Koch Brothers' War Against America Suffers A Setback In The Supreme Court

Clean air-- clearly a Marxist plot against the esteemed Koch borthers

The NY Times called it "a major victory for the Obama administration" but the 6-2 ruling by the Supreme Court yesterday to allow the EPA to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast was a victory for the American people first and foremost. And no one is more incensed than the Koch brothers! "Republicans and the coal industry," asserted the Times, "have criticized the regulations, which use the Clean Air Act as their legal authority, as a 'war on coal.' The industry has waged an aggressive legal battle to undo the rules.

“It’s a big win for the E.P.A., and not just because it has to do with this rule,” said Jody Freeman, director of the environmental law program at Harvard. “It’s the fact that it’s setting the stage and creating momentum for what’s to come.”

...Two weeks ago, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld another major E.P.A. Clean Air Act rule that would cut coal-plant pollution from mercury.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a resounding victory for public health and a key component of E.P.A.’s efforts to make sure all Americans have clean air to breathe,” Gina McCarthy, the E.P.A. administrator, said in a statement. She added that “the court’s finding also underscores the importance of basing the agency’s efforts on strong legal foundations and sound science.”

The interstate air pollution regulation, also known as the “good neighbor” rule, has pitted Rust Belt and Appalachian states like Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky against East Coast states like New York and Connecticut.

Predictably, the 2 dissenters-- with corporate whore Sammy Alito having had the out of character decency to recuse himself-- were Scalia and Thomas, who called the rules "Marxist." One of the Koch brothers' most shameless handmaidens in Congress, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), who has a free reelection pass from his pal Steve Israel, twisted the ruling into a simplistic and misleading statement, as is his wont: "This is just the latest blow to jobs and affordable energy... We cannot allow E.P.A.’s aggressive regulatory expansion to go unchecked. We will continue our oversight of the agency and our efforts to protect American families and workers from E.P.A.’s onslaught of costly rules."

With the Koch brothers bribing the majority of the Members of Congress, the EPA isn't used to winning these kinds of victories lately. "Today's Supreme Court decision," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, "is a resounding victory for public health and a key component of EPA’s efforts to make sure all Americans have clean air to breathe. It serves to support the ongoing work to see that air quality in downwind states continues to improve. The Court’s finding also underscores the importance of basing the agency’s efforts on strong legal foundations and sound science. This is a big win for the nation’s public health and a proud day for the agency."

The White House statement emphasized that "240 million Americans can breathe easier" because of the decision.

EPA previously estimated that the rule will prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 1.8 million sick days a year-- achieving up to $280 billion in annual health benefits.

These substantial health benefits will be achieved at modest costs using readily available pollution controls already adopted by many power plants. While leveling the playing field, the rule also gives power companies the flexibility to choose the most cost-effective option for cutting air pollution and protecting downwind communities.

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is one of President Obama’s major clean air and public health accomplishments. Other major actions include:

• First-ever national limits on mercury and other toxic pollution from power plants
• New car and gasoline standards to cut vehicle pollution
• Long-overdue limits on toxic air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators
• Rules to cut smog-forming pollutants from oil and gas wells
• Tighter air quality standards for particulate pollution (or soot), reflecting new science about dangerous health impacts

Overall, the Administration’s clean air safeguards will save tens of thousands of lives, avoid millions of lost work and school days, and make our cities and towns healthier places to live and raise families.

Although we’ve made important progress in cutting smog, soot, mercury, and toxic air pollution, our work is not done. More action is needed to cut the harmful carbon pollution that causes climate change, impacting our communities and public health. In June, EPA will issue a proposed Clean Air Act rule to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants. This step, which will build on the Administration’s previous clean air successes, is a central element of the President’s Climate Action Plan.

Steven Mufson and Tom Hamburger, writing over the weekend for the Washington Post laid out some of the contours of the coming war the Koch brothers are planning against America.

In state capitals across the country, legislators are debating proposals to roll back environmental rules, prodded by industry and advocacy groups eager to curtail regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gases.

The measures, which have been introduced in about 18 states, lie at the heart of an effort to expand to the state level the battle over fossil fuel and renewable energy. The new rules would trim or abolish climate mandates-- including those that require utilities to use solar and wind energy, as well as proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules that would reduce carbon emissions from power plants.

But the campaign-- despite its backing from powerful groups such as Americans for Prosperity-- has run into a surprising roadblock: the growing political clout of renewable-energy interests, even in rock-ribbed Republican states such as Kansas.

The stage has been set for what one lobbyist called “trench warfare” as moneyed interests on both sides wrestle over some of the strongest regulations for promoting renewable energy. And the issues are likely to surface this fall in the midterm elections, as well, with California billionaire Tom Steyer pouring money into various gubernatorial and state and federal legislative races to back candidates who support tough rules curbing pollution.

The multi-pronged conservative effort to roll back regulations, begun more than a year ago, is supported by a loose, well-funded confederation that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and conservative activist groups such as Americans for Prosperity, a politically active nonprofit organization founded in part by brothers David and Charles Koch. These groups argue that existing government rules violate free-market principles and will ultimately drive up costs for consumers.

The proposed measures are similar from state to state. In some cases, the legislative language matches or closely resembles model bills and resolutions offered by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a free-market-oriented group of state lawmakers underwritten in part by Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Duke Energy and Peabody Energy.

“Now more than ever is the time for states to lead the way,” ALEC’s top officials told its members at a meeting in December.

They turn their focus on Kansas, parcatically a Koch fiefdom, where normal people are beginning to fight back against the Koch plutocracy that controls the state. "The strong winds that blow across Kansas," they point out, "have carried new interest groups into the state. Kansas ranks sixth in the country in wind output, which jumped by a third last year and equaled 19 percent of the state’s electricity, the EIA says... Eventually, the Kansas Senate passed two bills, one postponing the renewable targets and one repealing them. Both failed in the state House, although the bill’s backers have vowed to bring them back."

MAYBE BEING A REPUBLICAN IS MORE OF A PROBLEM FOR JEB BUSH THAN BEING A BUSH

The conventional wisdom about Jeb Bush, at least in some circles, is that he'd be an extremely strong candidate for Republicans in 2016 ... if only it weren't for that darn surname. He'd be a shoo-in if he weren't a Bush!

Well, a new Washington Post/ABC poll -- the second part of a survey in which, as we learned yesterday, President Obama gets low marks -- tells us not only that Hillary Clinton would beat Jeb by double digits if the 2016 presidential election were held today, she wouldn't win because he's a Bush:

In a hypothetical matchup, Clinton leads former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- seen by many GOP establishment figures as the party's strongest general-election candidate -- 53 percent to 41 percent.

Clinton's commanding position is fueled by large leads over Bush with female, non-white and young voters. The poll found that neither Clinton nor Bush appears to be weighed down by a dynastic family name. Sixty-six percent of all Americans say they view the Clinton family favorably, while 54 percent have a favorable opinion of the Bushes.

So there goes the lie that Jeb is the guy we really want as president, but we foolishly refuse to vote for him because we hold the actions of his relatives against him. We don't -- we just don't want him.

Or at least the Democratic coalition doesn't, by a considerable margin:

Non-white voters overwhelmingly favor Clinton, 74 percent to 20 percent. Clinton also holds substantial leads among women (59 percent to 36 percent) and among voters between ages 18 and 39 (61 percent to 33 percent).

So much for the notion that the coalition is turning away from Democrats because of Obama.

Oh, and Jeb, in order to win the nomination, would probably have to overcorrect for previous moderate positions, and pick an unpalatable extremist as a running mate -- y'know, just like McCain and Romney. So I feel pretty good about this matchup.

*****

There's a lot in this poll about the race for the 2016 GOP nomination. (Short summary: the race is really wide open.) What amuses me is the huge gender gap in Rand Paul's support:





Paul is 7 points ahead of the rest of the field among men -- and tied for fourth, 8 points behind the leader, among women.

This isn't the first time there's been a big gender gap in his polling numbers. As the site Prez16 noted last April:

In this month's Public Policy Polling survey of national GOP primary voters, Paul win 22% of men (tied for first place) but only 12% of women (fifth place).

The story was the same in last month's Quinnipiac University poll of national GOP primary voters. Paul nabbed 18% of men (2nd place) but only 11% of women.

In limited state polling, we're seeing the same thing. For example, in PPP's poll of Pennsylvania, Paul won, once again, 22% of men, but only 11% of women.

In PPP's survey of Wisconsin, he took 12% of men and only 5% of women.

Prez16 noted that the gender gap appeared only after Paul's drone filibuster. But that was a long time ago, and it's still in place.

So Rand Paul really is a dude phenomenon. (Dudebro phenomenon?) Yeah, shocking, I know.

But how do you *really* feel about capital punishment?

Linoleum print by Daniel Hodgkinson.

Looks like Mr. LessThanPerfect deleted the tweet, but luckily I made a screen shot:

"You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us" (a maid of Adolf Hitler in the '30s, in 2008)

A view of the Berghof, near Berchtesgaden, in the Bavarian Alps

"At no point in her interview with the Salzburger Nachrichten does [Elisabeth Kalhammer] criticize the German dictator or mention his atrocities. . . . In fact, she remembers life as being pretty good at the Berghof."

-- the Washington Post's Gail Sullivan, in "Hitler’s former maid
remembers the good life at Der Fuhrer’s mountain retreat"

by Ken

When it comes to all matters Hitler-related, I can count on my friend Leo to keep my up to date, which is a nearly full-time preoccupation, since as he notes frequently, Hitler "news" -- or whatever you want to call in -- just keeps on coming. I guess we could say in marketing terms that the Hitler brand is as potent as ever, and shows no signs of letting up, except for the small problem of finding new merchandise to bring to market.

I was a little surprised yesterday to notice, without having heard anything about it from my usual Hitler source, that the Washington Post had a report on the reminiscences to the Salzburger Nachrichten of an 89-year-old woman who served on the "staff of 22 housemaids" employed at the Berghof, near Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, the idyllic mountain retreat of Adi and his lovely and charming companion Eva. Within the day, however, I was in receipt of a link to a Haaretz report -- based, actually, on the Post story, "Hitler’s former maid remembers the good life at Der Fuhrer’s mountain retreat," by Gail Sullivan.

The Post story begins:

It’s not clear that Elisabeth Kalhammer knew who her employer would be in 1943 when she responded to a help wanted ad for a maid at the Berghof, Hitler’s Bavarian mountain retreat that served as Nazi headquarters away from Berlin.

Her mother had her doubts, Kalhammer, 89, told the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten in what appears to be her first public interview about working for Hitler, but an employment office staffer told Kalhammer she should be thankful. Jobs were scarce in Germany as the war raged on all fronts.

After she was screened by the SS and a search of her mother’s home for signs of anti-Nazi propaganda turned up nothing suspicious, Kalhammer’s application was approved.

Kalhammer was nervous when she arrived at a house full of guests on her first day. Hitler wined and dined the likes of Benito Mussolini at the Berghof, where he spent much of his time during World War II.

Kalhammer, who joined a staff of 22 housemaids, saw Hitler but never said a word to him herself. Only long-serving staff members were allowed to address Hitler personally and enter his private rooms, she told the paper.

What happens at the Berghof stays at the Berghof, was the main rule when it came to chitchat. Staff were forbidden even from talking among themselves about the comings and goings of Nazi party members and their guests. Kalhammer was warned from the start that if she broke the rule she would face strict punishment.

At this point, however, the 89-year-old Ms. Kalhammer apparently feels more comfortable about violating those strict conditions of her employment and, says Gail Sullivan, "offers these tidbits about life at Hitler’s home away from home":

• Late at night, Hitler liked to steal away to the kitchen for a bite of “Fuhrer cake,” a specially prepared sheet cake with apples, nuts and raisins that the kitchen was expected to always have on hand.

• Hitler rarely got out of bed before 2 p.m. (This habit came back to bite him on D-Day when his generals dared not wake him though Allied troops were swimming ashore in Normandy).

• As a Christmas “gift” maids received wool so they could knit socks for troops on the front.

• The maids greeted Hitler’s girlfriend Eva Braun with “Heil, merciful lady.”

"Perhaps," writes Sullivan, "what’s most revealing is what Kalhammer doesn’t say."

At no point in her interview with the Salzburger Nachrichten does she criticize the German dictator or mention his atrocities. At no point does she express regret over being a cog, albeit a small one, in the wheel of Nazi machinery.

In fact, she remembers life as being pretty good at the Berghof. With plenty of food and fresh-pressed apple juice, Kalhammer was far better off than ordinary Germans. She did laundry and sewing, and cleaned up around the house. She also served tea, which Hitler liked to drink from a delicate Nymphenburg tea cup. She had to abide by a curfew as punishment after breaking one of the porcelain cups, which were very valuable.

Kalhammer also enjoyed girls’ nights out at Hitler’s private cinema on the estate where his lover, Eva Braun would watch the latest German propaganda films starring former actress, Marika Roekk. Braun was “spellbound” by Roekk, Kalhammer said.

Kalhammer, for her part, was quite a fan of Braun whom she described as an elegant woman who always wore tailored clothes of the latest fashion. “She was always good to me,” Kalhammer said.

Braun acted as the lady of the house at Berghof and designed the maids’ outfits – a white apron with diagonal buttons.

The mood in the house grew darker after a July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler by senior Nazi officials failed. Kalhammer worked at Berghof almost until the end of the war. The compound was ultimately evacuated and was bombed in an Allied air raid.

Sullivan notes that Ms. Kalhammer "isn’t the first of Hitler’s maids to come out of the woodwork."

In 2008, another maid who worked for Hitler at the Berghof told Britain’s Daily Mail that Hitler “was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for. You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us.”

Like Kalhammer, she prefers a sanitized version of the past. “That he had ordered such terrible things, I just couldn’t believe it,” she said of having to confront the reality of Hitler’s atrocities after the way. “Even now, I prefer to remember the charming facets of his personality.”

I don't know why the maid who spoke up in 2008 isn't named, but she was Rosa Mitterer, then 91, who was described as "the sole survivor of those who served Adolf Hitler in the years before the Second World War." Rosa's service thus predated Elisabeth's wartime service.

"For one woman," the Mail's Allan Miller wrote, "the name Adolf Hitler evokes a smile not a shudder."

Rosa is 91 and until now has kept a vow of silence about her experiences. She has chosen to break it after realising she is the last survivor of the circle who served the tyrant in the years before he launched the Second World War.

And her verdict on her former master: 'He was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for. You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us.'

Rosa's remembrances of life at the court of the tyrant make gripping reading. She saw leading Nazis come and go. Himmler, the evil party secretary; Bormann, whom she described as a 'dirty pig'; and the club-footed, sexually-obsessed propaganda minister Goebbels.

Rosa went into Hitler's service at the age of 15 in 1932 when she was Rosa Krautenbacher. Her sister Anni had worked as a cook at Hitler's Berchtesgaden retreat since the late 1920s.

'She said he needed a housemaid and I would fit the bill,' Rosa recalled. 'I remember so clearly the first day I spoke to him in the kitchen. I said I was Anni's sister and that made him smile, because Anni was his favourite. I only ever knew Hitler as a kindly man who was good to me.'

#

Maureen sorrow than anger

Shorter Maureen Dowd, "Is Barry Whiffing?" New York Times, April 30 2012:

So remember when we were in like eighth grade and you were cool and I like wrote "Mrs. Barry Obama" in my economics notebook with all those little hearts and I would have totally done you I mean all the way and I'm not even fucking kidding? And now you're in math club? I'm like don't even try to speak to me you herb.

Image via Graphics18.

CA-31-- Will Eloise Reyes Be Congress' First Ever Onion Topper? That's Way Better Than Another Crooked Bank Lobbyist

Speaking about her inspiring life story in her first TV ad, Eloise Reyes talks about the hard work and perseverance it took to go from topping onions as a small child and working her way through school and law school to the middle class and now running for Congress. "I made the journey," she says, "but for people these days, that journey has become so much harder." Eloise isn't a Republican or a corporate tool like her opponent, Pete Aguilar. Republicans and corporate tools want to pull the ladder up behind them and kick the people in the face who are trying to climb out over distressed economic situations. Instead, she says, she will "fight for families working hard to join the middle class and those struggling to stay there."

That's what her hard-pressed Inland Empire district (CA-31) needs. A majority minority district-- stretching from Upland and Rancho Cucamonga, along the 210 Freeway to San Bernardino and along the 10 Freeway through Colton, Loma Linda and Redlands. The median household income is $50,882 (compared to the state median of $57,287. Statewide about 19% of the residents have no high school diploma. In CA-31 that figure is 21%. Statewide, 45.8% of the voting age population turns out, on average, to vote. In the 31st, that drops down to 39.7%. Eloise wants to work on bringing all these figures up. Politically, her entire raison d'être is about helping to lift up her neighbors.

“I’m running for Congress to do a job-– not to get a job or keep a job," she told us today. "Congress is broken because career politicians who have their own self interest at heart have advocated for the wealthy and big corporations and left the middle class behind. It’s time to invest in bringing jobs back to our district, keeping the promise of Social Security and Medicare and passing comprehensive immigration reform that provides a true path to citizenship. Washington is not going to change me. I was born here in the Inland Empire. As a twelve year old I picked onions in the fields to pay for school clothes and after college and law school I returned home to raise my family and open a small business. My roots are in the Inland Empire and I will bring your voices-– and values-– with me to Congress.”

Her main opponent, the DCCC's failed corporate shill, Pete Aguilar, is a former lobbyist for Arrowhead Savings and Loan, which his shady behavior helped drive into bankruptcy. Aguilar is desperate for a job in Congress but he's barely related to the community and has always been a pawn and a front-man for the Republican-dominated Chamber of Commerce. They appointed him to the Redlands City Council and they appointed him mayor. And, of course, Steve Israel bought right into this empty suit. Hilda Solis, who was the congresswoman from CA-31 before President Obama appointed her to his Cabinet as Secretary of Labor, endorsed Eloise last February, even though Israel was beating the bushes for support for the empty suit. At the time, this is what Solis said: "In this day and age when the powerful special interests are gaining even more power, the working families that make our country strong need a strong voice and their own tenacious fighter in Congress. Eloise Gomez Reyes is the person for the job. She has spent her entire career fighting for working families and people who can’t fight for themselves. She will bring that same tenacity to the fight to bring jobs to the Inland Empire. Eloise is one tough lady and she will not be intimidated by the extremist leaders of the GOP or their big bank accounts."

Xavier Becerra, the senior House Republican in Southern California and a close Pelosi ally was even more forceful about Eloise's outstanding credentials to be the next Member of Congress from San Berdoo:

Eloise is a proven leader who will get the job done in Washington for the working families of the Inland Empire. Quite frankly, I know she’ll work tirelessly on behalf of those who work hard, play by the rules and deserve a fair shot at the American Dream. That’s why today I’m endorsing Eloise Reyes for Congress.

I work with our leadership day in and day out, pushing on the obstructionist House Republicans to strengthen the ladders of opportunity and build an economy that works for all Americans. Having someone like Eloise among our ranks, I know, she will be not only an ally to myself and Leader Nancy Pelosi, but a strong voice for the Inland Empire, for California, and for working families all across the country.

Eloise is the American Dream fulfilled. Her story is mine and yours. My father was a construction worker and when my mother, a newlywed, came to this country she spoke no English. They sent their four children to college in America. Eloise started work at the age of 12 in the onion fields. Imagine the children of immigrants like Eloise and myself standing up, side by side. Imagine passing paycheck fairness, or comprehensive immigration reform, or raising the minimum wage.

This Californian is endorsing Eloise Gomez Reyes for CA-31 because she will be an effective leader and legislator for you.

...As Tip O’Neil once said, "all politics is local." I have been watching this race very closely for some time and I know that Eloise can win this race, but not without your support. Together, we can protect and renew el sueño Americano-- the American Dream for the next generation.

The photo below is Pete Aguilar, on any random evening. Look at that mess. He wants to go to Congress to be the Democratic version of Trey Radel (and Vance McAllister). There is just no comparison between him and someone of Eloise Reyes' character, intellect and honor. If you'd like to make sure she's the next Member and not Aguilar, please consider contributing to her grassroots campaign here.

Steve Israel's handpicked candidate, Pete Aguilar

MORE ON THE CULTURE OF LIFE IN OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma: it's home not only to botched executions, but also to this:

ELK CITY, Okla., April 28 (UPI) -- The way a Little League team in Oklahoma is raising money for equipment and travel hasn't been a hit with many members of the local community.

The Elk City Outlaws have come under fire for raffling off an AR-15 rifle....

If you've got a problem with that, you're just a damn city slicker:

"I can see where those parents have concerns especially if they weren't brought up around here," said parent Andy Shelton. "For some people guns are just not their thing, but for people out here it's a popular sport, hobby and activity that a lot of families enjoy."

Yeah -- an AR-15 Del-Ton? Why, they should sell that baby at Toys "R" Us!





My favorite comment from a parent:

"I ended up getting my son a little bitty 22 when he was four years old," Christy Ham said. "We enjoy guns and teach our kids safety."

It's a heartland thing. You just don't understand.

Here's a TV news report from local station KFOR:





Well, a few days ago we had a guy in Georgia with a visibly holdstered gun taunting Little Leaguers and their parents in Georgia.

"He's just walking around [saying] 'See my gun? Look, I got a gun and there's nothing you can do about it.' He knew he was frightening people. He knew exactly what he was doing," said parent Karen Rabb.

I guess the only thing that stops a Little Leaguer-taunting bad man with a handgun is a good Little League parent with an assault weapon ... right?

The Republican Party Is Making Itself Over As The Party Of Anti-American Sedition

Many Republican Party leaders, always sensitive to their hate-fueled, paranoid base, are still clinging to their racism and bigotry. Its reflected in their policy agenda, the Ryan budget, their refusal to pass the bipartisan Senate comprehensive immigration plan (which even Boehner admits is being held back by the hate mongers in his caucus). Take this GOP thought-leader and political boss:

LIMBAUGH: You just gotta be who you are, and I think it's time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association. Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling them teams. Call 'em gangs. You have the Laker Gang, you have the Heat Gang, you have a Timberwolf Gang [distortions of official team names], and let 'em strap up out there, and let 'em market their CDs. Instead of selling concessions, sell CDs out there at the concession stand.

All the players get involved in this, and if a fight breaks out, hey, it's what happens! It's what happens with gangs, and if a cop gets bloodied, you know, that's a bonus for the gang member that pulls that off, and let the fans, you know, go in knowingly. They're going in to watch the Crips and the Bloods out there wherever the neighborhood is where the arena happens to be, and be who you are.

Nothing about the Donald Sterling Gang? Or the gang of heavily armed domestic terrorists and seditionists in Nevada, the Cliven Bundy Gang? His as slicking posture towards Bundy and his KKK mob won't hurt Limbaugh much. Virtually all respectable advertisers have fled his airwaves already.

[M]any national advertisers have heeded the protests of Media Matters about Rush Limbaugh. (Back in late February, we passed the two-year anniversary of Rush’s remarks about Sandra Fluke.)

And, predictably, Sterling is getting the same treatment from advertisers. But what about the idiot politicians who jumped on the racist bandwagon with Bundy? I doubt it will hurt racists like Greg Abbott in deep red states like Texas where most Republicans give racism a big thumbs up. Over the weekend, Hannity-- hardly a crusader for the NAACP-- asked Abbot about Bundy's ugly racist remarks, Abbott stood his ground and refused to apologize or even discuss the matter. Fellow Texas racists Rick Perry and Ted Cruz will be just fine as Bundy's most prominent political backers. Republican wing nut Congressman Paul Gosar actually drove up to the Bundy compound to make sure the racist Mormons in his R+20 Arizona district had no doubt where he stood. Rand Paul, smarter than the other neanderthals backed away quickly-- as did the Republican most likely to suffer politically for his Bundy support-- Nevada Senator Dean Heller. Jon Ralston has exposed Heller for his craven posturing on all this.

Imagine hearing these words come out of the mouth of Sen. Dean Heller, who has called Cliven Bundy’s supporters “patriots” and who did not utter a critical word about the famous rancher until he began declaiming about the history of the “Negro” in America:

“Let me first say that I do not support those who do not comply with the law. Mr. Bundy has not paid grazing fees in over 20 years, and that is unacceptable, particularly considering the number of ranchers in Nevada who hold permits and pay fees to graze on public lands. Furthermore, this case has been reviewed by a federal judge and a decision was made to remove the cattle.”

You know who that sounds like: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  And if there is one person Dean Heller doesn’t want to sound like on Bundyville, it’s Harry Reid. But that’s what he believes, even though he has been too craven or politically opportunistic to say it.

How do I know?

Because I have obtained talking points and a legal analysis Heller had prepared for the KSNV program, “What’s Your Point,” both of which indicated that Bundy is a lawbreaker and has no firm legal ground beneath him. “Bundy has produced no valid law or specific facts raising a genuine issue of fact regarding federal ownership or management of public lands in Nevada, or that his cattle have not trespassed on the New Trespass Lands,” a summary of the case against Bundy prepared for Heller says.

I wonder why Heller did not say that. Or has not said it.

Instead the senator said on the program 10 days ago that Bundy’s defenders were not “domestic terrorists” as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called them but “patriots.” Reid, who was sitting next to him, argued with Heller’s label, saying, ‘If they’re patriots, we’re in big trouble.”

It’s unclear if Heller’s “patriots” remark was premeditated-- there’s no mention of it in the talking points, which are dated April 17, the day before the program. But Reid made the “domestic terrorists” comment less than 24 hours before the two sat down together for the interview, possibly after the talking points were prepared. (It was an inane comment either way.).

Despite the plan outlined in the talking points to start with a criticism of Bundy and his lawbreaking, Heller instead offered a tribute to the "patriots" and then assailed the BLM for its putative overreach, even as his documents pointed out that the armed “militia types” were the “most dangerous aspect of the standoff.”

…The documents unmask Heller as someone willing to ignore facts and research his own aides have given him to genuflect to the worst elements of his party. That he and his fellow travelers such as Sean Hannity and Alex Jones have received their swift just desserts as Bundy’s ignorant racism pours out with his every utterance only makes his “patriots” comment more egregious. Heller was willing to enable Bundy and his band of “patriots” without regard to the consequences, even though he clearly knew before he appeared on the program that Bundy and his followers were in the wrong.

…If you want to know where Heller stands on other issues-- or where his staff says he should stand-- the document is worth reading-- and comparing to what he has said and will say on these issues.

After the What’s Your Point interview, which ended at 1 PM on that Friday, Heller’s aides scurried to whisk him out of the studio and away from prying journalists. “I have to get him to the airport in 11 minutes,” his aide Jack Finn said.

In their haste to ensure Heller did not make any more unscripted comments, someone left behind the packet with the talking points and the legal analysis. One other piece of paper was in there, too:

A Southwest Airlines boarding pass, showing his flight didn’t leave for another two hours.

And not all domestic terrorists are lurking in rural Nevada. Cliff Schecter just braved the NRA Convention in Indianapolis, a den of anti-American sedition and treason potential far more serious than what's going on at Cliven Bundy's compound. His report-- Preparing for War in Indianapolis: Inside the NRA Plot to Terrify America-- would probably horrify most normal Americans.

Through the entrance to the hall were rows, probably a dozen of them or more, each filled with one booth after another of salesmen hawking their wares, going on for as far as the eye could see. The NRA had a banner outside the convention center describing it as “9 Acres of Guns & Gear,” and for once it wasn’t exaggerating.

As I entered the room, directly in front of me were T-shirts for sale with assault weapons on them, bearing the likenesses of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, President Obama and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Two coastal Jews and an African-American from Chicago-- what’s known in Alex Jones land as “The Trifecta.” As I moved past the T-shirts, two guys walking past me looked back, and one chuckled. “Bloomberg,” he said, and shook his head.

Military-style weaponry of every kind occupied almost every inch of the terrain to my left and right as I began the long trek down each aisle. Not your father’s hunting rifle, for the most part—although there were a few of those here and there-- but the kind of arms you use to start a war. Fifty-caliber rifles, which can take down small aircraft. Assault rifles-- rebranded “sporting rifles,” in case your sport might be decimating a small village under a minute. High-capacity magazines of the variety used in so many recent massacres at malls, schools, and universities.

…[The NRA] has embraced this new mission to militarize the streets of America with zeal, scaring the bejesus out of its most faithful adherents with ghost stories about preparing for the breakdown of civilization, to destroy any faith they might have in our democracy or our first responders. You’re all alone, in their telling. Just you and the one thing that’s always faithful: your gun.

…The NRA’s executive vice president of the and foaming mouthpiece, Wayne LaPierre, made this crystal clear during his stump speech at the convention. Here is a sliver of what Good Time Charlie had to say to the assembled:

“We know, in the world that surrounds us, there are terrorists and home invaders and drug cartels and car-jackers and knock-out gamers and rapers, haters, campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers, road-rage killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with massive storms of violence against our power grids, or vicious waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse the society that sustains us all,” he said.

LaPierre, of course, is never held responsible for this rhetoric, even though it is not too much of a stretch to say that its repetition in all of the NRA’s magazines, radio show, emails, newsletter, speeches, on Fox News, and on right-wing talk radio and beyond clearly contributes to the killing everyday American citizens and members of law enforcement.

Nor do members of Congress with close NRA ties who scare the populace and encourage sedition face any consequences. That includes board member Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who took the stage with radical militia leader Schaeffer Cox in 2011 and signed a declaration in direct contravention to the oath he swore to the United States government, of which he is a member. It read:

“Let it be known that should our government seek to further tax, restrict or register firearms…thus impairing our ability to exercise the God-given right to self-defense that precedes all human legislation and is superior to it, that the duty of us good and faithful people will not be to obey them but to alter or abolish them.”

People Want To Know Why We Endorsed Bonnie Watson Coleman In NJ-12 Instead of Linda Greenstein. OK, Here's Why

Bonnie knows what team she's playing for-- New Jersey's working families

When Blue America decided to endorse Bonnie Watson Coleman one thing that weighed heavily on our decision was how-- when the climate was tough-- Bonnie stuck with Barbara Buono while the Linda Greenstein was running ads touting her fealty to Christie. It drove many of us at Blue America up the wall at the time and it made our endorsement of Bonnie pretty much inevitable. There have been a lot of people telling us that either would be a good replacement for Rush Holt and that both are "progressive Democrats." That's patently absurd. Technically it's true but the reality is far more nuanced. Linda Greenstein is a progressive... she is a conservative... she is a moderate... she believes in Chris Christie's policies… she is against Chris Christie's policies... she is essentially whatever the polling and focus groups tell her to be in order to win her next election.

In this race, Bonnie Watson Coleman is the only true progressive, and the real Democrat. Bonnie has always been there fighting on the front lines for working families and has always stood up for her beliefs and her principles when others were silent. She doesn't follow along with tough positions when it's easy. She leads when it's hard. That's why Blue America endorsed her.

When it came time to vote to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey, Bonnie proudly did so. Linda Greenstein did not. And, when the New Jersey Assembly was debating their marriage equality bill, Bonnie spoke up, loud and proud, when many were silent. Including Linda Greenstein. Here is Bonnie’s floor speech.

And, like I said, the kicker, when it came to standing up to that bully Chris Christie, Bonnie proudly stood with our friend Barbara Buono. While some Democrats like Linda Greenstein stood silently and took cover when some members of the party helped Chris Christie, Bonnie took on an even larger leadership role and became Barbara's Campaign Chair. While Bonnie was out there with Barbara fighting day in and day out against Christie’s transactional, self serving politics Linda was running ads saying that she would work with Christie.

The truth is that Linda is not a progressive Democrat, and she has not considered herself progressive until polling came back to suggest that she should be. Here is a link to an interview that Linda gave just after Rush Holt announced that he was not running.  Go to 1:42 to hear how progressive Linda considers herself to be. The fact that she can't even say if SHE is progressive, let alone as progressive as our friend Rush Holt, frightens me.

Linda voted time and time again with Chris Christie’s Bridgegate hatchet man Bill Baroni when he was also in the New Jersey Legislature because she was more concerned with maintaining her position then she was standing on principle. She voted against our values on bills that would limit campaign contributions from entities with government contracts, benefit those making real estate transactions that are over one million dollars and voted against legislation to provide financial aid to public school districts that need it the most. She also chose not to vote on a bill that would criminalize racial profiling.

Linda is not progressive, Linda has never been progressive, and Linda will not be progressive. The truth is that she has flirted with being progressive because her polling and focus groups said that is what the voters of the 12th district want. The truth is that you can’t lead from behind, and you can’t lead based on polling.

Please join me to support Bonnie Watson Coleman, and fight to ensure that Rush Holt’s progressive legacy is carried on. You can donate to Bonnie’s Campaign here!

SO I GUESS NO ONE ON THE RIGHT IS COMPARING V. STIVIANO TO GANDHI
(updated)

I'm amused to see that the fallback argument of the right in the Donald Sterling case is that we should be more concerned about the violation of Sterling's privacy than about his remarks and his conduct. Yes, it seems likely that Sterling was taped in violation of California's two-party consent law. If that leads to a criminal punishment comparable to whatever's happened in similar situations, fine. (I imagine there aren't a lot of folks doing hard time in San Quentin on a taping-my-scumbag-significant-other rap.)

But, um, aren't right-wingers the folks who made James O'Keefe a hero? And Linda Tripp a heroine? And don't they love lawbreaking when it serves a higher law? One right-wing commentator compared Cliven Bundy to King, Gandhi, Jefferson, FDR, Washington, Thoreau, Paul Revere, and the guys who died at the Alamo. Donald Sterling's remarks were abhorrent, as even right-wing commntators piously note when they talk about the story -- but I guess that doesn't mean V. Stiviano is Gandhi. Have I got that correct, righties?

So there's this:

I'm old enuf to remember when the left at least pretended to believe in privacy.

— John Nolte (@NolteNC) April 29, 2014

And at NBA commissioner Adam Silver's press conference yesterday there was Jovan Lien, a producer for Megyn Kelly's show on Fox News. Lien echoed remarks made by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban:

"Should someone lose their team for remarks shared in private?" she asked. "Is this a slippery slope?"

"Whether or not these remarks were initially shared in private, they are now public," Silver explained. "And they represent his views."

And, ultimately, there was Megyn Kelly herself, on her show last night.





A couple of highlights:

MEGYN KELLY: The question tonight: No one is defending the remarks. Nobody is defending the remarks. The question is whether the deprivation of his property rights, in terms of his ownership rights of a sports team, you know, his financial livelihood, and the swift condemnation by every corner, basically taking away his livelihood, is a slippery slope, as Mark Cuban suggested.

His livelihood? Donald Sterling is one of the thousand richest men in the world, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. If he's forced to sell the Clippers, he's selling a team he bought for $12 million in 1981 and that's now valued at $575 billion million, with some speculating that its price tag could be $1 billion. His livelihood? Seriously, Megyn?

KELLY: ... is this the future of America, where private conversations between two people who are supposedly in a relationship wind up going public and then somebody who makes clearly inappropriate remarks, to put it charitably, has everything taken away from him?

Everything! Everything is being taken away from Sterling! With no compensation! (Apart from, y'know, that billion or so.)

Kelly addresses this question to sports agent Steve Olenick, who replies.

STEVE OLENICK: Megyn, I think you're spot-on. I think this potentially becomes the norm. I mean, look at this. If this happens to Mr. Sterling, this potentially could happen to anybody.

Anybody! This could happen to any ordinary schlubby American couple, because TMZ would be equally interested in our arguments!

Donald Sterling is a public figure. People like Sterling have had their dirty laundry aired in public for as long as there's been mass media. You want to deal with the legal ramifications on this? Fine. You want to put real teeth in the taping law, or in its enforcement, so people genuinely fear the consequences of doing something like this? Sure, let's have that conversation. But as long as we don't severely punish the making and publishing of tapes like this, information about the rich and famous that we weren't supposed to know will get out, as it always has. And the court of public opinion doesn't have the same rules of evidence as courts of law -- which is fine.

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UPDATE: Oh, this is rich -- a blooger blogger is upset about privacy at The American Spectator, which still exists only because it's dining out on its reputation as the media epicenter of Clinton-era panty-sniffing. So, Emmett Tyrrell, do we get a do-over on the '90s now, with you guys declaring Clinton a privacy martyr? (Via Clark Stooksbury.)


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UPDATE: I wonder how far the right would be willing to go on privacy. How about that Texas family law judge whose brutal beating of his daughter was secretly videotaped by the daughter, then posted online? The video went viral, and the judge was suspended for a time, then lost his judgeship in an election last month. Should we have fretted about that sadist's right to privacy, according to conservatives? Wait, never mind -- I think I know the answer.

Go-To Summer Beverages

I'm a creature of habit. I normally have a go to order at most restaurants. I get on kicks where I will drink the same beer or wine for weeks at a time. In the winter, I rarely drink beer and drink exclusively red wine (normally a merlot or cab). Cold months and red wine just go together perfectly.

But we're getting into the spring and summer months now. Even though the day started out crappy and rainy, it's now 70 and sunny, which made for a perfect walk around the block with the pup. Also resulted in her finding her new spot camped directly in front of the screen door looking into our back yard.

Sorry- I digress. This post is about booze, not dogs. But damn are those two of my favorite things in life. Anyway- now that we're in the warmer months, I still love my occasional glass of red wine, but I also have a few go-to summer brews.

Summer is beer time. More often than not, I love to come home, sit on the back porch and crack open a nice cold one. I absolutely love Leinenkugels Summer Shandy (though not the Sunset Wheat...that crap tastes like Fruity Pebbles and not in a good way). It's the perfect refreshing summer beverage. My other go-to's include Bell's Oberon, Goose Island 312 and Jackie O's Firefly. 

Ignore the stink bug in the front. Focus on the glorious sunshine.

I'm not normally a white wine fan. Don't even try to pour me a glass of Chardonnay- 99% chance I won't like it. But a glass of Sauvignon Blanc? I'm in. I really love Cupcake's Sauvignon Blanc- it's delicious. And last summer, my friend Carly and I probably drank at least 2 bottles a week. I also really love Vinho Verde- it's the perfect light, kind of bubbly white wine. Mmmm.

And if I'm going to get really crazy? I'll bust out the vodka. Moscow mules, vodka cranberry with lime and sprite or raspberry vodka in lemonade. 

I really need some of these copper mugs! So awesome. 

Basically all I want to is sit outside and drink. A cold beverage on a hot day? So perfect. 

Will Aaron Schock Be Collateral Damage As The Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm Scandal Unfolds?

Aaron has always been a sucker for psychotic blue eyes on tough guys

Yesterday, just as the news was breaking that Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm, the Mafia-connected (Gambino Crime Family) Staten Island Republican was in federal custody and had been indicted on twenty counts, one of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, a prominent attorney who knows how to read indictments, e-mailed me:

Tax fraud-- just like Al Capone

The New York papers are, predictably, having a field day. But the Times, which has been on the Grimm case for as many years as the FBI, is reporting calmly and without frenzy

Representative Michael G. Grimm, a second-term congressman from Staten Island, was indicted on Monday on federal fraud charges for underreporting the wages and payroll while running an Upper East Side restaurant, concealing the actual payroll in a separate set of computer records.

The charges, unsealed on Monday, detail how Mr. Grimm concealed more than $1 million in gross receipts for the restaurant, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee wages, thus getting around federal and New York State law. He also lied under oath in January 2013, while he was a member of Congress, during a deposition, the indictment says.

The indictment charges Mr. Grimm with, among other things, perjury, wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, employment of illegal immigrants, obstructing and impeding tax laws, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

In case you were wondering who has been legally underwriting Grimm's seedy political career-- so not the illegal Mob and foreign money but the legalistic bribes, here's the list of his top donors. Do you think the shady right-wing building trades unions are proud of the company they're in?

The plea bargain and trial will work out on their own and we'll report back, of course. Politically, though, there are some interesting tangents. Steve Israel has some corrupt "mystery meat" hack, Domenic Recchia, as the DCCC-backed candidate. The other guy trying to run as a Democrat, Erick Salgado, is even worse-- worse than Recchia, probably worse than than Grimm! I'd vote for the Green Party candidate, Hank Bardel. Yesterday, Bardel, who chose not to comment on any of the corruption charges or on Recchia's reputation, told me "I don't think the election of Domenic Recchia is going to change much for the people in the 11th Congressional District of NY State or the United States, in my opinion, because there is not much difference in their political policies. Democratic and Republican policies have brought the United States to the point where the 1% own 35% to 40% of the wealth in the U.S. This is what is causing a bad economy in our country and it hasn't been this bad since 1929."

There's another aspect of this case that will have people wondering how many other Republicans will be tainted by Grimm's corruption. Forget about his pal Chris Christie for now and let's look all the way across the prairies towards Peoria. That fun-lovin', flamboyantly-dressed (or shirtless) closet case you see is Grimm-crony Aaron Schock.

When the Republican Party recruited Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm to run for a House seat on Staten Island and the Mafia-domninated Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, they knew exactly what they were doing. The former FBI agent who crossed over the line and became a Gambino Crime Family operative was perfect for the pathetic shell of the New York Republican Party. And with the kinds of weak and sleazy conservative Democrats who always run in that part of town… well Grimm would have a better than even chance for a career-- as long as he could stay out of prison. Which, it turns out, doesn't look like it will be a terribly long time. His short political career has been marred by one corruption scandal after another, enough to have had him booted out of Congress by voters in almost any district in America. Ever been to Staten Island? Bay Ridge?

Back in January we looked at more ties between Grimm and the crooked Israeli rabbi, Yoshiyahu Pinto. But the campaign finance violations kept piling up and, by then the New York media was used to reporting it routinely. The ex-FBI agent was looking for more ways to get another campaign finance laws and regulations that make political bribery just a tiny bit tough on dumb politicians. Grimm, whose first meeting with Boehner after he was elected, was to demand that Members be allowed to "pack heat" on the floor of Congress, is as dumb a politician as you're likely to find outside of the Deep South. NY Daily News:

As the campaign for control of Congress gained steam in 2010, D.C. lawyer Bazil Facchina pulled out his checkbook.

On March 31, 2010, Facchina donated the legal maximum, $4,800, to Michael Grimm, a Republican running for Congress on Staten Island. Facchina was no stranger to financing campaigns-- he already had given the maximum to Bert Mizusawa, a Republican running for Congress in Virginia.

Facchina’s $4,800 donation to Grimm would have been unremarkable but for one thing: On the same day, two Grimm donors-- one of them, his girlfriend, Diana Durand-- gave a total of $4,800 to Mizusawa.

The parallel transactions raise questions whether Grimm-- who went on to win a House seat in 2010-- engaged in “donor swapping,” a controversial practice that allows candidates to sidestep fundraising limits.

The swapping works like this: A donor who gives the maximum to Candidate A then donates to Candidate B. In return, a donor or friend of Candidate B gives an identical amount to Candidate A.

A Daily News review of 2010 fundraising records found more than 20 transactions suggesting supporters of Grimm and candidates in California, South Dakota, Illinois and Virginia swapped donations totaling more than $75,000.

One set of transactions involved Grimm himself:

On March 31, 2010, Grimm and Durand each gave $2,400 to Michael Curb, a Republican making a longshot bid for Congress in South Dakota. On the same day, Allison Bolger, an accountant in a Sioux Falls, S.D., firm headed by Curb, donated $4,800 to Grimm.

“Why would someone in South Dakota be interested in Grimm?” said Melanie Sloan, who heads Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics and examined the transactions at the request of The News. “They certainly are suspicious.”

A thread through the apparent swaps is Durand, 47, of Houston, who was arrested last week on charges she reimbursed donors to mask more than $10,000 in illegal contributions to Grimm.

There was no mention of donor swaps in the charges.

However, the pattern of apparent swaps discovered by The News suggests that Durand was more involved with Grimm’s fundraising than previously reported. And Grimm’s role in one of the apparent swaps ties him for the first time to questionable conduct.

The federal complaint accuses Durand of giving an unnamed couple a check for $4,800 on Oct. 20, 2010, after asking the donor to contribute to a congressional campaign identified as “Committee B.”

According to records examined by The News, on Oct. 28, 2010, Tina and Ruben Sanchez, a Houston couple who had given the maximum to Grimm, contributed $4,800 to Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.). On the same day, Darren and Rebecca Frye, a Peoria, Ill., couple who had given the maximum to Schock, gave $4,800 to Grimm.

Donor swaps exist in a gray area. Illegality is hard to prove, but a lage-scale swap of donations led to the 2010 conviction, later overturned, of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) on money-laundering charges.

None of the donors involved in the apparent swaps responded to requests for comment. Lawyers for Grimm and Durand declined comment. Grimm has denied wrongdoing.

A two-year federal investigation of Grimm’s fundraising has been reported, but not the apparent donor swapping.

Darren Frye was Aaron Schock's guest at the 2012 State of the Union speech. His wife Rebecca gave $25,000 to Schock in a 2010 fundraiser in order to meet with Laura Bush.

Schock is already under investigation for campaign violations involving getting shady funds to Adam Kinzinger, the fellow Illinois GOP congressman he is known to have a major crush on. Being tainted by a connection to the Mob and to Mafia money and tactics won't go over in Peoria as well as it does on Staten Island.

Food Watch: Aren't you just dying to know what the World's Best Dumpling is?

And the World's Best Dumpling is . . . Oh wait, we probably shouldn't spoil the suspense. Hey, just keep yer pants on. (For the record, these [REDACTED]s are made with crab paste, which apparently is okay but isn't necessarily part of the [REDACTED].) 

by Ken

You'd be hard put to find someone who loves dumplings more than I do. I always say that I've never met a dumpling I didn't like, though every time I say it, I realize this is not -- as I often say -- the sort of thing you really want to put in the form of a challenge. It doesn't take any time at all to start thinking of all sorts of icky stuff that could be packed into a dumpling.

Anyway, as a confirmed dumpling devotee, I had mixed feelings when I saw the headline on this Thrillist "Power Rank" piece, "The World's Best Dumpling: Which International Variety Is Tops?" On the one hand, the subject of dumplings immediately puts my in my constitutionally inclusive mode, where I'm more inclined to ask if our dumplings can't all get along than to subject them to some form of cutthroat dumpling competition. And I'm not sure I have any idea what it would mean to establish a competitive rankings among, say, Chinese dumplings and Japanese gyoza and ravioli and kreplach. (SPOILER: Watch out for ravioli, though.)

What's more, I'm not sure I trust even so august an authority as Thrillist food/drink staff writer Adam Lapetina to be the Dumpling Determiner. Even if it's true that "his life was changed when he had his first [REDACTED] one year ago."

However, the alternative is attacking my pile of pathological right-wing liars, who have been especially noisy of late, and frankly I'm just not up to that today. Or saying something about L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling -- who curiously figures on the other list as well (though as a person-lied-about rather than a liar himself). So all in all, I say . . . LET'S DO DUMPLINGS!

Because Thrillist insists on doing so, we'll take the World's Best Dumplings in the now obnoxiously traditional (you'll get yours, David Letterman) reverse order.



For the descriptions of nos. 14 through 4, you'll have to consult the article.

14. SPÄTZLE

13. SAMOSA

12. MANTI

11. MOMO
[Coincidentally, I just had my first momo this weekend on my Wolfe Walkers Jackson Heights food tour with Jeff Orlick, at a tiny place at the back of a store that normally houses two other businesses, except that they're both out of business. That's why it's called Tibetan Mobile. Oh yes, it was good, but then I've never met a dumpling I didn't like. -- Ed.]

10. PIEROGI

9. KREPLACH

8. WONTON

7. GNOCCHI

6. KUBBEH

5. CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

4. PELMENI

You'll notice that already we've mixed up two items called dumplings which as far as I'm concerned have nothing to do with each other: the things that are shaped pieces of flat dough stuffed with something yummy, what I would obviously think of when we're talking World's Greatest Dumpling; and the things that simply are cooked chunks of dough -- fine for what they are, but not what we ought to be talking about. ("Chicken and dumplings" is the World's Fifth Best Dumpling?)

AND THE WORLD'S THREE BEST DUMPLINGS ARE --

3. KHINKALI


"The Georgians have devised a dumpling for the ages -- khinkali are beef, pork, or onion-stuffed dumplings that contain uncooked meat that becomes edible when the dumplings are cooked. This means the juices are sealed in, and become a hot broth that's sucked out during the inaugural bite."

2. RAVIOLI


"You can't discuss dumplings without talking about ravioli, which are technically dumplings because they're made of dough and stuffed with... well, stuff. The stuff in question, however, is what gets them rated so highly. Italy's already treasured and emulated around the world for its superb cheeses and produce, and when they all get stuffed into a dumpling, it's obligated to be one of the top three. BUT NOT QUITE NUMBER ONE."

1. XIAOLONGBAO


"You haven't lived until you've tried xiaolongbao, the Chinese soup dumpling. These steamed treasures are marvels of Eastern engineering, and contain ACTUAL SOUP and delicious pork filling. How do they get the soup in there? Well, the broth is turned into a gel and added into the filling before the entire package is steamed to perfection and served on a bamboo platter. It's warm and comforting, savory, soupy, and meaty all rolled up into one. It is the ideal dumpling."

•

Yeah, right.

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