The Conversation -- November 15, 2024

Of Crackpots & Crooks, Ctd. Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Thursday selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the sprawling agency responsible for administering millions of Americans’ health insurance, approving drugs and medical supplies, regulating food, and responding to infectious-disease outbreaks.... The decision, which public health experts and many Democrats characterized as alarming and unprecedented, means that one of America’s most prominent vaccine skeptics could soon oversee an agency responsible for the safety of vaccines.” (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ John Daley of Colorado Public Radio News: “Colorado Gov. Jared Polis [D] seemed to endorse ... Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary in a post on X Thursday. 'I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint Robert Kennedy Jr. to Health and Human Services,' Polis said. 'He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA.'” MB: When RAS linked this story yesterday, I thought it was a joke or a misunderstanding. Apparently not.

Lisa Friedman & Michael Gold of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump has tapped Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota to run the Interior Department, leading the new administration’s plans to open federal lands and waters to oil and gas drilling. Governor Burgum, 68, has longstanding ties to fossil fuel companies and acted as a liaison between the Trump campaign and the oil executives who have donated heavily to it.... The governor and [his friend billionaire oilman Harold] Hamm have been working on Mr. Trump’s transition.... Mr. Trump made the announcement during a gala for the America First Policy Institute that was held Thursday evening at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Mr. Burgum was in attendance.... The governor has been a cheerleader for drilling, a posture that fits in well with Mr. Trump’s promises of unfettered access for energy companies to the oil.... Scientists have said that the United States and other major economies must stop developing new oil and gas projects to avert the most catastrophic effects of global warming.” Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How refreshing! A nominee who is not crazy. He's merely a danger to us and our descendants for as long as Earth may exist.

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump said on Thursday that he would name Todd Blanche, a lawyer who oversaw his defense against multiple indictments, to become the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. The selection of Mr. Blanche, a former prosecutor in Manhattan, as the deputy attorney general serves as an extraordinary rebuke to the criminal cases against Mr. Trump.... More than a year ago, [Mr. Blanche] was a registered Democrat in New York and a partner at a prestigious law firm on Wall Street.... Others on Mr. Trump’s legal team are also in line to receive top assignments: Emil Bove as principal associate deputy attorney general, and D. John Sauer, who represented Mr. Trump before the Supreme Court in arguing that the former president was entitled to broad immunity, as solicitor general.”

Ben Leonard of Politico: “... Donald Trump has nominated one of his previous attorneys and former GOP House member Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins, 58, a staunch Trump supporter and frequent Fox News guest, served in Congress representing a Georgia district from 2013 to 2021. Collins is an Air Force Reserve chaplain and served in Iraq.... Collins helped defend Trump in his first House impeachment over Ukraine aid.”

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: Donald Trump's “decision [to name Matt Gaetz attorney general] came together over the course of [a] roughly two-hour flight [Wednesday afternoon], according to a person briefed on what happened.... Mr. Gaetz’s name first came up on the flight up to Washington. It came up again on the flight home, after Mr. Trump found all of his various options — including a state attorney general from Missouri and two top corporate lawyers — to be lacking, according to two people briefed on the matter.”

Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: “As Donald Trump moves to fill his administration with polarizing figures like former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and onetime presidential rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he may need Congress to heed his demand to allow him to bypass the traditional confirmation process and appoint his picks without Senate approval. [Trump] has insisted that ... the GOP-led Senate should take extended breaks that would allow him to make recess appointments.... If the Senate agreed to adjourn for the purpose of Trump filling his government without congressional input, it would be 'an absolute abdication of their constitutional power,' said Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University. 'It’s saying, “Look, we are so loyal to President Trump ... that we’re going to choose him over our rights and our responsibilities as senators,’” she said. 'It doesn’t get more stark than that.'...

“[Soon-to-be Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)] said [while running for leader that] he was open to recess appointments if needed to get Trump’s nominees in place quickly. On Thursday, Thune expressed a preference for using 'the regular process to get these nominees through' and said his 'intention is to get these folks going and get voting.' But he also noted that there are procedures in place for using recess appointments.”

Ryan Nobles, et al., of NBC News: “Republican senators are preparing for a robust vetting of Matt Gaetz, ... Donald Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in details from a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former congressman from Florida.... The House Ethics Committee was scheduled to meet Friday, three sources familiar with the meeting told NBC News, and one of those sources said that releasing the Gaetz report was expected to be among the topics on the agenda. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is a fake story, allowing GOP senators to posture about their "seriousness" even as they may be planning a series of hearings that Michelle Goldberg (linked below) says would be "a popcorn-worthy carnival of scandal and backbiting."

Will Steakin of ABC News: "The woman who was at the center of a yearslong Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the now-former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.... Over the course of its investigation, the House Ethics Committee conducted interviews with at least half a dozen women who allegedly attended parties where the Florida congressman was also present, and who were paid by [Joel] Greenberg, Gaetz's one-time close friend, sources told ABC News.... Some witnesses were shown Venmo payments they allegedly received from Gaetz, sources said.... One woman who said she attended a party with ... Gaetz in 2017..., told the committee that a payment from Gaetz was for sex...."

None of This Is Surprising. Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: “Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, previously faced accusations of sexual misconduct that were investigated by police, according to a report. Trump’s newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was briefed on Wednesday evening about an allegation that Hegseth engaged in sexual misconduct in Monterey, California seven years ago, according to Vanity Fair. Wiles and Trump’s lawyers spoke to Hegseth after learning about the alleged incident, Vanity Fair added. The Fox News host reportedly said the incident was consensual. 'This allegation was already investigated by the Monterey Police Department and they found no evidence for it,' Hegseth’s attorney told the outlet.”

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “While Trump’s choice of Gaetz to lead the Justice Department is a clear sign that his second administration will be catastrophically chaotic, vengeful and corrupt, that should never have been in doubt. Trump made no secret during his campaign ... [that a]nyone he chose as attorney general would share his interest in turning the justice system into the enforcement arm of the MAGA movement. The selection of Gaetz just rips the mask off. With it, Trump is trolling not just his defeated opponents but many of his craven establishment supporters.... Of all the people Trump was considering for A.G., Gaetz is unique mainly for how much he is hated by other Republicans.... Gaetz is not, by any normal standards, even a tiny bit qualified to be attorney general.... His chief credential is not his mastery of the law but his contempt for it.... The best we can hope for is that our new rulers will be stymied by incompetence, infighting and self-sabotage. In that respect, Gaetz may be just the man for the job.” Emphasis added.

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: “The goal [in Trump's choosing Hegseth, Gaetz & Gabbard] seems to be finding people who are uniquely unfit for these jobs, both to rile up liberals and to flush out any Republicans with remaining loyalties to the concept of responsible governance. But while being handsome and totally unqualified got Hegseth the job, it's unfair to say those are the only things he brings to the table. He also embodies the type of masculinity Trump and the MAGA movement loves: One that desperately wants to appear strong, but reveals itself to be weak and brittle given a moment's investigation. Hegseth is the ultimate in cubic zirconia manhood. Reporting suggests that Trump was especially enamored with Hegseth's skill at whining, and especially about how easily threatened he is by women, people who are different, and any demands that he learn stuff or reckon with new ideas.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: “As was the case during his first term, Trump does not so much assemble a Cabinet as cast a reality show. He wants the members of his team to have a certain look, a certain backstory, a certain persona.... The Senate has a duty to reject nominees who are obviously and dangerously unfit — such as Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth and, of course, Kennedy. Trump is daring Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the next majority leader, to defy him. For the sake of the country, Thune needs to call Trump’s bluff.” MB: Fat chance. See Chait. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait, now of the Atlantic: “Old-guard Republicans appear to be in the middle stage of a familiar Trump-era progression. It begins He’d never do it before moving on to We’ll stop him if he tries and finally settling on There was nothing we could have done anyway. As they advance through these stages, they will cede Trump more and more power, which will only vindicate their ultimate fatalism. How could they ever have stood up to somebody so strong?” Thanks to laura h. for the gift link. If it doesn't work here, her link -- posted near the end of yesterday's Comments -- does work.

Here is a gift link from laura h. to Tom Nichols' essay in the Atlantic in which he assails Tulsi Gabbard as being "stunningly unqualified" to be director of national intelligence. "Her appointment would be a threat to the security of the United States," Nichols writes. (Also linked yesterday.) In yesterday's Comments, laura also has given us links to two other, related, Atlantic articles.

Patrick Marley, et al., of the Washington Post: “Two Republican Senate candidates are refusing to concede after losing, and their allies are raising questions about how the election was conducted in a pair of swing states Donald Trump won. In Wisconsin, Eric Hovde said he was considering seeking a recount in his loss to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and cast doubt on election patterns that experts called ordinary. In Arizona, Kari Lake has not conceded to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, just as she refused to concede when she lost the 2022 race for governor. Her campaign called it 'hard to believe' that Lake lost to Gallego, but Lake appeared to acknowledge she had come up short in a video message released Wednesday night.”

Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon told MSNBC’s Ari Melber and 'all you hosts' and producers at the network that they had better 'lawyer up' because Matt Gaetz’s Justice Department would soon be coming for them. [Bannon also named frequenty MSNBC guest Andrew Weissmann.] Bannon made the threat while gleefully addressing his War Room podcast audience on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump had officially nominated Rep. Gaetz (R-FL) to be his attorney general.... Bannon made headlines in December of 2023 when he and former Trump Pentagon official Kash Patel threatened MSNBC hosts with revenge in the form of 'prosecutions and accountability.'”

Isaac Stanle-Becker & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: “Some prominent critics of Donald Trump, and those he has vilified as 'deep state' saboteurs, are taking seriously his vow of retribution.... Following the selection of Gaetz to lead the Justice Department, many are watching whether Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist who appended a 'deep state' list to his 2023 book..., lands a senior role at a top agency such as the FBI. People on Patel’s list and other inventories of Trump antagonists have taken precautions ranging from the dramatic to the mundane. They include determining whether they’re eligible for foreign citizenship, examining the possibility of purchasing property abroad and considering whether to move money into overseas banks.... Retribution could include criminal investigations and prosecutions but also less theatrical penalties. Retired government officials could lose their security clearances, often important to private sector work, or confront burdensome tax audits.”

Yes, yes, almost everything is terrible beyond our worst nightmares. But here comes a glimmer: ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “The Onion, a satirical publication that skewers newsmakers and current events, said on Thursday that it had won a bankruptcy auction to acquire Infowars, a website founded and operated by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The Onion said that the bid was sanctioned by the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who in 2022 won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Mr. Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems. Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gun violence that was founded in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, will advertise on a relaunched version of the site under The Onion. The publication plans to reintroduce Infowars in January as a parody of itself, mocking 'weird internet personalities' like Mr. Jones who traffic in misinformation and health supplements, Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said in an interview.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Anna Merlan of Mother Jones: “On Thursday morning, Jones broadcast a flabbergasted and defiant monologue, calling the news 'insane' saying he wouldn’t go off air until someone came in and forced him out with a court order. 'They’re in the control room,' Jones said on air. 'Imperial Troops are through the glass.' 'It is a distinct honor to be here in defiance of the tyrants,' Jones declared at one point.” Apparently a team from the Onion entered the studio during the broadcast, & an Infowars producer told Jones these people were “shutting it down momentarily.” “Jones then called Steve Bannon on speakerphone, who released a string of audible profanity before Jones cut him off. Bannon implored Jones’ crew to film the supposed raid.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: “An estimated 10.3 million cases of measles occurred worldwide last year, up 20 percent from 2022, primarily because of inadequate immunization coverage, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The disease resulted in 107,500 deaths last year, mostly killing children younger than 5, the two agencies said. Although that number was an 8 percent decrease from 2022, the reduction in fatalities was primarily because the increase in cases occurred in countries with better nutritional and health services, the WHO and CDC said. But this concerning trend can be reversed with increased vaccination, they added....

“In 2019, a deadly outbreak hit Samoa.... Health officials have blamed inadequate vaccine coverage. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary nominee widely known for his anti-vaccine views, questioned whether problems with the measles vaccine caused the Samoan outbreak, rather than insufficient vaccine coverage. Kennedy’s own family members have said he is spreading dangerous misinformation about vaccine doses.” MB: Gene Robinson (linked above) wrote, “If his conspiracy-theory distrust of vaccines ever becomes policy, children will die.” Yes, they will.

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Patrick Kingsley & Ronen Bergman of the New York Times: “On the morning that Hamas raided Israel last year, a top Israeli general called his prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to tell him that hundreds of militants appeared to be preparing to invade. Now, aides to the prime minister are under investigation for altering details about that call in the official record of Mr. Netanyahu’s activities that day, according to four officials.... The investigation is seen as deeply sensitive in Israel, where the question of what Mr. Netanyahu knew in advance of Hamas’s invasion, and when he was told, could prove crucial to his political future.... While Mr. Netanyahu himself is not a subject of a police inquiry, officials in his office are under investigation for trying to bolster his reputation throughout Israel’s war with Hamas by leaking classified military documents, altering official transcripts of his conversations and intimidating people who controlled access to those records.” (Also linked yesterday.)