The Conversation -- December 5, 2024
Clare Foran, et al., of CNN: “House Republicans voted on Thursday to block a Democrat-led effort to release a long-awaited Ethics Committee report on allegations against former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. The House took a step to effectively shut down a resolution from Democrats that would have required the public release of the report. House GOP leaders sidelined the effort by Democrats by setting up a vote to refer the resolution to the committee, a move that blocks the report’s release for now. The outcome of the vote raises the question of whether the findings of the panel’s investigation will ever become public.” MB: Why, it's almost as if House Republicans hate Gaetz less than they fear the Wrath of Trump.
The New York Times liveblog of the search for the gunman who killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is here: “The authorities released two images they said may show the suspect without a face mask in the fatal shooting of the chief executive of one of the largest U.S. health insurers outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.... The authorities do not yet have the suspect’s name but are pursuing several leads, a senior law enforcement official said.” The suspect stayed at a hostel on the Upper West Side, and the photos were taken there. The photos currently are on the front page of the Times, so if you don't have a subscription, you can see them.
“Ballistics testing is continuing, the official said, but the casings appear to have been inscribed with words including 'delay' and 'deny' — potentially references to ways that health insurance companies seek to avoid paying patients’ claims.... UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, has come under fierce criticism from patients, lawmakers and others for denying patients’ claims.”
Dionne Searcey & Madison Kircher of the New York Times: “The fatal shooting on Wednesday of a top UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, on a Manhattan sidewalk has unleashed a torrent of morbid glee from patients and others who say they have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the hardest times of their lives. 'Thoughts and deductibles to the family,' read one comment underneath a video of the shooting posted online by CNN. 'Unfortunately my condolences are out-of-network.' On TikTok, one user wrote, 'I’m an ER nurse and the things I’ve seen dying patients get denied for by insurance makes me physically sick. I just can’t feel sympathy for him because of all of those patients and their families.' The dark commentary after the death of Mr. Thompson, a 50-year-old insurance executive from Maple Grove, Minn., who was also a husband and a father of two children, highlighted the anger and frustration over the state of health care in America, where those with private insurance often find themselves in Kafka-esque tangles while seeking reimbursement for medical treatment and are often denied.”
Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: “Syrian rebels stormed into the city of Hama on Thursday as government forces withdrew, bringing the rebels one step closer to the capital Damascus, the seat of power of President Bashar al-Assad. The swift advance on Hama, one of Syria’s largest cities, and the retreat of government forces were confirmed by both the rebels and the government. The advance came just days after the rebels extended their control over Aleppo, a major hub in northern Syria. In a video circulated by the rebel group leading the offensive, their leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, jubilantly calls for the rebels to push on toward other Syrian cities, including the capital.”
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Marie: There's more to do, but after 5 or 6 hours of reading a computer screen, my eyes had had it. I'll try to get to doing more later this morning. In the meantime, I'll sit here enjoying my damned Winter Wonderland.
Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: “President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that the United States would spend more than $560 million on projects connected to the Lobito Corridor, a trans-African railway that will help get vital minerals and other goods to a port where they can be shipped to the United States and other destinations. The announcement, which brings the U.S. investment in the Lobito Corridor project to $4 billion, was an 11th-hour capstone to Biden’s effort to increase American engagement in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has become a focus of the struggle between the United States and China for economic and political influence across the globe. 'I think we’re at one of the transition points in world history where what we do is going to affect what the next six, seven, eight decades look like,' Biden said at a celebratory event with African heads of state. 'I think this is one of those milestones.'”
Jim Vanderhei & Mike Allen of Axios: Joe “Biden, 82, will limp away from the limelight — widely disliked by the public, and now loathed by many Democrats who blame him for twin sins of selfishness: running again, then pardoning Hunter after repeatedly saying he wouldn't. Some in Biden's family have been shocked by the number of Democrats trashing his Hunter decision on the record, sources tell us. They expected some blowback — not a wicked backlash. But even Biden's best friends think it was nuts to pardon Hunter as a solo act on the same evening he left for a long-promised three-day trip to Africa.... As cover, the president could have pardoned ... Trump at the same time — or pardoned Hunter along with dozens of people whose convictions appear to result from injustices.... A snap YouGov poll found 64% of Democrats approve of the pardon — a reversal of earlier Democratic sentiment.” MB: Pardon Trump? Oh, please. With all due respect, Vanderhei & Allen are a couple of dipshit conservo-scolds. But still, they probably didn't pull all of the reporting part of this post out of thin air.
Marie: In yesterday's Conversation, I agreed with Kaitlan Collins & Van Jones of CNN -- pundits with whom I often disagree -- that maybe Joe Biden should pardon some of Trump and Co's other targets. Now this: ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Martin in Politico Magazine: “President Joe Biden’s senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with ... Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions. Biden’s aides are deeply concerned about a range of current and former officials who could find themselves facing inquiries and even indictments, a sense of alarm which has only accelerated since Trump last weekend announced the appointment of Kash Patel to lead the FBI. Patel has publicly vowed to pursue Trump’s critics. The White House officials, however, are carefully weighing the extraordinary step of handing out blanket pardons to those who’ve committed no crimes, both because it could suggest impropriety, only fueling Trump’s criticisms, and because those offered preemptive pardons may reject them. The deliberations touch on pardoning those currently in office, elected and appointed, as well as former officials who’ve angered Trump and his loyalists.... The president himself, who was intensely focused on his son’s pardon, has not been brought into the broader pardon discussions yet, according to people familiar with the deliberations.” Among those other consideration for these preemptive pardons for imaginary crimes are Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney & Anthony Fauci.
The Unethics Plan for Trump. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: “In the wake of Donald J. Trump’s election victory, his family business is poised to capitalize on his presidency with a variety of new ventures, according to a New York Times review of financial records and interviews with people knowledgeable about his finances. And unlike in his first term, the people said, the Trump Organization aims to issue a more limited ethics plan that is unlikely to significantly curb its growth.... The company would be free to profit from an array of business in countries essential to American foreign policy interests.... The Trump family is also branching out to forge foreign ties beyond the real estate business.... The new ventures [a cryptocurrency platform and a social media company] — both of which will face oversight from federal regulators appointed by the president — underscore how the company’s recent expansion created an even more complicated web of conflicts than in Mr. Trump’s first term.” And so forth. MB: We are all just cogs in the wheel of the Trump Organization. It's humiliating. those of us who didn't vote for Trump are involuntary conscripts.
All the Best People, Ctd. Trump Hires Another Ex-Con. Chris Megerian of the AP: “... Donald Trump is bringing Peter Navarro, a former adviser who served prison time related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, back to the White House for his second administration. Navarro will serve as a senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, Trump announced on Truth Social, his social media website.... Navarro, a trade adviser during Trump’s first term, was held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated Jan. 6. Sentenced to four months in prison, he described his conviction as the 'partisan weaponization of the judicial system.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
Minho Kim of the New York Times: “... Trump announced on Wednesday night that he had chosen Frank Bisignano, the chairman of the payment processing behemoth Fiserv, to be the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, a sizable federal agency with more than 1,200 field offices and almost 60,000 employees.... Mr. Bisignano was listed as the second-highest-paid chief executive in the country in 2017, one of the few to have been compensated more than $100 million that year and to have received more than 2,000 times the average employee’s salary at his firm, First Data Corporation, which later merged with Fiserv.... Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Trump uploaded an elaborate biography of Mr. Bisignano to social media and congratulated him and his family without mentioning the post to which Mr. Bisignano was being named. The president-elect made a clarification an hour later, ending the speculation on what Mr. Bisignano’s next job would be.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Once again, Trump shows off his own incompetence while choosing an inapprpriate person to run a federal agency. Bisignano has lifted himself up at the expense of his employees. It is shameful to accept compensation worth $100 million a year. It is shameful to make more than 2,000 times what many of your employees earn. (Via progressive tax policy, the federal government should be taking most of that money out of Bisignano's pockets and putting it in the pockets of his workers.) Bisignano is virtually shouting, "I don't care about people who need Social Security, and Lord knows, I'll never need it." As Bloomberg notes in its report (republished by Yahoo! News) on Bisignano's nomination, "While Trump has pledged to protect Social Security benefits, critics say that many of the policies he says he plans to enact in office would actually weaken the program. A nonpartisan budget watchdog in October estimated that Trump’s second-term agenda would drive the program to insolvency three years earlier and slash benefits by nearly a third." And in the Senate, you have Republicans like Mike Lee (Utah) who is scheming to wreck Social Security. (See digby's column, linked below.)
Carolyn Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Wednesday announced billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, who has twice orbited the planet on private spaceflights, as his pick to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Isaacman, 41, is a major customer of SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, who has been at Trump’s elbow throughout the transition.... Isaacson flew on a SpaceX rocket to the highest orbit since the Apollo era this year and, along with a crewmate, became the first private astronauts to perform spacewalks.”
Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump’s support for Pete Hegseth, whom he announced as his nominee for defense secretary shortly after Election Day, is wobbling after a crush of controversy over a rape allegation and a 2018 email from Mr. Hegseth’s mother accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward women. How Mr. Hegseth fares through a series of tests on Wednesday will be critical for his chances. He is set to continue his meetings with key senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, and his mother is expected to sit for an interview on Fox News. He is also set to start defending himself on television. Mr. Trump has made clear to people close to him that he believes Mr. Hegseth should have been more forthcoming about the problems he would face getting confirmed.... Mr. Trump is openly discussing other people for the job, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom he defeated in the Republican presidential primaries and with whom he has had a contentious relationship.... He talked about it with Mr. DeSantis on Tuesday at a service honoring three Florida sheriff’s deputies who were killed in a car crash.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Michael Kranish and others at the Washington Post write a fairly long piece about Hegseth's history of drinking to excess. Hegseth denies it now, but in 2021 he seems to have admitted on a podcast that he had been a heavy drinker, a lapse he said was caused by a brush with death when he was in the military.
Marie: Rolling Stone has a firewalled story under the headline that Hegseth has promised to stop drinking and has asked his mom to call Senators. Sad!
Trump Fires DEA Nominee. Lalee Ibssa, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had pulled his pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency despite Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff Chad Chronister saying the day before he was withdrawing from consideration. Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform that Chronister 'didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters,' taking offense to a Wall Street Journal headline that called the move 'a setback.' Although Trump touted Chronister and said he would work to 'stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs,' in announcing his selection, there was pushback against Chronister from conservatives for his enforcement of COVID-19 lockdowns during the pandemic. Many prominent conservatives criticized Chronister for arresting a pastor who defied lockdown orders and held a service during the pandemic." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So, as usual, Trump doesn't mind demonstrating his incompetence. He never bothered to have Chronister vetted to see if the sheriff met Trump's stupid criteria. I'd guess the only thing he knew about Chronister is that he's a nice-looking White guy who would look swell when he announced a big drug bust and that his father-in-law was a bigwig whom like Trump, ran afoul of the law. Next, we see Trump's cruelty. Rather than allowing Chronister to bow out politely, as he did, saving not only his own face but also Trump's, Trump had to announce that he had fired him. Wow! What a macho man! I'm so impressed.
Franklin Foer of the Atlantic: “With Trump’s unified control of ... Washington, congressional oversight is defunct. That leaves a lone bastion of countervailing power, one force capable of meaningfully slowing the maximalist ambitions of the incoming administration: blue states, especially the 15 state governments where Democrats control the executive and legislative branches.... Over the past several months, a small coterie of wonks and lawyers — and a few farsighted Democratic governors — have been working in anticipation of this moment.... The outlines of a new progressive vision of federalism — pugilistic and creative, audacious and idealistic — began to emerge....
Liberals might soon discover that federalism, once the hobbyhorse of conservatives, contains not only the hope of stubborn resistance but the possibility of regeneration.... The innovation that the new federalists propose is that the blue states begin to leverage their big budgets — and their outsize influence — by acting in concert. Banding together into a cartel, they can wield their scale to bargain to buy goods at discount.... [And] by creating uniform rules for, say, corporate governance or animal welfare or the disclosure of dark-money contributions to nonprofits, they stand a chance of shaping the standard for the entirety of the country....” Many thanks to laura h. for this gift link.
Historian Timothy Snyder has been thinking about the parallels between South Korea's "Dictator for a Day" Yoon Suk Yeol and ours. "But Yoon failed, and very badly. His dictatorship for a day lasted only about six hours. What can Americans learn from his less-than-a-day dictatorship?... The Senate, in confirmation hearings, has an obvious question to ask all of Trump's appointees with any responsibility for national security or intelligence: if Trump attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act to stifle domestic political life, just as Yoon attempted to do in South Korea, would you take part?... Are American legislators capable of defending their roles and their republic? The evidence thus far is very mixed; it remains to be seen. But South Koreans have shown the attitude and the resolve that is necessary.... Would Fox and Newsmax rise to the occasion, as did Chosun Ilbo [the major conservative newspaper]? Probably not.... But the crucial element in South Korea was the reaction of citizens themselves" who defied martial law & resisted. (Also linked yesterday.)
Dave Karpf, in a Substack essay, takes a Marxist view of democracy, though describing it in terms Emily Post might have appreciated. Rather than seeing our form of representative democracy as merely an opiate of the masses, Karpf says that it is "a compromise between political elites and the mass public. The public is given the vote as a pressure release valve of sorts — a form of legitimate dissent that affects the composition of the government. Elites, as a result, enjoy unparalleled social stability." When a politician steps outside the bounds of propriety -- as Joe Biden did when he pardoned his prodigal son -- then he has been "uncouth," and there is a price for that. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The fatal flaw in Karpf's analysis is his assessment of what's "couth" and what's "uncouth." You tell me why it's "uncouth" for Biden to pardon his son but not "uncouth" for Trump to pay hush money to a porn star or steal sensitive government-owned documents or try to stay in power by overturning a democratic election -- and why it's "uncouth" to call Trump to heel for these miscarriages of justice. Marxist theory isn't foolish, but you can see where, at least in this case, its proponent must adopt assumptions that don't make a lick of sense.
digby cites a Bluesky account called "SocialSecurityWorks.org," which reports that "[Tuesday] night, Sen. Mike Lee [R-Utah] wrote a blueprint for destroying Social Security. Lee’s thread was quickly amplified by Elon Musk, who Donald Trump has put in charge of slashing our earned benefits. This is a declaration of war against seniors, people with disabilities, and the American public." If you want to know who's behind Social Security Works, their "About Us" webpage is here. Thanks to RAS for the link. Just bear in mind, if you're of a certain age (or if you hope to live so long), that Mike Lee's little "reforms" could happen. Republicans have been trying to destroy Social Security since the first weak version of it went into effect in the mid-1930s. Past failures do not ensure future failures. (Also linked yesterday.)
Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: Tuesday, the final House race was called for a Democrat, “cementing a 220-215 majority for Republicans in a margin even slimmer than they have now, at 220-213. Those margins will erode even further in January, when Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida resign to take jobs in the Trump administration. Former Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida has also given notice that he will not return. Republicans will then be down to a 217-215 majority, on par with the narrowest controlling margin in House history. If all Democrats are present and united in opposition to a measure, Mr. Johnson won’t be able to afford a single defection on the House floor until those vacancies are filled later this spring. Even then, no more than three Republicans can break ranks without dooming a bill’s passage. Mr. Johnson sounded unfazed at the prospect on Wednesday, telling reporters on Capitol Hill: 'We know how to work with a small majority. That’s our custom.'”
Maegan Vazquez & Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: “Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), a former GOP presidential nominee who later criticized fellow Republican Donald Trump, delivered his farewell address on the Senate floor Wednesday, stressing the importance of bipartisanship and promising to be 'a voice of unity and virtue' after he leaves Washington.”
Nicholas Wu, et al., of Politico: “House Democrats are poised to unseat several senior committee leaders, and Hakeem Jeffries is letting it happen.... It’s akin to a mutiny, especially given Democrats’ typical deference to seniority in who leads panels. But party lawmakers are increasingly anxious about the incoming Trump administration and full GOP control of Congress. Many feel it’s crucial to have leaders who are proven fighters and can effectively push back on Republican priorities like harsh limits on legal immigration. It echoes the argument many used when they called on President Joe Biden to step off the ticket over the summer. At the center of it all is Jeffries, the minority leader, and his leadership team, who also skipped the seniority line in many ways when they rose to the top ranks two years ago.” ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “Representative Jerrold Nadler plans to step down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee next term, succumbing to calls for generational change as his party prepares to confront a second Trump administration. Mr. Nadler, the 77-year-old dean of New York’s congressional delegation, had been facing a direct challenge from a close ally, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Mr. Raskin, 61, was said to have secured the votes necessary to defeat him. The transition would represent a significant departure for House Democrats, who have traditionally awarded coveted committee leadership jobs based primarily on seniority.... Furious over being challenged, Mr. Nadler had initially fought to hold the position he has held since 2017. But on Wednesday, he conceded that he did not have a path to victory and endorsed Mr. Raskin to replace him in a letter to colleagues.”
Adam Liptak & Emily Bezelon of the New York Times: “Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready on Wednesday to uphold a Tennessee law denying transition care to transgender youth, with some of them saying that judgments about contested scientific evidence should be made by legislatures rather than judges. 'The Constitution leaves that question to the people’s representatives, rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor,' Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson responded that leaving the question to the states was an alarming abdication of responsibility.... The Tennessee law prohibits medical providers from prescribing puberty-delaying medication, providing hormone therapy or performing surgery to treat what the law called 'purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.' But the law allows those same treatments for 'a congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease or physical injury.'” MB: Gosh, CJ Roberts sure finds convenient situations to indulge in false expressions of humility.
John Miller, et al., of CNN: “The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning in an apparent targeted attack as he was about to attend the company’s annual investor conference, a law enforcement official tells CNN. The gunman remains on the loose. Brian Thompson was walking toward the New York Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, dressed in a suit and tie, to attend UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference being held in the ballroom. A gunman, who investigators tell CNN was masked in the freezing temperatures, waited for about 10 minutes before Thompson’s arrival, before opening fire from 20 feet away shooting multiple times, striking Thompson. The gunman fled, cutting through an alleyway and hopping on to a bicycle, the official told CNN. Investigators are continuing to canvas the area. Police currently believe that the suspect fled into Central Park.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the manhunt for the shooter. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Michael Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: “By nightfall, a sprawling manhunt with police officers, dogs and drones spread citywide, bearing down on surveillance videos, a dropped cellphone and even Citi Bike data in search of the killer. The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who was sworn in 10 days ago, called it a 'brazen targeted attack,' adding, 'We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case.'”
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Montana. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “Several Montana Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday to block a measure that would have barred transgender lawmakers from using the state Capitol bathrooms that aligned with their gender identities. The proposed measure would have banned Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democratic lawmaker who was reelected in November, from using the women’s bathroom outside Montana’s House and Senate chambers. Last year, Zephyr was silenced in the House after speaking out against her Republican colleagues for their support of a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender children. Weeks ahead of her return to the House floor, Zephyr’s colleagues in the chamber rejected the bathroom measure in a 12-10 vote. Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it, characterizing it as a rule that would not add value to their work while also noting they didn’t necessarily disagree with the ideology driving it.”
Tennessee. Emily Cochrane & Shaila Dewan of the New York Times: “The Justice Department released the results of its investigation into the Memphis Police Department on Wednesday, finding that it had used excessive force, treated Black people more harshly than white people and mistreated those with mental health issues. The report said that the civil rights violations had a 'corrosive effect.' The 73-page report made special note of the treatment of children, saying that they had experienced 'aggressive and frightening encounters with officers.'... The Police Department has been under scrutiny since January 2023, when officers fatally beat Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, after pulling him over on his way home from work. The body and street camera footage that captured the violence prompted a national outcry and testimony from other residents about the agency’s pattern of excessive force.... The city, however, has already indicated that it may not agree to fully cooperate with an overhaul of its Police Department. Shortly before Wednesday’s report was released, the city sent a letter to the Justice Department rejecting its push to negotiate an agreement, known as a consent decree.” And that's because Donald Trump. Really. The report, linked above, is via the DOJ, not the NYT, so you can access it whether or not you have a NYT account. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Let me just add that Memphis' hubris is possible because Merrick Garland's DOJ didn't think it was important to get out this report well before the election, when Memphis officials didn't know whether or not they would be able to rely on Trump's Injustice Department to ignore the report's conclusions. Merrick the Unready is such a lazy, lackadaisical attorney general. The only thing we have to thank Mitch McConnell for is that we're not having to read report after report that "Once again, Justice Garland delayed a decision in the case but eventually came down on the side of the Court's more conservative justices."
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France. Adam Nossiter of the New York Times: “French lawmakers passed a no-confidence measure against Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet on Wednesday, sending the country into a fresh spasm of political turmoil that leaves it without a clear path to a new budget and threatens to further jolt financial markets. France’s lower house of Parliament passed the measure with 331 votes, well above the majority of 288 votes that were required, after Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally joined moves by the chamber’s leftist coalition to oust the government. Mr. Barnier is expected to resign soon. It was the first successful no-confidence vote in France in over 60 years and made Mr. Barnier’s three-month-old government the shortest-tenured in the history of France’s Fifth Republic.”
Israel/Palestine, et al. Only One Government at a Time, Ha Ha Ha. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Israel's wars are here: “... Donald Trump’s newly named Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with leaders in Qatar and Israel in late November to revive efforts to conclude a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. Witkoff was named special envoy on Nov. 12. Witkoff’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani were the first sign of Trump dispatching personnel to fulfill his long-shot goal of concluding a ceasefire and hostage deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a timeline many view as unrealistic.”
Mexico. James Wagner & Emiliano Mega of the New York Times: “Mexican security forces captured more than a ton of fentanyl this week, marking the country’s largest synthetic opioid seizure, which officials on Wednesday said was equivalent to 20 million doses of the drug. It was the latest show of force in a crackdown on violence and illicit drugs by Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, ahead of the inauguration next month of ... Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump has vowed to place steep tariffs on Mexico until the government stops drugs and migrants from crossing the border.... During her daily news conference on Wednesday morning, Ms. Sheinbaum said the operations were part of a long investigation and resulted in 'the largest mass seizure of fentanyl pills ever made.'”
South Korea. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the political crisis in South Korea here: “The South Korean general appointed as the commander of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law learned of the move only when Mr. Yoon announced it on television, the general told lawmakers during hearings on Thursday. Despite his position, the general, Park An-su, told a parliamentary committee that he also did not know who ordered troops to move in on the National Assembly in an attempt to cordon it off. During his testimony, the deputy defense minister, Kim Seon-ho, said that the defense minister had ordered the troops in. Mr. Kim said that he had opposed the mobilization. The defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, resigned Thursday before the hearings and did not take part.”
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Speaking of macho men (do they all dress like Village People?), I see where ‘Nother Round Pete Hegseth is now in the position of telling everyone “Don’t be mean to me or my mom will make a phone call!”
Oooh. Okay Pete. Will you be having mom call Putin if we have problems with Russia?
Listening to NPR this morning, I heard another of the many, many chances they give PoT flacks to brag about how great they are. This guy compared Bible Mike Johnson to Nancy Pelosi, basically saying Bible Mike is a much better Speaker because Pelosi “bludgeoned” members into submission, whereas good ol’ Mike is a great Speaker because “he listens”.
Really, he listens? Wellll, Christ on a continuing resolution, give that fuckin’ guy a medal. He listens! Yeah. Then he calls the Fat Fascist and asks what he should do. (Or maybe he just looks it up in the Bible.)
There was also some crapdoodle about “moderate Republicans” getting a chance to weigh in, as if that species hasn’t been extinct for years. I guess you’re a moderate in the Party of Traitors if you don’t demand public executions of everyone on Trump’s enemies list.
Of course, no pushback on any of this bullshit.
@Akhilleus: Yeah, that's bull about Nancy's not listening. I recall when Democrats were trying to get Obamacare passed and had to wing it because they didn't have 67 votes in the Senate and they didn't have a majority of votes in the House. All kinds of people, including me, were complaining about a couple of conservo-Democratic holdouts like Bart Stupak who opposed the abortion accommodations in Obamacare. You know Nancy favored abortion aid, but she stood up for Bart when people like me were spelling Bart's name with a coathanger. She said Bart's beliefs were "sincere," and she figured out an awkward way to accommodate them.
That's not somebody who doesn't listen. Nancy did what she had to to get legislation passed and that didn't always mean ramming it down the throats of principled opponents.
I'll bet some of those Republicans who are so proud of themselves for their excellent good governance have callouses on their shoulders where they have been patting themselves on the back so much. Nitwits.
There’s so many horrific things about Kash and Carry Patel (he takes your cash away and carries you off to the Trump gulag), his slavish obeisance to authoritarian rule generally and Trump fascism particularly, his completely unhinged obsession with the most out-there conspiracy theories, and a unique (even for PoT apparatchiks) jonesing for the most draconian punishments for entirely invented fever dream infractions against the coming fascist state, not to mention a ridiculous lack of qualifications to run any sort of investigative operation in a non-partisan, facts-only manner, both in temperament and experience. And no, bingeing John Wick movies doesn’t count.
But one of his most bizarre fantasies caught my attention this morning. Here it is. Try not to laugh.
“Attorney General Merrick Garland wants to throw ‘all of us’ — which is to say, Trump allies — in prison.”
Hang on. THE Merrick Garland? AG Merrick? Creampuff Casper Milquetoast Garland? That guy?
Merrick Garland would spend endless months wondering about whether it would be proper to put Jeffrey fucking Dahmer in prison. Then he’d convene three special counsels and four grand juries to make sure.
Jesus, Kash, if your gonna spend your limited brain cells worrying about crazy shit, at least make it something possible in at least one or two of all possible universes.
Akhilleus,
Merrick might not really want to, but I would.
That's my morning fantasy.
Marie,
Quite. In fact, the abysmal qualifications of so many PoT movers and shakers (Bible Mike included), is appalling when compared to Democrats like Pelosi who have years of hard earned experience.
So they trumpet the most minuscule achievements as proof of their qualifications (not to mention Trump’s clown car nominees) to run the country.
Look at it this way. It’s as if they were comparing Emeril Lagasse to a schmoe who is still learning how to boil water. “Oh yeah, our guy is just as good a chef. In fact, he’s better! He doesn’t bother with all those fancy foreign spices and shit. He’s a real ‘merican chef!”
Yeah. Okay. By the way, you gotta turn the burner on before the water will boil. There ya go, sport. You’re the new White House chef.
$$$$$
"President-elect Trump’s team outlined the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee benefits for donors over the Jan. 20 weekend, which include a reception with Cabinet picks, a Sunday service and the inaugural ball.
In a benefits outline obtained by The Hill, the team highlighted that committee members who give $1 million or raise $2 million receive six tickets to access exclusive inaugural events between Saturday, Jan. 18, and Monday, Jan. 20, the day of the swearing-in."
Who needs maternity wards. Another reminder that women and pregnancies are not something Republicans actually care about.
"Most Rural Hospitals Have Closed Their Maternity Wards, Study Finds
Labor and delivery units are losing money and struggling to find staff, in rural areas and large cities alike.
Over 500 hospitals have closed their labor and delivery departments since 2010, according to a large new study, leaving most rural hospitals and more than a third of urban hospitals without obstetric care.
Those closures, the study found, were slightly offset by the opening of new units in about 130 hospitals. Even so, the share of hospitals without maternity wards increased every year, according to the study, published on Wednesday in JAMA, a prominent medical journal. Maternal deaths remained persistently high over that period, spiking during the pandemic.
Because its data runs only through 2022, the study does not account for the additional challenges that hospitals have faced since the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade"
Reuters
"A federal judge in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction blocking the enforcement of an anti-money laundering law that requires corporate entities to disclose to the U.S. Treasury Department the identities of their real beneficial owners.
U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in Sherman, Texas, on Tuesday sided, opens new tab with the National Federation Of Independent Business and several small businesses and non-profits by concluding the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act was likely unconstitutional."
Seems like it is usually the judges from the south that are stopping all the policies meant to help people or fight crime. Though at least we are getting the president* that knows more about money laundering than anybody else back in the Oval Office soon.
RAS,
Don't know the details of that anti-money-laundering law but do know that the filings required are not something our accountant wishes to deal with. He says it's too burdensome and confusing for small business owners, and he wishes to have nothing to do with it.
I know my lawyer son has also found the paperwork required confusing.
But if confusing means "unconstitutional"......there is that eye of the beholder thing out there to deal with too.
The Wrap
"LA Times to Publish ‘Bias Meter’ on News Stories, Owner Says
“The reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story,” Patrick Soon-Shiong tells Scott Jennings [Trump apologist]
“Whether in news or opinion … you have a bias meter,” Soon-Shiong said. “So that someone could understand as a reader that the source of the article has some level of bias.”
He elaborated, “The reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story, based on that story, and then give comments.”
Jennings was added to the Times’ new editorial board after Soon-Shiong was criticized for blocking his staff’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. The newspaper owner explained that he wanted to make changes in order to become more “fair and balanced” in light of President-elect Donald Trump winning the election."
To Helen Lewis, writing in The Atlantic, "[The new media landscape] looks bleak : more conspiracy theories, more noise, more loudmouths complaining about other people’s bias. It’s hard to see how journalistic institutions get rebuilt when so many of their business models have collapsed. The migration of ad dollars to Google and Meta means that—with few exceptions—20th-century newsrooms are not coming back."
The ‘Mainstream Media’ Has Already Lost
How is prevention of money laundering unconstitutional?
They must be referring to Trump’s Article 2, where he can do whatever the Christ he wants, money laundering, business fraud, rape, insurrection, concentration camps, the vengeance tour. None of that is unconstitutional now.
Why have a constitution in the first place if it never applies to Republicans or their donor buddies or criminal enterprises favored by them?
Ken,
I don't know about the constitutionality of this law and the judge in this case was appointed by Obama so maybe there is some legitimate arguments in this case. But I've seen a number of articles and interviews talking about how hard it is to get the smallest financial disclosure laws passed. I'm sure there are some legitimate reason for pushback, but the main opposition seems to be about dark money wanting to continue to operate in the dark and mostly unaccountable.
M&M's Republicans can get behind
Gun Running
"Adair, Iowa, had a population of 794. So, it seemed suspicious when its three-person police department asked regulators to buy 90 machine guns, including an M134 Gatling-style minigun capable of shooting up to 6,000 rounds of ammunition every minute.
Federal agents later discovered Adair's police chief, Bradley Wendt, was using his position to acquire weapons and sell them for personal profit. A jury convicted Wendt earlier this year of conspiracy to defraud the United States, lying to federal law enforcement and illegal possession of a machine gun. Wendt is unapologetic and has appealed his conviction.
A CBS News investigation found dozens of law enforcement leaders — sheriffs, captains, lieutenants, chiefs of police — buying and illegally selling firearms, even weapons of war, across 23 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., from the Deep South to the Midwest, Northeast and California coast.
However, when government auditors investigated firearms that law enforcement agencies reported missing over a 15-year period, the General Services Administration Inspector General found that more than two-thirds had not gone missing at all but, rather, were inappropriately sold or traded —including Uzis and grenade launchers that were never recovered."
What will Putin do?
It seems he's busy elsewhere.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/middleeast/syria-rebels-hama-government-intl/index.html
Insurance companies make crazy decisions.
"Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Won’t Pay for the Complete Duration of Anesthesia for Patients’ Surgical Procedures
In an unprecedented move, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri have unilaterally declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure takes."
RAS,
That police chief in Iowa with all the machine guns (30 per person in his police force—is that enough?) isn’t running guns.He’s gearing up for when Obama’s black helicopters show up. I know it’s been over a decade since word went out across the RW Crazosphere, but any day now they’ll be coming to take all the guns.
It’s the same helicopter Merrick Garland is riding in to arrest all the Trump voters.
You wait and see.
Not saying that United Healthcare muckymuck deserved to die, but shell casings with “delay” and “deny” indicate a serious motive. United, like most of the private insurance industry, makes a mountain of money off their Medicare Advantage plans. Those plans, if property administered could be very helpful to those in need of them, but the structure of many of those plans makes it easy to finagle patients, to delay payment or outright deny coverage until the patient is dead.
Guess who’s a huge proponent of such plans, plans that scoop up billions for private corporations?
The guy Trump wants to put in charge of everything. Dr. Scam: Oz.
No wonder the right hates universal healthcare. If there’s money to be made off of sick people, why make it easier for them to get better?