November 28, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Annie Grayer & Sara Murray of CNN: "Kellyanne Conway, who served in the White House as a senior adviser to ... Donald Trump, is meeting with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection in person on Monday, according to a source familiar with the meeting." MB: Gee, according to Conway, there are "alternate facts." Is there an alternate oath you can take prior to testifying, too? "I solemnly swear to tell the alternate truth & nothing but the alternate truth...."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The New York Times and four European news organizations called on the United States government on Monday to drop its charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, for obtaining and publishing classified diplomatic and military secrets. In a joint open letter, The Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País said the prosecution of Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act 'sets a dangerous precedent' that threatened to undermine the First Amendment and the freedom of the press. 'Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists,' the letter said. 'If that work is criminalized, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.'"

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Republicans Stand with Mass Murderers. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a leading advocate for gun control in the Senate, expressed doubt on Sunday that an assault weapons ban once again being pushed by President Biden after the country's latest mass shooting could pass the upper chamber. Biden said he was 'going to try to get rid of assault weapons' during the lame-duck session of Congress this year following a recent string of mass shootings, but such a proposal would need 10 Republican votes to break the legislative filibuster, assuming Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) can get all 50 Democrats to support the legislation. 'Probably not,' Murphy told CNN 'State of the Union' co-anchor Dana Bash when asked if the proposal could garner 60 votes. 'But let's see if we can try to get that number as close to 60 as possible,' Murphy continued. 'If we don't have the votes, then we'll talk to Senator Schumer and maybe come back next year with maybe an additional senator and see if we can do better."

Trump Fright, Ctd. Andrew Solender of Axios: "Republican lawmakers have largely remained silent in the wake of former President Trump's dinner with antisemitic rapper Ye and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, reviving a tactic they frequently relied on during his presidency.... Spokespeople for nearly two dozen House and Senate Republicans -- including party leaders, co-chairs of caucuses and task forces focused on Judaism or antisemitism and sponsors of legislation to combat antisemitic hate crimes -- did not respond to requests for comment.... The dynamic highlights the stranglehold Trump still has on the Republican Party outside a small group of vocal critics, even in the aftermath of poor performances by his handpicked candidates in the midterm elections." ~~~

~~~ BUT. Devan Cole of CNN: "... Donald Trump's meeting last week with White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes was 'very troubling' and 'empowering' for extremism, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday. 'No, I don't think it's a good idea for a leader that's setting an example for the country or the party to meet with (an) avowed racist or anti-Semite. And so it's very troubling and it shouldn't happen and we need to avoid those kind of empowering the extremes,' Hutchinson told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union.'... Hutchinson, a former US Attorney in Arkansas, is term-limited and leaving office in January. He's currently mulling a 2024 White House bid, and he used Trump's controversial meeting to note his own record on such issues, telling Bash, 'the last time I met with a White supremacist it was in an armed standoff. I had a bulletproof vest on. We arrested them, prosecuted them and sent them to prison.'" ~~~

~~~ Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Donald Trump repeatedly refused to disavow the outspoken antisemite and white supremacist Nick Fuentes after they spoke over dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort, rejecting the advice from advisers over fears he might alienate a section of his base, two people familiar with the situation said.... Trump eschewed making outright disavowals of Fuentes, the people said, and none of the statements from the campaign or on his Truth Social account included criticism of Fuentes.... Trump ultimately made clear that he fundamentally did not want to criticise Fuentes -- a product of his dislike of confrontation and his anxiety that it might antagonise a devoted part of his base -- and became more entrenched in his obstinance the more he was urged to do so." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The GOP clearly has become the Grand Chicken Party; Republican politicans are afraid of getting on the wrong side of Trump, and Trump is afraid of getting on the wrong side of white nationalists and any other groups of losers who might be inclined to vote for him. Pathetic. IOW, vile extremists are holding hostage the GCP.

Elon's New Automated Hate Filter Misses Racially-Motivated Massacres. Eva Corlett of the Guardian: "Twitter has removed freshly uploaded footage of the Christchurch terror attack that was circulating on the platform, but only after the New Zealand government alerted the company, which had failed to recognise the content as harmful. The video clips, filmed by the Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, were uploaded by some Twitter users on Saturday, according to the office of the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. A spokesperson for the prime minister said Twitter's automated reporting function didn't pick up the content as harmful."

Way Beyond the Beltway

China. Lily Kuo of the Washington Post: "Protests erupted in cities and on campuses across China this weekend as frustrated and outraged citizens took to the streets in a stunning wave of demonstrations against the government's 'zero covid' policy and the leaders enforcing it. Residents in Shanghai, China's most populous city, came together Saturday night and early Sunday, calling for the end of pandemic lockdowns and chanting, 'We want freedom!' and 'Unlock Xinjiang, unlock all of China!' according to witnesses at the event. In even more extraordinary scenes of public anger aimed at the government's top leader, a group of protesters there chanted, 'Xi Jinping, step down!' and 'Communist Party, step down!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Helen Davidson & Verna Yu of the Guardian: "Chinese police have barricaded a street in Shanghai where protesters have gathered for the last two nights in anticipation of further rallies against the governmen's rigid zero-Covid policies. Since Friday, a wave of protests has spread across multiple cities in China, prompted by the death of 10 people in a building fire in Urumqi in Xinjiang. Much of the region had been under lockdown for more than three months, and people blamed the lockdown for the deaths. Gatherings held to protest or to mourn the victims were held in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and other major Chinese cities on Saturday and Sunday, as well as dozens of university campuses, with some police clashes and detentions in Shanghai. Protesters demanded an end to lockdowns, while some groups decried censorship and called for democracy and an end to the rule of Xi Jinping. Most protests were peaceful. There were some clashes with police in Shanghai, and protesters in Wuhan pushed over pandemic barriers."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

News Ledes

Washington Post: Melissa Highsmith, "53 [-- who was kidnapped when she was 21 months old --] reunited last week with her parents and two of her siblings for the first time in more than five decades thanks to a home DNA test, a marriage certificate and the help of an amateur genealogist, the family said Sunday in an announcement, previously reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram."

It's Always Something. Washington Post: "For the first time in nearly four decades, the biggest active volcano on Earth is erupting. Lava flows from Mauna Loa, at the heart of Hawaii's Big Island, could threaten some roadways, but otherwise authorities said there was no immediate danger to populated areas. The U.S. Geological Survey said the eruption started about 11:30 p.m. local time Sunday in Mokuaweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa. It was visible from Kona, a popular tourist destination on the island's west coast. Mauna Loa's last eruption was in 1984. No evacuation orders had been issued by late Monday morning, but shelters were opened as a precaution, Hawaii County officials said. And authorities advised that winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downwind."

New York. Washington Post: "The man suspected of killing 10 people in a racially motivated attack at a Buffalo grocery store in May is expected to plead guilty to state charges on Monday morning. Payton Gendron, 19, was indicted on 25 counts, including domestic terrorism and murder as a hate crime, in late May. He faced a maximum possible sentence of life in prison without parole, because New York state does not have the death penalty. But a separate federal hate crimes case, which could bring the death penalty if Gendron is convicted, is pending." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times Update: "The gunman who was accused of killing 10 Black people in a racist massacre at a Buffalo supermarket in May pleaded guilty to all state charges against him in Erie County Court on Monday morning. Payton Gendron, 19, who was arrested shortly after the shooting, was indicted by a grand jury in June on 25 counts, including murder, domestic terrorism and other charges in relation to the massacre."

Maryland. Washington Post: "A pilot and a passenger were rescued from a small plane that had crashed into a power line tower and power lines in Maryland after an hours-long ordeal that saw power cut to nearly 100,000 homes and businesses, led to school cancellations and plunged rescuers into a complex effort to safely remove the people aboard.... Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said the pilot and passenger suffered orthopedic injuries, trauma and had 'hypothermia issues.' 'Both people assisted us in their movement from the aircraft,' he said. Before they were extricated, Goldstein said, technicians had to conduct 'bonding and grounding' operations to make the tower safe.... The plane became entangled in high-voltage power lines north of Montgomery Village in Gaithersburg about 5:40 p.m.... The first victim, a woman, was pulled from the plane at 12:25 a.m. Residents who'd spent hours watching the incident play out clapped as she was lowered down in a bucket. The second occupant, a man, came down about 11 minutes later."

November 27, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Lily Kuo of the Washington Post: "Protests erupted in cities and on campuses across China this weekend as frustrated and outraged citizens took to the streets in a stunning wave of demonstrations against the government's 'zero covid' policy and the leaders enforcing it. Residents in Shanghai, China's most populous city, came together Saturday night and early Sunday, calling for the end of pandemic lockdowns and chanting, 'We want freedom!' and 'Unlock Xinjiang, unlock all of China!' according to witnesses at the event. In even more extraordinary scenes of public anger aimed at the government's top leader, a group of protesters there chanted, 'Xi Jinping, step down!' and 'Communist Party, step down!'"

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The Dumbest Damned "Modern Democracy" on Earth. Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "Across the country, openly carrying a gun in public is no longer just an exercise in self-defense -- increasingly it is a soapbox for elevating one's voice and, just as often, quieting someone else's.... In June, armed demonstrations around the United States amounted to nearly one a day. A group led by a former Republican state legislator protested a gay pride event in a public park in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Men with guns interrupted a Juneteenth festival in Franklin, Tenn., handing out fliers claiming that white people were being replaced.... Whether at the local library, in a park or on Main Street, most of these incidents happen where Republicans have fought to expand the ability to bear arms in public, a movement bolstered by a recent Supreme Court ruling on the right to carry firearms outside the home. The loosening of limits has occurred as violent political rhetoric rises and the police in some places fear bloodshed among an armed populace on a hair trigger. A partisan divide -- with Democrats largely eschewing firearms and Republicans embracing them -- has warped civic discourse. Deploying the Second Amendment in service of the First has become a way to buttress a policy argument, a sort of silent, if intimidating, bullhorn."

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "As the White House pushes public agencies and big business to slash greenhouse gas emissions, it is leaning on the Postal Service to step up the pace to meet President Biden's directive to ensure all new government-owned vehicles are EVs by 2035. And, after a hard-won $3 billion infusion from Congress to jump-start its transition, the first of the agency's 34,000 zero-emission mail trucks will begin rolling out next year. Most of those funds, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, will remedy a massive and widely underappreciated challenge in the green migration: the arduous and costly build-out of EV infrastructure, from gargantuan new buildings to thousands of charging stations.... The agency is set to purchase 85,000 mail trucks, a mix of custom-built Next Generation Delivery Vehicles from a defense contractor in Wisconsin, as well as models from mainstream automakers. Nearly 40 percent of them, roughly 34,000 trucks, will be electric, far fewer than the Biden administration wanted but four times more than the agency initially planned.... The fleet decision was particularly fraught."

Beyond the Beltway

Fake Voter Fraud Squads with Nothing to Do. Gary Fields, et al., of the AP: "State-level law enforcement units created after the 2020 presidential election to investigate voter fraud are looking into scattered complaints more than two weeks after the midterms but have provided no indication of systemic problems. That's just what election experts had expected and led critics to suggest that the new units were more about politics than rooting out widespread abuses. Most election-related fraud cases already are investigated and prosecuted at the local level." MB: These "law enforcement agencies" are so Soviet.

Georgia Senate Race. Dylan Wells of the Washington Post: "Georgia voters flocked to the polls Saturday to cast their ballots in the Senate runoff, taking advantage of an extra day of voting brought about by a lawsuit filed by Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D), who is defending his seat against Republican Herschel Walker. In more than two dozen counties across the state, thousands of voters from both parties came out to vote, some waiting for hours in lines stretching around the block for the chance to cast their ballot early for the Dec. 6 runoff. The secretary of state's office reported that at least 70,000 people voted Saturday."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefings of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "In what he called 'a very busy diplomatic day,' President Volodymyr Zelensky solidified his Grain from Ukraine initiative, hosted world leaders in a summit on food security, and elicited European nations' support for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union.... The [grain] effort comes in addition to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, through which shipments have gone to various countries. Other countries, including the United States, have agreed to help with the new program, sending Ukraine about $150 million, Zelensky said in his daily address.... Weather is slowing front line operations in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank, but a consistent ground freeze expected in early December would allow Russian and Ukrainian forces to pick up where they left off."

Catherine Belton & Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "For months, [Vladimir] Putin claimed that the economic blitzkrieg' against Russia had failed, but Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine are digging ever deeper into Russia's economy, exacerbating equipment shortages for its army and hampering its ability to launch any new ground offensive or build new missiles, economists and Russian business executives said. Recent figures show the situation has worsened considerably since the summer when, buoyed by a steady stream of oil and gas revenue, the Russian economy seemed to stabilize. Figures released by the Finance Ministry last week show a key economic indicator -- tax revenue from the non-oil and gas sector -- fell 20 percent in October.... The Western ban on technology imports is affecting most sectors of the economy, while the Kremlin's forced mobilization of more than 300,000 Russian conscripts to serve in Ukraine, combined with the departure of at least as many abroad fleeing the draft, has dealt a further blow, economists said. In addition, Putin's own restrictions on gas supplies to Europe, followed by the unexplained explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, has led to a sharp drop in gas production...."

Taiwan. Huizhong Wu of the AP: "Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party following local election losses on Saturday in which voters chose the opposition Nationalist party in several major races across the self-ruled island. Concerns about threats from rival China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, took a backseat to more local issues in the elections.... Tsai offered her resignation on Saturday evening, a tradition after a major loss, in a short speech in which she also thanked supporters."

News Ledes

AP: "Search teams have recovered seven dead, including a 3-week-old infant and a pair of young siblings, buried in mud and debris that hurtled down a mountainside and through a densely populated port city on the resort island of Ischia, officials said Sunday."

New York Times: "Irene Cara, the Academy Award-winning singer who performed the electric title tracks in two aspirational self-expression movies of the 1980s, 'Flashdance' and 'Fame,' has died. She was 63."

November 26, 2022

The Company He Keeps: A Dinner at Mar-a-Lardo. Jonathan Swan & Zachary Basu of Axios: "Former President Trump dined and conversed with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night, according to two sources familiar with the matter.... Trump's direct engagement with a man labeled a 'white supremacist' by the Justice Department, one week after declaring his 2024 candidacy, is likely to draw renewed outrage over the former president's embrace of extremists. Fuentes, who frequently promotes racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, had been spotted with Ye at Mar-a-Lago, but reports erroneously suggested he did not have dinner with the former president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ "Uneventful" Dinner Conversation Was Hilarious. Marc Caputo of NBC News: "... Donald Trump distanced himself Friday from a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, claiming he didn't know the identity of the far-right activist who was unexpectedly brought along with the rapper.... But despite Trump suggesting that the event was 'uneventful,' the fallout over his dinner with Fuentes appears to have thrown Trump's campaign into damage control mode.... 'This is a f[uck]ing nightmare,' said one longtime Trump adviser.... [A] source familiar with the dinner conversation said the dinner grew heated after Ye -- who announced another run for president in 2024 on Thursday -- asked Trump to be his running mate. Trump then began insulting Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the only time I ever wished I was sitting at a table next to Trump & his party. Of course I probably would have choked on my high-priced entree from laughing so hard at Donald & guest for getting into a virtual food fight over who would be the next president*.

Sharon Kann & Angelo Carusone of Media Matters: "In recent weeks, 50 of the top 100 advertisers have either announced or seemingly stopped advertising on Twitter. These advertisers have accounted for nearly $2 billion in spending on the platform since 2020, and over $750 million in advertising in 2022 alone. In addition to advertisers that have seemingly stopped all advertising on Twitter as of November 21, there are an additional seven advertisers which appear to be slowing the rate of their advertising on the platform to almost nothing. Since 2020, these seven advertisers have accounted for over $255 million in spending on Twitter, and nearly $118 million in advertising in 2022. Emphases removed.

2024 Presidential Election. Megalomaniac prefers Florida Fascist Over Florida Fascist. Guardian: "Elon Musk has said he would support Donald Trump's arch rival, Ron DeSantis, in 2024 if the Florida governor were to run for president.... 'My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far,' Musk tweeted."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona Gubernatorial Race. Jonathan Cooper of the AP: "Kari Lake, the defeated Republican candidate for Arizona governor, has filed a public records lawsuit demanding Maricopa County hand over a variety of documents related to the election. Lake has refused to acknowledge that she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs and has for weeks drawn attention to voters who said they experienced long lines and other difficulties while voting on Election Day in Arizona's largest county."

Virginia. David Goodman of the New Your Times: "The Walmart supervisor who shot and killed six of his co-workers at a store in Chesapeake, Va., late on Tuesday purchased a pistol only hours before the massacre and left a note on his phone, in which he described how he planned to target some colleagues and spare others, according to new details released by the Chesapeake police on Friday.... The new details released Friday indicated the ease with which the gunman had purchased the pistol used in the killing, a 9-millimeter handgun. 'The gun was legally purchased from a local store on the morning of Tuesday,' the city said in a statement. 'He had no criminal history.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Guardian's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Patients were evacuated from several hospitals in Kherson, after Russian strikes on the southern city recently liberated by Ukraine, authorities said. Across the city, at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured, the regional governor said on Telegram. Many Ukrainians continued to lack assured access to power and water, with 6 million customers suffering from blackouts, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as the country entered what NATO's chief called an 'already horrific' winter.... Strong winds, rain and freezing temperatures are hampering repair work on infrastructure hit in the recent strikes, power grid operator Ukrenergo said Friday.... Pope Francis praised the 'noble and martyred people' of Ukraine in a letter addressed to Ukrainians nine months after the start of the war. The pope condemned 'the absurd madness of war' and compared Ukrainians' suffering to that of Jesus on the cross."