The Commentariat -- March 31

GOP Attacks AARP. Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: with the issue of a report yesterday and with hearings scheduled for tomorrow, "House Republicans, who are continuing their efforts to chip away at President Obama’s health-care law, have now set their sights on a powerful group that strongly supported the legislation: the AARP seniors lobby.... The lawmakers ... also said they have asked the IRS to examine the group’s tax-exempt status."

Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post: "Military leaders and President Obama’s civilian advisers are girding for battle over the size and pace of the planned pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan this summer, with the military seeking to limit a reduction in combat forces and the White House pressing for a withdrawal substantial enough to placate a war-weary electorate."

Here's President Obama's full speech on energy security, delivered yesterday at Georgetown University:

     ... Here's the transcript of the speech, as delivered.

** William Cohan of the New York Times: "... for all its bluster and heft, the July 2010, 2,200-page Dodd-Frank law, which purports to force Wall Street to change its bad behavior, has of course done nothing even remotely close to that and merely reinforced the longstanding cozy relationships.... And because of the demise of firms like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia and Washington Mutual, competition among the survivors is much diminished, to their delight.... The so-called 'junk bond' market has rallied to levels not found since the height of the previous bubble in 2005 and 2006.... Bonus payments in 2010 hovered close to $150 billion, more evidence of how completely out of whack Wall Street pay continues to be."

Glenn Greenwald: "... the war in Libya ... has unquestionably departed far from the claims that were made about it in the beginning. The no-fly zone was established long ago; the focus is now on attacking Gadaffi's ground forces, enabling rebel advancements, and regime change. Despite claims about Arab League and French leadership, the U.S. has provided the overwhelming bulk of bombs, jet fighters, intelligence and other resources." ...

The Libya Connections ...

... So There's This News Report from crack investigative reporter Mark Hosenball, now of Reuters, that "within the last two or three weeks ... President Barack Obama ... signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. ...

... AND This News Report from Mark Mazzetti & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times that the CIA "has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and to contact and vet the beleaguered rebels...." ...

... AND This News Report from Chris Adams of McClatchy News: "The new leader of Libya's opposition military spent the past two decades in suburban Virginia but felt compelled — even in his late-60s — to return to the battlefield in his homeland, according to people who know him. Khalifa Hifter was once a top military officer for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but after a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s, Hifter switched to the anti-Gadhafi opposition. In the early 1990s, he moved to suburban Virginia, where he established a life but maintained ties to anti-Gadhafi groups." ...

... ALL of Which Causes David Dayan of Firedoglake to wonder if President Obama's secret order "has anything to do with the Libyan expat resident of Northern Virginia, 10 miles from Langley, showing up in Benghazi to command the rebel army." CW: I'd say a ten-mile commute to the office was pretty standard.

Four New York Times journalists who were captured, imprisoned & beaten in Libya, discuss the situation there:

Nicholas Kristof says "Egypt is a mess," which is what we should expect. Comments are here.

Having flunked Budget Negotiations 101 this year, Hill Democrats plan to bone up on their negotiating skills & introduce tax hikes for the rich for the FY 2012 budget. Why, they say even the President might back them. Alexander Bolton of The Hill reports.

What to Do? What to Do? Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: polls show that the tea party is becoming unpopular among Americans. "With the tea party coming to Washington for a major rally on Thursday, Republicans leaders will come face to face with the tough decision before them. Side with the tea party and risk tying yourself to a group that is not broadly popular with the public. Go against them and risk alienating the most active and passionate members of the party’s base, the men and women most responsible for helping deliver the GOP across-the-board gains in 2010."

Dahlia Lithwick skewers right-wing Supremes: "... judging from [Monday] morning's argument in McComish v. Bennett, there is no principle those five justices will fight harder to preserve than the right of the impossibly wealthy to purchase as much speech as they want and need to win a political campaign. The free speech issue in McComish is a swirly one, predicated on the novel constitutional theory that less speech makes us all freer." Lithwick reprises the justice's questions/arguments as to why "leveling the playing field" so that candidates without billionaire backers can be heard, too, is a terrible thing to do.

Marc Lacey of the New York Times: "... several of [Rep. Gabrielle] Giffords’s [D-Ariz.] longtime aides are whispering behind the scenes that she just might recover in time to run for the seat that Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican, is vacating next year. While it might be wishful thinking, Ms. Giffords’s noncampaign is already having a major effect on Arizona politics; other prospective Democratic candidates say they feel compelled not to jump in unless she bows out, allowing Republicans to get a head start organizing their campaigns."

Michelle Goldberg in the Daily Beast: "On Tuesday, a billboard went up on the South Side of Chicago featuring Barack Obama’s face, drawn in a crude approximation of Shepard Fairey’s iconic image, next to the words “Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted.” The group behind the ad, Texas’ Life Always, has promised to unveil 30 more such signs in the president’s hometown. It’s just the latest attempt by the antiabortion movement to wrap itself in the cloak of the civil-rights struggle."

Carol Rosenberg of McClatchy News: "The Bush administration was so intent on keeping Guantanamo detainees off U.S. soil and away from U.S. courts that it secretly tried to negotiate deals with Latin American countries to provide 'life-saving' medical procedures rather than fly ill terrorist suspects to the U.S. for treatment, a recently released State Department cable shows.... The secret effort is spelled out in a Sept. 17, 2007, cable from then assistant secretary of state Thomas Shannon to the U.S. embassies in those four countries. Shannon is now the U.S. ambassador in Brazil.... The cable, which was posted on the WikiLeaks website March 14, draws back the curtain on contingency planning at Guantanamo, but also contradicts something the prison camp's hospital staff has been telling visitors for years — that the U.S. can dispatch any specialist necessary to make sure the captives in Cuba get first-class treatment."

Emi Kolawole of the Washington Post: "P. J. Crowley, the now-ex State Department spokesman who resigned after he called the treatment of alleged WikiLeaks source, Pfc. Bradley Manning, 'ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid,' is speaking out.... In an interview with the BBC’s HardTalk, Crowley said he had 'no regrets' regarding his remarks, and that Manning’s treatment was detrimental to the United States." BBC print story & video here. ...

... In a Guardian op-ed, Crowley explains why he called the treatment of Manning "stupid": "I stand by what I said. The United States should set the global standard for treatment of its citizens -- and then exceed it. It is what the world expects of us. It is what we should expect of ourselves."

Right Wing World *

Media Matters is still leaning on Bill Sammon:

Lawrence O'Donnell goes off on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor whose lack of knowledge of "how a bill becomes a law" demonstrates that he couldn't pass a citizenship exam or even a grade-school test:

... Here's a Washington Post item by Felicia Sonmez on Cantor's lamebrained remarks.

AND, while he's at it, O'Donnell takes on Sen. Rand Paul & makes a point that slipped my notice: the Senate passed a resolution by unanimous consent approving imposition of the no-fly zone over Libya. "Thanks, Senator; now we know what you look like when you're lying." Thanks to Jeanne B.:

Gail Collins' column was funny, as usual; I'm linking it here as a public service & not because it approaches a must-read. Her topic: "the fight over federal regulation of light bulb efficiency.... Michele Bachmann ... is the author of the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal a federal requirement that the typical 100-watt bulb become 25 percent more energy efficient by 2012. Bachmann hateshateshates that sort of thing, as you would expect from a woman whose Earth Day speech in 2009 was an ode to carbon dioxide. ('It’s a part of the regular life cycle of the earth.')" Comments are here.

Dave Weigel in Slate: "For what it's worth, the DOJ's Office of Professional Conduct's report on the unending New Black Panther Party affair -- the charge that the Civil Rights Division failed to pursue more charges against two members of the hate group who held nightsticks outside a mostly-black polling place on Election Day 2008 -- clears the DOJ of any wrongdoing, and clears the Obama administration of any wrongdoing. A day after this came out, I can't detect any mellowing-out from the people who pushed for the investigation." [Emphasis added.]

Finally, Jon Stewart looks at how Republican candidates for President are appealing to "the broadest swath of narrow people." Play through to the second segment which covers Santorum, Barbour & Trump:

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

Guardian: "Colonel Gaddafi's regime has sent one of its most trusted envoys to London for confidential talks with British officials.... Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, visited London in recent days.... The contacts with Ismail are believed to have been one of a number between Libyan officials and the west in the last fortnight, amid signs that the regime may be looking for an exit strategy." ...

... New York Times: "President Obama’s top two national security officials signaled on Thursday that the United States was unlikely to arm the Libyan rebels, raising the possibility that the French alone among the Western allies would provide weapons and training for the poorly organized forces fighting Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government." ...

... New York Times: "Members of the NATO alliance have sternly warned the rebels in Libya not to attack civilians as they push against the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, according to senior military and government officials." ...

... New York Times: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Congressional panel that he strongly opposed putting any American forces in Libya. Asked if there would be American 'boots on the ground' — that is, uniformed members of the military — Mr. Gates swiftly replied, 'Not as long as I’m in this job.' At the same time, Mr. Gates declined to address reports that the Central Intelligence Agency has sent clandestine operatives to Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and to contact and vet the rebels. Mr. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, faced tough questions on Thursday from members of Congress who are angry about the administration’s push into Libya and deeply skeptical about President Obama’s plans to end the conflict." ...

... AP: "Libya conceded Thursday that Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa had resigned but claimed that it was a personal decision driven by health problems, not a sign that the embattled regime is cracking at the highest levels.... Despite the setbacks and ongoing airstrikes — now led by NATO — Gadhafi loyalists have retaken much of the territory the rebels had captured since airstrikes began March 19. The latest fighting centered on Brega, a town important to Libya's oil industry on the coastal road that leads to Tripoli. It has gone back and forth between rebel and loyalist hands, and on Thursday it was a no-man's land, with Gadhafi's forces at the western gate and rebels east of the city." ...

... New York Times: former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa reportedly "is voluntarily talking to British officials, including members of the British Embassy in Tripoli now based in London, and our ambassador. Also, "... in another sign that the cracks in the Libyan government may be widening, a second top Libyan official, Ali Abdussalam el-Treki, defected Thursday to Egypt. In decades of service, Mr. Treki had served as both foreign minister and United Nations representative."

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "A state law to sharply curb union bargaining by public employees is not in effect, a Dane County judge ruled Thursday.... Gov. Scott Walker's administration said it would comply with the order by halting its implementation of the law."

New York Times: "The speaker of the House, John A. Boehner [R-Ohio]..., said Thursday that there was not yet any budget deal for the rest of the year.... Facing pressure from conservatives in his ranks not to compromise –- and a Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday intended to send the same message -– Mr. Boehner disputed Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s assertion Wednesday night that the White House, Senate Democrats and House Republicans had effectively settled on budget cuts for this fiscal year of about $33 billion."

New York Times: "Microsoft plans to file a formal antitrust complaint on Thursday in Brussels against Google, its first against another company. Microsoft hopes that the action may prod officials in Europe to take action and that the evidence gathered may also lead officials in the United States to do the same. In Europe, Microsoft is joining a chorus of complaints, but until now they have come mainly from small Internet companies saying that Google’s search engine unfairly promotes its own products, like Google Product Search, a price comparison site, over rival offerings."

AP: "A letter bomb has exploded at an office of the Swiss nuclear power industry in the northern city of Olten, injuring two people...."