The Conversation -- November 30, 2024

RFK Jr., International Scourge. Salem Gebrekidan, et al., of the New York Times: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is in line to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in the next Trump administration..., has ... spent years working abroad to undermine policies that have been pillars of global health policy for a half-century, records show. He has done this by lending his celebrity, and the name of his nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, to a network of overseas chapters that sow distrust in vaccine safety and spread misinformation far and wide. He, his organizations and their officials have interfered with vaccination efforts, undermined sex education campaigns meant to stem the spread of AIDS in Africa, and railed against global organizations like the World Health Organization that are in charge of health initiatives. Along the way, Mr. Kennedy has partnered with, financed or promoted fringe figures — people who claim that 5G cellphone towers cause cancer, that homosexuality and contraceptive education are part of a global conspiracy to reduce African fertility and that the World Health Organization is trying to steal countries’ sovereignty.... These people, more than leading scientists and experienced public health professionals, have existed in Mr. Kennedy’s orbit for years.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: It's getting more & more difficult to exaggerate how much trouble we are in. ~~~

~~~ Cashing In. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: “Cheryl Hines, the TV star wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shared a partially nude video of the controversial nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services on her Instagram page Friday. Hines was promoting a line of 'MAHA' or Make America Healthy Again candles for her self-care products company Hines + Young.... ” MB: Fortunately, it's the Trump administration, so no ethics problem at all.

Christine Fernando of the AP: “... an emboldened fringe of right-wing 'manosphere' influencers ... have seized on Republican Donald Trump’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online. Many have appropriated a 1960s abortion rights rallying cry, declaring 'Your body, my choice' at women online and on college campuses. For many women, the words represent a worrying harbinger of what might lie ahead as some men perceive the election results as a rebuke of reproductive rights and women’s rights.... The phrase 'Your body, my choice' has been largely attributed to a post on the social platform X from Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and far-right internet personality who dined at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida two years ago.... Fuentes’ post had 35 million views on X within 24 hours, according to a report by Frances-Wright’s think tank, and the phrase spread rapidly to other social media platforms. Women on TikTok have reported seeing it inundate their comment sections. The slogan also has made its way offline with boys chanting it in middle schools or men directing it at women on college campuses....”

Playwright Sarah Bernstein in a New York Times op-ed: “Hundreds of years after the Brothers Grimm published their version of that classic rags-to-riches story ['Cinderella'], our cultural narratives still reflect the idea that a woman’s status can be elevated by marrying a more successful man — and a man’s diminished by pairing with a more successful woman. Now that women are pulling ahead, the fairy tale has become increasingly unattainable. This development is causing both men and women to backslide to old gender stereotypes and creating a hostile division between them that provides fuel for the exploding manosphere.... It’s little wonder Americans are experiencing surging loneliness, declining birthrates and — as evidenced by Donald Trump’s popularity with young men — a cascade of resentment that threatens to reshape our democracy.... Letting go of the male breadwinner norm is not an instant fix for our culture, but we can’t move forward without that step.”

Constant Méheut of the New York Times: “Russian troops in eastern Ukraine have seized at least 10 villages and settlements in roughly as many days, according to a group with ties to the Ukrainian Army that maps the battlefield, as Moscow presses on with slow but steady advances that have heightened pressure on Ukraine’s authorities to start cease-fire talks.The situation looks particularly precarious for Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, in Ukraine’s east, where Russian forces are closing in on their last two strongholds in the southern part of the region, according to the analysis by the group, DeepState. The fall of the strongholds, Kurakhove and Velyka Novosilka, could pave the way for a Russian takeover of the area, experts say.Russia, which annexed Donetsk in 2022 and controls about two-thirds of the region, is seeking to consolidate power over the whole territory.” See related story, linked at the bottom of today's page.

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No, Justin, No! Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada went to Florida on Friday night to see... Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, two officials with direct knowledge of the visit said, after a threat by Mr. Trump to impose across-the-board tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on Day 1....Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Trump dined together on Friday evening, one official said, along with a delegation of senior Trump allies poised for top trade and security positions in his new administration. Mr. Trudeau was accompanied on his visit by Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister of public safety. The Canadian prime minister was staying in the area overnight, but not at Mar-a-Lago.” Here's a CBC News story.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Erica Green of the New York Times: “During the campaign..., Donald J. Trump swore he had 'nothing to do with' a right-wing policy blueprint known as Project 2025 that would overhaul the federal government, even though many of those involved in developing the plans were his allies. Mr. Trump even described many of the policy goals as 'absolutely ridiculous.' And during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he said he was 'not going to read it.' Now..., Mr. Trump has recruited at least a half dozen architects and supporters of the plan to oversee key issues, including the federal budget, intelligence gathering and his promised plans for mass deportations.... Mr. Trump disavowed the 900-page manifesto when polls showed it was extremely unpopular with voters. Now that he has won a second term, [his critics] say, he appears to be brushing those concerns aside.”

Sharon LaFraniere & Julie Tate of the New York Times: “The mother of Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character. 'On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,' Penelope Hegseth wrote, stating that she still loved him. She also wrote: 'I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.' Mrs. Hegseth, in a phone interview with The New York Times on Friday, said that she had sent her son an immediate follow-up email at the time apologizing for what she had written.... In the interview, she defended her son and disavowed the sentiments she had expressed in the initial email.... 'It is not true. It has never been true,' she said.... She said that publishing the contents of the first email was 'disgusting.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No, Mrs. Hegseth, it's not “disgusting,” it's journalism. Sure, this revelation is going to give your “disgusting” son more creds with Trump because he thinks mistreating women is manly and cool, but the American people need to know what kind of lowlife is running a Defense Department made up of men and women. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the full text of the email from Penelope Hegseth to her son Pete. Via the New York Times. (It's also linked in the body of the story; click on “wrote” above.)

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Scott Gottlieb, who led the Food and Drug Administration during the Trump administration, on Friday warned that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could 'cost lives' if confirmed as the next secretary of Health and Human Services. 'You’re going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down,' Gottlieb said on CNBC, referencing Kennedy’s longtime criticism of federal recommendations for childhood immunizations, and noting a recent decline in childhood vaccination rates. The nation is approaching a 'tipping point,' Gottlieb said, where a continued decline in childhood vaccines could soon lead to measles outbreaks and deaths of children. 'We’re going to start seeing epidemics of diseases that have long been vanquished, and, God forbid, we see polio reemerge in this country,' he said. Gottlieb said he had been warning senators against confirming Kennedy.... He added that Kennedy, who founded one of the country’s most prominent antivaccine groups, had 'smart people' around him who could take immediate steps to affect Americans’ access to vaccines, such as changing federal vaccine recommendations.”

Rachel Leingang of the Guardian: “Mike Johnston, the mayor of Denver..., said [earlier this month] he would protest deportations – even being willing to go to jail for it.... Donald Trump’s 'border czar', Tom Homan, said that’s one area where he and Johnston agree. 'He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail,' Homan told Fox on Tuesday.... For his second term, Trump and his appointees have threatened a more forceful and broad deportation plan, though they have not offered details on what it will look like. Trump has said he will activate the military to carry out deportations, and there are likely to be flashy raids in Democratic cities that defy him.... Trump’s team is reportedly figuring out ways the president could unilaterally remove federal resources from Democratic cities that don’t go along with deportation plans.... Around the country, mayors and city councils are discussing how they can protect local immigrants from a mass deportation campaign. Cities cannot stop federal authorities from deporting people, but depending on state laws, they can refuse to use local resources or voluntarily provide information to assist in these operations.”

Noah Bookbinder & Gregg Nunziata, respectively Democratic & Republican counsels to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a New York Times op-ed: “We know how the confirmation process is supposed to work and how important F.B.I. vetting is to that process. That’s why we’re appalled by reports that the new Republican-led Senate and the incoming Trump administration may dispense with it.... Efforts to bypass F.B.I. background checks and even Senate confirmation itself via mass recess appointments, made by the president when the Senate is not in session, never would have flown with past iterations of the Judiciary Committee, regardless of which party was in charge. The Senate shouldn’t stand for it now.” The writers also nixed the Trumpy idea of having a private firm do the vetting.

More on Bomb Threats against Democrats. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said bomb threats and swatting incidents were made against Democratic lawmakers, their families and law enforcement personnel, shortly after the FBI said several similar threats were aimed at people ... Donald Trump has chosen for his incoming administration. The threats, Jeffries said Friday, were 'all signed with “MAGA” at the conclusion of the message.'... Jeffries, who did not name the targeted lawmakers, said law enforcement reacted swiftly and that no devices were found. Democratic Reps. from Connecticut Rosa DeLauro, Jahana Hayes and Jim Himes said in separate statements on Thursday that they were targeted with bomb threats. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island) said on Friday he was notified that he and his family were the targets of a bomb threat at their home.... Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) also received a bomb threat similar to those 'made against other Democrats on Thanksgiving,' his office confirmed on Friday.”

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France. Aurelien Breeden of the Washington Post: “The world got its first glimpse on Friday of the newly renovated Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron of France took viewers on a live televised tour of the cathedral's dazzlingly clean interior and rebuilt roofing, five years after a devastating fire that was followed by a colossal reconstruction effort.... The French president and his wife, Brigitte, gushed with admiration and craned their necks as they entered the 12th and 13th-century Gothic monument alongside the mayor and archbishop of Paris. More than 450,000 square feet of cream-colored limestone inside the cathedral have been meticulously stripped of ash, lead dust and centuries of accumulated grime, leaving its soaring vaults, thick columns and tall walls almost startlingly bright.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The cathedral certainly doesn't look as it did in our lifetimes; Notre Dame is a different experience now.

Syria. Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: “Syrian rebels breached the major city of Aleppo on Friday, according to the fighters and a war monitor, reigniting the country’s long-running civil war with an intensity not seen in years. The rebels, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took control of 'more than half of Aleppo' within hours on Friday without resistance from Syrian government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group based in Britain.'

⭐ Ukraine/Russia, et al. Sky News: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken 'under the NATO umbrella' - allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later 'in a diplomatic way'. In an interview with Sky News's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, the Ukrainian president was asked to respond to media reports saying one of ... Donald Trump's plans to end the war might be for Kyiv to cede the land Moscow has taken to Russia in exchange for Ukraine joining NATO. Mr Zelenskyy said NATO membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of the country in order to end the 'hot phase of the war', as long as the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine's internationally recognised borders. He appeared to accept occupied eastern parts of the country would fall outside of such a deal for the time being.”