The Conversation -- November 29, 2024

Thanksgiving Messages from Our Leaders. Ivana Saric of Axios: "'Happy Thanksgiving, America. May we use this moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most: our families, our friends, our neighbors, and the fact that we've been blessed to live in America, the greatest country on Earth,' [President] Biden wrote on X Thursday. In a separate video message, he said he and First Lady Jill Biden were 'grateful for the trust you put in us these past four years.... It's been the honor of our lives to serve you in the White House,' he added. Gosh, that's sweet and heartening. ~~~

~~~ Oh, Wait, There's More. "... Trump took time in his Thanksgiving message to boast about his 'landslide victory' in November. 'Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed,' Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. He also offered a separate Thanksgiving post of a photo of himself with a law enforcement officer."

     ~~~ Marie: It's not much consolation, I know, but at least we can assure ourselves that -- as miserable as Trump may make the country -- he is a perpetually-angry, joyless person. If you enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving, be assured that Trump did not. Happiness is something he has never experienced. Cruelty is his only pleasure, and I sense that cruelty is not much fun and the small satisfaction it may bring is shortlived.

Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: “After months of wrangling over the legitimacy of a plea deal in the Sept. 11 case, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has stripped a senior official running the war crimes court of her authority to reach settlements in any cases at Guantánamo Bay. Mr. Austin’s decision comes as government lawyers are trying to nullify a plea agreement in the Sept. 11, 2001, case. On July 31, Mr. Austin’s appointee in charge of the court, Susan K. Escallier, approved a settlement that was reached by prosecutors across years of negotiations. But Mr. Austin said he was surprised by it and moved to rescind the deal, saying he strongly believed that the men accused of plotting the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people should face a trial. Now, in a memo dated Monday and obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Austin stripped Ms. Escallier of the authority to approve deals in the U.S.S. Cole and Bali bombing cases, 'effective immediately.' In doing so, he has given himself the sole power to approve plea deals in the terrorism cases in the final months of the Biden administration.... The move comes at an uncertain time for the 30 remaining detainees at Guantánamo Bay, a third of whom have been convicted or charged by military commission.”

Andrew Solender of Axios: "Multiple U.S. House and Senate Democrats from Connecticut including the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday they were the targets of bomb threats....  'This morning, I was notified of a bomb threat targeting my home where I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my family,' top Intelligence Committee Democrat Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in a statement.... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also had his home targeted by a bomb threat on Thursday morning in what 'appears to be part of a coordinated effort involving multiple members of Congress and public figures,' his spokesperson said." Others targeted were Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.). No evidence of bombs was found.

Ah, a quaint headline to kick off the official holiday season: “Trump Team’s Rejection of a Transition Deal Adds a Wrinkle to Its Transparency Pledges.” ~~~

     ~~~ Simon Levien of the New York Times: “The refusal by ... Donald J. Trump’s team to sign a transition agreement with the General Services Administration means that, despite the team’s pledges to abide by several transparency customs of presidential handovers, it isn’t legally bound to follow through on its promises. Presidential transitions abide by a series of laws and norms that enable the outgoing administration to brief incoming officials with nonpublic information and to fund transition operations. Mr. Trump’s transition team, after forgoing the $7.2 million in government funds that the G.S.A. would have provided if they had reached an agreement, has promised to be transparent by disclosing the names of its donors and said it would not accept donations from foreigners. In an agreement with the White House, the transition team also released an ethics pledge, but the pledge may not be compliant with transition rules.... [And] Mr. Trump has continued to refuse to sign an agreement with the Justice Department that would allow the F.B.I. to run security checks for transition staff.” ~~~

     ~~~ No, no, people. We are not looking at “a wrinkle.” These are in-your-face pledges not to adhere to old-fashioned codes of ethics. When you're a dictator, they let you do it. Take a look at this story, linked yesterday: ~~~

     ~~~ Betsy Klein, et al., of CNN: “... Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period [with one notable omission].... 'There does not appear to be a provision addressing the requirement for the president-elect to address his conflicts of interest,' said Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service.... In 2016, Trump took some nominal steps toward alleviating ethical concerns before entering the White House.... He has made no such assurances this time. Rather, Trump lately has added potential conflicts of interest with some of his latest business dealings.... The ethics agreement, posted late Tuesday to the General Services Administration’s website, otherwise 'does appear to comply with most of the requirements in the Presidential Transition Act,' a law governing the protocols around transition activities, said Boyd.”

     Marie: Every network news department must hold regular meetings with their full reporting staffs, some Zooming in from distant part of the world, where some suit gets up and tells them, "Now team, we're going to pretend this is politics as usual. The good news for us: there may be a few glitches that will catch eyeballs! Any honest reporter would be running from the room with her hair on fire. But these reporters are realists. They need their jobs, so -- unlike Trump and Co. -- they follow the rules the bosses lay out for them, rules so concisely described by Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Dinner of 2006:

... let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the Decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!

~~~ The only thing that will save Trump's presidency, that will allow us to forever pretend everything was more or less normal and presidenty, would be that he chokes on a Big Mac while having lunch in the Oval Office and dies with a face plant on the Resolute Desk.

Stephanie Saul, et al., of the New York Times: Linda McMahon, whom Donald Trump has nominated to be Secretary of Education, for years ran World Wrestling Entertainment with her husband Vince. “Allegations surrounding the company under their management included promoting steroids, a culture of rampant sexual harassment, intimidation and assault. There have been several out-of-court settlements involving the company or Mr. McMahon personally.... [Over the years, the company has been] criticized for promoting violence, steroid use and sexualized content. In the early 2000s, Ms. McMahon would go so far as to engage in the W.W.E.’s theatrics herself. She kicked her husband ... in the groin in one routine. In another, she appeared to slap her daughter, Stephanie, and knock her to the floor.W.W.E.... [And] scientific studies ... found watching wrestling was correlated with violent behavior among children.” ~~~

     ~~~ Lest you think that Linda McMahon doesn't have an interest in education, oh, she does: “She went on to help lead the American First Policy Institute, a little-known right-wing organization formed in 2021. The group’s education agenda would steer schools decidedly to the right, by promoting increased spending for charter and private schools, reducing the influence of teachers’ unions, and expanding 'parental rights' by giving parents more direct control over many aspects of public education, including curriculum and school library books. In higher education, the group has opposed permitting transgender players in women’s sports; demanded the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and argued in favor of eliminating college degree requirements for some public-sector jobs.” But don't worry about that: “(With Mr. Trump pledging to dismantle the Department of Education, experts in the field have suggested that if she is confirmed, her primary task may be to fire people.)”

Kit Maher, et al. of CNN: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denied proposing to ... Donald Trump that Mexico will close its border with the United States as he claimed in a post on Truth Social. 'Everyone has their own way of communicating, but I can assure you, I give you the certainty that we would never — and we would be incapable of it — propose that we would close the border,' Sheinbaum said during her regular morning news conference Thursday. 'It has never been our approach and of course we don’t agree with that.' Sheinbaum’s remarks came after Trump said Wednesday that the pair had a 'productive conversation' during their first talks since Trump announced tariffs against Mexico earlier this week that would slap a 25% tariff on all products from that country and from Canada. He claimed the move would be in retaliation for illegal immigration and 'crime and drugs' coming across the border. '... She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border....' Trump posted on Truth Social.” ~~~

~~~ Yo, Trumpbots: That Pick-'em-Up Truck You Drive Es Hecho en México. Sarah Morland, et al., of Reuters (Nov. 27): “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday Mexico would retaliate if ... Donald Trump followed through with his proposed 25% across-the-board tariff, a move her government warned could kill 400,000 U.S. jobs and drive up prices for U.S. consumers. 'If there are U.S. tariffs, Mexico would also raise tariffs,' Sheinbaum said during a press conference, in her clearest statement yet that the country was preparing possible retaliatory trade measures against its top trade partner. Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, speaking alongside Sheinbaum..., noted that 88% of pickup trucks sold in the U.S. are made in Mexico and would see a price increase. These vehicles are popular in rural areas that overwhelmingly voted for Trump. 'Our estimate is that the average price of these vehicles will increase by $3,000,' Ebrard said.... Analysts at Barclays said they estimate the proposed tariffs "could wipe out effectively all profits" from the Detroit Three automakers.”

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Israel's wars are here: “The Israel Defense Forces carried out attacks in Lebanon on Thursday, but the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect early the previous day mostly appeared to hold. The Israeli air force conducted a strike in southern Lebanon targeting suspected militants who had returned to a site from which projectiles had been fired at Israel during the war, the IDF said. Israeli troops also 'operated to prevent' militants from 'advancing' in southern Lebanon, it added. The Lebanese army said the IDF had violated the cease-fire agreement, while the IDF said it was responding to Hezbollah violating the cease-fire agreement. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Herzi Halevi said in a statement that 'any deviation from this agreement will be enforced with fire.' A Hezbollah lawmaker also accused Israel of violating the cease-fire, Reuters reported.”

Ukraine/Russia et al. Daryna Mayer & Alexander Smith of NBC News: “More than 700,000 homes and businesses were without power across a frigid Ukraine early Thursday after Russia launched a widespread missile and drone attack on the country’s energy sector. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the 'complex strike' was a retaliation for Ukraine’s using American-made ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia. Despite the widespread civilian impact, he claimed, without evidence, that the assault targeted military sites.... The power grid was targeted just as cold weather begins to bite, a tactic that Ukrainian officials and Western analysts say Russia deliberately deploys.” ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement: "Overnight, Russia carried out a horrific aerial attack against Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities report that Russia launched nearly 200 missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, depriving Ukrainian civilians of access to electricity. This attack is outrageous and serves as yet another reminder of the urgency and importance of supporting the Ukrainian people in their defense against Russian aggression." Read the President's full statement at the link.