;)
The Conversation -- November 20, 2024
“A Hostile Takeover.” Lisa Rein, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump’s transition team in his Mar-a-Lago resort has begun what a close ally calls a hostile takeover of the federal government.... Trump has ignored many of the rules and practices intended to guide a seamless transfer of power and handover of the oversight of 2.2 million federal employees. Instead, the president-elect, who has pledged to fire thousands of civil servants and slash billions of dollars in spending, has so far almost fully cut out the government agencies his predecessors have relied on to take charge of the federal government. Trump has yet to collaborate with the General Services Administration, which is tasked with the complex work of handing over control of hundreds of agencies, because he has not turned in required pledges to follow ethics rules. His transition teams have yet to set foot inside a single federal office.
“In calls with foreign heads of state, Trump has cut out the State Department, its secure lines and its official interpreters.... He’s so far declined to let the Federal Bureau of Investigation check for potential red flags and security threats to guard against espionage — instead relying on private campaign lawyers for some appointees and doing no vetting at all for others.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Thanks, WashPo. Now, can we stop pretending Trump's far-out choices to lead federal agencies are merely "Trump being Trump" and this is a normal transfer of power from one major party leader to the other? Let's have fewer standard-issue stories about how senators just aren't sure this one will make it through the confirmation process and Democrats are dismayed by that one's position on Taiwan or whatever.
Noah Weiland, et al., of the New York Times: “Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that he would nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz, the author and former television host, to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a powerful agency that oversees health insurance programs covering more than 150 million Americans.... [This] continued a trend of Mr. Trump selecting television personalities to oversee federal agencies.... In a statement announcing his choice, Mr. Trump said Dr. Oz would “work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.” Mr. Trump noted that Dr. Oz had 'won nine Daytime Emmy Awards hosting “The Dr. Oz Show,” where he taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices.' Dr. Oz, a heart surgeon and the son of Turkish immigrants, does not have experience running a large federal bureaucracy....
“Dr. Oz has also frequently clashed with other medical experts. In the early days of the pandemic, he promoted the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to ward off the coronavirus, medicines that were shown to be ineffective in treating the virus. A decade ago, he went before a Senate panel and was chastised for hyping so-called miracle weight loss products without substantial proof that they worked.” ~~~
~~~ And do you suppose Trump knew this? “Dr. Oz has weighed in on Medicare policy, helping to write a 2020 opinion column in Forbes arguing for a universal health coverage system, in which every American not covered by Medicaid would be enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan.” Anyhow, thanks to Ken W. -- who has assured his wife that we're all in good hands now -- for the link.
Zach Montague & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump on Tuesday tapped Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive who ran the Small Business Administration for much of his first term, to lead the Education Department, an agency he has routinely singled out for elimination in his upcoming term.... In Ms. McMahon, 76, Mr. Trump has elevated someone far outside the mold of traditional candidates for the role, an executive with no teaching background or professional experience steering education policy, other than an appointment in 2009 to the Connecticut State Board of Education, where she served for just over a year. But Ms. McMahon is likely to be assigned the fraught task of carrying out what is widely expected to be a thorough and determined dismantling of the department’s core functions. And she would assume the role at a time when school districts across the country are facing budget shortfalls, many students are not making up ground lost during the pandemic in reading and math, and many colleges and universities are shrinking and closing amid a larger loss of faith in the value of higher education.” The ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Look, American kids may be ignorant, but perhaps they'll learn how to wrestle.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: “... Donald Trump’s plans to end business-as-usual at the Justice Department apparently include replacing FBI Director Christopher Wray, Vice President-elect JD Vance indicated in a social media post on Tuesday. Vance revealed he and the president-elect were conducting interviews for the crucial FBI position in a since-deleted post on X. The post was responding to criticism the vice president-elect received for missing a Monday Senate vote that confirmed one of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Gaetz as Sacrificial Lamb? Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: “In his private conversations over the past few days..., Donald J. Trump has admitted that his besieged choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has less than even odds of being confirmed by the Senate. But Mr. Trump ... is making calls on Mr. Gaetz’s behalf, and he remains confident that even if Mr. Gaetz does not make it, the standard for an acceptable candidate will have shifted so much that the Senate may simply approve his other nominees who have appalled much of Washington.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ As Akhilleus pointed out at the end of yesterday's Comments thread, Trump is still a more vile sexual predator than is Gaetz. ~~~
~~~ Rachel Bade of Politico: “Numerous Republican lawmakers told Donald Trump and his team that they believe his pick to be attorney general, controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz, has little chance of being confirmed, according to multiple Senate Republican and people around Trump. And they’re privately hoping Trump doesn’t make them walk the plank. That message, according to people who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, has been delivered to the president-elect himself, his future White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and to Gaetz’s unofficial 'sherpa,' Vice President-elect JD Vance.” MB: I was wondering what happened to JayDee. Turns out he's been relegated to Gaetz Guide. (Also linked yesterday.)
Robert Draper of the New York Times: “An unidentified hacker has gained access to a computer file shared in a secure link among lawyers whose clients have given damaging testimony related to Matt Gaetz..., a person with knowledge of the activity said. The file of 24 exhibits is said to include sworn testimony by a woman who said that she had sex with Mr. Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony by a second woman who said that she witnessed the encounter. The information was downloaded by a person using the name Altam Beezley at 1:23 p.m. on Monday, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. A lawyer connected to the case sent an email to the address associated with Altam Beezley, only to be informed in an automated reply that the recipient does not exist. The material does not appear to have been made public by the hacker.... [The hacked material] also contains various supporting material, such as the gate logs showing who entered the property ... on the evening in July 2017 when the two women said the sexual encounter with Mr. Gaetz occurred.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: C'mon, Donald. Time to express outrage that anyone would hack a file that could damage you. (“Russia, if you’re listening — I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”)
Alex Gangitano & Brett Samuels of the Hill: “... Trump is expected to nominate Howard Lutnick to serve as Commerce secretary, a source familiar told The Hill. Lutnick is the chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and is also currently serving as co-chair of the Trump transition. He has notably publicly embraced Trump’s tariff plans, which will be a major part of the job leading Commerce. The CEO was considered a front-runner for the role, along with Scott Bessent, who served as an economic adviser on the Trump campaign. Lutnick also beat out Linda McMahon for the role leading Commerce. A co-chair of Trump’s transition team, she was considered a front-runner and previously led the Small Business Administration during his first term. Trump expanded his search for a Treasury leader as the jockeying over who will fill the key economic role recently spilled into public view.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Brian Stelter of CNN: “'Morning Joe' co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced Monday, in dramatic fashion, that they went to Mar-a-Lago last week for a fence-mending meeting with ... Donald Trump. Then the pair spent the rest of the day dealing with the uncomfortable blowback.... According to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Scarborough and Brzezinski were credibly concerned that they could face governmental and legal harassment from the incoming Trump administration.... The two sources generally agreed with Scarborough and Brzezinski’s impression of the situation at hand – namely, that the incoming Trump administration could use its wide-ranging powers to punish people deemed enemies. (Trump ally Elon Musk wrote on X overnight, in a post supporting Matt Gaetz for attorney general, that America needs Gaetz to 'put powerful bad actors in prison.')” MB: I do think this is a plausible argument, if not an honest one. Joe & Mika have reason to worry about Trump's retribution agenda. (Also linked yesterday.)
Katrina Miller, et al., of the New York Times: “SpaceX’s latest test flight of its Starship vehicle on Tuesday got off to a sobering start, as the company was unable to recover the enormous booster stage of the rocket, the most powerful ever built. But about an hour later, the vehicle’s upper stage was more successful with the completion of a daring maneuver to splash down in the Indian Ocean. The late-afternoon launch brought President-elect Donald J. Trump to the company’s South Texas launch site along the Gulf of Mexico for a show of solidarity with Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder....”
Elizabeth Passarella of the New York Times: “Over the past few weeks, users on X have been submitting X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and other medical images to Grok, the platform’s artificial intelligence chatbot, asking for diagnoses. The reason: Elon Musk, X’s owner, suggested it.... The decision to share information as sensitive as your colonoscopy results with an A.I. chatbot has alarmed some medical privacy experts.... What you post on a social media account or elsewhere isn’t bound by HIPAA..., the federal law that protects your personal health information from being shared without your consent.
Anthony Adragna of Politico: “Senate Republicans moved to slow down the pace of judicial nomination confirmations in the waning days of Joe Biden’s presidency on Monday evening, forcing the chamber into hours of routine votes.... Republicans forced votes on ... procedural actions throughout the evening.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Al Weaver of the Hill: “Senate Republicans aired frustrations Tuesday after Vice President-elect Vance and other party members [like Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for Secretary of State,] skipped votes Monday, greasing the skids for Democratic-backed judicial nominees to be greenlighted as part of a final push to fill the bench with lifetime appointees before ... Trump takes office.” Meanwhile, Vice President Harris, who would be needed to break a tie, should one occur, was in Hawaii, and GOP Sens. Ted Cruz & Bill Hagerty followed Trump to Texas. MB: Yes But. As we learned from Josh Gerstein (linked above) and from Rachel Bade (also linked above), JayDee was very busy elsewhere.
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “In the House, Republicans have spent the last two years routinely proposing legislation seeking to roll back the rights of transgender people. And across the country, Republican-led state legislatures have tried to pass laws requiring people in government buildings to use bathrooms associated with their sex assigned at birth. But with [Representative-elect Sarah] McBride’s arrival in Washington, House Republicans for the first time have a transgender colleague to target in their own workplace.... House Speaker Mike Johnson has been publicly noncommittal about the fate of [Rep. Nancy] Mace’s resolution [to ban transgender women from using women's restrooms and locker rooms in the Capitol], but she said he had told her he planned to include it in a package of House rules.”
~~~ Farnoush Amiri of the AP: “House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support Tuesday for a Republican effort to ban Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress — from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol once she’s sworn into office next year. 'We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,' Johnson told The Associated Press. 'I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.' Johnson earlier in the day emphasized the need to 'treat all persons with dignity and respect.'...”
Mike Johnson "Memo to Self: Things I Like Best About My Job: (1) Setting Capitol bathroom policies; (2) Kowtowing to Donald Trump's whims; (3) Steering clear of my annoying family."
Why, Miss Margie seems to have joined the progressive #MeToo movement, at the same time she is participating in the lesser-known #NotYou bigot brigade: ~~~
~~~ Olivia Beavers of Politico: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in a private House GOP conference meeting indicated she’d fight a transgender woman if she tried to use a woman’s bathroom on the House side of the Capitol, according to two people in the room, as Congress' first openly transgender lawmaker is set to assume office in January.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) threatened to expose 'all' of Republicans’ 'sexual harassment and assault claims' as well as 'the entire Jeffrey Epstein files' if the House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz is released and his nomination to be the next U.S. attorney general is imperiled on Tuesday morning. 'For my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate, If we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that Trump has appointed, then put it ALL out there for the American people to see,' wrote Greene on X.” (Also linked yesterday.)
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California. Jaimie Ding of the AP: “The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a so-called 'sanctuary city' ordinance that bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and city departments from sharing information on people without legal status with federal immigration authorities, in anticipation of potential mass deportations under ... Donald Trump. Councilmembers voted unanimously on the measure, joining more than a dozen cities across the United States with similar provisions. Sanctuary cities or states are not legal terms but have come to symbolize a pledge to protect and support immigrant communities and decline to voluntarily supply information to immigration enforcement officials.”
Texas. Pravena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “Texas education officials on Tuesday voted to support an optional elementary school curriculum that would include lessons based on the Bible, which opponents say unfairly promotes Christian beliefs in public schools. In a preliminary move, the state education board voted 8-7 to move forward with approving the curriculum, according to three education and advocacy groups tracking the vote. The Texas Education Agency proposed the lessons this year after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill requiring the department to create a statewide curriculum for school districts to use after approval from the state education board. Abbott publicly supported the curriculum when it was released in May, saying its materials would allow Texas students to 'better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution.'” The Texas Tribune story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wait, wait! How does violating the Constitution help students "better understand" it? Or depriving students of their civil rights help the civil rights movement? Maybe I should be asking Jesus.
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Israel/Palestine, et al. Bibi Offers Ransoms for Hostages. Ephrat Livni of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday repeated his vow that Israel would hunt down and punish anyone who hurts a hostage, but he added a new promise: Israel will give a generous reward to anyone who returns a captive, paying $5 million and providing safe passage out of Gaza.... Many Israelis, including the families of hostages, have accused the prime minister of failing to prioritize the release of the captives and prolonging the war to hold together his fragile governing coalition, which includes members who oppose a cease-fire and have threatened to bring down Mr. Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to one.”
Ukraine/Russia, et al.
Marc Santora & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “Ukraine’s military used long-range American-made missiles on Tuesday to strike into Russia for the first time, according to senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials, just two days after President Biden gave permission to do so in what amounted to a major shift of American policy. The pre-dawn attack struck an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region of southwestern Russia, Ukrainian officials said. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Kyiv used six long-range ballistic missiles known as the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. The senior American and Ukrainian officials ... confirmed that ATACMS were used.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marc Santora of the New York Times: “The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch 'a significant air attack,' closing the embassy and telling employees to shelter in place. Air-raid alerts are a daily fact of life in Ukraine and the capital often comes under drone and missile attacks, but the embassy rarely issues such a specific alert or shuts down.” ~~~
~~~ Michael Birnbaum & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “President Joe Biden has authorized the provision of antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine, two U.S. officials said, a step that will bolster Kyiv’s defenses against advancing Russian troops but has drawn criticism from arms control groups. The move ... [is] part of a sweep of urgent actions the lame-duck Biden administration is taking to help Kyiv’s faltering war effort.... The Pentagon believes that the provision of the mines is among the most helpful steps the Biden administration can do to help slow Russia’s attack, officials said. One official said the type of antipersonnel land mine is 'nonpersistent,' meaning that the mines self-destruct or lose battery charge to render them inactive within days or weeks, reducing the danger to civilians. The official said that Ukrainian policymakers had committed to not deploying the mines in densely populated areas.” A CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: “President Vladimir V. Putin on Tuesday lowered Russia’s threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, a long-planned move whose timing appeared designed to show the Kremlin could respond aggressively to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with American long-range missiles. The decree signed by Mr. Putin implemented a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine that Mr. Putin described in televised remarks in September. But the timing was clearly meant to send a message, coming just two days after the news that President Biden had authorized the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia. Asked whether Russia could respond with nuclear weapons to such strikes, Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, repeated the new doctrine’s language that Russia 'reserves the right' to use such weapons to respond to a conventional-weapons attack that creates a 'critical threat' to its 'sovereignty and territorial integrity.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
8 Comments
Reader Comments (8)
Sooo…looks like kids in Texas schools will have it easy. Between the Texas theocrats and wrestling magnate Linda MacMahon over at the Dept of Ed, the only required reading will the Bible, Hulk Hogan’s autobiography “Shirts Suck”, and “Art of the Deal”.
Within a couple of years we should be right at the bottom of the world’s worst educated kids list.
Fatty always did love the uneducated…
…oh, those Texas kids might also get to read RFK’s book “Polio’s not so bad”. Hey, it’ll get them out of PE class, right?
And the Pretender continues to "walk the line" with his nominees.
Hard to tell though if it's a sordid, sinful, or downright silly line.
Here's some sordid:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/19/linda-mcmahon-trump-administration-wwe-allegations/
Oz's suggestion that everyone be enrolled in a private medical plan (MA) that costs taxpayers 2000 dollars more than standard Medicare is sinful.
His medical opinions are just silly
And all the lines The Pretender walks lead to a cliff.
Re: Pete Hegseth. The theocratic Christians Must Rule bullshit is bad enough, but here are two other data points that should be immediately disqualifying for a Secretary of Defense.
As a proud member of the “Women are only good for cooking, cleaning, and screwing” club of manly misogynists, Hegseth is dead set against women in combat units (I’m not 100% sure he’s okay with women in the armed forces in any capacity). He believes women are not physically or mentally fit for combat.
But here’s the thing. The Army Ranger School has a 50% failure rate. Over 100 women have graduated from that school. That means there are a crapload of men who couldn’t measure up, physically or mentally with any of those women. Hegseth wasn’t a Ranger. Is he tougher or even as tough as those women? With a 50% washout rate, I’m not gonna bet “yes”.
Secondly, this guy once advocated for vacating the sentence of a soldier convicted of war crimes. Cadet Bone Spurs pardoned this criminal. The leader of American armed forces being okay with war crimes is not a good look.
Then there’s this: members of his own unit, guys who know him well, believed he couldn’t be trusted to properly serve as a guard during Biden’s inauguration. Forget the Crusader tattoos. If the guys you serve with think you’re a nutjob and a possible threat, how does that translate to “Put this guy in charge of everyone”?
But he looks good on TeeVee, and he makes the appropriate Sgt. Rock, Call of Duty tough guy grunts. Trump is besotted by imagery. Facts never matter. Neither do qualifications. Hey, that perfectly describes him too.
Ken,
But Trump stops at the edge of that cliff. The lemmings who believe in him are the ones that go over. Remember “We’re marching to the Capitol to take back our country! C’mon. You go ahead. I’ll be right behind you!”?
That Ten Commandment in public schools thing does raise my hackles, but I wonder what would happened to the entire Republican Party if its adherents, let alone its leaders, were held to the Commandments' standards.
A big poof! and it's gone, I'd say.
Got a note from a cowboy poet classmate who introduced me to a word that may be common to others but wasn't to me.
Referring to the Pretender, he said he wasn't a Republican; he is a "selfservative."
Tho' I could argue it's a distinction without much of a difference, I still liked it enough to share.
The Ten Commandments thing puts us on a slippery slope. This is the camel’s nose in the tent.
This is how they did it with abortion. A little bit here, a little bit there, pretty soon the anti-abortion zealots start getting more and more restrictions passed. The idea was that, it may be legal according to Roe, but we’re gonna chip away at it.
Restrictions grow more severe. Then abortion clinics are closed because the connivers get laws passed saying they have to have full licensed hospital clearances with surgeons on staff. More clinics close. They go after Planned Parenthood. Doctors and staff carrying out abortions are attacked, doxxed, shot at, killed. Then the Supreme Court. Victory!
Look for school prayer to be made legal again.
Now Trump will be hobbling the Department of Education. He can’t outright abolish it, only an act of Congress can do that, but he can have this MacMahon idiot force voucher programs down our throats. Taxpayers will be paying for Christian schools. They’ll say “What’s the big deal? The Ten Commandments are posted in all the schools. School prayer is coming back.
Pretty soon, it’s no different than Sharia Law. The camel is all the way inside the tent.
And we have to get with it, or else.