A study finds that most "lone wolf" terrorists "broadcast their plans to commit violence" before they do it. Why? Because they're drama hounds! They are, in fact, the worst kind of drama hounds. And some right-winger, somewhere, will angrily dismiss the findings because the study included white terrorists.
Justice Department officials express frustration that tech corporations like Apple "appear to be winning" "the public relations fight" over encryption. Interesting analysis! But, ah, are the American people winning this battle? How quickly we get disappeared from these decisions! Particularly when, you know, encryption appears to benefit the people, and strike a blow against wanton government spying.
Robert Reich surveys the growth in corporate power and the growing gap between rich and poor and calls it "a crisis in public morality" -- you know, versus the "private morality" of the bedroom that seems to obsess Republicans more. But that dichotomy kind of gets in the way: morality is morality, and "telling the truth" and "keeping your promises" remain more compelling moral values than "hate the gays" and "keep women from getting birth control," let alone "let corporations do whatever they want because freedom." But at the end, Mr. Reich himself cuts the dichotomy with the what-happens-in-boardrooms-not-bedrooms meme, and that meme is weapons-grade PR.
Rasmussen finds that some 66% of Americans think Kim Davis should, you know, follow the law regardless of her "religious convictions." The first rule of Rasmussen applies: if Rasmussen finds the number at 66%, then the real number is probably even higher. But I wonder what number pollsters would have found fifty years ago, before the advent of the whining religious bigot getting massive TV time. (Personal to Rasmussen, though: "gay marriage spat"? Only one side's spatting over this, last I looked.)
Speaking of Kim Davis, Judge Bunning has let her out of jail -- but her lawyer says she'll very likely continue to block gay couples from getting marriage licenses. Which nobody could have predicted! Seriously, you can't just say I FOLLOWZ TEH GODZ LAWZ!!!!! and then say "well, unless it means I have to go back to jail." Can you? I guess we'll find out.
Finally, an AIPAC official says he really, really wishes AIPAC hadn't signed on to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech in front of Congress -- you remember, the speech he arranged without telling President Obama -- because it alienated potentially sympathetic Democrats and turned the Iran nuke deal into a "partisan" issue. Sadly, you can't always count on the stupidity of your enemies, nor can you count on their hysterics always meeting with the contempt they deserve.
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