Rachel Maddow's Blog, page 3367

Monday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits:

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An Iraqi security officer patrols the grounds of Baghdad Central Prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib.

* A deadly and important raid in Iraq: "Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out of Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said on Monday."

* What precipitated the jail break: "Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives to the gates of the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad on Sunday night and blasted their way into the compound, while gunmen attacked guards with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades."

* China: "A series of earthquakes in Gansu Province in northwestern China set off landslides and building collapses in an impoverished mountainous region Monday, killing at least 75 people, injuring more than 600 and prompting President Xi Jinping to order 'all-out rescue efforts.'"

* A big story out of Guantanamo: "Seventy-one detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay will get parole-board-style hearings at the Navy base in Cuba, the Pentagon said Sunday, though it did not say when the panels will meet, whether the media can watch and which of the long-held inmates will go first."

* Austerity doesn't even help in its intended goal: "The debt burden in the 17 European Union countries that use the euro hit an all-time high at the end of the first quarter of the year, according to official figures released on Monday. Government debt as a proportion of the area's GDP hit a record 92.2 percent, up from 90.6 percent in the previous quarter and 88.2 percent a year ago."

* Amusement-park oversight in the United States is lacking and as we were reminded recently, it matters a great deal.

* San Diego: "Mayor Bob Filner's former director of communications filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that he sexually harassed her, put her frequently in a headlock and said 'crude and disgusting' things about sex."

* When Limbaugh is reduced to shameless trolling: "If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians."

* And the Washington Post had an "exclusive" report over the weekend on the American Medical Association's Relative Value Update Committee, which relates directly to Medicare. What's the problem? The Post's "exclusive" story was scooped by the Washington Monthly two weeks ago -- a point the Post neglected to mention.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

Filibuster reform finds an unlikely ally

Associated Press

For many on the left cheering on Senate Democrats recently as they threatened the "nuclear option," last week was a serious letdown. Republicans caved, and gave Dems the deal they wanted that led to quite a few confirmation votes, but the institution's dysfunctional rules were left squarely in place. For those who are eager to see real reform, the deal was wholly unsatisfying -- the broken rules haven't changed at all.

Proponents of reform are, however, continuing to pick up allies. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who turns 90 today, conceded what most senators are reluctant to acknowledge.

Senate leaders should change how they use the filibuster, he said.

"There are things that should be stopped, but at least there ought to be a vote," he said. "It can't continue, this constant holding up bills."

Remember, Dole isn't exactly an angel on this front. When Bill Clinton became president, and there was a large, 57-seat Democratic majority in the Senate, then-Minority Leader Dole found obstructionism quite appealing. There are certainly key procedural differences between a filibuster and cloture motion, but just for the purposes of comparison, note that in the 103rd Congress (1993 and 1994), there were 80 cloture motions filed -- at the time, this was a record high, and more than the combined total of every Congress from 1917 to 1970.

Dole, in the other words, knows quite a bit about obstructionism from personal history.

But even he realizes his party's antics have gotten completely out of hand, and have reached an untenable level that "can't continue." This is the same Dole, by the way, who said in May he believes his party has failed to come up with a positive agenda and is so far to the right that neither he nor Reagan could be accepted by today's Republican Party.

In March, the Boston Globe ran a lengthy, fascinating feature on Dole coming to terms with the fact that the "old rules no longer apply" with today's GOP lawmakers.

It's seems Dole has some worthwhile advice for his party. It's a shame his party doesn't want to hear it.

Abortion restrictions blocked in North Dakota

Jimmy Emerson/Flickr

While Republicans furiously approve new restrictions on reproductive rights at the state level, they keep running into one persistent problem: the courts.

A federal judge has blocked enforcement of North Dakota's new abortion law -- the nation's most restrictive.

The law, which was set to take effect next week, would ban abortions beginning at six weeks, when the fetal heartbeat can be detected.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland concluded the North Dakota law contradicts U.S. Supreme Court cases addressing abortion restraints and violates a 40-year precedent established in Roe v. Wade.

North Dakota only has one clinic remaining where women can terminate pregnancies -- this in a state spanning over 70,000 square miles -- and under the law approved in March, 90% of those abortions would no longer be legal.

"The State of North Dakota has presented no evidence to justify the passage of this troubling law," Hovland said in his order. "The State has extended an invitation to an expensive court battle over a law restricting abortions that is a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantees afforded to all women."

The ruling is not surprising -- North Dakota Republicans willfully ignored existing U.S. law when they approved these sweeping restrictions, applying them to some women who may not even realize they're pregnant -- but it's nevertheless reassuring to reproductive-rights advocates.

It's also the second such ruling this month.

As we discussed just two weeks ago, Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Wisconsin's Republican-led legislature approved their own restrictions, including state-mandated, medically-unnecessary ultrasounds and the closure of half the state's clinics where abortion services are provided. A federal court blocked this measure, too.

If we look back a little further, as the NBC News report noted, Idaho's 20-week ban was also blocked by a federal court.

Why are Republicans in the U.S. Senate so eager to derail President Obama's judicial nominees and prevent the courts from moving to the left? This offers a pretty timely reminder.

GOP senator pleads for 'tolerance' for climate deniers

Associated Press

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) realizes that conservatives tend to be at odds with the reality-based community when it comes to climate science, but he nevertheless hopes the latter will be "tolerant" of the former.

"At the very least, I think it's time for some tolerance in the public discourse regarding the many scientific viewpoints on climate change. Respect should be shown to those who have done the research and come to a different conclusion," Wicker said during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on climate science.

This comes up from time to time, and it's always disconcerting. There's a political dispute underway about an issue with unrivaled consequences -- the climate crisis has the capacity to change conditions on the planet to the detriment of humanity. One side of this political argument is relying on evidence and science to draw attention to a potentially catastrophic problem in the hopes of coming up with a solution.

The other side of the argument includes a variety of prominent voices who've come to believe that the entirety of climate science is a hoax perpetrated by secret communists who hate free enterprise. Other conservatives don't go quite this far, but nevertheless say the problem, if it exists, can't or shouldn't be addressed.

Wicker seems to believe what's needed is "tolerance" for those who are wrong and "respect" for those who embrace dangerous pseudo-science.

I disagree. With so much on the line, showing respect for willful ignorance seems deeply irresponsible.

Those hoping the Benghazi conspiracy theory makes a comeback

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Remember way back in May, when the political world was convinced the White House was in "crisis" because of all the "scandals"? The effort to tie together three unrelated stories -- none of which was a legitimate "scandal" by any fair definition -- was quickly embraced by the Beltway establishment, before fizzling out as the summer progressed.

The one Washington seemed to care the most about -- IRS scrutiny of groups seeking tax-exempt status -- evaporated fairly quickly. The establishment briefly cared about AP reporters' phone logs being subpoenaed, but you may have noticed that the Justice Department's efforts to prevent future controversies like these were almost entirely ignored.

And then, of course, there was Benghazi, which was never really a political controversy at all, and the allegations raised by those who hoped to exploit the story for partisan gain were discredited in the spring. Politico reported just last week, "After months of fiery hearings and vows to get to the bottom of Benghazi, House Republicans are now barely making a peep when it comes to an issue they once couldn't stop talking about."

But it appears old habits die hard.

GOP leaders are coming under new pressure from conservatives to form a special committee to investigate the Benghazi attack.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is circulating a discharge petition to force a House vote on forming the panel, which would investigate events leading up to the terrorist attack last year on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, as well as the Obama administration's response.

Stockman on Tuesday will unveil a 60-foot-long scroll signed by 1,000 Special Forces veterans who support the committee. Supporters tout it as the largest petition ever presented to Congress, and Stockman plans to unroll it down the Capitol's steps.

Keep in mind, it's not clear to anyone why a special investigatory committee is needed, why it should cover the same ground committee hearings and an independent panel have already covered, or what questions proponents of the idea perceive as unanswered. Even some congressional Republican staffers have begun openly mocking GOP lawmakers who can't let go of this nonsense.

But the conspiracy theorists in Congress are undeterred.

For the discharge petition to be successful, Stockman and his allies would need 218 of the chamber's 234 House Republicans -- about 93% -- to ignore the wishes of the GOP leadership. At last count, they were up to 160.

In the meantime, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) hasn't given up on his white whale, either.

Try not to be surprised.

Monday's campaign round-up

Associated Press

Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) has found himself with the one thing he desperately wanted to avoid: a primary challenger in Kentucky. Matt Bevin, an investment executive and Tea Partier, has launched a Senate bid and reserved media airtime.

* Harper Polling, a Republican auto-dial pollster, found Sen. Mike Enzi leading Liz Cheney in Wyoming's U.S. Senate Republican primary, 55% to 21%. Rumor has it, PPP is polling Wyoming, too.

* In Virginia, the latest Quinnipiac poll confirms what PPP found last week: Terry McAuliffe (D) is up by four over Ken Cuccinelli (R) in this year's gubernatorial race, 43% to 39%.

* In Iowa, Quinnipiac found that a 46% plurality believe Gov. Terry Branstad (R) does not deserve yet another term, and 54% believe he's been in office long enough.

* Though there had been some scuttlebutt to the contrary, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he will seek re-election.

* In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has set the date for recall elections for two Democratic state senators who've been targeted by the NRA and its allies. Voters will weigh in on Sept. 10 (thanks to my colleague Laura Conaway for the heads-up).

* A competitive Democratic Senate primary is taking shape in Hawaii, and Al Gore is throwing his support for appointed incumbent Brian Schatz (D), citing his work on environmental policy.

* And in 2016 news, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has apparently ruled out the next presidential race.

What sabotage governing looks like

Associated Press

I was talking to a friend over the weekend about current events, and when the subject turned to health care, I mentioned Republican efforts to "sabotage" the Affordable Care Act. He asked a fair question: "In real-world terms, what does that mean, exactly?"

It occurred to me others might be wondering the same thing. While Greg Sargent and I talk about "sabotage governing" quite a bit, it's easy to lose sight sometimes of just how sweeping the GOP efforts to impair the federal health care law really are. We've never seen anything like this -- it is literally without precedent -- and for millions of Americans, very little matters more.

So let's get specific. When we talk about efforts to "sabotage" Obamacare, what are we referring to? Several -- by my count, seven -- specific efforts.

First, congressional Republicans are actively trying to undermine the federal health care system by refusing to help their own constituents navigate the system.

People regularly call their representatives for help with Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. Yet, Republicans believe healthcare reform spells doom for the federal budget, private businesses and the U.S. healthcare system. They're also enormously frustrated that the law has persevered through two elections and a Supreme Court challenge and believe a botched implementation could help build momentum for the repeal movement.

Some Republicans indicated to The Hill they will not assist constituents in navigating the law and obtaining benefits. Others said they would tell people to call the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"We know how to forward a phone call," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). He added, "[A]ll we can do is pass them back to the Obama administration. The ball's in their court. They're responsible for it."

Constituent services are the most basic of tasks for congressional offices, but we now have some -- not all, but some -- congressional Republicans who simply don't want to help constituents who need a hand with information about federal health care benefits.

Second, there's systemic lying to the public.

In recent weeks, officials in states like New York and California have boasted about lower premiums for residents thanks to the Affordable Care Act. But on Friday, Indiana, where Republican officials dominate, announced the law would force a premium increase of 72%. How it that possible? As Sarah Kliff, Jonathan Cohn, and others explained over the weekend, GOP policymakers in the state arrived at the figure by cooking the books and jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information.

Indiana Republicans wanted to push a political narrative, and generate some headlines, but they had to play fast and loose with the facts, on purpose, in the hopes of fooling the public.

Third, there are the dozens upon dozens of repeal votes congressional Republicans keep holding. The latest was last week, and yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed to hold even more, saying he still hopes to "derail this thing," and adding, "We're going to do everything we can to make sure it never happens." (Boehner said the exact opposite last November.)

These repeal votes tell the public that the future of the law is still in doubt -- a significant chunk of the country actually believes the Affordable Care Act has already been repealed -- and discourages participation needed to make the law work.

Fourth, congressional Republicans have repeatedly denied the Obama administration funds needed for implementation. Fifth, GOP leaders have shamelessly discouraged private-sector partnerships with Washington on public-awareness campaigns, in the hopes that public ignorance might help undermine the efficacy of the system. Sixth, many Republicans at the state level are refusing to allow Medicaid expansion, no matter how much damage it does to their state. And seventh, these same GOP officials in the states are refusing to create exchanges, making it that much more difficult for federal officials to meet deadlines and fully implement the law on time.

When I talk about efforts to "sabotage" Obamacare, this is what I'm talking about.

Again, don't forget that this has simply never happened before. There is no precedent in American history for Congress approving a massive new public benefit, a president signing it into law, the Supreme Court endorsing the benefit's legality, and then having an entire political party actively and shamelessly working to sabotage the law.

We can talk about why Republicans are doing this -- Paul Krugman has some compelling thoughts on the matter -- but the fact that these sabotage efforts are underway is undeniable.

As Jonathan Bernstein recently explained, "It's possible that the ACA will collapse. But if it does, it's unlikely it will be the result of inherent problems with the legislation. If Obamacare fails, it's going to be because the Republican Party's all-out war on it -- a war that doesn't seem to have any concern at all for health-care consumers or the economy -- succeeds. Whether that's a good thing for health care? Well, that doesn't seem to be part of the equation."

Tonight at 9pm ET: MSNBC Special: President Obama & Trayvon Martin

Tonight at 9 p.m. ET, MSNBC's Alex Wagner and Melissa Harris-Perry host a special hour-long discussion of President Obama's speech today on the death of Trayvon Martin and state of race relations in America.

Rachel returns Monday, loaded for bear.

Friday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits:

* The week-long wildfires in California continue to grow more serious.

* FISA court: "A secret intelligence court has decided to continue an order that forces Verizon Communications to turn over hundreds of millions of telephone records to the government each day in its search for foreign terror or espionage suspects. The longstanding Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order must be renewed every three months. It had been set to expire Friday."

* Keep an eye on this one: "In a major ruling about press freedoms, a divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled that James Risen, an author and reporter for The New York Times, must testify in the criminal trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency official charged with providing him with classified information."

* Houston: "A call placed to Houston police Friday morning expressing concern that individuals were being held against their will resulted in the discovery of eight people in a house, but it was unclear how long they had been in the home."

* Presidential support: "The parents of Trayvon Martin applauded President Obama's surprise discussion of their son, his death, and race relations in America as 'a beautiful tribute' in a statement released Friday."

* The right, meanwhile, responded to the president's remarks with the kind of class and dignity I've come to expect from the contemporary conservative movement. I was especially struck by the Fox News personality who condemned Obama as the "race-baiter in chief."

* Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's (R) allies came to a realization: he needs a legal defense fund.

* They can't stop: "Still high off their victory in passing a law that bans the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy, Texas Republicans turned to an even harder restriction: banning abortion at the sound of a fetal heartbeat, which usually can be detected at six weeks."

* Robert Lady: "A retired CIA official detained in Panama has been released and was en route to the U.S. on Friday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said."

* Aurora: "A Colorado gun-rights advocacy group is set to put on a "counter rally" Friday in the same park as an event to remember the victims of the Aurora movie theater massacre on the one-year anniversary of the shootings."

* Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) thinks he understands inflation. He's "amazingly wrong."

* And Tom Toles continues to characterize the debate over health care better in a one-frame cartoon than most columnists do in several hundred words.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

Kerry announces breakthrough on Mideast peace process

State Department photo

Secretary of State John Kerry has been in office for a little less than six months, and in that time, he's made six trips to the Middle East in the hopes of renewing peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. This included a private dinner on Tuesday evening with Mahmoud Abbas, and discussions with Arab League diplomats and King Abdullah of Jordan on Wednesday.

And while this hasn't generated much interest from the political world, Kerry's diligence has been pretty remarkable. Earlier this month, the Secretary of State was in Israel for four days, leading "the most intense Middle East peace push in years." He left without a renewal of talks, but insisted his efforts had yielded real movement and "real progress" had been made.

At the time, skeptics scoffed. The Times of Israel's David Horovitz said three weeks ago, "This is the fifth bid by the leading diplomat of the world's superpower to persuade these two people to go into a room together, and even that he cannot achieve. At some point it becomes embarrassing and humiliating for the United States."

And yet, this afternoon, Kerry announced peace talks are prepared to resume for the first time in several years.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday that Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork to resume stalled peace talks.

Addressing reporters before he flew back from the Jordanian capital of Amman, Kerry announced "an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis."

When it comes to the language of diplomacy, especially as it relates to the Middle East, every word tends to matter. And in this case, note that Kerry didn't say direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis are resuming; he said there's an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming those talks.

In other words, the parties have agreed to a process that leads to negotiations. Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to move forward on talks about talks.

That may sound redundant, if not a little silly, but let's not dismiss the significance out of hand -- this level of progress has been elusive since the last round of talks collapsed in 2010.

I'm not suggesting a peace deal is on the horizon -- I share the skepticism expressed by, well, everyone -- but Kerry deserves a lot of credit for this step forward.

Why? Because it was his blueprint that created the progress.

The New York Times had a good piece summarizing Kerry's approach thus far.

Mr. Abbas has for years insisted that any new talks be conducted on the basis of Israel's borders before it seized Arab territories in the 1967 war, with minor adjustments. Mr. Netanyahu has just as steadfastly refused.

To skirt that apparent stalemate, Mr. Kerry's team has tried to come up with a new framework, according to American, Israeli and Palestinian officials who have been involved in the process.

One possibility, they said, is that the United States will invite the two sides to the talks on the basis of the 1967 prewar borders and the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, though Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas would not explicitly endorse those terms and might even oppose them while agreeing to negotiate.

Arab League foreign ministers found this compelling, even if PLO leaders are not yet on board.

So, what's next? Palestinian and Israeli diplomats -- specifically, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, and Tzipi Livni, the Israeli justice minister -- are scheduled to join the Secretary in D.C. within the next week or so for initial talks, which, if constructive, would lead to a gradual series of increasingly serious talks.

For his part, President Obama spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, primarily to discuss developments in Egypt, Iran, and Syria. According to a White House statement, the president also "encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue to work with Secretary Kerry to resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible."