The Ledes

Friday, September 6, 2024

CNBC: “The U.S. economy created slightly fewer jobs than expected in August, reflecting a slowing labor market while also clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates later this month. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 142,000 during the month, down from 89,000 in July and below the 161,000 consensus forecast from Dow Jones, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

New York Times: “Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old accused of killing two teachers and two students at his Georgia high school, was arrested and charged on Thursday with second-degree murder in connection with the state’s deadliest school shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. In addition to two counts of second-degree murder, Mr. Gray, 54, was also charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to a statement. At a news conference on Thursday night, Chris Hosey, the G.B.I. director, said the charges were 'directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon.'” At 5:30 am ET, this is the pinned item in a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report is here.

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The Ledes

Thursday, September 5, 2024

CNBC: “Private sector payrolls grew at the weakest pace in more than 3½ years in August, providing yet another sign of a deteriorating labor market, according to ADP. Companies hired just 99,000 workers for the month, less than the downwardly revised 111,000 in July and below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 140,000. August was the weakest month for job growth since January 2021, according to data from the payrolls processing firm. 'The job market’s downward drift brought us to slower-than-normal hiring after two years of outsized growth,' ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, said. The report corroborates multiple data points recently that show hiring has slowed considerably from its blistering pace following the Covid outbreak in early 2020.”

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Georgia school massacre are here, a horrifying ritual which we experience here in the U.S. to kick off each new School Shooting Year. “A 14-year-old student opened fire at his Georgia high school on Wednesday, killing two students and two teachers before surrendering to school resource officers, according to the authorities, who said the suspect would be charged with murder.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I heard Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) speak during a press conference. Kemp is often glorified as one of the most moderate, reasonable GOP elected public officials. When asked a question I did not hear, Kemp responded, "Now is not the time to talk about politics." As you know, this is a statement that is part of the mass shooting ritual. It translates, "Our guns-for-all policy is so untenable that I dare not express it lest I be tarred and feathered -- or worse -- by grieving families." ~~~

~~~ Washington Post: “Police identified the suspect as Colt Gray, a student who attracted the attention of federal investigators more than a year ago, when they began receiving anonymous tips about someone threatening a school shooting. The FBI referred the reports to local authorities, whose investigations led them to interview Gray and his father. The father told police that he had hunting guns in the house, but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them. Gray denied making the online threats, the FBI said, but officials still alerted area schools about him.” ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: I heard on CNN that the reason authorities lost track of Colt was that his family moved counties, and the local authorities who first learned of the threats apparently did not share the information with law enforcement officials in Barrow County, where Wednesday's mass school shooting occurred. If you were a parent of a child who has so alarmed law enforcement that they came around to your house to question you and the child about his plans to massacre people, wouldn't you do something?: talk to him, get the kid professional counseling, remove guns and other lethal weapons from the house, etc.

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, but Akhilleus found this new one that he says is easy to use.

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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass.

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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The Conversation -- July 22, 2024

From today's New York Times live election updates: ~~~

Robert Jimison: "Representatives Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, two members of the Democratic leadership in the House, both endorsed Kamala Harris this morning in a pair of statements."

Eduardo Medina: "Speaking on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, widely viewed as a strong contender to be Harris's running mate, said he had spoken with the vice president on Sunday.... Cooper also said that he had spoken with [President] Biden on Sunday and told him that 'he had cemented his legacy among the greatest of presidents.' He added that two of Biden's character traits were on display yesterday: 'fighting through adversity and doing the right thing.'"

Katie Glueck: "Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, has endorsed Harris, saying in a social media post that he received a call from her. Walz is sometimes mentioned as a potential running mate."

Reid Epstein: "Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin, a key battleground state, has also endorsed Harris for president.... Six key Democratic governors endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, choking off what was perhaps the last prospect for a serious challenge to her claiming the party's presidential nomination."

Annie Karni: "On a Zoom call with reporters, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, praised President Biden's record and said a match-up between Harris and Trump would be a 'very, very exciting race.' He said it would be 'a contrast between the past and the future,' and called Trump 'yesterday's chaos.'"

Nicholas Nehamas: "Former Vice President Mike Pence thanked President Biden for 'putting the interests of our nation ahead of his own' in a statement posted on social media. 'Now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America's friends and enemies,' wrote Pence...."

Ken Vogel: "Maryland's delegation voted Monday morning to endorse Vice President Harris for president, joining several other state delegations that did so on Sunday."

Michael Gold: "Biden is out of the race. Trump is still attacking him.... 'It's a new day and Joe Biden doesn't remember quitting the race yesterday!' Mr. Trump wrote on his social media site...."

Patricia Mazzei: "The Florida Democratic Party said on Monday morning that 236 of its 254 delegates to the Democratic National Convention had pledged their support to Vice President Kamala Harris so far. The state's congressional delegation has endorsed Harris, too."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs: "Vice President Harris takes the lectern in the South Lawn of the White House at a ceremony for N.C.A.A. champions, her first public remarks since President Biden endorsed her to lead the Democratic ticket." ~~~

~~~ Nehamas: "Although Harris spoke at a low-pressure event, her clear and clean delivery, in contrast to President Biden's shaky recent remarks, removes a serious vulnerability for Democrats in their fight to keep Donald J. Trump out of the White House. President Biden had increasingly slipped and stumbled while speaking publicly...."

Karni: "Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the former House speaker, has issued a statement endorsing Harris.... Speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, said that he and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, are set to meet with Harris today in person. Jeffries praised Harris for exciting the Democratic caucus and the country, but stopped short of offering his endorsement. Schumer has also not yet endorsed Harris.... The thinking among those top congressional leaders so far is that, for party leaders who hold great sway with members, an endorsement would make Harris's nomination look more like a coronation than an organic unification of a newly energized party."

Michael Shear: "President Biden's doctor said Monday that his symptoms from Covid are almost gone and that he has completed his final dose of Paxlovid. In a letter released by the White House, Dr. Kevin O'Connor said that Mr. Biden 'continues to perform all of his presidential duties.'"

Nehamas: "Vice President Kamala Harris just greeted her campaign staff at her headquarters in Wilmington for the first time since announcing she would seek the Democratic nomination.... The Biden campaign said that more than 28,000 people signed up to volunteer for the first time after President Biden dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. That is more than 100 times the daily average, according to the campaign. Combined with a one-day fundraising haul of $81 million, the surge in volunteers suggests Harris is rallying Democrats.... President Biden has called into a meeting of staff at what used to be his campaign headquarters in Wilmington...." Audio in tomorrow's Conversation.

Epstein: :Harris said she has asked Jen O'Malley Dillon, who has been running the Biden campaign, to remain in that role and run her campaign. O'Malley Dillon has accepted that offer, Harris said."

Nehamas: "Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, will also stay in her role, Harris said."

[Video of Harris' remarks in tomorrow's Conversation.] As Michael Shear & Peter Baker write in the item pinned @ 7:00 p.m. ET, "Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a spirited and aggressive assault on former President Donald J. Trump in her first campaign appearance on Monday, casting herself as a former prosecutor ready to take on a rival who is a convicted criminal and a defendant held liable for sexual assault."

Epstein: "The AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million unionized workers, has endorsed Harris for president.... The Democratic Party will choose its presidential nominee in an online vote by Aug. 7, Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday on a call with reporters. A date for that vote has not yet been set."

Emily Cochrane: "The Arkansas Democratic Party just wrapped up a virtual meeting where its delegation voted unanimously to back Kamala Harris...."

Stuart Thompson: "Many conspiracy theorists and far-right commentators are spreading doubts that President Biden is alive after he posted a letter on Sunday resigning from his presidential campaign."

Shane Goldmacher: "A survey of delegates by The Associated Press has Kamala Harris on the cusp of securing the nomination based on delegate endorsements. According to The A.P., Harris has secured the support of 1,967 delegates and needs 1,976 delegates for the nomination."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: President Biden's "opponents seemed not to know what to do. The Republican response was confused and weak.... But mostly they responded, in what was clearly a coordinated if illogical plan, by insisting that Biden resign immediately.... By that reasoning, Republicans also would have required the immediate resignation of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 -- and George Washington in 1796. But, of course, there is no logic. If Biden resigned, they'd get President Harris six months sooner.... Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) joined those calling for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office. Perhaps nobody told them that this decision would be up to Harris....

"Already, some Republicans are recognizing that whinin' about Biden isn't going to be a winning strategy. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), head of the House GOP conference, announced that she would introduce on Monday 'a resolution condemning Kamala Harris' role as Joe Biden's "Border czar"' -- a moniker Republicans invented for Harris. Good! Let's have that debate. Border crossings are down dramatically, and Trump killed the bipartisan legislation that could have fixed the problem permanently."

New York Times reporters are liveblogging the House Oversight Committee's interrogation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. MB: When I turned on the teevee, Mad Dog Jordan (R-Ohio) had his teeth into her, so I turned off the tube. Plus, it pains me when I find myself in a moment where I tend to agree with Jordan. Here's the pinned item:

Luke Broadwater: "The Secret Service director, Kimberly A. Cheatle, called the attempted assassination of ... Donald J. Trump her agency's 'most significant operational failure' in decades in testimony Monday morning on Capitol Hill, where she faced pointed questions and additional calls for her to lose her job. Ms. Cheatle, appearing before the House oversight committee, said that she took responsibility for the security lapses that allowed the would-be assassin to get close enough to open fire on the former president. But she provided few new details about the breakdowns and angered Republicans on the panel by refusing to answer some specific questions, citing the continuing investigation."

Luke Broadwater, in an updated pinned item: "The Secret Service director, Kimberly A. Cheatle, angered members of Congress on Monday by repeatedly refusing to answer specific questions about security failures that led to the attempted assassination of ... Donald J. Trump, prompting members of both parties to demand her resignation. Ms. Cheatle ... cited the continuing investigation when declining to answer queries about the would-be assassin's access to the warehouse roof from which he fired, how he had managed to bring a firearm to the event, why Mr. Trump was allowed to come onstage despite warnings about a suspicious person and many other details."

David Fahrenthold runs down some of the very basic questions Cheatle didn't answer.

Broadwater: "Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, calls for Cheatle to resign as the hearing is coming to a conclusion. He is the highest-ranking Democrat in Congress to do so." [Patrick wrote in today's Comments -- before Raskin's call -- "I suspect she's toast." Apparently so.] "Comer and Raskin, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House oversight committee, wrote a joint letter to Cheatle after the hearing calling for her resignation."

Shia Kapos of Politico: "It took less than 24 hours for Kamala Harris to all but clear the Democratic presidential field. Endorsements from a series of governors Monday morning -- JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Wes Moore of Maryland and Andy Beshear of Kentucky -- effectively ended talk of a serious contest for the party;s nomination after President Joe Biden's sudden decision Sunday to drop out of the race. Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who also briefly flirted with challenging Harris, also said Monday morning that he wouldn't seek the nomination.... On Sunday, several [other] potential challengers -- Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gavin Newsom of California as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg -- all publicly backed Harris."

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in the Israel-Hamas war are here.

Biden v. Bibi. Marcy Wheeler: "There are many things that explain the timing of President Biden's decision to drop out of the race. Most importantly, after staying reasonably steady with Trump in the polls, the combined weight of the Democratic firing squad, and -- probably -- some bounce from the shooting attempt on Trump had started a real hemorrhaging in Biden's polling. He had to drop when he did to stave off a collapse in the polls.... Biden almost certainly didn't base his timing on Bibi Netanyahu's visit this week (though he deferred explaining it for a few days, which may put that address after Bibi's). But the timing is wildly auspicious.... Biden's policies on Gaza were the primary thing that cut what otherwise might have been a natural lead on Trump.... Trump is so unpopular a Democrat should start out ahead. Or should have, before Israel started slaughtering Palestinian civilians.... Among Biden's most stubborn beliefs was ... that he could reason with -- that he could moderate -- Bibi. It was a foolish belief born of a lifetime of dealing with the man. It was perhaps a naive blindness to the way that Bibi has repeatedly shivved Democrats in the back.... I've long expected Bibi's visit to be part of some partisan attack on Biden, replete with a continued unwillingness to consider ceasefire deals because Bibi is less worried about Israeli and US hostages than he is about retaining power. I fully expect Bibi to yoke his own political future to that of Donald Trump."

~~~~~~~~~~

There was some news yesterday afternoon, and you probably should read it.

Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "Powerful leaders of the Democratic establishment quickly embraced Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after President Biden's shocking exit from the race, hoping that a seamless succession could end a month of damaging chaos and transform a contest widely believed to be tipping toward Republicans. By Sunday evening, Ms. Harris appeared to have a glide path to the nomination: No other top Democrats announced plans to challenge her, though some stopped short of an endorsement, including the party's top congressional leaders and former President Barack Obama. With breathtaking speed, she took control of Mr. Biden's enormous political operation and contacted Democratic leaders in Congress and state houses to ask for their support. The Biden campaign formally renamed itself 'Harris for President,' giving her immediate access to an account that had $96 million in cash at the end of June."

Katie Rogers, et al., of the New York Times: "From [Saturday] afternoon and far into the night, [President Biden and two top advisors, Steve Ricchetti & Mike Donilon,] worked on one of the most important and historic letters of Mr. Biden's presidency == the announcement of his decision to withdraw from his re-election campaign after top Democrats, donors, close allies and friends had pressured him relentlessly to get out. He would not tell most of his staff until a minute before making the historic announcement to the world on social media on Sunday. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Mr. Biden went on to endorse, spoke to him earlier on Sunday morning, as did Jeff Zients, his chief of staff, and Jen O'Malley Dillon, his campaign chair. A handful of senior advisers at the White House heard directly from the president on a Zoom call. Others in the West Wing learned when they saw it pop on social media.... This account is based on interviews with people close to Mr. Biden...." This is an expansion of an item in yesterday's liveblog of developments in the presidential race. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Washington Post's account. Politico's story is here.

Here's President Obama's statement.

Jennifer Hassan & Anika Seth of the Washington Post: "World leaders expressed respect and admiration for President Biden on Sunday after he announced he was ending his reelection campaign, a momentous decision that reshapes the race for the White House and resonated far beyond Washington. Biden, a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before ascending to higher office, developed and nurtured relationships with many world leaders over the course of decades."

Colby Itkowitz & others at the Washington Post explain how Democrats will replace President Biden as their nominee.

New York Times Editors: "President Biden's decision to exit the 2024 presidential election is a fitting coda for a man whose life has been devoted to public service. Mr. Biden has served the nation well as its president. By agreeing to step down when his term ends in January, he is greatly increasing the chance that his party is able to protect the nation from the dangers of returning Donald Trump to the presidency.... Mr. Biden has now done what Mr. Trump never will: He has placed the national interest above his own pride and ambition.... Most of all, as president, Mr. Biden has stood on the side of the values that have long defined America: a commitment to freedom, a respect for the rule of law and a belief that pluralism is a fundamental source of the nation's strength. His administration, the most diverse in American history, embodies those values.... Mr. Trump is a felon who flouts the law and the Constitution, an inveterate liar beholden to no higher cause than his self-interest and a reckless policymaker indifferent to the well-being of the American people. His term in office did lasting damage to the people and the project of America and to its reputation around the world."

The Washington Post is keeping a running tally of Democratic members of Congress and governors who have endorsed Vice President Harris. MB: Sorta looks as if the presidential race is shaping up to be the Prosecutor v. the Felon.

Liz Goodwin & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Sen. Joe Manchin III (I-W.Va.) is considering re-registering as a Democrat to compete for the party's presidential nomination in the wake of President Biden's announcement Sunday that he will exit the campaign, according to a Manchin adviser. MB: Oh, what an exciting possibility. Oh, and Manchin is a year younger than Trump, so definitely the bright guy thing American voters are seeking in a president. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Monday said he is not running for office in the wake of speculation that he would pursue the Democratic presidential nomination after President Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday. 'I'm not running for office,' Manchin told 'CBS Mornings' on Monday."

AND Speak of Confused White Guys.... Glenn Gardner & Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Aaron Sorkin is reversing course on his recommendation for what the Democrats should do if faced with the prospect of Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. 'I take it all back. Harris for America!' Sorkin said, via a message posted by Joshua Malina, one of the stars of The West Wing. A spokesperson for Sorkin confirmed the quote. Earlier today, Sorkin had published an op ed in The New York Times, recommending a new 'script' for Democrats: An open convention where they nominate Mitt Romney to be the party's standard bearer." MB: And, yes, Aaron, the Mittster is a year younger than Trump, too. Did I mention Mr. Corporations-Are-People-My-Friend used to be a professional corporate raider?

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump reacted to the stunning news that President Joe Biden was withdrawing from the 2024 election with a tirade of insults and anger.... Trump's anger should come as little surprise, given his consistently aggrieved and divisive rhetoric -- despite multiple reports that he had somehow changed following the assassination attempt on his life a week ago." ~~~

~~~ Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump called for the Republican Party to be reimbursed for funds spent campaigning against President Joe Biden Sunday evening after accusing Democrats of 'fraud' after the president dropped out of the race.... Trump spent Sunday launching attacks at Biden, complaining about debates, and otherwise commenting from his Truth Social account." MB: It's awful the way Democrats refuse to accommodate Donald Trump's peculiar notion of fair play.


Roberto Klemko & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "The embattled director of the U.S. Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, is facing new calls to resign from what has become a bipartisan group of lawmakers after news that top agency officials repeatedly denied requests for additional resources and personnel sought by ... Donald Trump's security detail.... Cheatle is scheduled to appear Monday morning at a House Oversight Committee hearing. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) ... chairs the committee.... Other congressional committees are investigating the shooting as well.... Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) on Saturday became the first Democrat in Congress to call for Cheatle's resignation."

    
Hamed Aleaziz & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The homeland security secretary, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, on Sunday announced the members of a panel to conduct an independent review into security failures after a gunman was able to wound ... Donald J. Trump last weekend at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.... The panel -- described by Mr. Mayorkas as bipartisan -- that will be conducting the 45-day review will be made up of Janet Napolitano, a former homeland security secretary; Frances Townsend, a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush; Mark Filip, a former federal judge and a deputy attorney general under Mr. Bush; and David Mitchell, a former secretary of the Delaware Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Mr. Mayorkas said he could invite additional experts to join the panel in the coming days."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel's Military Doesn't Care About Civilians. Vivian Nereim & Shuaib Almosawa of the New York Times: "The Israeli bombing of a vital Yemeni port controlled by the Houthi militia is not expected to deter the group from further attacks but is likely to deepen human suffering in Yemen, regional experts said. Israeli officials said the barrage of airstrikes that hit the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah on Saturday was a counterattack after the Houthis launched a drone that struck Tel Aviv on Friday, killing one Israeli and wounding several others."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (12)

Now that's funny.

The Pretender complaining about someone running a reverse bait and switch on him.

Once again, an entire absence of a sense of irony is on full display.

More proof the Pretender, regardless of his previous party affiliation, is and has always been a Republican in mind and heart.

He just doesn't get the joke.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

History

"The U.S. Deported a Million of Its Own Citizens to Mexico During the Great Depression
Up to 1.8 million people of Mexican descent—most of them American-born—were rounded up in informal raids and deported in an effort to reserve jobs for white people.

Although there was no federal law or executive order authorizing the 1930s raids, President Herbert Hoover’s administration, which used the racially-coded slogan, “American jobs for real Americans,” implicitly approved of them. His secretary of labor, William Doak, also helped pass local laws and arrange agreements that prevented Mexican Americans from holding jobs. Some laws banned Mexican Americans from government employment, regardless of their citizenship status. Meanwhile, companies like Ford, U.S. Steel and the Southern Pacific Railroad agreed to lay off thousands of Mexican American workers."

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Amanda Marcotte

"Trump's GOP is no country for MAGA women
At the Republican National Convention, MAGA women learn there's no place for them in Trump's GOP"

Manly Trump guys,
"Citing a 2020 study by psychology researchers that found a correlation between Google searches for "erectile dysfunction, penis size, penis enlargement, hair loss, hair plugs, testosterone, and Viagra" and voting Republican, Meyerson writes that precarious manhood turns some men into "putty for a demagogue who blames your plight on MAGA’s usual suspects.""

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I was pretty shocked to see Aaron Sorkin's nonsensical suggestion that there was anywhere within today's GOP someone who could be played convincingly by Alan Alda. Arnold Vinick faded into the gloaming along with Ed Brooke, Margaret Chase Smith, and Jack Javits.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

@Jack Mahoney: Quite right. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would not have passed the Senate without the 27 Republican votes breaking the filibuster, one of the few times in history -- up till then -- that the Senate had successfully invoked cloture.

On the other hand, Alda is a fairly versatile actor. I can imagine his conjuring up a Mitch McConnell or John Barrasso. Ted Cruz? well, okay, maybe not.

July 22, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

It's a most unusual day here in our little tourist town of about one
thousand residents, mostly Democrats, and very liberal.
We usually have about a thousand tourists on a day like today, sunny
but not too hot. There's a beautiful beach on Lake Michigan that one
can walk to after taking a ferry across the river.
Today the streets are empty. Lots of parking available on street.
Nobody asking if they can tour our garden and ask questions about plants.
The city parking lot charges ten dollars so they can chow down on
those eighteen dollar burgers and twenty dollar drinks.
Does anyone think this is because of yesterday's news?
What else could it be?

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

The Speaker of the House, Sunday morning on ABC, speaking of his party's martyred hero:

"They've drug he and his family through hell…"

In his defense, the Speaker did look like he'd just been hauled out of bed and barely had time to put on the glasses that make him sound so… smart.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterMonoloco

RAS,

Would recommend "Bad Mexicans" by Kelly Lyle Hernandez for more related fascinating Mexican-American history.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

I watched a good deal of the Cheatle hearing. She was not a good witness. I suspect she's toast.

Two things: if the Oversight Committee had been serious, they would also have subpoened the FBI (DD at least) to sit there too, because the FBI is running the active investigation, and Cheatle, like a good bureaucrat, would not talk about information being vetted by that investigation. To the extent that she even would not verify facts developed independent of the FBI. Had the DD FBI been there, much of this "stonewalling" impression could have been allayed.

Thing Two: Not mentioned AT ALL is that when the FBI interviews people in these types of investigations, when they are talking to other agents, police, local officials, etc., they need to inform them of the bureaucratic equivalent of a Miranda warning, and allow them to have counsel a/o an empoyee representative available. The FBI can't rule out dereliction, conspiracy (or "terrorism", either) before they develop the basic account of events, but if they don't notify their interviewees of their rights, if a conspiracy is discovered that information becomes a prosecution problem. This slows down information vetting. As a corollary, this is one of the reasons why agencies won't give names to congressional committees early in an investigation -- they can totally destroy prosecutability by improperly questioning just one person. I don't understand why this problem is not addressed in this type of testimony, the witness is going to sound like a stonewaller either way.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

@Patrick: I'm sure you're right. Even though I don't know the law, I intuitively would not name names, except perhaps those of very high-level officials, and even then -- in this particular circumstance -- I'd have the sense to describe their actions as ones I learned about through "preliminary inquiries" or something like that.

That is to say, I might not go so far as to call Trump "Co-Conspirator No. 1," but I certainly would not provide the given name of, say, the head of the Secret Service detail at the Trump rally. Whether or not s/he's guilty of any crimes or dereliction of duty, it just isn't fair to expose her/him to public exposure and abuse, especially based on incomplete information. As you suggest, all those lawyers on the committee, and all those lawyers the committee employs, should know better than to badger a witness for information she cannot legally or ethically reveal.

But then the point of most Congressional hearings is grandstanding and finger-pointing, not fact-finding or problem-solving. (I think I read that Jim Comer, who heads up the committee, had already said on Fox "News" Sunday that the Secret Service doesn't need any more money or agents, so he predetermined one possible solution before the hearing started.)

July 22, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

The GOP really wants to run against Biden. We are in unmapped territory and I don't know what kind of babble the law would come up with. There will be enough appeals filed as nothing will be decided on first level.

They put all their eggs into attacking Bidens age and now here Trump is 19 years older than Harris.

One thing for sure; a bunch of appellate judges are going to earn their salaries in the coming three months.

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Monoloco: I can't bear to watch or hear Bible Mike in any capacity so I am indebted to you for listening. I don't think we need worry about the mush he made of grammar-- Louisiana is always last, I'm told, in any kind of listing of education-type opportunities or reports...they really are dumb. Including Bible Mike. In addition, he is not interesting, not talented, not sensitive, not attractive to even follow. He thinks those glasses make him look smart. Does he know past-Governor Rick of Tex-ass?

July 22, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne
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