I THINK THE “TORTURE REPORT” RELEASE WAS SET FOR TODAY TO DISTRACT PEOPLE FROM THIS: Prez health care architect Jonathan Gruber to feel heat at hearing.

Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber — the gaffe-prone MIT professor who boasted that Democrats purposely deceived the American public about the health care law — is expected to break his silence this morning in a much-anticipated congressional hearing Republicans predict will undo the Affordable Care Act.

“This is the beginning of the unraveling of Obama-care,” U.S. Rep John Mica (R-Fla.) told the Herald. “The hearing clearly will focus on the deception, some of the false information given to both the American public and the Congress in instituting it and getting it passed. … It may not be the repeal, but the rewriting of it and looking at how we can cover more people with less bureaucracy and less federal mandates.”

Gruber, an MIT economist who also sits on the Massachusetts Health Connector board, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner are slated to testify at a congressional hearing called “Examining ObamaCare Transparency Failures” before the GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today.

Recently surfaced videos of Gruber bluntly stating that Obamacare passed thanks to a purposeful lack of transparency and the “stupidity of the American voter” gave critics new fodder for their feud with the White House. . . .

Democrats, meanwhile, are treating Gruber like political poison. A lawyer for the Obama administration last week asked committee chairman Darrell Issa for Tavenner to testify separately from Gruber, according to a report from Politico. The unusual request suggests the Obama administration is deeply worried about Tavenner and Gruber being photographed sitting side by side.

Relax guys. The press will cover for you. They don’t want to be on the receiving end for another of Obama’s profanity-laden diatribes.

UPDATE: Tea Party Group To Greet Gruber Wearing “I’m With Stupid” T-Shirts.

BLOOMBERG POLL: Approval Ratings Highest In 5 Years For GOP, Lowest Ever For Obama.

THE HILL: Obama approval on race relations drops.

President Obama’s approval rating on his handling of race relations has declined by 8 percentage points in the wake of controversial police killings of black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, New York, according to a new Pew/USA Today poll. . . . Obama’s approval on race relations has declined the most among black people, from 73 percent to 57 percent since August. Among white people, it has declined from 42 percent to 33 percent.

There may be more room to drop.

REMINDER: “Extraordinary Rendition” Began Under Bill Clinton.

As Al Gore said: “That’s a no-brainer. Of course it’s a violation of international law, that’s why it’s a covert action.”

I DUNNO, CHAMP, PEOPLE HAVE SURE CUT YOU A LOT OF SLACK: Obama: Black Men Have Less Margin For Error. “Obama has been on the defensive in the wake of grand juries deciding not to indict white police officers in killings of black men in Ferguson and Staten Island, with some accusing the nation’s first black president of being too passive. He insisted in the interview that his administration was doing everything within its power to address the concerns of predominantly minority communities. . . . The president commended peaceful protests, saying that a ‘country’s conscience sometimes has to be triggered by some inconvenience.'” Yeah, I’m not sure that’s what these rush-hour road-blocking protests are going to trigger.

IT’S POTEMKIN VILLAGES ALL THE WAY DOWN: Half of Doctors Listed as Serving Medicaid Patients Are Unavailable, Investigation Finds.

NATASHA VARGAS-COOPER: Hey, Feminist Internet Collective: Good Reporting Does Not Have To Be Sensitive.

Here’s something that’s also sort of “unfair:” not talking to seven unconvicted, alleged criminals about their involvement in a purported horrendous crime! It is not rude, shaming, or belittling to seek quotes from alleged rapists. Actually, it is what a responsible journalist does, even when it makes said journalist’s source uneasy. And if making a source uneasy makes a journalist uneasy, it’s time for the journalist in question to find another profession.

If the reporter behind the Rolling Stone story, Sabrina Erdely, would have spoken to the seven alleged rapists about their version of events — or even just a couple of them! — the magazine could have avoided airing “Jackie’s” strange, hard-to-believe, increasingly doubtful story. Or if one of her assailants said, “HELL YEAH WE DID AND SHE WANTED IT!”, that would have been good to know: that guy is a pig. Or maybe one of the seven accusers attempted to stop the assault? Or tried to help Jackie? Or fled the room for help? Maybe we should talk to that guy?

There is a horrendous, hidden bias in Rolling Stone‘s reporting: the premise that none of these guys would tell the truth if asked. Whether it’s because they are white, or in a frat, or were even possibly directly involved in the act, the notion that the only things these men would say are lies is a stupid and cowardly assumption.

If you are a front-line warrior in the war against patriarchy, know this: facts, no matter how complicated or unpleasant, should not be obscured because they “help the other side.” Ask yourself, soldier, is the cause of equality so weak that statements made by the frat boys would destroy it?

A few paragons of the feminist left have condemned Rolling Stone‘s statement for discrediting their source. As well as brushing off inconsistencies in Jackie’s story as exposed by The Washington Post. “It’s as if survivors are expected to go to victim finishing school,” tweeted Durga Chew Bose. Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, added, “My next book will be Bad Victim.”

But they conspicuously have not chastised Rolling Stone for their unwillingness to fact check Jackie’s story and enter into a losing bargain with a source who refused to have her severe accusations scrutinized.

It is remarkable and depressing how many SlutWalkers, members of The Progressive Internet, and Earnest Feminists, believe that good reporting somehow equates to victim shaming. If you believe that putting the screws to alleged rapists is somehow anti-feminist then you are an intellectual dwarf.

A lot of those out there. They don’t want reporting, they want Narrative. Truth is optional.

NO THANKS TO OBAMA’S POLICIES: The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead.

Urban America is often portrayed as a tale of two kinds of places, those that “have it” and those who do not. For the most part, the cities of the Midwest—with the exception of Chicago and Minneapolis—have been consigned to the second, and inferior, class. Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit or a host of smaller cities are rarely assessed, except as objects of pity whose only hope is to find a way, through new urbanist alchemy, to mimic the urban patterns of “superstar cities” like New York, San Francisco, Boston, or Portland.

Yet in reality, the rustbelt could well be on the verge of a major resurgence, one that should be welcomed not only locally but by the rest of the country. Two factors drive this change. One is the steady revival of America as a productive manufacturing country, driven in large part by new technology, rising wages abroad (notably in China), and the development of low-cost, abundant domestic energy, much of it now produced in states such as Ohio and in the western reaches of Pennsylvania.

The second, and perhaps more surprising, is the wealth of human capital already existent in the region. After decades of decline, this is now expanding as younger educated workers move to the area in part to escape the soaring cost of living, high taxes, and regulations that now weigh so heavily on the super-star cities. In fact, more educated workers now leave Manhattan and Brooklyn for places like Cuyahoga County and Erie County, where Cleveland and Buffalo are located, than the other way around.

So long as they don’t vote for the same suicidal anti-growth policies when they arrive in their new homes.

JUDITH LEVINE: Feminism Can Handle The Truth.

“Rape denialism”: The charge is hurled at anyone who questions the veracity of a story, statistic (one in five women students sexually assaulted), or policy (yes means yes). And if men are slapped down when they question these orthodoxies, special punishment attends female critics.

One alleged serial offender is Slate’s Emily Yoffe—a.k.a. Prudence of “Dear Prudence”—a consistently responsible, intelligent commentator on women’s issues. Last year, Yoffe wrote a typically well researched, and empathetic, piece about the link between binge drinking and campus rape. In it, she gave some common-sense advice: Rapists target drunk women. To reduce the risk of assault, don’t get plastered to unconsciousness.

The response was fierce. Feministing pronounced the column a “rape denialist manifesto.” On Jezebel, Erin Gloria Ryan accused Yoffe of “admonishing women for not doing enough to stop their own rapes.” Many more piled on.

Feministing had been indicting Yoffe for “denialism” for years. In 2007, a woman wrote to Prudence, fearing she’d have to divorce her “kind, supportive, funny, generous, smart, and loving” husband for the crime of twice initiating sex while both were intoxicated—sex, by the way, that the woman enjoyed. Yofee called it as she saw it: ideology gone mad. The man was not a rapist, she averred. Indeed, “Your prim, punctilious, punitive style has me admiring your put-upon husband’s ability to even get it up,” Yoffe wrote, and encouraged the woman to enjoy the spontaneous lovemaking that alcohol sometimes sparks.

For the mitzvah of saving a marriage, Lindsay Beyerstein, in In These Times, administered Yoffe 40 lashes for cruelly trivializing the trauma of a “survivor.”

These critics are not serious people, and do not deserve to be taken seriously.

AT AMAZON, “Green Monday” Deals In Automotive.

Plus, take 30% off in Amazon Fashion.

YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS A KID WE ALWAYS HEARD THAT IT WAS IGNORANT VILLAGERS WHO WERE APT TO LYNCH NONCONFORMISTS. NOW, IT’S COLLEGIANS: Another College Campus, More Pitchfork Justice.

HE’S LIKE AN UNHOLY CROSSBREED OF JIMMY CARTER AND RICHARD NIXON: Ann Compton on Obama: He Launches ‘Profanity-Laced’ Tirades Against Press.

But what a thin-skinned, narcissistic little putz. No President has gotten such adulatory coverage, and he’s still unhappy?

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Ex school counselor sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for having months-long sexual affair with 13-year-old student. “A former school counselor has been jailed for almost 14 years for having sex with a 13 year old student. Brooke Dinkel slept with the underage teen at her home while he was working there to earn money.”

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Greek Leaders Go On The Offensive At UVA. “Greek leaders say they would like the university to apologize, publicly release records that explain the basis of its decision to suspend the Greek system and outline how it will restore the reputation of fraternities and students at the university. The requests were outlined Sunday in a joint statement by leaders of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Interfraternity Conference.” It’s interesting to see the national organizations — who have been pretty accommodating to college pressures recently — coming out like this. And I love the FOIA requests. I expect they’ll find something interesting. They’re certainly right to come out swinging here, because the Greek system is in an existential struggle, whether it realizes it or not. I think maybe it does. As a great man said, “punch back twice as hard.” And FOIA the White House for communications with UVA administrators, too. . . .

Related: Hans Bader: University of Virginia violated Constitution through collective guilt suspension for sororities and frats.

UPDATE: Some folks in the comments doubt that this will amount to much. Well, that depends on how dedicated the Greeks are, and how recalcitrant the University is. If it comes to a slugging match, the Greeks have more in the way of political resources — alumni, their impact on student recruiting, bad publicity, etc. — than the University does, probably. Ultimately, the bureaucrats at the Women’s Center and the Diversity Office don’t have a broad base of support. Normally they win because they care and nobody else notices what’s going on, but an out-and-out fight will change that dynamic dramatically. My guess is that the UVA administration knows this, and will cut a deal.

STUDY: 2007 Minimum Wage Increase Made Recession/Unemployment Worse.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: Falling oil prices are bad because they hurt alternative energy plans.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: When Rape Matters, And When It Doesn’t: In The Eyes Of The Media, Some Rapes Are More Equal Than Others.

UPDATE: Oh, hey, here’s a good illustration of the double standard. Remember, if Due Process will help a Democrat, then it’s good. If not, it’s Evil Patriarchal Privilege. Though if I recall correctly, people weren’t objecting to the representation so much as the gleeful cackling about slut-shaming the victim.

JAMES LILEKS: “The closer you are, the less you have to say. A friend loses a grandparent, you say you’re sorry. A friend loses a parent, silence and presence suffices.”

TERRENCE, THIS IS STUPID STUFF: Credulous Journalist Ponders Why Journalists Are So Credulous.

The expression “fake but accurate” is really all we need to understand the problem, and it’s pathetic that journalists at the WaPo level haven’t fully internalized the lessons of these old scandals. Tweeting one day and cogitating over the general problem the next — it’s so sloppy, so lazy, so stupid. . . .

I must stress that when McCoy took down his tweet, he shifted the blame away from himself, saying: “Just read more into the Enliven graph. It was a misleading graph. I’ve since taken it down.” He didn’t just take down the graph. He took down his own mistakenly self-assured statement: “Let’s be clear about one thing. Fraudulent accusations of rape are extraordinarily rare. This graph proves it.” It wasn’t just “a misleading graph” by Enliven. It was a misleading assertion by a journalist. If he’s done a mea culpa for that, I haven’t seen it.

What I love is how the fact that it was posted by a guy who graduated from Harvard last year is supposed to make it better.

INGENIOUS: The Corkcicle.

WELL, TIMING MATTERS TOO: Turns Out the Dot-Com Bust’s Worst Flops Were Actually Fantastic Ideas.

LENA DUNHAM’S PUBLISHER: Rapist “Barry” Is A Made-Up Character. “Random House, on our own behalf and on behalf of our author, regrets the confusion that has led attorney Aaron Minc to post on GoFundMe on behalf of his client, whose first name is Barry.”

As Wilford Brimley’s character said in Absence of Malice, “Wonderful thing, subpeenees.”

UPDATE: From the comments: “It’s racist to name your fictional rapist after our President!”

UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Why Law School Is Still Worth The Investment.

SO TRUE: Encryption Is Not A Magic Cure-All.

AT AMAZON, “Greeen Monday” Deals Galore! Browse and save!

Plus, 60% or more off Pajamas, Robes and Sleepwear.