US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1192

In an extraordinary -- and extraordinarily awkward -- failure of basic situational awareness, a U.S. congressman apparently mistook American government officials for Indian government officials during a congressional hearing.

As first reported by Foreign Policy magazine, freshman Rep. Curt Clawson (R-FL) spoke to State Department official Nisha Biswal and Commerce Department official Arun Kumar as if they were Indian government officials at a House Foreign Affairs hearing on Thursday.

"I'm familiar with your country. I love your country. And I understand the complications of so many languages and so many cultures and so many histories all rolled up in one," Clawson said. He added: "Anything I can do to make the relationship with India better, I'm willing and enthusiastic about doing so."

When he asked the American officials for cooperation from "your government," Biswal appeared rather confused. "I think your question is to the Indian government," she said, "and we certainly share your sentiments and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the U.S. government."

On July 26 2014 11:37 Danglars wrote:
StealthBlue, cleverly unearthing gaffes from freshmen congressmen. For all the rheorical "extraordinarily awkward" and "basic situational awareness" the "reporter" can muster, it doesn't even pass a chuckle or raised eyebrow. Is this news? I should also ask, is it a slow day at the 24/7 Christie scandal watch (judging from your previous links)? I thought TPW or you had a better filter.

On July 26 2014 11:51 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


Because we should never expect our elected officials to be PREPARED for a congressional hearing or know who will be speaking as a witness... Heaven forbid we hold them to high standards of professionalism or competency.

On July 26 2014 12:46 Danglars wrote:
I would also have hoped a certain Democratic congresswoman from Texas would know we had not planted a flag on Mars. Or maybe a Senator of 30 years not getting lost on the way to his own luncheon. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid nearly every time they open their mouths. But I digress ...

You simply cannot recognize a hatchet job for its own merits. Let me propose a substantive difference between a gaffe where some representative ends up with egg on his face, and some political operative at TPW calling something "extraordinary - and extraordinarily awkward - failure of basic situational awareness." One should get a laugh and diminish prestige or other facets of his contributions. The other is scraping the bottom of the barrel, making Buzzfeed into cutting-edge reporting by comparison, by some political hack with an axe to grind.

StealthBlue, I have seen other articles posted by you that were incisive and to-the-point on political questions of professionalism and competency. They have a slant and selection as befit your politics, but so do mine and any others. This recent source material holds barely concealed glee at one mistake, and a simultaneously implausible heightening of its impact. I hold reporters to the standard of not baring their long knives instead of journalism with their first sentence of their story. I would say the same to a story promising an unheard of escalation of the Hamas-IDF confrontation that climaxes in a Hamas soldier hitting an Israeli soldier with a slingshot and half-pound rock. He mistook two state department officials to be representatives from India. Embarrassing, and please report on it for a laugh and not lay apparent your euphoria (Compare: "intensely awkward" foreignpolicy/HuffPo's repeat)

On July 26 2014 20:47 Liquid`Drone wrote:
I just thought that top article was chuckle-worthy cause it's really awkward and the response is funny. but it doesn't actually mean anything, people make mistakes and I really don't see how assuming that someone with an indian appearance, quite possibly indian accent and an indian name is indian rather than american is all that great of an offense. yeah do your research but I mean it's a small slipup.

President Barack Obama pledged Friday to sign a bill passed by the House and Senate to legalize cellphone unlocking, in a rare example of tech policy advancing in Washington.

The House passed the legislation just hours earlier, and the Senate approved the measure last week. The bill reverses a Library of Congress decision that made it illegal for cellphone users to unlock their devices to be used on other networks.

“The bill Congress passed today is another step toward giving ordinary Americans more flexibility and choice so that they can find a cellphone carrier that meets their needs and their budget,” Obama said in a statement.

Cellphone unlocking — the act of changing settings on a mobile device so it can be used on a different wireless network — was legal until the Library of Congress declared it copyright infringement in 2012.

On July 26 2014 21:13 zlefin wrote:

yeah, mostly it's just funny.
It's a bit sloppy in that their names and identities are all covered at the start of the hearing, so the guy probably wasn't paying attention to the hearing (which is kinda the point of a hearing, to listen to witnesses).

A federal judge has declared that one of the District’s principal gun control laws is unconstitutional and ordered that its enforcement be halted.

The ruling by Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr., made public Saturday, orders the city to end its prohibition against carrying a pistol in public.

It was not clear Saturday night what immediate effect the order would have.


The order was addressed to the District of Columbia and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, as well as their employees and officers and others “who receive actual notice” of the ruling. But it could not be determined Saturday night who had received notice. Also unclear was whether the city would appeal and what effect that would have on the enforcement ban.

WASHINGTON -- Incoming House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) refused on Sunday to take impeaching President Barack Obama off the table if Obama takes executive action to limit deportations.

On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace asked Scalise, who was recently elected majority whip, if the House would consider impeachment. Scalise repeatedly dodged the question.

"This might be the first White House in history that's trying to start the narrative of impeaching their own president," Scalise said. "Ultimately, what we want to do is see the president follow his own laws."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest warned in a press briefing last week that House Republicans may eventually bring up articles of impeachment against Obama, arguing that conservatives would not be satisfied with the effort from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to merely sue the president over his use of executive orders.

Wallace pressed Scalise on the issue Sunday. "Impeachment is off the table?" he reiterated.

"The White House wants to talk about impeachment and they're trying to fundraise off that, too," Scalise said.

"I'm asking you, sir," Wallace interjected.

"The White House will do anything they can to change the topic away from the president's failed agenda," Scalise said.

The New York Times editorial board on Saturday called on the federal government to legalize marijuana, comparing the ban on weed to Prohibition.

"It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished," the Times wrote in an editorial in the paper's Sunday Review. "It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol."

The paper slammed current drug laws and their social costs.

"Even worse, the result is racist, falling disproportionately on young black men, ruining their lives and creating new generations of career criminals," the wrote.

The editorial board brought the health concerns surrounding marijuana, but argued that it is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco and said that it should only be legal for those age 21 and older.

"Claims that marijuana is a gateway to more dangerous drugs are as fanciful as the 'Reefer Madness' images of murder, rape and suicide," the Times wrote.

The Times wrote that they considered whether states should lead the way by experimenting with decriminalization and legalization, but the paper argued that this approach "would leave [state] citizens vulnerable to the whims of whoever happens to be in the White House and chooses to enforce or not enforce the federal law."

The editorial board will continue to explore the legalization of marijuana in a series of editorials.

Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor, told Politico's Playbook that the editorial was a long time coming.