Lots of different topics on the agenda today. First up,
The Washington Post on Russia's discriminatory acts towards the LGBT community:
While Russia and the Soviet Union before it have generally been hostile to gay people, the recent intensity of Mr. Putin’s war is part and parcel of his lapse into xenophobia, religious chauvinism and general intolerance as the urban middle class increasingly questions the legitimacy of his authoritarian rule. But if Mr. Putin believed that persecution of gay people would be a domestic issue of little interest to the world, he miscalculated. As Mr. Obama rightly highlighted, the dignity with which gays are treated has been recognized as a fundamental human rights concern in much of the world. No country, especially not one on the cusp of hosting the Olympic Games, should expect such bigotry to go unnoticed.
Meanwhile,
Paul Krugman at
The New York Times:
We live in a golden age of economic debunkery; fallacious doctrines have been dropping like flies. No, monetary expansion needn’t cause hyperinflation. No, budget deficits in a depressed economy don’t cause soaring interest rates. No, slashing spending doesn’t create jobs. No, economic growth doesn’t collapse when debt exceeds 90 percent of G.D.P.
And now the latest myth bites the dust: No, “economic policy uncertainty” — created, it goes without saying, by That Man in the White House — isn’t holding back the recovery.
Head below the fold for more on the day's top stories.
Michael McGough at The Los Angeles Times examines the GOP's media intimidation:
My guess is that Priebus' real concern has nothing to do with pro-Hillary collusion between NBC News and NBC Entertainment. He just doesn't want Hillary Clinton, the presumptive favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, to get extra air time, adulatory or otherwise, as the election season approaches.
But is that really a big concern in this multiplatform age? Surely we've progressed past the time when people worried that Arnold Schwarzenegger the politician would receive some unfair political advantage if "Terminator" were rerun on TV (as if susceptible voters couldn't watch it on a DVD). And isn't it patronizing to suggest that voters could be manipulated by a miniseries or a documentary?
The best answer to Preibus' complaint is that, whatever her political prospects, Hillary Rodham Clinton is a historical figure with a fascinating personal backstory. That she's also a potential candidate for president doesn't change those facts. So let the cameras roll. And rather than agonize about whether the movies will mess with their brand, reporters at CNN and NBC should focus on covering the 2016 campaign fairly.
On the topic of the GOP's fit over upcoming Hillary Clinton documentaries,
Andrew Rosenthal at
The New York Times says the controversy is ridiculous:
Presidential debates have not been debates for a long time. In the primaries, they’re cattle shows where a half dozen or more would-be nominees recite talking points hoping for a sound bite that sticks for 24 hours. In the general election, they’re press conferences with two participants trying to avoid stepping on landmines. The most memorable moments have had less to do with substantive discussion than appearance, like President Obama sleepwalking through his first encounter with Mitt Romney in 2012.
But even from that low starting point, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has dragged the idea of presidential debates farther down. [...] On one level, Mr. Priebus is right. Debate moderators have not been people whose interest was promoting the Republicans or their nominees. They have been journalists whose interest was in asking questions dispassionately.
That’s how it is supposed to be. If the Mr. Priebus wants debate moderators to lob softballs designed to let the candidates look good and avoid areas that might hurt them, he should just give Fox News an exclusive.
Switching topics to immigration,
Brad Bannon at U.S. News says the GOP's digging its own grave:
The Republican House caucus has probably stopped comprehensive immigration reform this year. If the GOP succeeds in blocking the path to citizenship for immigrants, the Republicans will fail at the polls next year. When Republicans aren't blocking reform legislation, they spend their time trying to kill reforms that are already law. House Republicans have now voted 40 times to kill the Affordable Care Act, which Hispanic Americans support in large numbers.
The GOP's electoral problems extend far beyond Hispanic voters. A national poll that CBS conducted in July indicated that Americans are much more concerned about the economy (40 percent) than the budget deficit (16 percent), or anything else for that matter. By focusing like a laser beam on the deficit, the GOP is blissfully ignoring the problem that concerns large numbers of voters. Meanwhile President Obama has spent the last two weeks on the road, talking about the economy.
On the topic of education,
Mark Edmunson says majoring in humanities has its benefits:
the humanities are not about success. They’re about questioning success — and every important social value. Socrates taught us this, and we shouldn’t forget it. Sure, someone who studies literature or philosophy is learning to think clearly and write well. But those skills are means to an end. That end, as Plato said, is learning how to live one’s life. “This discussion is not about any chance question,” Plato’s Socrates says in “The Republic,” “but about the way one should live.”
That’s what’s at the heart of the humanities — informed, thoughtful dialogue about the way we ought to conduct life. This dialogue honors no pieties: All positions are debatable; all values are up for discussion.
Finally, former teacher
Elliot Haspel tied a thread between housing policy, poverty and education:
Teaching should be among the most respected professions. Teachers should be paid extremely well, and they should have tremendous amounts of support, resources and quality professional development. Teachers should bring out the creative spark in children. Teachers should help students gain high levels of rigorous knowledge and skills. And teachers should be held to high standards that look at how they and their students perform on a variety of measures, year after year. These “shoulds” build on one another; they do not tear one another down.
For low-income children and parents, there are many comprehensive services that can help level the playing field, and not just academically. Housing policy is education policy. Transportation policy is education policy. Health-care policy is education policy. Criminal justice policy is education policy. Food policy is education policy. And, yes, education policy is education policy. I do not know anyone involved in the education reform movement worth his salt who thinks that schools are the sole answer; I do not know anyone opposed to the education reform movement worth her salt who thinks schools don’t matter. [...]
There’s only one divide that matters: the one between those who believe all kids can succeed regardless of the circumstances of their birth and the color of their skin, and those who don’t.