Monday afternoon roundup

As I say, sorry about this, but as your blogger, it's my duty to keep you informed.  Have wastebasket nearby to address the possibility of hurling.

With such recent wins as the SCOTUS affirmation of disparate impact and the new HUD reg that will withhold block grants to cities that don't make sufficient strides to diversify new developments, the Most Equal Comrade is cooking up the ultimate weapon for acting on them:

First there’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing database which was announced in our previous coverage linked above. It breaks down every neighborhood by four racial groups and identifies the ones which are in need of correction. (If the ZIP code in question has less than 50% “non-white population” is fails to escape the category of being “segregated.”) But wait… there’s more! The Federal Housing Finance Agency will be tapped to provide individual credit scores (along with “all credit lines” of all types) and employment history. Loan approvals will be tested against racial data along with those other fiscal criteria to root out racism in that sector even if none is being alleged. 

But don’t stop there. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (brainchild of Liz Warren) will be providing everyone’s credit card accounts sorted by race. (Side note: I don’t recall telling them my race when I got my last credit card. Odd.) Oh, and the banks will all need to tell Big Brother the race of everyone they hire as well as everyone who applies for a job. That should help them keep an eye on Wall Street, eh? Oh, and wait until you see what the Education Department is up to.

Through its mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection project, the Education Department is gathering information on student suspensions and expulsions, by race, from every public school district in the country. Districts that show disparities in discipline will be targeted for reform.

Those that don’t comply will be punished. Several already have been forced to revise their discipline policies, which has led to violent disruptions in classrooms.

This is some groundbreaking stuff, folks. Has there ever been such an assemblage of personal, private data by the federal government? To what purpose will all of this be put? And apparently it can all be done by the stroke of a pen in the White House without any congressional action or involvement. I suppose the final question here is… is there any way to stop it?

Identity politics gets wacky at Netroots as jackboots let O'Malley know that certain seemingly benign utterances won't fly:

On Saturday, Democratic Party presidential candidate Martin O'Malley was forced to apologize for telling radical leftists at Netroots Nation that "all lives matter," CNN reported. O'Malley, one of two Democratic candidates speaking at the convention, was heckled off the stage after making his statement.

"I know, I know…Let me talk a little bit," he said. "Black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter,” he told the audience. But the message of inclusion didn't sit too well with the activists.

At one point, black protesters forcefully approached the stage where O'Malley was engaged in an interview with Jose Antonio Vargas. “It’s not like we like shutting (expletive deleted) down, but we have to,” said Black Lives Matter founder Patriss Cullors. “We are tired of being interrupted.”

The shouts and boos grew louder and O'Malley was forced to leave the stage. He later apologized for including all Americans in his statement.

"I meant no disrespect," O'Malley told "This Week in Blackness," a digital program. "That was a mistake on my part and I meant no disrespect. I did not mean to be insensitive in any way or communicate that I did not understand the tremendous passion, commitment and feeling and depth of feeling that all of us should be attaching to this issue."

The Most Equal Comrade and Secretary Global-Test don't need no stinkin' Congress:

The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the Iran nuclear deal and paving the way to lifting longstanding sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The 15-0 approval of the Iran nuclear deal clears one of the largest hurdles for the landmark pact, which will now go before the US Congress where it may face an uphill battle for confirmation.

Bob Menendez is not at all pleased with Cuba and post-America opening embassies in each others' capitals.

Along with the McCain remark, Donald Trump's arrogance was on full display in remarks at the Family Leadership Summit on another matter: faith.  Depth is not The Donald's long suit.

it's possible Trump's greater sin has nothing to do with McCain. Instead, Trump's casual and disengaged characterization of religious faith may have made a far worse impression on the mostly evangelical conservatives who came to hear Trump and other Republican hopefuls speak.

If a candidate wants to make a good impression on religious voters in Iowa, he probably should not offer the answer Trump gave when moderator Frank Luntz asked whether Trump had ever asked God for forgiveness. "I am not sure I have," Trump said. "I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so. I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."

A candidate who seeks to make a good impression should also probably refrain from describing Holy Communion in the way Trump did: "When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed. I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.'"

We saw this coming a few years ago when he said about the Bible, "It is the book." Vacuous much?

And that's our world this hazy afternoon.