The Commentariat -- Sept. 8, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Charles Pierce: "I was exhausted by the sheer magnitude of the mendacity and ignorance, by Lauer's somewhat understandable inability to check the deluge of lies and inanity, and by the postgame commentary that tried to explain why the event had been something more than a clinical manifestation of sociopathic megalomania. Then Brian Williams threw it over to his colleague Hugh Hewitt, who thought Donald Trump had had a great night.... We're all so fcking doomed." -- CW ...
... Frank Rich: "... the problem here wasn't just that Clinton was grilled and Trump was not. There was a rudeness to Clinton on [Matt] Lauer's part reminiscent of Rick Lazio's paper-waving performance in his debate with Clinton during the 2000 Senate race in New York. Repeatedly, Lauer nagged Clinton to speed up and keep her answers short -- a demand he never made of Trump.... [Lauer's] incompetence and double standard have handed Trump a big post -- Labor Day gift just as the polls are tightening." -- CW
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton suggested in a television interview in Israel, broadcast on Thursday, that the Islamic State is 'rooting for Donald Trump's victory' and that terrorists are praying, 'Please, Allah, make Trump president of America.' Speaking with Israel's Channel 2, Mrs. Clinton said that by singling out Muslims during his campaign, Mr. Trump had played into the hands of extremists and helped their recruitment efforts, in effect 'giving aid and comfort to their evil ambitions.'" -- CW
Rachel Weiner & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. authorities have arrested two North Carolina men accused of hacking into the private email accounts of high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials. Andrew Otto Boggs, aka 'INCURSIO,' 22, of North Wilkesboro, N.C. and Justin Gray Liverman, aka 'D3F4ULT,' 24, of Morehead City, N.C. were both arrested Thursday morning and will be extradited next week to the Eastern District of Virginia, where federal prosecutors have spent months building a case against a group that calls itself Crackas With Attitude. The hacking collective has claimed to have gained access to the private email accounts of CIA Director John O. Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper." -- CW
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor and Libertarian Party presidential nominee, revealed a surprising lack of foreign policy knowledge on Thursday that could rock his insurgent candidacy when he could not answer a basic question about the crisis in Aleppo, Syria. 'What is Aleppo?' Mr. Johnson said when asked on MSNBC how, as president, he would address the refugee crisis in the war-torn Syrian city. When pressed as to whether he was serious, Mr. Johnson indicated that he really was not aware of the city, which has been widely covered during the years that Syria has been engulfed in civil war." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. CW: How I wish Trump had been asked the same question. ...
... Philip Bump: "A writer for Fusion points out that [Johnson] has done this before, at one point asking an interviewer, 'Who's Harriet Tubman?'" CW: The date of the gaffe was a couple of months after "Who's Jack Lew?" named Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20. Maybe Gary Johnson hasn't read a newspaper in the last several years & never studied American history, much less world history.
*****
Presidential Race
Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton vowed not to send American ground troops to Iraq 'ever again' and Donald J. Trump suggested that he had learned shocking new national security information as the two made back-to-back appearances Wednesday night at a forum that became a preview of their highly anticipated debate later this month.... Mrs. Clinton was far more likely to look audience members in the eye, nod along as they expressed concern or curiosity, and give relatively direct if sometimes uncomfortable answers. Mr. Trump came off as more relaxed but also far lighter on details, and was seldom pressed by [moderator Matt] Lauer or the veterans in the audience.
One of the most surprising moments of the night came when Mr. Trump chose to answer a question about the confidential national security briefings ... -- a topic that presidents and presidential candidates rarely discuss with any openness. Mr. Trump, asked if he learned anything alarming, said, 'There was one thing that shocked me' and suggested that it involved a decision by President Obama and Mrs. Clinton that amounted to 'a total disaster.' He then went further, asserting that Mr. Obama 'did not follow what our experts said to do,' and even claimed that the government officials who provided the briefing were 'not happy' with Mr. Obama. Explaining the basis of that assessment, Mr. Trump said, 'I was pretty good with the body language.' It was a classic Trump moment -- a dark insinuation without evidence...." ...
... CW: We all knew Trump couldn't keep his mouth shut about the intelligence briefings he's receive, & we all knew he'd make up shit about them. ...
The man [Putin] has very strong control over a country. Now It's a very different system and I don't happen to like the system, but certainly in that system, he's been a leader. Far more than our president has been a leader. -- Donald Trump, in last night's forum
... John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "While Clinton appeared serious and even stilted as she sometimes awkwardly navigated tough questions about her use of a private email server while secretary of state and her vote for the Iraq war in the Senate, Trump offered no such restraint with a series of controversial statements. He reaffirmed his view that having men and women serve alongside one another is the root of sexual assaults in the military.... And he defended his mutual admiration with Russian president Vladimir Putin, even suggesting he is more worthy of his praise than President Obama." -- CW ...
... Jeremy Herb of Politico: "Donald Trump trod into uncharted territory Wednesday night when he suggested that if elected he might fire some of the top generals now running the military.... He ... targeted the top officers who have served under [Obama & Clinton], who are not political appointees and have defined terms of appointment. Individual generals and admirals have traditionally been removed from their posts for misconduct or a failure to perform their duties. Cashiering a group of them en masse would be unheard of -- and could irrevocably tarnish the perception that the military is an institution divorced from politics." CW Note to Matt Lauer: You just heard a politician say he was going to sack the top brass, in a move typical of tyrants, and you let it pass, you ignorant ass. ...
By Driftglass.... Josh Marshall of TPM: "One of the many amazing passages is this one where Trump is sparring with Lauer about whether he'll defeat ISIS with his secret plan or the plan from the new generals he installs after firing the current ones or whether he'll create some hybrid combo plan if the generals' plan strikes his fancy.... Trump keeps spooling it out in different directions. But reading the words it's clear, just as it was watching it live, that this whole exchange is, in the deepest sense of the word, bullshit.... I think this exchange is pretty obvious for people in a way that transcends politics and ideology. Trump is the kid telling the teacher the dog ate his homework. Then the teacher points out he has no dog. But he's not going to apologize or come clean. He's just going to keep talking." -- CW ...
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Trump ... can't simply clean house or bring in people from the outside. It's not clear that Trump recognizes such nuances, though.... Buried in all of this are competing instincts: Trump's disinterest in being wrong and his great interest in being the boss. He threatens to oust top leaders of the military for little other reason than they were in positions of authority under Obama. While his prepared comments from Tuesday suggested that he would seek the counsel of service members who'd committed decades to protecting America's interests, he tossed that to the side in favor of not being embarrassed by Matt Lauer, insisting that he still did have his own secret plan. Probably one that involves oil." -- CW ...
Trump Claims His Mexican Vacation Was a Huge Success. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump made the case Wednesday night that he would be a studied and steady commander-in-chief.... While making that case, though, Trump offered this pretty odd argument about his visit to Mexico.... First, Trump says he let Mexico know 'where the United States stands.' This despite his not having raised one of his signature foreign policy promises -- to have Mexico pay for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.... Trump insinuates very clearly that his goal was to shake up the Mexican government. 'And if you look at what happened, look at the aftermath today where the people that arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government. That's how well we did,' he said. The United States's ally ... will probably be surprised to hear that Trump's aim in visiting their country was to undercut its leaders and force them to resign...." -- CW ...
... Gail Collins: "Trump and international affairs is an end-of-the-summer horror thriller. At the big presidential candidates' forum in New York, he bragged about the two high points in his diplomatic history -- the firing of the official whose idea it was to invite him to Mexico and his bromance with Vladimir Putin. ('Well, he does have an 82 percent approval rating according to the different pollsters....')... Then a veteran in the audience asked him about sexual assault in the military, and Lauer reminded Trump that he had once twittered, 'What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?' 'Well,' Trump answered, 'it is.... It is a correct tweet. There are many people that think that that's absolutely correct.' He babbled on, trying to save himself, but it was really way too late." -- CW ...
... ** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "Charged with overseeing a live prime-time forum with Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton -- widely seen as a dry run of sorts for the coming presidential debates -- [teevee personality Matt] Lauer found himself besieged on Wednesday evening by critics of all political stripes, who accused the anchor of unfairness, sloppiness and even sexism in his handling of the event." Lauer kept talking over Clinton, but let Trump talk over him. AND "'How in the hell does Lauer not factcheck Trump lying about Iraq? This is embarrassingly bad,' wrote Tommy Vietor, a former aide to President Obama. Glenn Kessler ... wrote: '@MLauer should have been prepared to do this.'" -- CW ...
... Jonathan Chait: "I had not taken seriously the possibility that Donald Trump could win the presidency until I saw Matt Lauer host an hour-long interview with the two major party candidates. Lauer's performance was not merely a failure, it was horrifying and shocking.... The average undecided voter is getting snippets of news from television personalities like Lauer, who are failing to convey the fact that the election pits a normal politician with normal political failings against an ignorant, bigoted, pathologically dishonest authoritarian." ...
... CW: One of the major problems in teevee coverage of elections is that teevee executives think people like Matt Lauer & Chuck Todd are actually journalists. Apparently the NBC suits thought it would be a good fit to have Lauer moderate a so-called national security forum because he used to do an occasional segment called "Where in the World Is Matt Lauer?" where Lauer went to various places around the globe. Bear in mind that the presidential debate commission chose all teevee personalities to moderate the debates. What a shame that Luke Russert is no longer available, because they would have picked him. ...
... Michael Calderone of the Huffington Post: "Matt Lauer, the 'Today' show host, flunked in primetime. And his failure was even more remarkable because he had the very information he needed to succeed.... If Trump is going to tout his supposed positions as evidence of foreign policy judgment, a moderator should be steeped in the candidate's well-worn [false] claims.... But on Libya, like Iraq, Lauer didn't correct the Republican nominee. Lauer neglected to challenge Trump on a number of controversial statements and past actions that would have had obvious relevance to the audience of veterans. They included [Trump's] four Vietnam draft deferments, mocking Sen. John McCain's tortuous years as an American P.O.W., smearing a Gold Star family, likening his prep school experience to actually serving in the military, and talking about how he always wanted a Purple Heart. By the end of the night, Lauer himself had become the story, which is often not the way a moderator wants his debate to be remembered." -- CW ...
... Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "In failing to set Trump straight [oh his repeated claim of opposing the Iraq War], Lauer missed an entire fact-checking oeuvre.... The whole I-was-opposed-to-the-Iraq-War claim by Trump is a core example of the candidate's propensity to tell lies, or at least to brandish a reckless disregard for the truth. One needn't have been paying terribly close attention to campaign coverage to be aware of this persistent revisionism. Fact-checks are designed in part to assist anchors who sit before presidential candidates." -- CW
The New York Times is liveblogging NBC's national security forum with Hillary Clinton, followed by Donald Trump.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Brian Beutler: "... last week ... major outlets saturated the news environment with innuendo-heavy reports, creating an aroma of malfeasance around Clinton unsupported by their actual findings.... Over the same stretch, Trump benefitted from comparable indifference to his more fully documented ethical failures, and from what members of this self-same press corps describe as 'rock-bottom expectations.' Viewed as a snapshot, it reminded [Paul] Krugman and others of the blinkered reportage that helped George W. Bush become president 15 years ago.... This is not unlike leading a newscast with a weather report, or a story about firefighters pulling a kitten out of a tree, in the midst of an ongoing national emergency.... Last week, a casual news consumer wouldn't have come away thinking Clinton's and Trump's sins were equivalent; they would have instead learned that Clinton's sins were real and Trumps trivial or non-existent." -- CW ...
... Paul Waldman: "There's a repeated pattern to many [New York Times] stories [about Hillary Clinton]: Some perfectly legitimate question emerges, like 'Did Clinton Foundation donors get undeserved access to Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state?'... Then when the answer turns out to be, 'Actually, no,' the story is still presented in the Times as a revelation of possible malfeasance.... the Times has not only been particularly aggressive in pursuing and highlighting these stories, it's also prone to presenting even exculpatory material as indicative of some deeper ethical problem.... The Times' pursuit of Hillary and Bill Clinton goes way back, back to the founding document of the problem the Clintons have with the press.... What is strange is that so much later, even though most of the reporters and editors from the 1990s are no longer at the paper, its eagerness to find Clinton scandals seems undimmed." -- CW
Bad News for Witch Hunters. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "FBI Director James B. Comey said in a memo to the bureau's employees that the decision not to charge Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server ... was 'not a cliff-hanger' and, 'despite all the chest beating by people no longer in government, there really wasn't a prosecutable case.' The director's assessment was notable for its bluntness...." -- CW ...
... Matt Zapotosky: "Former secretary of state Colin Powell told Hillary Clinton in 2009 that he used a personal computer attached to a private phone line to do business with foreign leaders and State Department officials and was generally scornful of the notion that his mobile devices might be accessed by spies, according to an email exchange released by U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) on Wednesday.... According to a report by the State Department's inspector general, Powell had already acknowledged using a laptop on a private line and sending notes to ambassadors and foreign ministers via personal email, and a representative said he did not retain or print those emails." CW: Read the whole story, especially Rep. Cummings' statement. ...
... Instead of heeding advice from CIA & NSA security experts, Powell pulled rank & scoffed at their concerns in the "numerous meetings" in which they advised him not to use his personal devices. If Clinton had behaved as Gen. Powell did, she would be on trial for espionage right now. I don't think I'm exaggerating. Yet I haven't heard one Republican express concern about Powell's refusing to follow security protocols.
Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post looks to past presidents to help Hillary Clinton get that "presidential look." CW: Since Donald Trump claims he does look presidential, I do think Petri should have included his example: puffy face of a reverse-raccoon color palette & oftentimes contorted into crazed expressions; blow-dried orange hair also reminiscent of various creatures from the animal kingdom; expensive but ill-fitted suits.
Ashley Parker & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for a vast expansion of the military, including 90,000 new soldiers for the Army and nearly 75 new ships for the Navy, requiring up to $90 billion a year in additional spending.... Mr. Trump, in a speech at the Union League of Philadelphia, also vowed to order the military to devise a new plan to defeat the Islamic State 'immediately upon taking office.' The plan would come within 30 days from 'my generals,' he added, without mentioning that those generals are the same ones who came up with the current strategy, which they believe is working. The new spending, Mr. Trump said, would not cost taxpayers an additional penny. He said he would eliminate wasteful government spending, increase energy production and trim the federal work force, including the military bureaucracy. He also suggested that he would collect unpaid taxes, which he said amounted to $385 billion." ...
... CW: "My generals"??? Is that like "my African-American"? "Eliminating waste, fraud & abuse"? Ha ha ha. ...
... Update: We found out Wednesday night what Trump meant by "my generals." Benjy Sarlin & Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "Asked [by Matt Lauer] about his past claim that he knew more about ISIS than American generals, Trump said he would replace high-ranking military officers in response to their performance in recent years before consulting them on a final course of action. 'Well, they'll probably be different generals, to be honest with you,' Trump said. 'I mean, I'm looking at the generals.'"
Philip Bump: "'Hillary and her top aides told the FBI and others related in the lawsuits that they couldn't recall or remember -- can't remember anything!' Trump said [at a rally in Greenville, N.C. Tuesday]. 'By the way, if she really can't remember, she can't be president! She doesn't remember anything! She doesn't even remember whether or not she was instructed on how to use emails....'" [CW: Stop. You know where this is going.] ... Asserting that Clinton can't be president if she doesn't remember details in an interview would mean that Trump, too, is ineligible for the nation's highest office. Big league." In the depositions the WashPo has collected, there are "Constant assertions by Trump that he couldn't recall or didn't know the answers to questions offered him.... People who literally live in big glass towers should be careful where they throw stones." CW: Worth reading the whole post.
International Man of Misery. Joshua Partlow & Gabriela Martinez of the Washington Post: "Mexico's finance minister, who helped arrange ... Donald Trump's visit to Mexico, has resigned, further roiling a political crisis that has been swirling here in Trump's wake. In formally announcing the resignation Wednesday, President Enrique Peña Nieto offered no explanation for the departure of Luis Videgaray, one of his closest aides.... But it came a week after Trump appeared with Peña Nieto in a meeting that was widely viewed across Mexico as an embarrassment for the country's leader. Videgaray had served as a behind-the-scenes liaison to the Trump campaign and advocated for the visit over the opposition of other ministers. The departure of one of his closest allies showed the huge political cost the Trump visit has exacted for Peña Nieto." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
E.J. Dionne: "Trump’s best example of political corruption is himself.... It's remarkable that Republican primary voters seemed to reward Trump for saying that he bought off politicians right and left, as if admitting to soft bribery was a sign of what a great reformer he would be.... It is hugely misleading to take every new Trump scandal and match it up with a replay of one of the standby Clinton scandals -- and then pretend there is rough equality between the candidates on some scandal-o-meter." -- CW
Michael Kruse of Politico talks to a number of people who have worked with Donald Trump in the past, & they all say something to the effect of he "has the attention span of a 9-year-old with ADHD." In fact, Tony Scwartz, who wrote The Art of the Deal, said exactly that. -- CW
Dummkopf Drumpf Exposes His Own IRS Audit Lie. Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday offered Hillary Clinton a deal. If the Democratic nominee somehow recovered and publicly released the 33,000 deleted emails she sent while serving as secretary of state, the real estate businessman would release his tax returns 'immediately.'... Pressed ... about releasing his tax returns despite them being under audit, Trump attempted to turn the tables on Clinton ― and ended up unwittingly admitting there was nothing prohibiting him from doing so." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: Stupid AND transparent are not the best qualities in combination. Of course tomorrow, Trumpado will dismiss this as "sarcasm".
Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "Mike Pence on Wednesday declined to say whether Donald Trump should apologize for suggesting Barack Obama was born outside the U.S., but he did say Trump's stance wouldn't hurt him with minority voters.... 'Well I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, I accept his birthplace," Pence told reporters during a brief gaggle aboard his campaign plane...." -- CW ...
... Steve M.: "In an astonishing coincidence [sarcasm], Ben Carson, a Trump surrogate, also addressed the issue of Trump's birtherism this week, and he called for an apology.... Trump, of course, will not disavow birtherism or apologize, as we saw when the subject came up on Bill O'Reilly's show last night:... 'I don't even talk about it anymore Bill because I don't bother talking about it.'... Republicans get away with these surrogate head-fakes."
... CW: "I don't even talk about it anymore ... because I don't bother talking about it." This is the kind of "answer" Trump gives all the time: "What do you mean 'Hillary Clinton doesn't have a presidential look?" "I mean she doesn't look presidential." I have assumed that this is merely Trump's means of deflecting questions, but I'm beginning to think he really doesn't understand cause & effect or that the answer isn't the question: one more loose screw rattling around the dangerously dysfunctional brain of Trump.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Charles Blow: Donald Trump is a Big Fat Liar, and the media have let him get away with it. While holding Clinton accountable, they apply an "entertainment standard" to Trump. -- CW
Other News & Views
Elizabeth Warren in a New York Times op-ed: "Now that they are feeling the sting from foreign tax crackdowns, giant corporations and their Washington lobbyists are pressing Congress to cut them a new sweetheart deal here at home. But instead of bailing out the tax dodgers under the guise of tax reform, Congress should seize this moment to take three crucial steps to repair our broken corporate tax code.... For years, corporate tax dodgers have taken full advantage of all the benefits of being American companies, while searching out every possible way to avoid paying American taxes. Now that other leading countries are starting to get tough on tax enforcement, these tax dodgers suddenly want to move their money back to the United States. When they do, they should pay their fair share, just as working families and small businesses have been all along." -- CW
Julie Zauzmer of the Washington Post: "President Obama nominated a Washington lawyer Tuesday to a prestigious federal judgeship, making Abid Riaz Qureshi the first Muslim American tapped for the federal judiciary.... Qureshi has defended the civil rights of Muslim clients in cases against the New York City subway system and the Transportation Security Administration. The White House announced Tuesday that Obama had chosen Qureshi, a partner at the District law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, to fill a spot on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: "Defended the civil rights of Muslims"?? You mean Muslims have rights? Get ready for an epidemic of Excorcist-like head spinning by the wingnuts. By the way, that US District is the same one from which the president chose Merrick Garland if that's any indication of the likely success, or not, of this nomination. I'm guessing just the word "Muslim" is enough for a blanket "NO" from Confederates.
Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is making his way back up to Capitol Hill. Months after his one-on-one charm offensive with senators largely ended, Garland is returning to the Senate on Thursday to meet privately with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy as Senate Democrats continue a broader public relations push to pressure Republicans on confirming the veteran jurist this year." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Bundy Trial Begins. Maxine Bearstein of Oregon Live: Ammon Bundy wants to show up in court dressed like Hopalong Cassidy. "Before prospective jurors file into Courtroom 9A in the federal courthouse in downtown Portland Wednesday morning, the judge is expected to rule on whether the defendants in the Oregon standoff case who are in custody can wear neckties, belts and boots at trial as requested. Ammon Bundy's lawyer J. Morgan Philpot argued that his client is innocent until proven guilty, and should be allowed to wear the civilian clothes that he chooses." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: A suit and dress shirt is Bundy's definition of looking like a "disheveled slacker". He wants to look like a real rootin' tootin' cowboy, just like in the movies. Gotta love those wingers. Only the important stuff. His reason? He IS a real cowboy. Also, something, something, something, Bible. Yee-haw, y'all.
TMZ: "USOC-connected sources tell TMZ Sports ... [that champion swimmer Ryan] Lochte has been suspended for 10 months. There are additional sanctions.... The punishment was handed down not just by the USOC but by the IOC and USA Swimming as well. The punishment is harsher than Michael Phelps' 6 month suspension for his 2 DUIs. The punishment was debated within the USOC, because Phelps put people's lives at risk and Lochte arguably didn't lie about a material fact." -- CW
The pictures below refer to an aside in the Comments section (which is pretty funny):
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