Good morning!
It’s a busy day in history: On this date in 1933, Adolph Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany; in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home was bombed during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956 (two days earlier, he had been arrested for driving 30 mph in a 25 mph zone), and in 1969, London’s Metropolitan Police broke up The Beatles’ final public performance — the famous rooftop concert with Billy Preston immortalized in the film Let It Be.
BREAKING –> In a conference call this morning, Mitt Romney told staff he will not be running for president. AP reports, “… As Romney tried to rally support for another campaign, he discovered that several of his past supporters and major fundraisers had defected to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.”
A force to be reckoned with or flavor of the day? –> Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is gaining momentum in the early stages of a free-for-all GOP presidential primary. The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart writes that his unapologetic — or “divisive,” depending on your point of view — message is resonating with the party’s base. But we remember a 2012 process in which eight different candidates led the polls at different times. AND: Sean Trende, the “conservative Nate Silver,” writes at Real Clear Politics that this is a unique field, with a primary calendar that provides incentives for multiple candidates to continue deep into the process, maybe all the way to the national convention.
The big prize –> CNN reports heavy fighting around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, long a prized target for Islamic State fighters. Supported by US airstrikes, Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been redeployed from Mosul to counter the IS assault.
“The ground just keeps moving” –> Lori Montgomery reports for WaPo that residents of Oklahoma are, as one put it, “frustrated and scared” by an exponential increase in seismic activity linked to fracking. But “in a state founded on oil wealth, officials have been reluctant to crack down on an industry that accounts for a third of the economy.” ALSO: The Senate passed a bill forcing approval of the Keystone XL pipeline yesterday, which the White House has promised to veto.
Science gap –> Pew looked at how scientists’ views on a variety of issues diverge from those of the public. The biggest difference: 88 percent of scientists think genetically modified foods are safe to eat; only 37 percent of adults are similarly confident.
Commendable –> That’s what people are calling The New Republic’s introspective look at the magazine’s troubled history dealing with race, a worthwhile #longread by Jeet Heer. AND: Vox’s Matt Yglesias makes an important point: All politics are “identity politics,” but the label is selectively attached to issues that concern women and minority groups.
“Killing machine” –> The BBC’s reports that after 20 years behind bars, South African officials are paroling a notorious “apartheid assassin” in the name of “nation-building.” Eugene de Kock, dubbed “Prime Evil” by the South African media, co-founded and ran the Koevoet unit, which “became the number one death squad for killing largely black anti-apartheid activists.”
Deep in the heart… –> When a cell-cam video of a high school student assaulting a teacher went viral, Texas lawmakers filed a stand-your-ground-type bill allowing teachers to use deadly force against students, or to protect school property. has the details at the Houston Chronicle. AND: Reeve Hamilton and Alexa Ura at The Texas Tribune report that on Texas Muslim Capitol Day, State Rep. Molly White (R-Belton), left an Israeli flag at her office’s reception desk and told staff “to ask representatives from the Muslim community to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws.”
“What about the lower class?” –> Jeff Spross writes at The Week that while Democrats’ “middle-out” economic approach is sound over the long-haul, a “bottom-up” strategy that puts more money into the pockets of the working poor is a better way of tackling inequality while maintaining strong growth.
Criminalizing the poor –> The ACLU’s Blog of Rights features a guest post by Kevin Thompson, who explains how a traffic ticket he couldn’t afford to pay in 30 days and a load of fines levied by a for-profit “parole” company led to five days in jail.
Here be dragons! –> Scientists have discovered a previously unknown species of dinosaur — the 50-foot-long Qijianglong that roamed China 160 million years ago. The animal had a “freakishly long neck,” and CNet’s Michael Franco writes that it’s possible “ancient residents of China… once stumbled upon the remains of a Qijianglong, which could have contributed to legends of dragons in the region.”
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