The Commentariat -- April 11

CW: this story by David Cloud of the Los Angeles Times, titled "Anatomy of an Afghan War Tragedy," which describes in detail a drone attack gone wrong, predates the news of Pakistan's demand that NATO halt drone operations.

Here is the conclusion of Rick Hertzberg's commentary on Guantanamo prisoners:

As soon as the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed reversal was announced, Peter King, the New York Republican who heads the House Committee on Homeland Security, called it 'yet another vindication of President Bush’s detention policies.' It is no such thing. Even with all the failings of the current Administration, the difference between its approach and its predecessor’s is the difference between night and day, albeit a rainy, miserable day, overcast with dark clouds. But, by elevating amnesia to official policy, the President has put himself in a poor position to make even that argument.

     ... Read Hertzberg's whole post.

Oh, More Dylan in China (see yesterday's Commentariat). Bob Dylan doesn't look like this or sing like this anymore, but MAUREEN DOWD WANTS HIM TO:

     ... Historian Sean Wilentz, writing in the New Yorker, contra Dowd: "When it comes to denouncing Bob Dylan as a sell-out, the times they haven’t changed that much in fifty years.... Whatever the facts are, Dylan knows very well — as I tried to tell Dowd when she interviewed me for her column — that his music long ago became uncensorable. Subversive thoughts aren’t limited to his blatant protest songs of long ago."

CW: over the weekend, a few readers asked me to link to articles that specified exactly what had been cut in the Big Budget Deal. As I told them, nobody had written any such articles because the legislation has yet to be written, & all the "details" we were getting came from politicians' talking points. Today, Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal writes, "Republicans and Democrats continued to haggle over how to spread nearly $39 billion in cuts across a multitude of government programs behind the deal that averted a government shutdown last week." See, they ain't done yet. Oh, and here's a kicker: GE is still lobbying to get a huge contract for building (in Boehner's district!) an unnecessary alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

New York Times Editors: "The federal government survived the hostage crisis created by House Republicans, but emerged staggering from the deal struck Friday night. The compromises were damaging, the amount of money cut from a sickly economy was severe, and the image of Washington as a back-alley dogfighting garage will not soon fade.... President Obama actually patted himself on the back for agreeing to the 'largest annual spending cut in our history.' He should have used the moment to explain to Americans what irresponsible cuts the G.O.P. demanded just to keep the government open."

The Ryan proposal could be the foil Obama needs. I hope every vulnerable Republican in Congress signs on to the Ryan plan to kill Medicare, because we will beat ’em like a bad piece of meat. I would not focus on Ryan personally — he is a pleasant enough fellow, it seems to me — but rather on the fact that he is the GOP’s point person on the budget, and his budget would end Medicare as we know it. -- Paul Begala, Democratic political operative ...

... Carol Lee & Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal: "President Barack Obama will lay out his plan for reducing the nation's deficit Wednesday, belatedly entering a fight over the nation's long-term financial future. But in addition to suggesting cuts — the current focus of debate — the White House looks set to aim its firepower on a more divisive topic: taxes." ...

... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "There is a time to bring opposing parties together. And there is a time to choose sides. I hope Obama realizes this is one of the latter."

... Radical Surgery. Karen Garcia: in his address on budget cuts, scheduled for Wednesday, Doctor Obama will administer anesthesia and use a scalpel, which is so much more grown-up than the bold, machete-weilding methods of young Doctor Ryan. ...

... In a USA Today op-ed, Speaker John Boehner promises to keep his meat cleaver at the ready for future spending battles, because, you know, that's what "the American people want," (CW: despite what those unreliable polls say). ...

... Matt Yglesias: there should not be a battle over raising the debt ceiling -- with the usual Democratic concessions to Republicans -- because nobody really thinks raising the debt ceiling is a bad idea. ...

... BUT Politico: "House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), fresh off the budget talks, told donors this weekend that if Obama wants an up or down vote on the debt ceiling he’s not going to get it." ...

... E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post: during a sparsely-attended Tea Party event in Washington, D.C., last week, "... it became clear that the government ... was being held hostage by a band of fanatics who (1) represent a very small proportion of our population; (2) hate government so much that they relished the idea of closing its doors, no matter the cost; and (3) have neither respect nor patience for the normal democratic give-and-take between competing parties and points of view.... In our repertoire of dysfunction, we are on the verge of adding shutdown abuse to abuse of the filibuster in the Senate.... Obama ... needs to declare that he will no longer bargain with those who use threats to shut down the government or force it to default on its debt as tools of intimidation." ...

... CW: I'm not exactly a huge fan of executive fiat, but if Congress fails to pass a "clean bill" raising the debt ceiling, President Obama should declare a national emergency & either raise the debt ceiling himself or guarantee our creditors (China!) we'll pay our bills. It's also possible Fed Chair Ben Bernanke could "unofficially" raise the debt ceiling. I'm with Yglesias (& Dionne) -- no new concessions. Period.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: the June 2008 "bitterly divided" Supreme Court decision in "Boumediene v. Bush established the role of the judiciary in wartime, and seemed to settle important issues about separation of powers." But since then, "not a single release has come as the direct result of a judicial order." And "a string of rulings has gone against the detainees.... The Obama administration has fought all attempts by lawyers for detainees to have the Supreme Court review those rulings. And ... the court last week turned away three detainee challenges arising from Boumediene."

Eileen Sullivan of the AP: "The U.S. government has prevented more than 350 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights since the end of 2009, The Associated Press has learned."

Robert Burns of the AP: "Eight months shy of its deadline for pulling the last American soldier from Iraq and closing the door on an 8-year war, the Pentagon is having second thoughts. Reluctant to say it publicly, officials fear a final pullout in December could create a security vacuum, offering an opportunity for power grabs by antagonists in an unresolved and simmering Arab-Kurd dispute, a weakened but still active al-Qaida or even an adventurous neighbor such as Iran."

Banksters

... David Streitfeld of the New York Times: "Federal banking regulators have not officially imposed their new rules for the top mortgage servicers, but ... a wide coalition of consumer and housing groups is denouncing the legal agreements, which are likely to be published within a few days.... To some critics, the pending fixes are all but useless.... At the heart of the complaints ... is whether the servicers, which are arms of the biggest banks, may be compelled to give households fighting foreclosure a better shot at renegotiating their loans and staying in their properties." CW: gee, useless federal regs that do nothing to help homeowners and favor the big banks. What a surprise! ...

... Louise Story of the New York Times: a class action lawsuit filed by clients of JPMorgan accuses the bank of profiting from Sigma, "a troubled investment," while investors -- including large pension funds -- lost millions. Warnings about Sigma's troubles went all the way to CEO Jamie Dimon, and the plaintiffs claim "that JPMorgan workers developed a 'grand scheme' to profit from Sigma in the event of a collapse, even though employees at another part of the bank left client money invested in the vehicle."

Right Wing World *

We are in a situation where we have a safety net in place in this country for people who frankly don’t need one. We have to focus on making sure we have a safety net for those who need it.
-- Eric Cantor, on Medicare ...

... Tanya Somanader of Think Progress: "The Ryan plan does, however, provide a 'safety net' for one specific demographic. Ryan’s plan will reduce the top marginal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent — a move that ... shifts the tax burden down the income scale onto the middle class. Given these priorities, it appears that, for Cantor, those in need of a safety net are America’s wealthy." With video.

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the most contested provisions of an Arizona immigration law passed last year will remain blocked from taking effect, handing the Obama administration a victory in its efforts to overturn the legislation."

Washington Post: "Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown (D) and council members Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7), Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) have been arrested by U.S. Capitol Police officers." The officials, along with other protesters, where protesting "the congressional budget deal, which includes controversial District riders."

AP: "The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama regrets his vote as a senator in 2006 against raising the debt limit — the same kind of increase he's now pressuring Congress to approve."

AP: "Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident."

** New York Times: "The strongman of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, was captured on Monday after a week-long siege of his residence and placed under the control of his rival claimant to power, according to French and United Nations officials."

New York Times: "Pakistan has demanded that the United States steeply reduce the number of Central Intelligence Agency operatives and Special Operations forces working in Pakistan, and that it put on hold C.I.A. drone strikes aimed at militants in northwest Pakistan, a sign of the near collapse of cooperation between the two testy allies."

Washington Post: "Violent protests continued to roil Syria on Sunday as human rights activists reported that President Bashar al-Assad was using soldiers and tanks for the first time against demonstrators and sealing off the port city of Baniyas."

Washington Post: "Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation Sunday for the first time since a popular revolution forced him from office two months ago, defending himself and his family against accusations of corruption."

Los Angeles Times: "A small demonstration broke out against the [African Union's] truce proposal in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi, while various spokesmen for the transitional rebel government rejected the offer.... Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told French radio that that no deal could include a future political role for Kadafi or his sons."

AP: "A strong new earthquake rattled Japan's northeast Monday just hours after people bowed their heads and wept in ceremonies to mark a month since the tsunami that killed up to 25,000 people and set off a still-unfolding nuclear crisis."

New York Times: "A French ban outlawing full-face veils in public, the first to be enacted in Europe, came into force on Monday and seemed set to face challenges within hours. The law, approved last year, has been controversial from the start, raising questions about France’s relationship with its Muslim minority of five to six million — Europe’s largest — at a time when right-wing and anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise."