The Commentariat -- May 16

I've posted a Krugman comments page on Off Times Square, but you can comment on Douthat's tear-stained adieu to Mike Huckabee -- or whatever else is bugging you. ...

... Paul Krugman urges President Obama to stand up to Republican hostage-takers who want deep spending cuts in exchange for condescending to raise the debt limit. Here's Krugman on yesterday's edition of "This Week." As From-the-Heartland said in yesterday's Off Times Square comments, Krugman is the only one at the table who makes sense:

... Digby: "It's a wonder Paul Krugman didn't just resort to banging his head on the table at the obtuseness of the discussion [above].... It has come to my attention that some Democrats* have joined the kabuki conga line. It makes no difference. They are not going to let the country default on the debt either. They are just vying to join the 'Very Serious People' caucus. And the president knows this too."

... * See this WashPo story by Peter Wallsten: "A growing number of Democrats are threatening to defy the White House over the national debt, joining Republican calls for deficit cuts as a requirement for consenting to lift the country’s borrowing limit." ...

... Damian Paletta & Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal: "People familiar with the [debt ceiling] negotiations led by Mr. Biden say they are looking at cuts to agriculture subsidies and federal retirement programs, stepped-up antifraud efforts, increased premiums for pension plans backed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the sale of wireless spectrum and government properties."

I worked for a lot of these guys. And this is one of the most courageous calls – decisions — that I think I’ve ever seen a president make. -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, on President Obama's decision to send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to go after Osama bin Laden



What's next for Dennis Kucinich? Erica Lovely of Politico: even Kucinich isn't sure. As a result of the 2010 Census, Ohio has lost two Congressional districts. As Republicans redraw district lines, Kucinich's Cleveland district is likely to be eliminated.

Debbie Cenziper of the Washington Post writes Part 2 of the Post's investigation of HUD's outrageous failure to do any oversight of federally-funded housing projects for the poor, a failure that has left poor families without housing & taxpayers paying millions to speculators who build nothing. Today Cenziper concentrates on a Washington, D.C. project that is a case study in how to reward crooks for ripping off taxpayers.

New York 26th Congressional District candidates Jane Corwin & Kathy Hochul are required to wear matching outfits for a televised debate. But note that Hochul, evidently a radical anti-American socialist like President Obama, refuses to wear a flag pin. Where was that woman born? AP photo.Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: New York's 26th Congressional District special election is a test of the Ryan/Republican Tea Party budget. Election day is May 24. The district is heavily Republican, but ... Democratic candidate Kathy Hochul, who has emphasized the Republican plan to gut Medicare, is currently leading in the polls. And check out Right Wing World, where the Newt accidentally gives Hochul a boost.

Right Wing World *

With allies like that, who needs the left? -- Paul Ryan, on Newt Gingrich’s repudiation of the Ryan budget  ...

... Laura Meckler of the Wall Street Journal: "White House hopeful Newt Gingrich called the House Republican plan for Medicare 'right-wing social engineering,' injecting a discordant GOP voice into the party's efforts to reshape both entitlements and the broader budget debate. In the same interview Sunday, on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mr. Gingrich backed a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance, complicating a Republican line of attack on President Barack Obama's health law." CW: either Newt is trying to emerge as the Sane One in a field of nutjobs, or he's planning to back Mitt Romney when he concludes his presidential pirouette. he's just blowing wind. See update below. Here's Newt slamming the Republican plan to dump Medicare, after which he promises not to raise taxes because he knows how to "rethink the federal government":

... BUT He Was For It Before He Was Against It. Jay Newton-Small of Time reports that Gingrich told her a mere two weeks ago that he would have voted for the Ryan/Republican Tea Party bill because it was "a first step" to saving the healthcare system. Newton-Small asks, "How does one go from praising a plan as 'the first step' to criticizing it as 'too big a jump' and 'radical change'?" ...

... New York Times UPDATE: AND 24 Hours Later, Newt Is For It Again. CW: can anyone think of any reason to listen to that blowhard? Ever? If he cried "Fire!" in a crowded theater, would you get caught in a stampede? Or would everyone just keep watching the show?

... Carrie Dann of NBC News has a good synopsis of all the other stuff Newt told David Gregory, but if you want to watch the full Lie-o-Rama, here's the video (sorry, I was going to just link to it, but there doesn't appear to be a link to isolate the video):

Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: legal scholar Ron Paul says Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional. With video. CW: Paul needs to read Article I, Sec. 8, a/k/a the "broad powers" clause. He seems to think if a law isn't spelled out in the Constitution, it's unconstitutional. The Constitution begs to differ."

Tortured Republican Rhetoric. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "It’s a rare sight to see a Republican senator and a former Republican attorney general trading charges of dishonesty and falsehood. But this is exactly what Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Michael Mukasey have been doing in recent days regarding the use of harsh interrogations -- what McCain and other critics call torture — and their role in discovering the location of Osama bin Laden.... We do not have enough information to make a definitive judgment. But it appears that Mukasey is straining to make a connection between the killing of bin Laden and the harsh interrogation techniques that appears, at best, tangential. Otherwise, he would not have had to resort to verbal sleight of hand to make his case. McCain, by contrast, appears to clearly connect the dots from the courier to bin Laden, citing information derived from conventional techniques."

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

Hairball Announcement:

I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election.... -- Donald Trump ...

... BUT tabby-toned hairball will not run for U.S. President.

AP: "The last drive to recall Wisconsin state senators over their support of or opposition to a bill curtailing collective bargaining rights fell well short of its goal today.... Scott Noble, organizer of the effort to recall Democratic Sen. Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, said the group collected a little over 6,000 signatures by Monday's deadline. It needed 15,879 signatures to trigger a recall election. That leaves six Republican and three Democratic senators in line for recalls.... The scope and success of the recall petitions is unprecedented in U.S. history."

New York Times: "Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the leader of the International Monetary Fund, was ordered on Monday to be held without bail over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a maid in a $3,000-a-night suite at a Midtown hotel. Prosecutors had asked the judge, Melissa C. Jackson, supervising judge of Manhattan Criminal Court, to remand Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, contending that he was a flight risk. They also indicated that a similar attack may have occurred. 'Some of this information include reports that he has in fact engaged in conduct similar to the conduct alleged in this complaint on at least one other occasion,' said John McConnell, an assistant district attorney, adding that the district attorney’s office was still investigating the other occasion, which occurred outside the United States." ...

     ... Update: "Piroska M. Nagy, a blond Hungarian-born economist...," has said Strauss-Kahn coerced her into having a brief affair with him. because he was "so forceful" in his pursuit and because he abused his position which was very senior to hers at the IMF. CW: is it really necessary to describe an economist as a blonde?

** ABC News: the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled for this morning at 9 am ET. Cdr. Mark Kelly will captain the ship; his wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will watch the launch. With video. Update: "Endeavour blasted off on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight, thundering through clouds into orbit Monday morning as the mission commander's wounded wife, Gabrielle Giffords, watched along with an exhilarated crowd well into the thousands." See video above.

At 11:30 am ET. President Obama will meet with families in Memphis who have been affected by the flooding of the Mississippi River. CNN story here, includes video of flooding.

New York Times: "Around 10 a.m. on Sunday, according to officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, the river broke the record elevation set [in Vicksburg, Mississippi] during the flood of 1927, rising to 56.3 feet, 13 feet above flood stage and 1.2 feet below the predicted crest on Thursday. It was flowing by at a rate of nearly 17 million gallons a second, which is the highest rate it is likely to reach in its entire race down to the Gulf of Mexico." ...

... The New Orleans Times-Picayune has flood-related news here.

Chicago Tribune: "Rahm Emanuel will be sworn in as Chicago's 46th mayor today. The inauguration is scheduled to get underway at 10:30 a.m. [11:30 am ET] at Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, with political Chicago in attendance to witness history as the city gets its first new mayor in 22 years. Vice President Joe Biden and outgoing Mayor Richard Daley are expected to attend." ...

     ... Update: "Rahm Emanuel took the oath of office today to become Chicago's 46th mayor. The city's new mayor then laid out the challenges ahead: Improving schools, ending gun violence and downsizing a city government taxpayers can no longer afford. And he asked Chicagoans, the City Council and the business community to help him."

AP: "The head of the International Monetary Fund was examined for evidence that could incriminate him in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid, charges that stunned the global financial world and upended French presidential politics. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a married father of four whose reputation with women earned him the nickname 'the great seducer,' faced arraignment Monday...."

Los Angeles Times: "The International Criminal Court prosecutor at The Hague on Monday requested arrest warrants for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, his son Seif Islam Kadafi and his intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity." Al Jazeera story here.

NBC News: "Assailants killed at least 29 people — decapitating most of the victims — in one of Guatemala's worst mass killings in a generation. The massacre took place early Sunday on a ranch in a part of the country plagued by drug cartels. Many of the victims were shot and beheaded, police said."