The Commentariat -- October 22

I've posted an Open Thread for comments on Off Times Square.

The President's Weekly Address:

     ... The transcript is here. Reuters: "President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a U.S. pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories."

To rid the world of Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and Moammar Qaddafi within six months: if Obama were a Republican, he'd be on Mount Rushmore by now. -- Andrew Sullivan

First the Republicans were about to impeach Obama for intervening in Libya (even though he sent no combat troops there) and then when his strategy works spectacularly they say he didn't do anything. -- Calyban

Glenn Greenwald: we're bringing the troops home from Iraq because the Iraqi government wouldn't let them stay. ...

... Indeed, here's how Ewen MacAskill of the Guardian reports the story: "The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year. Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue. The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran...." CW Note: this is the Guardian's front-page news report, not an opinion piece. The story goes a long way to explain what I couldn't figure out earlier -- why Obama used a Friday afternoon news dump to make his announcement. ...

     ... Update. The New York Times now has this story by Tim Arango & Michael Schmidt: "President Obama’s announcement on Friday that all American troops would leave Iraq by the end of the year was an occasion for celebration for many, but some top American military officials were dismayed by the announcement, seeing it as the president’s putting the best face on a breakdown in tortured negotiations with the Iraqis." ...

... Spencer Ackerman of Wired: "... the fact is America’s military efforts in Iraq aren’t coming to an end. They are instead entering a new phase. On January 1, 2012, the State Department will command a hired army of about 5,500 security contractors, all to protect the largest U.S. diplomatic presence anywhere overseas. The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security does not have a promising record when it comes to managing its mercenaries.... You can also expect that there will be a shadow presence by the CIA, and possibly the Joint Special Operations Command...."

Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "... conservatives and Tea Party activists have rushed to discredit the comparison [between the Tea Party & Occupy Wall Street]. They have portrayed the Occupy protesters as messy, indolent, drug-addled and anti-Semitic, circulated a photo of one of them defecating on a police car.... While Occupy forces find fault in the banks and super-rich, the Tea Party movement blames the government for the economic calamity brought on by the mortgage crisis, and sees the wealthy as job creators who will lift the country out of its economic malaise. To them, the solution is less regulation of banks, not more." CW: oligarchs on the right have a deeply-vested interest in creating a division between Tea Party & OWS protesters. It is not surprising that they, and Tea Party leaders with an interest in maintaining their own power, will make huge efforts to sever the natural ties between the two movements.

Risa Goluboff & Dahlia Lithwick in Slate: "... a look at the history of voting rights in this country shows that the current state efforts to suppress minority voting — from erecting barriers to registration and early voting to voter ID laws — look an awful lot like methods pioneered by the white supremacists from another era that achieved the similar results.... The reasons [given] for introducing all of these new rules echo the pretextual rationales of the Jim Crow era.... The underlying goal of these restrictions is also unchanged: to shape an electorate that will vote for particular kinds of politicians."

Jared Bernstein: "The whole tax reform thing is really overplayed. Yes, there are gross complexities and inefficiencies in the current system — and btw, such complications can easily be replicated in any other system, including a flat tax. Our best move would be to simplify our current system — get rid of loopholes (e.g., deferral of foreign earnings), distortions (favoring of debt financing, special rates for unearned income, some of the large tax expenditures like the mortgage interest deduction), and we’d be fine. Remember, our biggest problem is pretax–jobs, income, wages, inequality. And despite rhetoric to the contrary, we can’t solve that through tax reform (though with plans like 9-9-9, we can make it worse)." YOu can watch the Kudlow segment at the linked site; only Bernstein is worth hearing.

Alex Massie of the (UK) Spectator: how weak is the field of Republican presidential candidates? Not much worse than either the Republican or Democratic fields in earlier years.

CW: I haven't been following the Fisker "scandal," but if you have, here's the lowdown from David Roberts of Grist: "ABC News and iWatch have a big new report out that desperately tries to lend an air of scandal to another Department of Energy loan guarantee. It's a remarkable package, nearly 3,000 words and three ABC News segments full of handwaving and innuendo suggesting that there's something shady going on, using the word 'Solyndra' as often as possible, but in the end there's ... nothing. Not a single bit of evidence of wrongdoing or corruption.... It just describes the loan program working exactly as it was intended to, but in a tone of dark insinuation." Roberts backs up his contention.

CW: look for the right-wing media to be pumping out more stories like this one from Rupert Murdoch's New York Post: "A married mother of four from Florida ditched her family to become part of the raggedy mob in Zuccotti Park -- keeping the park clean by day and keeping herself warm at night with the help of a young waiter from Brooklyn.... Ironically, [she] is married to a banker!" Iin case you missed the subtlety here, the Post wants you to know: OWS protesters are depraved!

CW: There's are aspects of the climate change study linked in yesterday's Ledes that I missed: per Brad Plumer of the Washington Post, the study -- which used a massive database & which confirms global warming -- was conducted by climate change skeptics. Oh, and funded in part by our good friends & industrial polluting Koch brothers!

Jon Stewart reacts to the death of Muammar Gaddafi -- and at about 6:20 min. in, to the right wing's response to the news:

Right Wing World

Does Eric Cantor Ever Tell the Truth? About Anything? Judd Legum of Think Progress: "Today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) abruptly canceled his speech on income inequality scheduled for this afternoon at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Cantor placed the blame squarely on the university, saying they changed the attendance policy at the last minute.... In a statement just released by the university, the school disputes Cantor’s explanation, saying the speech was always billed as 'open to the general public.'”

What If There's a Mutiny... Reuters: "Staff members in New Hampshire for Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann have resigned en masse, a Republican familiar with the situation said on Friday, in a fresh blow to her 2012 hopes." ...

... But the Captain Doesn't Notice? Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: Later, Bachmann says in a radio interview it's news to her. 

It Depends on What the Meaning of "Exile" Is. Oh, and What the Meaning of "Follow" Is. Steve Benen: "Throughout the day, [Sen. Marco Rubio's {R-Fla.}] office has been engaged in some pretty aggressive pushback [links that follow are to cited works], publishing a piece in Politico, circulating a Miami Herald article in which he recently told his parents’ story accurately, and generally putting a spin on the word 'exile.' But for all of his righteous indignation, Rubio’s personal bio still includes this claim:

In 1971, Marco was born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover.

     ... That’s just not true. 1956 does not 'follow' 1959. It’d be easy for the senator and his office to fix this. When Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) got caught plagiarizing on his website, the senator blamed it on a staff error and took down the content. Notice, however, that Marco Rubio refuses to do back down...."

Steve Kornacki of Salon: Marco Rubio has bigger problems than making misstatements about his parents' immigration. If he was sloppy about his family history, he's been even sloppier about keeping track of campaign money & party credit card expenses. "This is the sort of stuff that could raise serious red flags during the V.P. vetting process. And you’ve got to imagine that after the Palin experience of 2008, the next GOP nominee will be a little more careful."

Philip Elliott & Shannon McCaffrey of the AP: "After captivating Republicans hungry for an alternative to Mitt Romney, [Herman Cain] has made a series of stumbles that have left some questioning if he's ready for the White House." CW: Some??? 

Former House Speaker & Future President Gingrich Would Smack Down Those Supremes. Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: "Newt Gingrich has expressed many reckless ideas in his long public life. Here is the latest: He wants Congress to subpoena federal judges whose decisions it disagrees with so that legislative committee members can hector those judges in public for 'dictating' the law to the American people. This, Gingrich concludes, would 're-balance' the Constitution in a way that he thinks is appropriate." This, of course, is "unconstitutional under any reasonable interpretation of the document or its subsequent precedent." ...

... Kevin Burke, President of the American Judges Association: in his "campaign manifesto..., Gingrich calls for using 'the clearly delineated powers available to the president and Congress to correct, limit or replace judges who violate the Constitution.' In support of his platform, Gingrich said that 'President Thomas Jefferson abolished over half the federal judgeships.'" Noting that Gingrich is an historian who should have got his history right, Burke delves into what Jefferson did & why -- and why Jefferson was unsuccessful in his attempt to politicize the Supreme Court. "By rebelling against Jefferson's wishes, the Senate sent a message that the independence of the judiciary was not open to political manipulation. Political manipulation seems to be a central tenant of Gingrich's present views on the judiciary, and that is where his fidelity to history and facts fall short." Thanks to a reader for the link.

News Ledes

AP: "Iraq's prime minister said Saturday that U.S. troops are leaving Iraq after nearly nine years of war because Baghdad rejected American demands that any U.S. military forces to stay would have to be shielded from prosecution or lawsuits. The comments by Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, made clear that it was Iraq who refused to let the U.S. military remain under the Americans' terms."

** AP: "The government's promise of lifetime health care for the military's men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness — unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — to make military retirees pay more for coverage." CW Translation: now that we don't need so many people to lay down their lives fighting wars we authorized, we think we can get away with making enlistment a little less attractive. Oh, and those of you who signed up thinking you'd have healthcare for life -- Suckers!

Haircut. AP: "The eurozone's 17 finance ministers have agreed that banks must accept substantially bigger losses on their Greek bonds, and a new report suggests that writedowns of up to 60 percent may be necessary." Related New York Times story here. ...

     ... AP Update: "EU finance ministers neared agreement Saturday on forcing banks to raise just over euro100 billion ($140 billion) to make sure they have enough reserves to weather further losses on their Greek debt holdings and market turmoil...."

Reuters: "Muammar Gaddafi's body lay still unburied as Libya's new men of power wrangled over its fate and a formal announcement the war was over, a move the outgoing premier said on Saturday should mean free elections in the middle of next year. Mahmoud Jibril, an expatriate academic who has been prime minister in the Western-backed rebel government, confirmed he was stepping down...." ...

... New York Times: "International calls mounted Friday for Libya’s interim leaders to provide a fuller accounting of the final moments before Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s violent, messy death, as new videos circulated that showed him and his son Muatassim alive, apparently while in the custody of the former rebels."

AP: "Democrats and Republicans are in rare accord on one thing: Growers with million-dollar incomes shouldn't reap farm subsidies. Eighty-four senators voted Friday to discontinue certain farm subsidies for people who make more than a million dollars in adjusted gross income. The vote represents a sea change in how the heavily rural Senate views farm support." CW: I read several versions of this story, & none tells where this amendment stands in the House, which is to say, I guess the House hasn't considered it. If the deficit supercommittee rewrites the farm subsidy laws, this vote may be moot anyway.

AP: Ninety-two-year-old "folk music legend Pete Seeger joined in the Occupy Wall Street protest Friday night, replacing his banjo with two canes as he marched with throngs of people in New York City's tony Upper West Side past banks and shiny department stores."

AP: "Nevada Republicans are debating whether to bow to national pressure and delay the state's presidential nomination contest. More than 200 of the party's top volunteers and leaders are scheduled to meet Saturday in Las Vegas to decide when Nevada's caucuses should be held."

The Commentariat -- October 21

This just in: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) cancelled his speech on income inequality scheduled to be held this morning at the University of Pennsylvania when he learned the University would allow poor people to attend. -- Reality Chex -- Where We Occasionally OutFox Fox

** "The Austerity Class Rules Washington." Ari Berman of The Nation: "... how, in the midst of a massive unemployment crisis ... did the deficit emerge as the most pressing issue in the country? And why, when the global evidence clearly indicates that austerity measures will raise unemployment and hinder, not accelerate, growth, do advocates of austerity retain such distinction today? An explanation can be found in the prominence of an influential and aggressive austerity class — an allegedly centrist coalition of politicians, wonks and pundits... [some of whom get massive funding from right-wing benefactors]. ...

... I keep thinking he’s a few weeks away from proposing serious tax reform and entitlement reform. But each time he gets close, he rips the football away. -- David Brooks, Prince of Austerity, on President Obama ...

... Right now, front-loaded deficit reduction would be a disaster. But a commitment to future deficit reduction, if it’s out of tune with the economic recovery, as Bowles-Simpson was, would also be a disaster. Even if it happens in the future, it could have an adverse effect today. People will say, If I’m going to be poorer in the future, I’m going to have to put more money away today. -- Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics

Zaid Jilani of Think Progress posts two charts, the second of which is a testament to the effectiveness of Occupy Wall Street. "A ThinkProgress review of the media coverage of the last week of July found that the word 'debt' was mentioned more than 7,000 times on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News, and 'unemployed'' was only mentioned 75 times":

     ... BUT here's what the sam news channels were talking about the week of October 10-16. Look at the Top 4:

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "Despite the best efforts of trained pundits..., Americans seem remarkably unperturbed by the menace of Occupy Wall Street. In fact, the majority supports the protesters. According to a National Journal poll, 59 percent of Americans agree with Occupy Wall Street, while 31 percent disagree — a level of support comparable to that found by a Time magazine survey last week. The Post’s Greg Sargent has thoughtfully broken down the data and found that the group that should resent the occupiers most — working-class whites — doesn’t resent them any more than anyone else does.... Occupy Wall Street ... is channeling ire — our ire — where ire should go: toward the banks that have fostered and profited from America’s decline." Thanks to Janice K. for the link. ...

... Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post: "The Occupy Wall Street protests that began as a nebulous mix of social and economic grievances are becoming more politically organized — with help from some of the country’s largest labor unions. Labor groups are mobilizing to provide office space, meeting rooms, photocopying services, legal help, food and other necessities to the protesters. The support is lending some institutional heft to a movement that has prided itself on its freewheeling, non-institutional character. And in return, Occupy activists are pitching in to help unions ratchet up action against several New York firms involved in labor disputes with workers." ...

Photos via NBC News.... "'Tax Me, I'm Good for It': Rich Join Occupy Protest. Miranda Leitsinger of NBC News: "United under the banner 'We are the 1 percent: We stand with the 99 percent,' a band of entrepreneurs, trust fund babies, professionals and inheritors has taken to the web to share their abhorrence of corporate greed and support for tax code changes that would see them pay a higher share of their considerable wealth. Among other things, they’re posting their stories on a Tumblr page created by Wealth for the Common Good and Resource Generation, two groups dedicated to working for 'fair taxation and just wealth distribution.'" ...

... Robert Reich: the GOP presidential debates are giving Republicans a lot of free air time to tout their regressive programs while "the President’s answers don’t nearly match up to the magnitude of the crisis.... The nation needs a real jobs plan, one of sufficient size and scope to do the job – including a WPA and a Civilian Conservation Corps, to put the millions of long-term unemployed and young unemployed to work rebuilding America." Reich presents a laundry list of progressive policy initiatives that would put the U.S. back to work & reduce income inequality. "If Americans stand together and demand real reform, we can have a real national debate in 2012."

CW: if you're wondering why "moderate" Republicans would vote against jobs legislation that would help most of their constituents & would be paid for by a small "millionaires' surtax," Jonathan Foser of Political Correction has one answer: Olympia "Snowe's [R-Maine] vote against a jobs bill that would greatly help Maine simply because it would raise taxes on about 375 of the state's richest residents doesn't make much sense — but it's certainly easier to understand if Snowe and her husband are among those fortunate few."

Right Wing World

Gee, here's Marco Rubio, signing election documents qualifying him to run for the U.S. Senate. Seated next to him is his father Mario Rubio, the supposed "exile" from the horrors of Castro's Cuba. The Post story suggests Sen. Rubio fingered his parents for making up the story of their forced immigration. Right.U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tells a compelling story of his family's immigration to the U.S. from revolution-torn Cuba. Trouble is, it isn't true. Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post: "He was the 'son of exiles,' he told audiences, Cuban Americans forced off their beloved island after 'a thug,' Fidel Castro, took power. But ... documents show that Rubio’s parents came to the United States and were admitted for permanent residence more than 2-1/2 years before Castro’s forces overthrew the Cuban government and took power on New Year’s Day 1959. The supposed flight of Rubio’s parents has been at the core of the young senator’s political identity, both before and after his stunning, tea-party-propelled victory in last year’s race for the U.S. Senate. Rubio — now considered a prospective 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee and a possible future presidential candidate — mentions his parents in the second sentence of the official biography on his Senate Web site. It says Mario and Oriales Rubio 'came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover.'"

Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "... Rick Perry and Mitt Romney both refused to even mention [President] Obama's name in their statements on Libya. And rising GOP star Marco Rubio made the conservative party line even more explicit: 'Let's give credit where credit is due: it's the French and the British that led in this fight, and probably even led on the strike that led to Gadhafi's capture, and, or, you know, to his death.' And Obama? Well, he didn't do enough and took too long to do it etc. etc.... What the hell is their problem? Obama has escalated our presence dramatically in Afghanistan; he created a massive drone air force that's all but wiped out al-Qaeda in Pakistan; he killed Osama bin Laden; he approved a multilateral military operation in Libya that ended up killing Muammar Qaddafi; he sent a SEAL team out to kill Somali pirates; he assassinates U.S. citizens in foreign countries who are associated with al-Qaeda; and he's done more to isolate and sanction Iran than George Bush ever did. Crikey. Just how bloodthirsty do they want the guy to be?

Flip-Flop-Flip-Flop-Flip. Jake Tapper of ABC News: "The one consistency [in Mitt Romney's positions on US involvement in the NATO mission is Libya] has been criticism of President Obama. But beyond that, he’s seemed a bit all over the Libyan map." Tapper lists five evolving positions Romney has taken since March, the last being similar to the first. ...

... ** Jed Lewison of Daily Kos, who is a master at capturing Republicans on tape, follows the Flip-Flop King on health care:

... Back when Mitt Romney was an environmentalist:

     ... But that Mitt Romney, as Paul Krugman points out, "has been replaced by a Republican pod person. Or maybe he never existed — as the YouTube caption points out, this was in 2003, and those stiffer regulations never materialized."

Lauri Apple of Gawker: Tea Party Nation, one of the major tea party organizations, is urging small businesses to pledge not to hire workers "until Obama's 'war' against their businesses and their country ends.... [The] main point is that Obama and the 'Democrat-controlled Senate' are a bunch of traitors who have joined up with Occupy Wall Street/a global socialist movement and various unnamed Hollywood celebrities to achieve the redistribution of wealth.... Stop socialism by stopping capitalism. Makes total sense. I dare you to come up with a better idea." CW: so with millions out of work, it would be a good idea if we artificially put millions more out of work. Reader Jeanne B., who sent me the link, would like to hear what tea-party-backed Members of Congress think of this plan. So would I.

The GOP Jobs Plan = More Pollution! Paul Krugman: "So what is the G.O.P. jobs plan? The answer, in large part, is to allow more pollution. So what you need to know is that weakening environmental regulations would do little to create jobs and would make us both poorer and sicker." ...

... Rachel Maddow interviews Krugman on the Republicans' competing over who can come up with the most simple-minded flat tax:

The Tax Policy Center analyzes Herman Cain's 999 plan. Herman Gleckman summarizes (via Krugman):

A middle income household making between about $64,000 and $110,000 would get hit with an average tax increase of about $4,300, lowering its after-tax income by more than 6 percent and increasing its average federal tax rate (including income, payroll, estate and its share of the corporate income tax) from 18.8 percent to 23.7 percent. By contrast, a taxpayer in the top 0.1% (who makes more than $2.7 million) would enjoy an average tax cut of nearly$1.4 million, increasing his after-tax income by nearly 27 percent. His average effective tax rate would be cut almost in half to 17.9 percent. In Cain’s world, a typical household making more than $2.7 million would pay a smaller share of its income in federal taxes than one making less than $18,000.

Uh-oh. Another question Herman Cain "misunderstood": Wednesday he indicated he was personally opposed to abortion but was pro-choice because he opposed government interference on social matters. Today he's not pro-choice anymore. (See yesterday's Commentariat.) A day before that, he "misunderstood" Wolf Blitzer's question when he said that as president he would negotiate with terrorists. (See Wednesday's Commentariat.) Now, if someone can get Cain to admit he misunderstood his 999 tax plan....

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: "Rupert Murdoch and his sons survived a shareholder challenge to their control of News Corp. Following the company's annual meeting in Los Angeles on Friday, News Corp. announced that Murdoch, his sons James and Lachlan, and the remainder of the board had been reelected -- despite calls from some shareholders for their ouster." The Guardian story (here) calls shareholder dissent "a blow" to Murdoch: "... he was berated by shareholders and some of the world's largest investors voted against his re-election, and that of his sons, to the News Corp board." More from the Guardian here on the "shareholders' revolt."

Los Angeles Times: "Moammar Kadafi secretly salted away more than $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed, about $30,000 for every Libyan citizen and double the amount that Western governments previously had suspected, according to senior Libyan officials." ...

... Guardian: "Bloodied, wearing just a pair of khaki trousers, and dumped on a cheap mattress, Muammar Gaddafi's body has become a gruesome tourist attraction.... Hundreds of ordinary Libyans queued up outside a refrigerated meat store in Misrata, where the dead dictator was being stored as a trophy.... Wounds on Gaddafi's body appeared to confirm that he was indeed killed in cold blood in the chaotic minutes following his capture on Thursday."

President Obama honored the recipients of the National Medal of Science & National Medal of Technology & Innovation this afternoon. See video here.

ABC News: "President Obama today announced that the United States will pull all its troop from Iraq by the end of the year.... 'The rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year,' the president said. 'After nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.'” See video in today's Commentariat.

AP: "The burial of slain leader Moammar Gadhafi has been delayed until the circumstances of his death can be further examined and a decision is made about where to bury the body, Libyan officials said Friday, as the U.N. human rights office called for an investigation into his death. The transitional leadership had said it would bury the dictator Friday in accordance with Islamic tradition. Bloody images of Gadhafi's last moments in the hands of angry captors have raised questions over his treatment minutes before his death." Guardian story here. Al Jazeera story here. ...

... New York Times: "A small group of fighters from Misurata, the vanguard of the force attacking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s former hometown and final hide-out, Surt, said they had stumbled upon him hiding in a drainage pipe. He was bleeding from his head and chest, but he was well enough to speak, with his trademark indignation. 'When he saw us, he said, "What’s happening?" Those were the words that he spoke,' said Omran Shaaban, a 21-year-old Misurata fighter who said he and a friend were the first men in their unit to find the colonel." Al Jazeera story here.

AP: "The Senate voted early Friday to reject a Republican effort to prohibit the United States from prosecuting foreign terrorist suspects in civilian courts, handing a victory to President Barack Obama. By 52-47, senators turned aside a proposal by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (AY-aht), R-N.H., that would have forced such trials to occur before military tribunals or commissions."

New York Times: "For the second time in 10 days, the Senate on Thursday rejected Democratic efforts to take up a jobs bill championed by President Obama. The vote to advance the bill was 50 to 50. Democrats needed 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster. This time, the bill was narrowed to provide $35 billion to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and firefighters. To offset the cost, the bill would impose a surtax of 0.5 percent, starting in 2013, on income in excess of $1 million."

New York Times: "Germany and France, still at odds over a more forceful response to the sovereign debt crisis, postponed a decision-making summit meeting for several days amid signs that the complexities of European politics may block an all-encompassing resolution."

AP: "The Obama administration on Friday intensified pressure on Pakistan to do more to crack down on Islamist militants destabilizing Afghanistan, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a tough public message that extremists have been able to operate in and from Pakistan for too long. For the second time in two days, Clinton pressed Pakistani authorities to step up efforts against the Haqqani militant network...."

AP: "The biggest study ever to examine the possible connection between cellphones and cancer found no evidence of any link, suggesting that billions of people who are rarely more than a few inches from their phones have no special health concerns. The Danish study of more than 350,000 people concluded there was no difference in cancer rates between people who had used a cellphone for about a decade and those who did not."

New York Times: "After trying to mollify its critics in recent years by offering better health care benefits to its employees, Wal-Mart is substantially rolling back coverage for part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many full-time staff." CW: Another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart.

New York Times: "The annual News Corporation shareholders meeting ... is expected to be the company’s most contentious in years, with frustrated shareholders taking the microphone to demand accountability after a phone-hacking scandal in Britain that has embarrassed the company." News Corp. is Rupert Murdoch's company. The meeting is to be held today in Los Angeles.

Guardian: "The world is getting warmer, countering the doubts of climate change sceptics about the validity of some of the scientific evidence, according to the most comprehensive independent review of historical temperature records to date. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, found several key issues that sceptics claim can skew global warming figures had no meaningful effect. The Berkeley Earth project compiled more than a billion temperature records dating back to the 1800s...."

Guardian: "The American state of Alabama has put to death a prisoner who over many years showed signs of mental illness – in spite of the US supreme court outlawing the execution of mentally ill people on the grounds it is unconstitutional. Christopher Johnson died by lethal injection at Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama."

Al Jazeera: "Turkey and Iran have vowed to collaborate in their fight against Kurdish fighters, as thousands of Turkish troops resumed their air and ground offensive against the armed groups in northern Iraq for a second day. The foreign ministers of the two countries announced plans to co-operate against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Iranian wing, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) during a joint news conference held in Ankara on Friday."

The Commentariat -- October 20

I've posted an Open Thread on today's Off Times Square.

** This past summer, President Obama proved he had no understanding whatsoever about how Lincoln came around to signing the Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln moved left, not right, as Obama suggests), even tho Obama boasted he had the original hanging in the Oval. BUT E. J. Dionne gets the politics of the 1860s & of the 2010s, & shows how Lincoln's move left (to emancipation) should be a model for Obama.

** Glenn Greenwald: "Two weeks after the U.S. killed American citizen Anwar Awlaki with a drone strike in Yemen — far from any battlefield and with no due process — it did the same to his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, ending the teenager’s life on Friday along with his 17-year-old cousin and seven other people. News reports, based on government sources, originally claimed that Awlaki’s son was 21 years old and an Al Qaeda fighter..., but a birth certificate published by The Washington Post proved that he was born only 16 years ago in Denver."

"Occupy the Classroom." Nicholos Kristof gathers data that show a major cause of perpetual income inequality is that the children of the poor & of the rich get unequal early childhood education.

Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times writes about the right's new-found enthusiasm for judicial activism. Since they've spent decades decrying judicial activism, conservatives had to find a new term for what they're urging sympathetic judges to do. So bad ole "judicial activism" (liberal judges overturning conservative-writ laws) has become good new "judicial engagement" (conservatives judges overturning liberal laws). Watch for it, coming to a conservative court near you. ...

... ** Jamelle Bouie of American Prospect: President "Obama has been far less aggressive in filling judicial vacancies than his predecessors." If he loses his bid for re-election, the worst legacy of his presidency will be his failure to fill those vacancies: "Because of Obama’s neglect, we stand a good chance of giving conservative ideologues the tools they need to dismantle the welfare state, and leave liberals in a losing battle against right-wing legal theories."

Greg Sargent calls this a must-read: Michael Cohen of Democracy Arsenel: Leon Panetta is the first Democrat to be Secretary of Defense in 14 years. He's the wrong one. Cohen presents a pretty devastating analysis of Panetta's very brief tenure -- he's gaffe-prone & so wants the brass to like him that he hasn't seen an expensive military program he doesn't like.

CW: Off Times Square commenters have recommended these PBS "News Hour" videos on income inequality in the U.S. I can't listen to them yet because I'm writing from my local McDonalds, but based on the comments, I'm betting they're pretty worthwhile. The first segment aired August 16; the transcript is here:

... The second segment, which aired September 28, is on the health consequences of great income disparity. The transcript is here:

Okay, we've got every continent covered! Via Occupy Fort Myers.

BUT. Times Are Tough on Wall Street, Too. Susanne Craig of the New York Times: "Banks, required by regulators to discontinue high-profit businesses like proprietary trading, reduce borrowings and hold more capital, may no longer be able to produce the supercharged earnings that were common before the financial crisis. Although Wall Street has not changed in some significant ways — top executives are still receiving huge pay packages and its lobbyists continue to have sway in Washington — the industry is facing forces of change unlike anything since the Great Depression.... Last week, JPMorgan Chase reported that earnings dropped by 4 percent in the latest period. Both Bank of America and Citigroup booked banner profits. But much of those results were attributed to one-time accounting gains.... Goldman [Sachs] ... lost nearly $3 billion on its investments in stocks and bonds...." CW: my heart is breaking for these guys.

Severn Suzuki, a 12-year-old Canadian, explains to bankers & politicians what kind of future they are leaving her generation & future generations "Are we even on your list of priorities?" she asks. Thanks to reader Bonnie for the link:

Lori Montgomery & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "With a Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching..., [the debt reduction supercommittee]  is running in rhetorical circles, unable to break the impasse over taxes that has long blocked aggressive action to tame the national debt. Though the committee’s 12 members have been meeting for nearly two months in closed-door sessions, lawmakers, aides and others involved in the process say they have yet to reach consensus on the most basic elements of a plan to restrain government borrowing."

James Grimaldi & Robert O'Harrow of the Washington Post: "Beginning two decades ago, the United States government bankrolled an Egyptian think tank dedicated to economic reform." The money, it turns out, was spent to promote crony capitalism & reward high government officials like Gamal Mubarak. "The privatization saga is a cautionary tale about the power and perils of U.S. foreign aid — most notably the nearly $8 billion that the United States has provided to Egypt since the 1990s to push the country toward economic reforms."

Bearing in mind that Joseph Napolitano, an attorney & a former (I think) judge, is kind of a nut, what he says here is worth considering because numerous reputable news organizations have produced evidence that his assertions are at least partly true:

In a blind taste test, panelists agree: Godfather's pizza is the worst.

Right Wing World

Glenn Kessler: "Senate Republicans, including Rand Paul (Ky.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Rob Portman (Ohio), last week unveiled what they labeled as their alternative to Obama’s plan. Their plan was mostly a mish-mash of previous offered bills, such as that hardy perennial -- a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. (Some experts would argue that such a requirement could hurt employment if government spending dropped too quickly.) ... Paul claimed the GOP plan would create 5 million jobs.... The 5 million figure ... is ludicrous. Even if one accepts the studies that came up with the figures, in most cases they indicate the GOP proposals would do little to create jobs in the near future."

Dana Milbank: "First came Herman Cain ... arguing for an electric fence at the border that would be powerful enough to kill people. Next..., Mitt Romney and Rick Perry devoted a large portion of Tuesday night’s Republican debate to a so’s-your-mama argument, complete with physical contact, about which was softer on illegal immigrants. Then, Wednesday morning..., Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee put Homeland Security Secretary [Janet Napolitano] through a hazing ritual that stopped just short of making her climb an electrified fence." ...

... Which brings to mind Karen Garcia's comment on Gail Collins' column today:

When it comes to undocumented workers laboring for pennies on their zillion dollar estates, the policy of rich white guys like Mitt has always been 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' They don't want to know and they will never know, mainly because they can't be bothered to actually interact with these wage slaves or offer them so much as a glass of water.... That would be the job of the undocumented housekeeper. The moderators of these debates should ask these anti-immigration indignados just who they they think picks the blueberries for their breakfast cereal, or washes the priceless china at their five-star restaurants. ...

... Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: All of which is an object lesson in how to lose the Latino vote. ...

... AND the New York Times editors eviscerate Alabama for its draconian immigration law, a primary purpose of which is to drive out undocumented immigrants via a strategy advocates call "attrition through enforcement." Read the editorial for an analysis of the side effects of that bright idea.

... More shocking & destined to kill as many American women as Herman Cain's electrocuting fence would kill Hispanic men is this, reported by Thomas of Blog for Choice: "Anti-choice Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) just filed an anti-choice amendment to a bill related to agriculture, transportation, housing, and other programs. The DeMint amendment could bar discussion of abortion over the Internet and through videoconferencing, even if a woman's health is at risk and if this kind of communication with her doctor is her best option to receive care. Under this amendment, women would need a separate, segregated Internet just for talking about abortion care with their doctors. Via Marie Diamond of Think Progress. CW: Herman Cain is not going to be president; Jim DeMint is a sitting U.S. senator & Tea Party leader with clout. ...

... BUT Wait, There's More. Alex Alvarez of Mediaite: as of last night (and who knows if today he'll say he was just joking), Herman Cain is PRO-CHOICE. Not a typo. In his conversation with CNN's Piers Morgan on the subject of abortion, Cain said that he personally opposed abortion but "The government shouldn’t be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to a social decision that they need to make." With video. That makes Cain more libertarian than Ron Paul, who is a libertarian except when he isn't -- like his vehement opposition to abortion, a subject on which Paul has expert creds  -- he is an obstetrician.

Michael Shear & Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times: "... the animosities [between Rick Perry & Mitt Romney] began long ago, set off by a series of political encounters that began when the two men were governors."

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), both of whom "have spoken out against federal subsidies for energy projects tried to obtain such benefits three years ago.... [They] pressed the energy secretary in 2008 to approve a federal loan guarantee to help an energy company hoping to expand a nuclear facility in Texas.... In recent candidates debates, the two have criticized federal energy loan programs."

Adam Serwer: "Knowing nothing about foreign policy has finally caught up with Herman Cain." No, Mr. Cain, everything Bibi Netanyahu does would not be just as awesome if a U.S. president did it.

One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.... [Sex] is supposed to be within marriage. -- Rick Santorum, GOP presidential candidate (in case you forgot) ...

... Quit Having Sex! Just Stop It! -- Rick Santorum. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "Rick Santorum pledged to repeal all federal funding for contraception, arguing that birth control devalues the act of procreation." With video, in case you just can't believe it.

Rand Paul Running for Most Despised Senator. Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post: "A Senate committee debate on a bipartisan bill to overhaul a key education law came to an abrupt halt Wednesday after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) invoked a little-used procedural rule that forced a temporary adjournment. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who had worked for more than a year with the ranking Republican, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, to revamp the No Child Left Behind law, was visibly irritated.... Paul, who offered 74 of the 144 amendments that have been proposed for the Harkin-Enzi bill, told the Senate that the bill was being rushed." CW: because what's a year? Oh, it's longer than education expert Li'l Randy has been in the Senate.

Local News

Denver University Clarion: "The tent community set up by the Occupy Denver protesters outside the Capitol [in Denver, Colorado] was dismantled by police under the order of Governor John Hickenlooper, [a Democrat,] at 3 a.m. on Friday, prompting massive turnout and more aggressive protesting during the weekly Saturday rally. After indicating that he could not allow the unlawful accumulation of people camping out in the Civic Center Park, where Occupy Denver had about 70 tents set up, Hickenlooper sent in a police force dressed in riot gear to dismantle the community. Twenty-three protesters were arrested.... 'A lot of the people camping out there were veterans,' said Scott Green, a protester who spent Friday night in jail.... 'Two words should never go together: veteran and homeless. That's who most of the people camping out in that park were. They lost everything.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "The Senate voted 74-26 on Thursday to confirm the nomination of John Bryson to be the next commerce secretary, ending a months-long struggle over President Obama’s choice. Mr. Obama nominated Mr.. Bryson to replace the outgoing secretary, Gary Locke, in May. Mr. Locke succeeded Jon M. Huntsman Jr. as U.S. ambassador to China."

President Obama welcomed the recipients of the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal this afternoon.

President Obama's statement on the death of Muammar Gaddafi:

** Reuters: "Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior NTC military official said. National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked." Al Jazeera story here. ...

     ... Updated New York Times story here.

AP: "Libyan fighters drove the last holdouts of Moammar Gadhafi out of his hometown of Sirte in a few hours of fierce gunbattles Thursday, then declared victory over the last major resistance two months after the fall of Tripoli." New York Times story here.

AP: "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday pushed Pakistan's leaders to fight harder against terrorists within their own borders...." The New York Times story, which includes more analysis, is here.

AFP: "The United States called on China to explain why it appeared to be blocking websites of US firms, as Washington took the first steps to bring the case to the World Trade Organization.... The request was made under world trade rules which require members to provide information about potential barriers to trade."

AP: "Amid expressions of horror and revulsion at the killing of dozens of wild animals in Ohio — and photographs of their bloody carcasses — animal rights advocates agreed there was little local authorities could have done to save the dangerous creatures once they began roaming the countryside after their owner released them before taking his own life. Sheriff's deputies shot 48 animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — after Terry Thompson, owner of the private Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville, threw their cages open Tuesday and then committed suicide." The Washington Post story is here.