] Also, I am including today an article I dismissed yesterday as yet more National Review denial. Today, I see Charles Murray being cited by a number of folks, which immediately means this is a more important article than I originally judged it to be, and would be so even if I had correctly judged the article on its merits rather than on a cursory scan of the headline. As it turns out, it probably actually is worth the read.

Charles Murray, “Why ‘Hillary Is Even Worse’ Doesn’t Cut It,” National Review, May 25, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435805/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-why-hillary-is-even-worse-doesnt-cut-it

Jesse Byrnes, “Trump clinches GOP nomination,” Hill, May 26, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/281350-ap-trump-clinches-gopination

Footnotes

  1. [1]Jonathan Turley, “State Department Refutes Key Statements By Clinton On Email Scandal; Finds That She Violated Clear Rules,” May 26, 2016, https://jonathanturley.org/2016/05/26/state-department-refutes-key-statements-by-clinton-on-email-scandal-finds-that-she-knowingly-violated-rules/↩
  2. [2]Rich Lowry, “Yes, Hillary Was an Enabler,” Politico, May 26, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/yes-hillary-was-an-enabler-213919↩
  3. [3]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↩
  4. [4]Rich Lowry, “Yes, Hillary Was an Enabler,” Politico, May 26, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/yes-hillary-was-an-enabler-213919↩
  5. [5]Zoë Heller, “Hillary & Women,” review of Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works, by Jay Newton-Small, and My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency, by Doug Henwood, New York Review of Books, April 7, 2016, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/04/07/hillary-women/↩
  6. [6]Conor Friedersdorf, “Standing Athwart History Yelling, ‘Stop Donald Trump!’” Atlantic, January 22, 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/standing-athwart-history-yelling-stop-donald-trump/426504/; National Review, “Against Trump,” January 21, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace↩
  7. [7]Aaron Couch and Emmet McDermott, “Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement,” Hollywood Reporter, June 17, 2015, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161↩

More #BlameBernie or, maybe, #BlameBernieBros: Daily Bullshit, May 25, 2016

benfell

Horse Race

It’s worth remembering that the National Review, whom Jonah Goldberg writes for, very visibly committed itself to defeating Donald Trump.[1] To me, they still seem to be going through stages of grief. That said, Goldberg raises an interesting point when he writes,

As it stands now, it seems almost inconceivable that Sanders could become the Democratic nominee — unless the FBI indicts Hillary Clinton before the convention, or she reveals herself to be some sort of animatronic device sent from the future to bore us to death (which would make her ineligible under the “natural born” clause of the Constitution). The former seems about as plausible as the latter, given that Trump’s nomination makes it even less likely the Feds will risk interfering with the election.[2]

Mastroianni and Hart, B.C., May 25, 2016, GoComics, fair use.

Clare Foran, “Unity Won’t Come Easily for Democrats,” Atlantic, May 24, 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-democratic-party-platform/484067/

William Douglas and David Goldstein, “Will Sanders voters ever ‘Feel the Bern’ for Clinton?” McClatchy, May 24, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article79509052.html?rh=1

Jonah Goldberg, “A Four-Way Race for President Is Possible,” National Review, May 25, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435791/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-four-way-race

Josh Zeitz, “Why Bernie’s Bros Might Go for Trump,” Politico, May 25, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/why-bernies-bros-might-go-for-trump-213915

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s arrogance in seeking the nomination and the Democratic Party’s credulity in crowning her as its nominee with these sorts of clouds hanging over her head are simply breathtaking.

Josh Gerstein, “Hillary’s summer of scandal,” Politico, May 25, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/gop-sees-summer-of-scandal-for-clinton-223536

Nadia Prupis, “Government Report on Clinton Email Scandal Much Worse Than Expected,” Common Dreams, May 25, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/25/government-report-clinton-email-scandal-much-worse-expected

Byron Tau, “Watchdog Faults Hillary Clinton’s Email Practices at State Department,” Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/watchdog-faults-hillary-clinton-email-practices-at-state-department-1464188308

Footnotes

  1. [1]Conor Friedersdorf, “Standing Athwart History Yelling, ‘Stop Donald Trump!'” Atlantic, January 22, 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/standing-athwart-history-yelling-stop-donald-trump/426504/; National Review, “Against Trump,” January 21, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace↩
  2. [2]Jonah Goldberg, “A Four-Way Race for President Is Possible,” National Review, May 25, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435791/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-four-way-race↩

Blame Bernie (or should I make that #BlameBernie?): Daily Bullshit, May 24, 2016

benfell

Horse Race

Folks on the left who decide not to vote for Hillary Clinton can vote for a Green Party candidate, most likely Jill Stein, but possibly Bernie Sanders.[1] Folks on the right who decide not to vote for Donald Trump can vote for Gary Johnson, the probable Libertarian Party candidate,[2] but probably only some capitalist libertarians and neoconservatives are likely to be able to stomach him.

If we view third party candidates as spoilers, Democrats have much more to lose than Republicans. But the real question seems to be how independent voters break and it’s starting to look like Democrats may be focusing too much within the bubble of their own party, failing to reckon on how hard it may be for Clinton to attract Sanders’ voters.[3] There are a lot of Sanders voters[4] and it’s probably safe to say that Clinton will need them to win against Trump.

Patrick O’Connor, “Poll Finds Lack of Enthusiasm for Clinton and Trump,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/poll-finds-lack-of-enthusiasm-for-clinton-and-trump-1464037289

Amie Parnes, “Clinton allies blame Bernie for bad polls,” Hill, May 24, 2016, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/280994-clinton-allies-blame-bernie-for-bad-polls

Steven Shepard, “Bernie’s not-so-secret-weapon,” Politico, May 24, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bernies-not-so-secret-weapon-223492

Byron Tau, “More Americans Consider Third-Party Options,” Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2016, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/24/more-americans-consider-third-party-options/

Hillary Clinton

“Move along now. . . . Nothing to see here,” say unidentified federal officials allegedly briefed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[5]

Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, and Pamela Brown, “Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe under federal investigation for campaign contributions,” CNN, May 24, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/terry-mcauliffe-fbi-doj-federal-investigation-campaign-contributions/index.html

Capitalist libertarians

Dara Lind thinks the Libertarian Party would need to broaden its appeal to have a chance.[6] It could do so, however, only by giving up its base of voters so committed to capitalist libertarian principles that they have been willing to support the party even when it has had no chance. I honestly don’t think that’s in the cards.

Dara Lind, “The Libertarian Party tries to seize its Trump-sized opportunity,” Vox, May 24, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/24/11740210/libertarian-party-2016

Footnotes

  1. [1]Dave Lindorff, “The Push to Make Sanders the Green Party’s Candidate,” Counterpunch, April 29, 2016, http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/29/the-push-to-make-sanders-the-green-partys-candidate/↩
  2. [2]Byron Tau, “More Americans Consider Third-Party Options,” Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2016, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/24/more-americans-consider-third-party-options/↩
  3. [3]Steven Shepard, “Bernie’s not-so-secret-weapon,” Politico, May 24, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bernies-not-so-secret-weapon-223492↩
  4. [4]Nate Silver, “The Hidden Importance Of The Sanders Voter,” FiveThirtyEight, May 19, 2016, http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-hidden-importance-of-the-bernie-sanders-voter/↩
  5. [5]Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, and Pamela Brown, “Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe under federal investigation for campaign contributions,” CNN, May 24, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/terry-mcauliffe-fbi-doj-federal-investigation-campaign-contributions/index.html↩
  6. [6]Dara Lind, “The Libertarian Party tries to seize its Trump-sized opportunity,” Vox, May 24, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/24/11740210/libertarian-party-2016↩

How Donald Trump might lose and how Hillary Clinton might lose: Daily Bullshit, May 23, 2016 (updated)

benfell

Updated for a story on how Donald Trump is unifying the Republican Party.[1]

Horse Race

I’ve been seeing but not archiving a lot of the kind of analysis that attempts to predict the electoral college vote based on (recent) historical votes. Electoral college analyses are obviously important because it’s the electoral college rather than the popular vote that will actually determine the outcome, but Juan Williams’ analysis basically starts from what Mitt Romney and Barack Obama did in 2012.[2] This is not 2012, Donald Trump is not Mitt Romney, and Hillary Clinton isn’t Barack Obama. Of these, Clinton is closest to Obama—and probably closer than a lot of Bernie Sanders’ supporters are prepared to admit—but to treat Trump’s appeal as in any way similar to Romney’s is simply absurd and to treat an election year marked by an extraordinary anti-establishment sentiment as similar to other years or a race between two establishment candidates to one pitting an anti-establishment candidate against an establishment candidate is facially invalid.

The kind of electoral college analysis that will actually mean something will rely on polls of all fifty states rather than relying on history to identify potential swing states or cherry-picked states with large Latino/a populations. This means pulling together a lot of hard work in the way that I think Nate Silver (whose article listed today is on another topic), for example, specializes in, and I simply don’t think that’s been done yet.

For his part, Silver focuses on how Sanders’ voters—many of them independents—might affect the general election[3]:

In the YouGov poll, just 55 percent of Sanders supporters said they’d vote for Clinton over Trump in November. However, only 15 percent said they’d vote for Trump. That leaves 30 percent of Sanders voters who say they are undecided, would vote for a third-party candidate or would sit out the election.[4]

It remains to be seen, of course, just what they’ll actually do. But judging from the reaction to Robert Reich’s Facebook post calling on Sanders’ supporters to “work like hell” for Clinton should she win the nomination, it seems like many might indeed simply sit the election out or vote for Jill Stein, the presumptive Green Party nominee.

Nate Silver, “The Hidden Importance Of The Sanders Voter,” FiveThirtyEight, May 19, 2016, http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-hidden-importance-of-the-bernie-sanders-voter/

Rebecca Savransky, “Trump overtakes Clinton in poll average for first time,” Hill, May 22, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/280848-trump-overtakes-clinton-in-rcp-average

Juan Williams, “Electoral map looks grim for Trump,” Hill, May 23, 2016, http://thehill.com/opinion/juan-williams/280768-juan-williams-electoral-map-looks-grim-for-trump

Star Trek: Axanar

Andrew Liptak, “Paramount’s Lawsuit Against Axanar Productions Star Trek Fan Film is ‘Going Away’ (Updated),” Gizmodo, May 21, 2016, http://io9.gizmodo.com/paramounts-lawsuit-against-axanar-productions-star-trek-1777959978

Donald Trump

Will Hillary Clinton be able to match this with Bernie Sanders’ supporters? I really don’t think so.

David Sherfinski, “Donald Trump’s assurances, Hillary Clinton antipathy unify Republicans,” Washington Times, May 22, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/22/hillary-clinton-antipathy-unifies-republicans-behi/

Footnotes

  1. [1]David Sherfinski, “Donald Trump’s assurances, Hillary Clinton antipathy unify Republicans,” Washington Times, May 22, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/22/hillary-clinton-antipathy-unifies-republicans-behi/↩
  2. [2]Juan Williams, “Electoral map looks grim for Trump,” Hill, May 23, 2016, http://thehill.com/opinion/juan-williams/280768-juan-williams-electoral-map-looks-grim-for-trump↩
  3. [3]Nate Silver, “The Hidden Importance Of The Sanders Voter,” FiveThirtyEight, May 19, 2016, http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-hidden-importance-of-the-bernie-sanders-voter/↩
  4. [4]Nate Silver, “The Hidden Importance Of The Sanders Voter,” FiveThirtyEight, May 19, 2016, http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-hidden-importance-of-the-bernie-sanders-voter/↩

Democrats don’t really want to win the presidency this November: Daily Bullshit, May 22, 2016 (updated)

benfell

I put out the earlier version of this posting too soon. A number of articles have been added.

The Horse Race

Results of two separate polls have been released. Coverage of the Washington Post-ABC News poll is more complete. Bernie Sanders remains by far the stronger candidate against Trump. But Clinton supporters blame him rather than their own candidate’s horrendous weaknesses.[1]

Support for the two candidates as they begin their direct engagement appears tepid. Less than half of those in Clinton’s column say they strongly support her, while a bare majority say they support her “somewhat.” The numbers for Trump are virtually identical. . . .

Among registered voters, Clinton runs away from Trump on such attributes as having the right experience to be president, having the personality and temperament to serve in the Oval Office and having realistic policy proposals. Trump’s strongest calling card is as a change agent. The two are judged more or less evenly on honesty and trustworthiness, on strength of leadership and on keeping the country safe.

On issues, registered voters clearly prefer Trump on taxes and by a narrower margin on international trade. Clinton has a wide lead on issues of importance to women and rates ahead of Trump on dealing with an international crisis and handling international relations, and holds a slight edge on handling immigration. . . .

The poll suggests that Trump has more vulnerabilities than Clinton, but that opposition to the former secretary of state can lead some voters with a mixed to unfavorable view of Trump to support him nonetheless.[2]

The Clinton camp has claimed that Democrats have yet to unify behind her while Trump benefits from a consolidation of Republican support.[3] I’m inclined to accept that argument, but reading these results, I’m feeling somewhat vindicated in my argument that she can’t win.

Dan Balz and Scott Clement, “Poll: Election 2016 shapes up as a contest of negatives,” Washington Post, May 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-election-2016-shapes-up-as-a-contest-of-negatives/2016/05/21/8d4ccfd6-1ed3-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html

Patrick O’Connor, “Hillary Clinton’s Lead Over Donald Trump Narrows,” Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clintons-lead-over-donald-trump-narrows-1463922182

Academia, Liberal Arts, and the Humanities

Aviva Chomsky, “The Battle for the Soul of American Higher Education: Student Protest, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the Rise of the Corporate University,” TomDispatch, May 22, 2016, http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176143/tomgram%3A_aviva_chomsky%2C_will_the_millennial_movement_rebuild_the_ivory_tower_or_be_crushed_by_it/

Right-wing extremists

Kevin Sullivan, “Primed to fight the government,” Washington Post, May 21, 2016, http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/05/21/armed-with-guns-and-constitutions-the-patriot-movement-sees-america-under-threat/

Skepticism

Skepticism is sometimes more ideological than analytic.

John Horgan, “Dear ‘Skeptics,’ Bash Homeopathy and Bigfoot Less, Mammograms and War More,” Scientific American, May 16, 2016, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/dear-skeptics-bash-homeopathy-and-bigfoot-less-mammograms-and-war-more/

Footnotes

  1. [1]Patrick O’Connor, “Hillary Clinton’s Lead Over Donald Trump Narrows,” Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clintons-lead-over-donald-trump-narrows-1463922182↩
  2. [2]Dan Balz and Scott Clement, “Poll: Election 2016 shapes up as a contest of negatives,” Washington Post, May 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-election-2016-shapes-up-as-a-contest-of-negatives/2016/05/21/8d4ccfd6-1ed3-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html↩
  3. [3]Steven Shepard, “Why Donald Trump’s poll numbers are surging,” Politico, May 20, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-poll-surge-223419↩