The Commentariat -- June 8, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "She may not be the orator President Obama is, or the retail politician her husband was. But Mrs. Clinton's steely fortitude in this campaign has plainly inspired older women, black voters and many others who see in her perseverance a kind of mirror to their own struggles. And Mrs. Clinton's very durability -- her tenacity, grit and capacity for enduring and overcoming adversity -- could be exactly what is required to defeat Donald J. Trump." -- CW

Jesse Singal of New York: "A truly vintage example [of Donald Trump's lying] popped up in Tuesday’s BuzzFeed article detailing Trump's attempts to raise money from, and forge potential business relationships with, Muammar ­Qaddafi.... In [2009, in] exchange for some cash -- and, evidence strongly suggests, in an attempt to bring himself closer to Qaddafi, who had access to funds and business connections Trump openly coveted -- Trump allowed his estate to be partially taken over by a throng of 20 members of Qaddafi's entourage[, and they erected a tent on the premises].... Unfortunately for this rental agreement..., 'the town of Bedford issued a stop-work order, based on a local ordinance against building temporary structures without a permit.... Later, Trump took credit for shutting the site down, saying he had asked the Libyans to leave.'" CW: Everything he says is fake.

Matthew Pennington of the AP: "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Congress Wednesday that his nation and the U.S. have overcome 'the hesitations of history' and called for ever-stronger economic and defense ties between the two countries.... Modi's address followed years of being shunned in the U.S. because of religious violence in his home state. Underscoring the turnabout, it came a day after a White House meeting with President Barack Obama and preceded a lunch Modi will have in the Capitol with congressional leaders and a reception hosted by the House and Senate foreign affairs committees." -- CW

Charles Pierce: "Tom Cotton weaponized a dying woman's final days in order to 'inflict special pain' on the president. Tom Cotton is a petty, sadistic swine who has the basic conscience of a cholera outbreak. He should be shamed from office, and he should be shunned by decent people. God, I hope there's a hell, and that it's as advertised by Dante." -- CW

Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "A former CIA officer who was accused of taking part in an illegal counter-terrorism programme said she is facing imminent extradition to Italy from Portugal after a high court in Lisbon rejected a last-minute legal appeal. Sabrina de Sousa, a 60-year-old former CIA officer who was convicted in absentia in Italy in 2009, faces a four-year prison term for her alleged role in the kidnapping of a radical Egyptian cleric named Abu Omar, who was grabbed off the street in Milan by CIA officials in 2003 and sent to Egypt, where he was imprisoned, interrogated and allegedly tortured." -- CW

William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "The powerful leader of the union that represents New York City correction officers, whose alliances with mayors and governors have afforded him broad influence, was arrested on federal fraud charges on Wednesday, according to court papers. The charges against the union leader, Norman Seabrook, and a second defendant, Murray Huberfeld, a hedge-fund financier, stem from the first major criminal case linked to one of several corruption investigations focused on the campaign fund-raising of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat." -- CW

Sam Levin & Julia Wong of the Guardian: Brock Turner, the former Stanford U. swimmer convicted of sexual assault & given a lenient sentence, in a statement to the judge, "placed blame on 'alcohol' and 'party culture.'... The Guardian has published a portion of Turner's statement that illustrates, as the victim described in her original statement, the ways in which Turner 'failed to exhibit sincere remorse or responsibility for his conduct'." -- CW

William Booth of the Washington Post: "A top Israeli minister said he wants the government to take complete control of more than half of the West Bank and remove the Palestinian residents of the territory. While traveling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a state visit to Russia on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel told the Times of Israel that the world should forget about a Palestinian state." -- CW

Simon Denyer of the Washington Post: "A U.S. spy plane has been buzzed by Chinese jets as it flew over the East China Sea, with one of the fighter planes approaching in an 'unsafe' manner, the U.S. military said, after the second similar incident in three weeks. China responded by accusing the United States of 'hyping' the incident but said the real problem was U.S. surveillance planes flying too close to its territory." -- CW

*****

Presidential Race

My mother believed that life is about serving others. And she taught me never to back down from a bully, which it turns out was pretty good advice. -- Hillary Clinton, in her victory speech last night

(BTW, this is true. Years ago, I heard her tell the story that when some neighborhood bully picked on her, her mother told her to go back out & punch him. -- Constant Weader )

Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Hillary Clinton triumphantly claimed the Democratic nomination for president on Tuesday, calling for party unity to stop Donald Trump as she became the first woman in U.S. history to lead a major-party ticket. Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone, the first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee,' she announced to thunderous applause at her Brooklyn headquarters." -- CW

... Clinton begins speaking at about 10 min. in:

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Clinton ... is the perfect candidate to stand up to Trump's politics of resurgent sexism. She has spent many years honing her response to precisely the kinds of attacks that Trump will use against her.... Trump practices dominance politics, which involves intimidating rivals. But Clinton happens to be the type of person that Trump himself is intimidated by: a strong woman.... If Clinton wins in the fall, she'll be a feminist heroine twice over: not just the first female president, but also the president who squashed the most repellent sexist in American public life." -- CW

... Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "... Mr. Sanders refused to yield, insisting that he would continue his campaign and barely acknowledging her achievement." -- CW ...

... Michael Barbaro & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "... despite the crushing California results that rolled in for him on Tuesday night, despite the insurmountable delegate math and the growing pleas that he end his quest for the White House, Senator Bernie Sanders took to the stage in Santa Monica and basked, bragged and vowed to fight on. In a speech of striking stubbornness, he ignored the history-making achievement of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, who became the first woman in American history to clinch the presidential nomination of major political party." CW: Yo, Bernie, time to move on. You still have a pretty, pretty good job. ...

... Greg Sargent: "In interviews with me..., two of Sanders's most important supporters in Congress -- Senator Jeff Merkley and Rep. Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- said Sanders would have to accept the inevitably of Clinton's nomination, and begin the process of getting behind her." -- CW ...

... Philip Rucker & Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "A handful of people are expected to play key roles in brokering peace between the two warring campaigns, including President Obama, Vice President Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).... Warren ... is seen by other leaders of the party as uniquely credible and positioned to play one of the most influential roles in bridging the Clinton and Sanders divide." -- CW

... Andrew Prokop of Vox: Sanders' "speech didn't contain any criticism of Clinton, and emphasized the importance of defeating Donald Trump.... However, he also hammered home the importance of all the issues he's been campaigning on for the past year -- and, really, for decades.... But ... plans can change. Back in 2008, after all, Hillary Clinton did take a few days after the conclusion of primary voting to finalize her decision to end her campaign. And Sanders has a meeting with Obama set up for this Thursday, in which the future of his own effort will surely be discussed." -- CW ...

... Edward-Isaac Dovere & Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "There's no strategist pulling the strings, and no collection of burn-it-all-down aides egging him on. At the heart of the rage against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, the campaign aides closest to him say, is Bernie Sanders." -- CW ...

... Andy Borowitz: "Upping the ante in his quest for the White House, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders vowed on Tuesday night to continue battling for the Democratic Presidential nomination even if Hillary Clinton is elected President of the United States." -- CW

Eli Stokols of Politico: "Mired in a weeklong controversy over his racially charged comments about the Mexican heritage of the American-born judge handling a Trump University lawsuit, [Donald] Trump shifted into general election mode by unleashing new attack lines on Hillary Clinton and promising more to come.... Trump stood behind a podium and spoke from a teleprompter, eschewing his familiar off-the-cuff vernacular and delivering a more refined, scripted sales pitch that portrayed his signature bombast in a more flattering light.... Just as Clinton is securing the Democratic nomination amidst controversy over her heavy reliance on superdelegates, Trump made an overt play for the supporters of her rival, Bernie Sanders, noting that they share an opposition to free trade." -- CW ...

... Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "Donald Trump's attempt on Tuesday night to give a relatively normal political speech was, on its own terms, a success. Trump read from a teleprompter, kept the personal attacks to a minimum, and discussed actual issues by using about as many policy details as he can muster (not many.) The speech was a reminder that if Trump were even just a tad more normal or contained, he would have a real chance against Hillary Clinton in November. But he isn't, and he probably doesn't.... Trump has tried this before.... And yet, within days, each and every time he has gone back to being the man he further revealed himself as this week: a bigot and racist with no self-control, a nasty streak, and a contempt for the press." -- CW ...

... Ryu Spaeth of the New Republic: Donald Trump said last night that he was going to give a "major speech, 'probably Monday,' and will go over 'all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons.'... Trump, as usual, is ditching the subtlety and billing his speech as simply a 'major' attack on the Clintons. Get ready to revisit that time Hillary murdered Vince Foster!" -- CW

Primary Results

The New York Times has today's full results here.

Democrats

California. With less than one percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by 61.6 percent to 37.5 percent. With 88 percent counted & with Clinton ahead 56 percent to 43, the AP has not called the race. With 93 percent counted, the AP declared Clinton the winner; she has 56 percent of the vote to Sanders' 43 percent.

Montana. With less than one percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders by 49.3 to 45.3 percent. With 91 percent reporting, the AP has called the race for Sanders; Sanders has 50.5 percent of the vote, Clinton 45.

New Jersey. With less than one percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders 55.3 to 44.7 percent. With 3 percent of the vote counted, Clinton is leader 60-40 percent. With 13 percent counted, the AP has called the race for Clinton; she has 58.7 percent of the vote to Sanders' 41.3 percent.

New Mexico. With 20 percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders 52.3 to 47.7 percent. With 70 percent of the vote counted, the AP has projected Clinton as the winner; Clinton has 53.3 percent to Sanders' 46.7 percent of the vote.

North Dakota. With 4 percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders 68.8 to 25 percent. With 43 percent of the vote counted, Sanders is leading Clinton 62.6 to 26.9. With 60 percent of the vote counted, the AP has called the race for Sanders; he leaders Clinton 64.3 to 26.4 percent.

South Dakota. With 20 percent of the vote counted, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders 54.6 to 45.4 percent.

Republicans

California. With less than one percent of the vote counted, Donald Trump leads with 79.5 percent of the vote, followed by John Kasich with 9.1 percent & Ted Cruz with 7.4 percent. With one percent of the vote counted, the AP has declared Trump the winner.

Montana. With less than one percent of the vote counted, Donald Trump is leading with 71 percent of the vote, followed by Ted Cruz with 9.8 percent & John Kasich with 8.1 percent. The AP has called the race for Trump.

New Jersey. With less than one percent of the voted counted, Donald Trump has 77.5 percent of the vote, followed by John Kasich with about 13 percent & Ted Cruz with about 9 percent. The AP has declared Trump the winner; with 4 percent of the vote counted, Trump has 83.4 percent.

New Mexico. With 19 percent of the vote counted, Donald Trump is leading with 71.7 percent, followed by Ted Cruz with 10.9 percent & John Kasich with 9.8 percent. The AP has called the state for Trump.

South Dakota. With 21 percent of the vote counted, the AP has declared Donald Trump the winner; he has 67 percent of the vote, followed by John Kasich with 16.9 percent & Ted Cruz with 16.3 percent.

Gail Collins: "... if [Hillary Clinton] could go into the past to tell someone that she'd been nominated for President of the United States, it would be her mother." -- CW

Shane Goldmacher: "Hillary Clinton ... has launched a new website aimed at courting disaffected GOP voters. The website, republicansagainsttrump.org, was registered on May 27 and launched on June 2, according to domain registration records. The Clinton campaign only appears to have begun buying ads to promote the site more recently." -- CW

Yamiche Alcindor & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders plans to lay off at least half of his campaign staff Wednesday as his battered presidential bid continues despite Hillary Clinton's being declared the presumptive Democratic nominee, two people close to the campaign said Tuesday." -- CW

Matt Pearce of the Los Angeles Times: "California voters faced a tough time at the polls Tuesday, with many voters saying they have encountered broken machines, polling sites that opened late and incomplete voter rolls, particularly in Los Angeles County. The result? Instead of a quick in-and-out vote, many California voters were handed the dreaded pink provisional ballot -- which takes longer to fill out, longer for election officials to verify and which tends to leave voters wondering whether their votes will be counted." -- CW

Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept: "... the Associated Press ... surprised everyone by abruptly declaring the Democratic Party primary over and Hillary Clinton the victor.... AP claims that superdelegates ... privately told AP reporters that they intend to vote for Clinton, bringing her over the threshold. AP is concealing the identity of the decisive superdelegates.... This is the perfect symbolic ending to the Democratic Party primary: The nomination is consecrated by a media organization, on a day when nobody voted, based on secret discussions with anonymous establishment insiders and donors whose identities the media organization -- incredibly -- conceals. The decisive edifice of superdelegates is itself anti-democratic and inherently corrupt.... For a party run by insiders and funded by corporate interests, it's only fitting that its nomination process ends with such an ignominious, awkward, and undemocratic sputter." -- CW

I do not feel that one's heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial. -- Donald Trump, in a statement Tuesday

It's Our Fault for "Misconstruing" Trump's Totally Non-Racist Remarks. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump, who said last week that a Mexican-American judge was biased against him because of his heritage, said on Tuesday that his remarks had been 'misconstrued' and that he did not think that the judge's ethnicity created a conflict of interest.... 'It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage,' Mr. Trump said. 'I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent.'... Mr. Trump, who did not apologize for the remarks, continued to express doubts about Judge Curiel, noting that he was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama." -- CW ...

... Jose DelReal & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Trump said he will no longer comment on the case." CW: We'll see how long that lasts. ...

... Trump's statement is here. ...

... Trump: "I'm sorry you thought my racism against Judge Curiel was racist." Dara Lind of Vox: "... when it comes specifically to Curiel, Trump's argument, from the beginning, is that Curiel's pride in his ethnicity -- and, specifically, his membership in a Latino lawyers association (which Trump's campaign appears to have confused with a mainstream Latino advocacy organization) -- makes him unusually likely to oppose Trump's immigration policy and therefore Trump himself.... Furthermore, the statement continues to imply that Curiel is biased against Trump because Trump wants to keep out 'drugs and illegal immigrants' -- implying that Curiel must not want to do these things." -- CW

... Kevin Drum reads three sentences of Trump's statement: "You have the whining, the lying, the passive voice rowback, and the faux sorrow that this has become such a divisive issue, all in just a few sentences. It's vintage Trump, folks." -- CW ...

... William Saletan of Slate: "Based on the statement's sloppiness -- grammatical mistakes, revisited grudges, and nonsense terms such as 'Hispanic descent' -- it looks as though Trump wrote (or dictated) the statement himself. This is how he thinks about ethnicity and fairness, not under interrogation by journalists, but in his own considered words. It's damning." -- CW ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "So, the GOP nominee should soon be back on the high road he was taking before the Trump University case crept into the headlines -- accusing Bill Clinton of rape and Crooked Hillary of murdering Vince Foster. -- CW ...

... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday called Donald J. Trump's criticism of a federal judge of Hispanic heritage 'the textbook definition of a racist comment' and said he 'regrets' the remark. But Mr. Ryan also reiterated his support for Mr. Trump.... 'I disavow these comments -- I regret those comments that he made,' Mr. Ryan said after announcing a new Republican anti-poverty initiative in Anacostia, an overwhelmingly black neighborhood in Washington." -- CW ...

... Yo, Paul, You're the Racist! Tierney Sneed of TPM: Jeffrey Lord, "a top surrogate for Donald Trump, said Tuesday that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was 'playing the race card' for condemning Trump's recent attacks on a federal judge because of his Mexican heritage. 'Speaker Ryan is wrong and Speaker Ryan has apparently switched positions and is supporting identity politics, which is racist,' Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord...." -- CW ...

What happens is you begin to develop a cult of personality where an authoritarian is right because he is right. -- Van Jones to Jeffrey Lord, on CNN, Tuesday

Exactly. -- Constant Weader

... And You, Too, Gonzalo. Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "... it turns out Curiel is actually the racist, according to Lord, since he belongs to a group of Latino attorneys 'that is all about discriminating against non-Latino lawyers.'" Other CNN panelists & host Anderson Cooper pummeled Lord for his remarks. -- CW ...

... Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: The #RealDonaldTrump has been a racist for decades. "The Curiel story shows that Trump is not playing a part. There is no Trump character, just Trump the man." -- CW

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., facing a big challenge from Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said Tuesday he will not support ... Donald Trump after earlier saying he would back him. 'I cannot and will not support my party's nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party,' Kirk said in a statement, in which he also said Trump did not have the temperament to command the U.S. military or take control of nuclear weapons." -- CW

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday doubled down on his skepticism of Donald Trump, saying he currently doesn't believe he'll support ... [Trump] in November. 'As of now, unless he changes significantly, I can't see myself voting for Donald Trump,' Flake told reporters, according to Bloomberg News, on Tuesday." -- CW

Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call: "Sen. Marco Rubio wants to make clear that if he speaks at the Republican National Convention this July, he will not be on stage as a Donald Trump surrogate. 'I may not be asked to speak, but if I am at a convention or any Republican gathering for that matter, what I would communicate is the things I believe in,' Rubio said Monday. He said that no one has reached out to him about a potential speaking slot." -- CW

Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump has the 'right' to express his opinion about the U.S. federal judge presiding over Trump University lawsuits, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie asserted Tuesday, defending the presumptive Republican nominee from criticism after he remarked that Judge Gonzalo Curiel would not be fair to him because of his Mexican heritage." CW: Another good reason for #NeverTrump: he would probably make the severely ethically-challenged Chrisco his attorney general.

Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "The Iowa state senator David Johnson became the first elected official to leave the Republican party over Donald Trump on Tuesday, likening the presumptive nominee's campaign to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Johnson announced that he was changing his registration to No Party after Trump levelled accusations of bias at Judge Gonzalo Curiel, an American judge of Mexican heritage who allowed the release of some unflattering documents from a case against Trump University." -- CW

** Ezra Klein: Donald Trump's "most salient characteristic is that he operates entirely without shame.... This is the danger Trump poses to the American political system, even if he loses. He is normalizing the abnormal. He is redefining what is acceptable to do and say in American politics.... Americans are protected by our constitutional right to free speech. But we are also protected by norms around the kind of speech that is acceptable, particularly from those in public life.... As often as not, our real protection is found not in laws but in norms." -- CW

He's a Lying Braggart, But He's Our Lying Braggart. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "... many of Trump's fans don't actually think he will build a wall -- and they don't care if he doesn't. Many also don't think that Trump as president would really ban foreign Muslims from entering the country, seize oil controlled by terrorists or deport 11 million illegal immigrants. They view Trump's pledges more as malleable symbols than concrete promises, reflecting a willingness to shake things up and to be bold." -- CW

Getty images, via Vanity Fair. ... Melena Ryzik of the New York Times: "At the moment that Hillary Clinton was all but clinching the Democratic nomination for president, Meryl Streep was on a stage in Central Park, impersonating Donald J. Trump. In orange face makeup and pompadoured hair, Ms. Streep ... did a more than credible version of the presumptive Republican nominee, down to the pursed lips and low-hanging belly. She got the braggadocio-inflected voice, too, even while singing." Thanks to MAG for the lead. -- CW

Congressional Race

Lynn Bonner of the Raleigh News & Observer: "U.S. Rep. George Holding of Raleigh defeated a fellow incumbent -- and a Donald Trump ally -- in one of the most-watched congressional primaries in the nation. Rep Renee Ellmers' defeat in the GOP contest marks a major fall for a politician who was once a television political show staple and who worked to recruit Republican women to run for office. Holding presented himself as more conservative than Ellmers.... Holding challenged the 2nd Congressional District incumbent, Ellmers, after Holding's 13th District was moved from the Triangle to the Triad when the legislature redrew the districts in response to a federal court ruling." -- CW

Other News & Views

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Senate passed legislation Tuesday evening that will overhaul the way the federal government regulates every chemical sold on the market in the United States. The bipartisan accord represents the most sweeping environmental measure to pass Congress in a quarter-century. The bill, which drew support from the chemical industry, trial lawyers and many public health and environmental groups, updates a 40-year-old law long criticized as ineffective.... The measure, which President Obama is poised to sign into law, grew out of an effort that the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) launched with [Sen. David] Vitter [R-La.] and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) in 2012. The bill passed the House by an overwhelming margin late last month, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) put a hold on it that delayed its passage." -- CW ...

... The Importance of Being Randy. CW: If you're wondering why Li'l Randy put a hold on an environmental bill that Jim Inhofe & Jeff Merkley [D-Ore.] could agree on, the answer is that he's a remarkably slo-o-o-w reader, as Eilperin reported in May. As an aide to Inhofe pointed out, she had "carried and birthed a child in the same amount of time in which Rand Paul could have raised objections to the few lines in this bill that he is now calling 'rushed.'" He did it because he could.

Missy Ryan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The White House issued its second veto threat against a massive annual defense bill on Tuesday, naming a long list of provisions that administration officials said would tie President Obama's hands on crucial national security matters.... 'The bill attempts to micromanage [the Defense Department] by impeding the Department's ability to respond to changing circumstances, directing overly prescriptive organizational changes, preventing the closure of Guantanamo, and limiting U.S. engagement with Cuba, and includes provisions that set an arbitrary limit on the size of the President's National Security Council staff,' [the Office of Management & Budget] said.... The administration threatened last month to veto the House version of the bill, citing lawmakers' steps to boost defense funding despite budget caps. Obama vetoed the original version of last year's bill, only his fifth veto since he took office in 2009, but he later signed an amended version into law." -- CW

Aviva Shen of Think Progress: "Three months after apologizing for calling poor people 'takers,' House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled his plan to make life harder for them.... The plan includes a bevy of policies designed to make it much harder for people in need to access federal programs: tougher work requirements for food stamps, housing aid, or cash welfare; eliminating benefits conservatives believe are making improper payments; cutting Social Security; eliminating funding for early childhood education lifeline Head Start; sealing off tax credits from some low-income families; and further allowing states to cut certain programs as they see fit." CW: Thanks, Paul, for getting those lazy bastards up out of their hammocks.

Gary Legum of Salon: Sen. Tom "Cotton kept this hold [on Cassandra Butts' nomination to be ambassador to the Bahamas until she died] for two reasons. The first is that he is a nasty, small-minded, arrogant, repugnant, self-righteous, testosterone-fueled warmongering jackhole with an over-inflated sense of his own value both to the nation's political process and humanity in general. Second, Cotton is a perfect creature of what the Republican Party has evolved into over the last 40 years.... It is a party with no coherent ideological beliefs, no governing philosophy, and no interest in developing either beyond the usual platitudes about cutting taxes and keeping government small. It is a party of nihilism. It is a party of angry toddlers stamping their feet and holding their breath until they either get what they want or turn blue." -- CW

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The investigation that led CIA Director David Petraeus to resign and ultimately plead guilty to a criminal charge of mishandling classified information also uncovered evidence that he discussed highly classified information with journalists, according to a court document obtained Tuesday by Politico. Requesting a search warrant for Petraeus' Arlington, Virginia home in 2013, an FBI agent told a federal magistrate the agency had two audio recordings in which the retired four-star Army general spoke with reporters about matters that authorities believed were 'top secret.'" -- CW

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two Palestinian gunmen posing as restaurant patrons opened fire on civilians in a popular Tel Aviv cafe on Wednesday night, killing four people and reigniting fears of terrorism in Israel just as a recent wave of Palestinian attacks had seemed to be waning."

New York Times: "Maria Sharapova> was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Sharapova, 29, the agency monitored its usage for a year. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion whose ranking has dropped to 26th because of injuries and her suspension, is the highest profile tennis player to have a positive doping test." -- CW

Comments

[Ophelia M.]

New York Daily News Cover for Wednesday June 8th

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/282612-ny-daily-news-cover-im-with-racist

[PD Pepe]

Hillary Clinton, all in white, stood proudly at the podium as the first woman to become the possible President of this country. When she threw her hands up amidst the cheering crowd it was electric ––we were witnessing another monumental historic moment.

Bridges are better than walls

We believe we should lift each other up, not tear each other down

To be great, we can't be small

My mother taught me never to back down from a bully

This is our moment!

Unfortunately the "God bless you and God bless America" will be with us once again––I had so hoped we could finally dispense with that and have something like "Good favor upon you all, now and in the future."

[PD Pepe]

Here's the Jeffrey Lord exchange with members of the CNN panel. I watched this last night and lordy, lordy, this Lord is one stubborn dude, clings to his views like a drowning man clings to his bit of wood that keeps him afloat.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeffrey-lord-trump-surrogate_us_57579184e4b0a3d6fbd32aa9

[Gloria]

CW - well I hope that HRC takes her mother's advice once again.

[Marvin Schwalb]

I was absolutely sure that this day would come when it becomes clear that Bernie doesn't give a damn about anything except himself.

I mean give up people cheering at you to save America. Not a chance.

[Patrick]

Governor Christie is absolutely correct, DJT does have a right to express his opinions about the judge.

Or anything else he cares to express.

And we get to form our opinions of him based on those expressions.

Next question .... ?

[Marie Burns]

Green Eggs & Hams.

@Marvin Schwalb: It is kind of amazing that the Democratic candidates for president are more stubborn than Republican candidates. Compare Sanders today & Clinton in 2008 with Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich, etc. The Republicans all gave up shortly after they realized they had no chance to win; the Democrats kept pushing. Cruz even had a far-outside chance of winning the nomination in a superdelegate coup.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the possibility that the Democratic candidates actually believe they would make the better presidents (based on some actual reasons to validate their beliefs), while the Republicans know deep in their smarmy little hearts that they're just opportunistic phonies. I read somewhere recently that Ted Cruz was even trying to make friends with his GOP Senate colleagues. Could it be that all that government shutdown crap was just a show? Nah.

Marie

[Marvin Schwalb]

Marie, I agree with your statement but there is a limit. As the NYT said today "Clinton Made History, but Sanders Stubbornly Ignored It".
There comes a time where a candidate who loses stands up for America. Clinton did it when Obama won the candidacy. Sanders has absolutely no chance of winning. The only thing he can still get is lots of publicity. Apparently that is number one for him.

[Schlemazel]

"I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial." -- Donald Trump, in a statement Tuesday

We Jews are used to this sort of thing.

"I'm not anti-Semitic. I don't hate ALL Jews. Only the evil ones who control the banks and the media."

Similarly, Trump doesn't hate ALL Mexicans. Only the evil ones who preside at his fraud trials.

[Ken Winkes]

For all these years I may have missed the other possible meaning of the book title "The Last Hurrah," which I remember as a good political novel. Not up to "All the King's Men," but darn good.

It's not that Sanders has been bypassed by history. Unlike Frank Skeffington, he has proved he can appeal to the younger generation. And it's not, as I've said before, as if his perception of our political and economic landscape is much off the mark.

But like Frank, in the face of the clear writing on the wall, he wants the hurrahs to last...and last.

And they don't.

We'll see if for the good of the country the President can convince him of that tomorrow when they meet.

[Marie Burns]

@Schlemazel: Perhaps the oddest thing about Donald Trump is his lack of sophistication. He lives in the most international city in the world, he has met people of every nationality, race & religion, he has the means to become "worldly" in every aspect of his life. Maybe you can take the boy out of Queens, but you can take the Archie Bunker out of the boy.

This is funny when he gold-plates everything that isn't covered in pink marble. It is sad when you realize that he's a grown man who hasn't bothered to learn to speak & read past a 5th-grade level. It is not funny at all when he aspires to a job that he has no ability to perform & almost no interest in learning what he has to know to do the job.

And it is horrible when he makes up for his intellectual deficits and other shortcomings by denigrating almost every group of people who don't share his particular views, ethnicity & gender.

He knows he's a jerk. That's why he always says things like, "I love women. I'll take care of 'the women,'" and "I love 'the blacks,'" etc. He thinks that will cover the next ignorant, bigoted thing that comes out of his mouth. But he can't help being a bigot, because, as Benjamin Wallace-Wells wrote, that's who he is. So he goes to a meeting of Jewish Republicans & says, "I'm a negotiator like you folks." His bigotry is so ingrained he doesn't recognize it when he lets it fly. He actually hought that remark was showing solidarity with "you folks."

He may be one of the richest people in the U.S., but he's a pathetic little schlemiel, Schlemazel.

Marie

[MAG]

Maybe we shouldn't have expected Bernie to do a concession last night. It would have been lost/buried amidst the other celebrations for Hilliary. Obviously, he is seeing the handwriting on the wall—with the word out about the layoffs & downsizing of his support team.

Bernie's 'Last Hurrah" might simply be that he wants his 'good fight' acknowledged and wants some of his vision to go forward and continue to have an impact.

With his supporters asked to gather in DC on Thursday for some announcement—one can hope that Bernie will do the gracious thing and not fight, fight, fight on. I believe he is a decent and thoughtful man—( I was for 'im in the beginning)!

Time to unite against Trump!

By the way, DJT apologist and sychophant, Jeffrey Lord's TV performance was appalling.

[PD Pepe]

@Ken: I reread "The Last Hurrah" about a decade ago, but you have wetted my appetite for another reading. Just took it out of my bookshelf and set it aside for a rainy day.

Bernie has put his heart and soul into this race believing he could actually become President. Evidently, he cannot let go and will hang on as long as possible and he will tell you it's for the good of the country (he doesn't give too many hoots about the democratic party itself) but in that heart of hearts he's behaving like a stubborn candidate who can't face that he's lost.

Schlemazel: There was an episode on the TV show, "Judging Amy" (one of the really good shows that have become scarce these days) where Amy's brother, Dan, is interviewing people for a potential roommate. In walks this guy who is at university enrolled as a psych major. He spots a picture of Albert Einstein on the wall and asks, "Is that your grandfather?" He also notices bagels on the counter and asks if Dan is Jewish? Dan tells him no, but would that make a difference? the guy says, well those Jews own everything in this country, don't you know? I'd have trouble relating. Dan, opening the door to usher him out says, "Did I understand that you are going into a field where you will be helping others?" The guy looks bewildered as Dan shoves him out the door.

There are millions of "pathetic little schlemiels" roaming around pretending they are not bigots.

[Cakers]

As I watched Hillary speak last night, I couldn't help think how much my late Mother would've enjoyed this moment, although maybe not as much as Hillary's Mom.
The Politico piece on Bernie was not very flattering, but reminded me why I'm glad that I stuck with my convictions and stuck with Hillary despite having second thoughts about whether to vote for her or Bernie. After 30 years of intense media and GOP scrutiny and attacks, at least we know pretty much everything there is to know about HRC, even if we don't like everything we know. There is just too much we still don't know about Bernie. I've been very disappointed in him in these last days. All the things he says he wants to fight for, he can fight for in the Senate.

[Ken Winkes]

From this morning's Power Post Daily 202. (Info you will need only if the link below does not do the trick.)

Sent to me by a good friend, former government functionary, political junkie and someone who has frequently chided me in the last few months for being too soft on Bernie.

His thought on the article and the speech I didn't stay up late enough last night to hear: "This is pretty good analysis of the status of things. Though the pundits see it differently, I thought Bernie's speech last night paved the way for his getting out gracefully. He focused on issues, not on winning delegates."

Having read it, I agree.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/06/08/daily-202-primary-wins-show-hillary-clinton-needs-the-left-less-than-pro-sanders-liberals-think