The Conversation -- October 23, 2023

From the CNN liveblog of developments in the Israel/Hamas war: "Two more hostages have been released from Hamas custody following Qatari and Egyptian mediation, according to two Israeli officials and two other sources briefed on the matter. The two were identified as Israeli citizens Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, according to multiple sources.... The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed they facilitated in the release of two more hostages."

Trump Is No Equal-Opportunity Bully. Paul Butler of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump reserves a particularly race-inflected venom for the Black government lawyers who threaten his liberty and wealth. He called [Manhattan DA Alvin] Bragg a 'Soros-backed animal' and [New York AG Letitia] James a 'political animal.'... His nickname for James is 'peekaboo,' which rhymes with a racist slur.... He lied that [Fulton County, Ga., DA Fani] Willis was in a relationship with an alleged gang member she is prosecuting. In an email after Trump's indictment in Fulton County, his campaign said that Willis came from 'a family steeped in hate' and highlighted the fact that her first name is Swahili. Trump repeatedly attacks Bragg, Willis and James as 'racists.' It's all a transparent attempt to rile up his base against Black prosecutors who have the gall to focus on him. His incitements clearly aim to remind his supporters who the real criminals supposedly are -- Black and Brown folks."

Claire Miller of the New York Times: "New data shows [show!], for the first time at this level of detail, how much students' standardized test scores rise with their parents' incomes -- and how disparities start years before students sit for tests. One-third of the children of the very richest families scored a 1300 or higher on the SAT, while less than 5 percent of middle-class students did, according to the data, from economists at Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard. Relatively few children in the poorest families scored that high; just one in five took the test at all.... The disparity highlights the inequality at the heart of American education: Starting very early, children from rich and poor families receive vastly different educations, in and out of school, driven by differences in the amount of money and time their parents are able to invest. And in the last five decades, as the country has become more unequal by income, the gap in children's academic achievement, as measured by test scores throughout schooling, has widened." MB: But, but don't these data prove that rich people like Donald Trump have very good brains?

Historian Seth Cotlar reflects on an education that whitewashed the facism and racism that were prominent in pre-World War II America. Cotlar was educated in the 1970s and '80s. Cotlar focuses first on the way American history "memory-holed" racist pro-Nazis Charles Lindbergh & Henry Ford. MB: It's still going on. For instance, the National Space & Air Museum, which Cotlar mentions in his essay still features Lindbergh's plane "The Spirit of Saint Louis," and the museum sponsors a Lindbergh fellowship that -- while generally lauding Lindbergh -- admits in passing, "His reputation was somewhat darkened by his acceptance of honors from the Nazi government in 1938, and by his noninterventionist activities for America First in 1941." Yeah, somewhat. And in Fort Myers, Florida, where I lived for more than a decade, Henry Ford is honored with a statue at a public park and in Fort Myers' Number 1 tourist attraction: the Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates museum. I can't recall any mention there of Ford's politics. Thanks to RAS for the link to Cotlar's essay.

~~~~~~~~~~

O Captain! My Captain! Wherefore Art Thou, My Captain? Lisa Lerer & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "As national Democrats largely stand behind President Biden and his agenda -- more united than in years -- Republicans are divided, directionless and effectively leaderless. In the House, Republicans are casting about for a new leader, mired in an internecine battle marked by screaming, cursing and a fresh flood of candidates. In the Senate, their party is led by Senator Mitch McConnell, who spent weeks arguing that he remained physically and mentally fit enough for the position after freezing midsentence in two public appearances. And on the 2024 campaign trail, the dominant front-runner, Donald J. Trump, faces 91 felony charges across four cases, creating a drumbeat of legal news that often overwhelms any of his party's political messages."

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Rarely is the contrast between the leadership of the two political parties as clear as it has been in recent days. President Biden has been steadfast in responding to the vicious attacks against Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists. Republicans in the House have been so consumed by internal differences that they have left Congress immobilized when action is demanded. The split-screen projections have reinforced perceptions that Republicans are unable or unwilling to govern. Too many Republicans in the House operate in a bubble constructed of false claims about the 2020 election and conspiracy theories about a potpourri of other topics -- a worldview shaped by a diet of Fox News and the erratic and at times dangerous rhetoric of ... Donald Trump.... Chaos hardly describes the scene on Capitol Hill. [Republicans] are damaging not only themselves as a party but also faith in the United States as a stable democracy.... On Ukraine and now Israel, Biden has earned praise from abroad and from many in the foreign policy community at home." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marshall Cohen & Kristen Holmes of CNN: "... Donald Trump claimed Sidney Powell was 'never' his attorney in a social media post Sunday, three days after she pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. Despite Trump's claims, Powell was briefly an official member of Trump's legal team in 2020, and Trump stayed in contact with her on election-related matters even after she was ousted from his campaign. 'Sidney Powell was one of millions and millions of people who thought, and in ever increasing numbers still think, correctly, that the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLLEN, AND OUR COUNTRY IS BEING ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT!!! MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS. In fact, she would have been conflicted,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... Trump publicly announced on November 15, 2020, that he 'added' Powell to his 'truly great team' of lawyers working on the election." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Germans call "stollen" "christstollen," but I think it's about time they adopt an all-nuts version called "trumpstollen" a/k/a "electionstollen." On a more serious note, it is rather odd how Trump comes up again and again with "truly great" staff, plucked from among "the best people," yet they all eventually disappoint him to the point he must disavow and/or berate them as losers. He's kinda down to his personal valet and the former parking valet now.

"The Trump Bazaar: Coffee & Nuclear Secrets." Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "New details of how an American president [-- Trump --] and an Australian billionaire [-- Anthony Pratt --] bonded over their mutual self-interest help to document the transactional ethos of the Trump presidency, and show how Mr. Trump melded his White House with his personal business in a way that, according to prosecutors, had ramifications for national security.... Mr. Pratt used his money and flattery to get on Mr. Trump's radar: He lavished praise on him in public appearances, bought newspaper ads that hyped Mr. Trump as a job creator and became a member of Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Pratt, in turn, gained priceless publicity and proximity to the power of the presidency, providing him entree into an administration whose policies lowered his taxes and benefited his business." Thanks to laura h. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the "60 Minutes Australia" segment upon which the NYT article is largely based. Thanks to unwashed for the lead:

     ~~~ Update. Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Trump took to Truth Social to deny the [NYT] report, blast the New York Times as 'Fake News,' and paint himself as a victim. He referenced Pratt as a 'red haired weirdo.' He blamed the NY Times and Maggie Haberman (which he derided as [']Maggie Hagerman and the Misfits') for not reaching out for comment, perhaps unaware that the source of the report was verified audio for anyone to hear." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: So Pratt is just one more "very fine person" who now has Trumpmobile tire tracks imprinted across his face.

Aaron Gregg & Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "After decades of expansion, the nation's largest drugstore chains are closing hundreds of stores as they reorient their operations against rising competition, a crush of opioid lawsuits and other forces -- relegating many already-vulnerable communities into pharmacy deserts. Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, CVS and Walgreens have signaled over the past two years plans to collectively shutter more than 1,500 stores. Public health experts have already seen the fallout, noting that the first neighborhoods to lose their pharmacies are often predominantly Black, Latinx and low-income."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel said on Monday that it had struck hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip and attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, as President Biden led an international diplomatic effort to try to ensure the conflict does not ensnare other nations in the region. In a joint statement on Sunday, Mr. Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy urged Israel to protect civilians as it defended itself, and called for the release of all hostages believed to be held in Gaza. More than 4,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, when Israel began retaliating for an attack by the militant group that killed 1,400 people.... Hamas and other militant groups are believed to be holding more than 200 people captive, and, according to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, have been blocking U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals from leaving Gaza."

Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "The second aid convoy destined for desperate Palestinian civilians reached Gaza on Sunday, as Israel widened its attacks to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group that if it launches its own war, 'we will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine.'" ~~~

~~~ Kelly Garrity of Politico: "President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed in a phone call Sunday that Israel will allow a 'continued flow' of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, according to the White House. During the call, Biden 'welcomed the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance since Hamas's October 7 terrorist attack, which crossed the border into Gaza and is being distributed to Palestinians in need,' according to a readout from the White House. 'The leaders affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza.'"

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "By the time [President] Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday -- amid Israeli airstrikes that had already killed more than 3,000 Palestinians inside Gaza, an ongoing siege that left millions of civilians without food and water and preparations for a full-scale Israeli ground assault of the enclave -- the need to buy time for Israel 'to think this through,' in the words of one U.S. official, had become a core objective of the trip. Neither Biden, nor Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin or others in direct contact with their Israeli counterparts, told them what to do or what not to do.... Two weeks after the surprise Hamas attack, even as the Biden administration continues to extend full-throated support for Israel, it is trying to prevent the nightmare scenario 0f a wider regional war.... Other Western governments, amid expressions of support [for Israel], were privately delivering the same message."

Faris Tanyos of CBS News: "As tensions heighten in the Middle East amid the escalating Israel-Hamas war, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the U.S. will redeploy one of its strike groups to the Persian Gulf, as well as send additional air defense systems to the region. Austin also said that he has placed additional U.S. forces on 'prepare to deploy orders,' but did not detail how many. Austin earlier this week ordered 2,000 troops to be prepared to deploy to the Middle East. The latest decision followed 'detailed discussions with President Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East,' Austin said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Secretary Austin's statement is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sam Levine of the Guardian: "Mitch McConnell offered a strong endorsement on Sunday of the Joe Biden White House's $106bn aid proposal to Israel and Ukraine, saying he and the president were essentially 'in the same place' on the issue. McConnell, the powerful Republican leader in the Senate, also rebuffed some of his GOP colleagues in the Senate who have called for a package separating assistance for the two countries, saying it would be 'a mistake' during an interview on CBS's Face the Nation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday, I heard Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also speak favorably of President Biden's foreign aid request.

Loveday Morris & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "A Hamas field manual obtained by The Washington Post and other documents found in the wake of the group's brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago illustrate some of its military capabilities and preparations for close-in, bloody killing. The manual, dated last year and found on the body of a Hamas fighter, lists instructions on operating certain weapons, identifies vulnerabilities in Israeli military equipment and offers tips on killing with a knife. The document appears to have been prepared for different units of Hamas's elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, including anti-armor, engineering, sniper, infantry and tunnel specialists as well as what the booklet describes as 'shock troops.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

Odd News. New York Times: }An off-duty pilot who was in a jump seat in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight on Sunday has been charged with more than 80 counts of attempted murder after he tried to disrupt the engines, prompting the plane to divert to Portland, Ore., the authorities said. Flight 2059, operated by Horizon Airlines, an Alaska Airlines regional subsidiary, left Everett, Wash., around 5:23 p.m. and was headed to San Francisco when it reported 'a credible security threat related to an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who was traveling in the flight deck jump seat,' Alaska Airlines said in a statement on Monday.... The pilot asked that law enforcement meet the plane upon landing. The Port of Portland Police Department said in a statement that the flight crew 'was able to detain the subject and the flight landed safely at Portland International Airport just before 6:30 p.m.' The man was taken into custody without incident. The department identified him as Joseph D. Emerson."

The Conversation -- October 22, 2023

Marshall Cohen & Kristen Holmes of CNN: "... Donald Trump claimed Sidney Powell was 'never' his attorney in a social media post Sunday, three days after she pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. Despite Trump's claims, Powell was briefly an official member of Trump's legal team in 2020, and Trump stayed in contact with her on election-related matters even after she was ousted from his campaign. 'Sidney Powell was one of millions and millions of people who thought, and in ever increasing numbers still think, correctly, that the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLLEN, AND OUR COUNTRY IS BEING ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT!!! MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS. In fact, she would have been conflicted,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... Trump publicly announced on November 15, 2020, that he 'added' Powell to his 'truly great team' of lawyers working on the election." Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Germans call "stollen" "christstollen," but I think it's about time they adopt an all-nuts version called "trumpstollen" a/k/a "electionstollen." On a more serious note, it is rather odd how Trump comes up again and again with "truly great" staff, plucked from among "the best people," yet they all eventually disappoint him to the point he must disavow and/or berate them as losers. He's kinda down to his personal valet and the former parking valet now.

Last week's guy is frustrated:

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Rarely is the contrast between the leadership of the two political parties as clear as it has been in recent days. President Biden has been steadfast in responding to the vicious attacks against Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists. Republicans in the House have been so consumed by internal differences that they have left Congress immobilized when action is demanded. The split-screen projections have reinforced perceptions that Republicans are unable or unwilling to govern. Too many Republicans in the House operate in a bubble constructed of false claims about the 2020 election and conspiracy theories about a potpourri of other topics -- a worldview shaped by a diet of Fox News and the erratic and at times dangerous rhetoric of ... Donald Trump.... Chaos hardly describes the scene on Capitol Hill. [Republicans] are damaging not only themselves as a party but also faith in the United States as a stable democracy.... On Ukraine and now Israel, Biden has earned praise from abroad and from many in the foreign policy community at home."

Faris Tanyos of CBS News: "As tensions heighten in the Middle East amid the escalating Israel-Hamas war, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the U.S. will redeploy one of its strike groups to the Persian Gulf, as well as send additional air defense systems to the region. Austin also said that he has placed additional U.S. forces on 'prepare to deploy orders,' but did not detail how many. Austin earlier this week ordered 2,000 troops to be prepared to deploy to the Middle East. The latest decision followed 'detailed discussions with President Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East,' Austin said in a statement." ~~~

     ~~~ Secretary Austin's statement is here.

Loveday Morris & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "A Hamas field manual obtained by The Washington Post and other documents found in the wake of the group's brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago illustrate some of its military capabilities and preparations for close-in, bloody killing. The manual, dated last year and found on the body of a Hamas fighter, lists instructions on operating certain weapons, identifies vulnerabilities in Israeli military equipment and offers tips on killing with a knife. The document appears to have been prepared for different units of Hamas's elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, including anti-armor, engineering, sniper, infantry and tunnel specialists as well as what the booklet describes as 'shock troops.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Meet the Candidates: A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "At least 10 Republicans have announced that they will run for speaker or that they are considering doing so since Friday.... Here are the Republicans who are running -- or who are considering running -- for speaker."

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) waged his battle to become House speaker, some House Republicans were uncomfortable with the possibility of having an election denier occupying the most powerful legislative seat in the U.S. government heading into a presidential election year.... Jordan ... functioned as one of the key conduits ... from the House GOP conference to the White House in [Donald] Trump's quest to overturn his defeat. Jordan sowed unsubstantiated claims of election fraud across conservative media, encouraged Trump not to concede the election, spoke at 'Stop the Steal' rallies, and met with Trump campaign officials ahead of Jan. 6, where they discussed social media tactics and the march to the Capitol.... Some Republican lawmakers -- even some who supported Jordan's bid [for speaker] -- raised concerns about his continued refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden's 2020 election win when asked by peers this week.... On Friday morning, during his last-minute news conference..., Jordan again would not definitively say whether he thought the 2020 election was over.... Among the numerous lawmakers who said they would seek to fill the speaker vacancy on Friday, only Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) voted to certify the 2020 election." ~~~

~~~ So Naturally ... Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump privately conveyed to allies on Friday he does not back House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's bid for speaker, throwing another wrench into an already chaotic process to find the next person to hold the gavel.... The Minnesota Republican, who has been making calls to fellow lawmakers, has emerged as an early frontrunner, having received the endorsement of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.... The former presidents top allies are already working to thwart Emmer's candidacy. Trump supporters have begun passing around opposition research on the congressmember, and the pro-Trump 'War Room' podcast on Friday afternoon turned into an Emmer bash-fest."

Flippity Doo-Dah

Zachary Cohen & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Two stalwart allies of ... Donald Trump flipped against him this week, a staggering turn of events that could now pose a grave threat to [Trump's] ability to fend off criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The rapid-fire developments are a massive boost for prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, and the separate but overlapping federal case against Trump that was filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.... [Kenneth] Chesebro directly implicated Trump in a criminal conspiracy, and his plea establishes for the first time that the fake electors plot was illegal. Notably, Chesebro has now admitted that 'the purpose' of the fake electors conspiracy was to 'disrupt and delay the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021,' which is a key element of the federal charges Trump is facing.... While [Sidney] Powell's guilty plea only covers charges related to the breach of election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, her deal with prosecutors opens the door for testimony about first-hand interactions with Trump and other key co-defendants."

Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Kenneth Chesebro, one of former President Trump's 18 co-defendants in the George election fraud case, didn't truly believe the 2020 election was stolen, according to his attorney. 'First of all, Mr. Chesebro never believed in "The Big Lie,"' attorney Scott Grubmann said Saturday in an interview on MSNBC. 'If you ask Mr. Chesebro today who won the 2020 presidential election, he would say Joe Biden.'... Grubmann said Chesebro's guilty plea doesn't implicate any other defendants, and that Trump should 'not be worried.... At the same time I will say, if he is called by a defendant he will testify and testify truthfully.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This looks like legal malpractice to me. If Cheseboro did not believe the Big Lie, then his efforts to overturn the election were undertaken for corrupt reasons. One could argue (I won't, but someone else might) that a person who believed that the election results were fraudulent was not committing immoral acts (even if his actions were illegal) by attempting to flip the results so the victory went to the person he believed was the "real" winner. But Grubmann condemns Chesebro as a bad actor by announcing that Kenny Boy knew all along that Biden had won the election. Of course the Chese does not stand alone in this; we know that none of the top people in Trump's circle was serious about the election results being fraudulent. But to have one's own attorney admit on the teevee that his client is a treacherous, anti-democratic conman is something else.

Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: People are speculating about why this happened: "In January 2001, Kenneth Chesebro was a mild-mannered Harvard lawyer toiling for Al Gore during the 2000 presidential election recount battle. Two decades later, on Jan. 6, 2021, he joined the mob outside the Capitol, reborn as a MAGA-hatted kingpin.... Laurence H. Tribe, the Harvard constitutional law scholar who was Mr. Chesebro's mentor..., see[s] Mr. Chesebro as a 'moral chameleon' and his story an old one about the seduction of power. 'He wanted to be close to the action,' said Mr. Tribe, who is among 60 lawyers and scholars who signed an ethics complaint in New York that could result in Mr. Chesebro's disbarment.... Mr. Chesebro has responded that in his work for Mr. Trump, he was providing him with the zealous legal advocacy that all clients deserve when he proposed a scheme that he acknowledged at the time 'could appear treasonous.'" MB: Yes, yes, it could.

Presidential Race 2024. Marshall Cohen of CNN: "A judge has rejected three more attempts by ... Donald Trump and the Colorado GOP to shut down a lawsuit seeking to block him from the 2024 presidential ballot in the state based on the 14th Amendment's 'insurrectionist ban.' The flurry of rulings late Friday from Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace are a blow to Trump, who faces candidacy challenges in multiple states stemming from his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. He still has a pending motion to throw out the Colorado lawsuit, but the case now appears on track for an unprecedented trail this month."

Rebecca Lai & Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Since 1790, the decennial census has played a crucial role in creating and reshaping the ever-changing views of racial and ethnic identity in the United States. Over the centuries, the census has evolved from one that specified broad categories -- primarily 'free white' people and 'slaves' -- to one that attempts to encapsulate the country's increasingly complex demographics. The latest adaptation proposed by the Biden administration in January seeks to allow even more race and ethnicity options for people to describe themselves than the 2020 census did. If approved, the proposed overhaul would most likely be adopted across all surveys in the country about health, education and the economy. Here's what the next census could look like." Includes facsimile of the proposed race I.D. questionnaire. ~~~

~~~ Sydney Trent of the Washington Post(Oct. 16): "Racial categories, assigned to people based on their appearance, geographic origin and other supposed attributes, got their start during the dawn of Western science in 18th century Europe. White Europeans, who then had no knowledge of human genetics and little meaningful contact with other cultures, placed themselves at the pinnacle.... In 2003, the completion of the Human Genome Project -- which found that humans globally share 99.9 percent of their DNA -- laid waste to the notion of 'race' among the vast majority of scientists. But the public appears barely to have noticed.... A small but increasingly vocal group of people ... favor phasing out racial categories.... In fact, there have long been thinkers who have questioned the use of racial categories, as well as people who sought to escape them and the harm they've posed."

Here's a 2020 article published by the National Institutes of Health by Wolfgang Umek & Barbara Fischer arguing that "we should abandon 'race' as a biological category in biomedical research."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maryland & Beyond. Minyvonne Burke & Dennis Romero of NBC News: "A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of a man accused of fatally shooting a Maryland judge in a 'targeted attack' outside his home. The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that it is seeking the public's help in finding Pedro Argote, 49, who is wanted in connection with Thursday's killing of Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson. Wilkinson was shot hours after he gave Argote's estranged wife custody of their four minor children, officials said. On Saturday, a resident of the Williamsport, Maryland, area near the West Virginia border found an SUV belonging to Argote..., Washington County Sheriff Brian K. Albert said at a news conference."

Michigan. Sara Smart & Emma Tucker of CNN: "The president of a Detroit synagogue board was found dead Saturday morning with multiple stab wounds outside her home, police said. The victim, Samantha Woll, was the president of the board of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, which is in downtown Detroit, the synagogue said in a Facebook post.... Police believe the crime took place inside her home. Officers found Woll's body with multiple stab wounds and she was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. A motive for the killing is not yet known, police said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "As Israeli forces massed along the border with Gaza on Sunday ahead of an expected ground invasion of the enclave, escalating clashes on Israel's northern border with Lebanon along with strikes in Syria and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank raised fears of a widening regional conflict.... Violence also has been surging across the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military carried out a rare airstrike there overnight against what it described as an underground 'terror compound' beneath a mosque in the city of Jenin. Two people were killed, according to Palestinian health officials. The Israeli military also continued to pound Gaza with punishing airstrikes, as armed groups there fired a salvo of rockets toward cities in central Israel on Sunday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

Jacob Magid, et al., of the Times of Israel: "The US and several European governments are quietly pushing Israel to hold off on launching a ground invasion of Gaza following Hamas's release of two hostages, fearing that the incursion will all but scuttle efforts to secure additional releases for the foreseeable future, a senior diplomatic official told The Times of Israel. The Western governments currently pressuring Israel each have citizens among those unaccounted for and believe that the more time that passes, the harder it will be to secure the hostages' release, the official said." Read on for details.

Michael Biesecker of the AP: "Who is to blame for the fiery explosion [that struck Gaza's al-Ahli Arab Hospital and killed hundreds] has set off intense debate and finger pointing between the Israeli government and Palestinian militants, further escalating tensions in their two week-long war. The AP analyzed more than a dozen videos from the moments before, during and after the hospital explosion, as well as satellite imagery and photos. AP's analysis shows that the rocket that broke up in the air was fired from within Palestinian territory, and that the hospital explosion was most likely caused when part of that rocket crashed to the ground.... AP ran its visual analysis by a half-dozen experts who all agreed the most likely scenario was a rocket from within Gaza that veered off and came apart seconds before the explosion.... AP's assessment is supported by a range of experts with specialties in open-source intelligence, geolocation and rocketry." Includes videos.

X, Your Source for Lies. Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "A handful of influential but unreliable accounts, some of which have been promoted by Elon Musk, are dominating the flow of news on X around the Israel-Hamas war and easily outpacing established mainstream news outlets, according to research published Friday by the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public. Researchers analyzed viral posts about the conflict during a three-day period starting ... on Oct. 7. They concluded that the most popular posts about the crisis revealed how news on the platform is 'faster, more disorienting, and potentially more shaped by Musk himself.' The new work adds data to a swell of recent anecdotal accounts from researchers, academics and journalists who have noted a change for the worse in the way news and information moves and is incentivized on Twitter over the last year.... A separate analysis published Thursday by NewsGuard, a nonpartisan company that tracks false narratives online, found verified accounts were responsible for nearly three-fourths of the most viral misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war on Twitter."

News Lede

Tennessee. New York Times: "The authorities in Tennessee were searching on Sunday for the estranged son of Nashville's police chief, a day after the chief's son was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two police officers outside a Dollar General store. The officers were investigating a stolen vehicle Saturday afternoon in La Vergne, Tenn., about 20 miles southeast of Nashville, when they confronted the suspect outside the store, the La Vergne police chief, Christopher Moews, said at a news conference on Saturday. During a struggle, he said, the man shot the two officers with a handgun: one in the shoulder, and the other in the groin and forearm. Later on Saturday, the La Vergne police identified the suspect as John C. Drake Jr., 38, and said he should be considered armed and dangerous. The police issued a shelter-in-place order before lifting it Saturday night."

The Conversation -- October 21, 2023

Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "America's federal budget deficit effectively doubled in the 2023 fiscal year as slumping tax receipts rising interest rates and persistent demand for expiring pandemic relief benefits strained the nation's finances. The latest Treasury Department figures showed a budget deficit of $1.7 trillion in 2023, up from $1.37 trillion in 2022. Those numbers make the deficit look smaller than it actually was last year, because of an accounting mirage related to a student-loan forgiveness program that President Biden proposed last year. That program was struck down by the Supreme Court this summer and never took effect. But the Treasury recorded it as a cost in 2022, which inflated that year's deficit. After the court killed the program, the Treasury recorded it as savings, which artificially reduced this year's deficit.... When factoring ... out [the student loan effect], the deficit jumped to $2 trillion in 2023 from about $1 trillion in 2022, administration officials confirmed in a call with reporters on Friday." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course I have a solution to reduce the deficit: raise taxes on the rich & super-rich. While the report does mention in Para. 9 that Republicans helped run up the deficit with tax cuts when they were in power, the reporters don't mention that this is SOP for Republicans: cut taxes for their friends when a Republican is president or president*, demand deep cuts in social services while a Democrat is president. As RAS pointed out a few weeks ago, this is no accident; it's a well-worn plan, etched into posterity as the "Two Santa Claus Theory." But, you know, thanks anyway to the NYT for sounding the alarm -- this is, BTW, a Tankersley specialty; he's a long-time deficit hawk, even during recessions when the feds should be spending no matter what the deficit.

Another Day at the Races
(Yes, It's a Marx Brothers Sequel, But With More Mayhem)

Joan Greve & Rachel Leingang of the Guardian: "Jim Jordan of Ohio was forced out of the House speakership race on Friday after his Republican colleagues voted against his continued bid for the seat in a secret ballot after his third failed attempt to corral enough support to win the gavel.... There's a deadline of Sunday at noon for candidates to announce interest in the speakership. The conference is expected to return on Monday evening to hear from candidates for the speakership, with voting set for Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) MB: I heard on the teevee that Jordan got only 86 votes in the basement ballot.

The New York Times liveblogged developments Friday in the Headless House story (also linked yesterday):

Luke Broadwater: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio made it clear on Friday morning that he was not giving up in his faltering campaign to be House speaker just ahead of a 10 a.m. vote in which he was expected to fail for a third time. At a brief news conference at the Capitol, Mr. Jordan ... emphasized the need for the House to elect a new leader so the chamber could resume its business...."

Broadwater: "Top Democrats are holding a news conference to denounce Jordan's candidacy. 'Jim Jordan is a clear and present danger to our democracy,' says Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, referring to how Jordan attempted to overturn the 2020 election on behalf of former President Trump."

Broadwater: "Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is giving Jordan's nominating speech.... 'Jim Jordan is an effective legislator,' McCarthy says, prompting laughter and jeers from the Democrats in the chamber. Jordan has not been the lead sponsor on any bill that has been signed into law during his 16 years in Congress. But McCarthy is arguing he shepherded many bills through the Judiciary Committee."

Robert Jimison: "Representative Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 House Democrat, starts her nomination speech of Hakeem Jeffries by highlighting the solid unity of the 212 members who haven't wavered in voting for Jeffries ballot after ballot this year."

Broadwater: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio failed for a third time on Friday morning to win election as House speaker, leaving his party with no consensus on a way forward and the chamber paralyzed in the face of growing pressure to get back to business. Mr. Jordan had pushed ahead with the vote despite clear signs that he would fall short, and the outcome showed that he had actually lost ground, with 25 Republicans opposing him compared to the 22 who voted against him on his last try on Wednesday. Needing 215 votes to win, he received 194. Three Republicans from swing districts won by President Biden -- Representative Marc Molinaro of New York, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Representative Tom Kean of New Jersey -- abandoned Mr. Jordan after supporting him earlier. What happens next is unclear."

Jimison: "The eight Republicans led by Matt Gaetz of Florida, left, who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker have sent a letter to their colleagues saying they are willing to accept some form of punishment if that will move holdouts to vote in favor of Jim Jordan." MB: I don't know, but I kinda think these old boys would enjoy "some form of punishment." I'm seeing a dominatrix thing happening here.

Broadwater: "House Republicans are about to meet behind closed doors in the basement to try to figure out next steps."

Broadwater: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio lost an internal vote to continue as his party's nominee for speaker on Friday, plunging the House into further uncertainty and sending Republicans searching for a new leader."

Catie Edmondson: "Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida says Jordan was 'knifed by secret ballot, anonymously, in a closed-door meeting in the bowels of the Capitol.' Gaetz says, 'This was truly swamp tactics on display.'"

Edmondson: "About a dozen lawmakers have said they are running or strongly considering a run for the speakership...."

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Friday are here: "Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said 'we're in a very bad place' after Jim Jordan again failed to win the speakership during the third round of voting. 'I think we'll go to conference here shortly and see which direction we go in,' McCarthy said while talking to reporters following the third vote for speaker. 'It's a problem for the party that we're in this place to begin with. And it's 4 percent, eight members here, crazy members led by Gaetz, that put us in a bad situation,' McCarthy said...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: "Rep. Steve Womack (R-AK) raised a smile from CNN's Jake Tapper Friday when discussing why the GOP is mired in such chaos while trying to choose a House speaker.... Womack said. 'Sometimes we can be slow learners. It is kind of ironic that we're doing this interview in the shadows of the Will Rogers statue from Oklahoma right behind me. And you remember what will said about this whole business of learning: ... people learn by reading, people can learn by observation, and sometimes people learn by just peeing on the electric fence for themselves.... So, that is a situation that is reminiscent of House Republicans right now....' [Tapper replied,] 'I also know Will Rogers said, "I'm not a member of an organized political party, I'm a Democrat." And maybe that was true of the Democratic Party at the time, but it sure describes your party right now....'"

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Now, the leaderless and rudderless Republicans will start all over again. The earliest they could vote on the next nominee, their third, would be Tuesday, a full three weeks since they ousted Kevin McCarthy and shut down the House of Representatives.... 'Back to the drawing board,' a grim McCarthy said after Friday afternoon's conference meeting. McCarthy (Calif.) blamed the seemingly endless chaos on the Republicans who ousted him, saying 'the amount of damage they have done to this party and to this country is insurmountable.'... Jordan ... made the divisions much deeper, first by kneecapping Republicans' first nominee to succeed McCarthy, Steve Scalise (La.), and then by launching an intimidation campaign against opponents that led to death threats against fellow Republicans and their families.... Incredibly, Rep. Scott Perry (Pa.), a Jordan ally, belittled the death threats. 'All of us in Congress receive death threats,' he told reporters at Jordan's Friday morning news conference. 'That's nothing new. That is another red herring.'"

Trumpity Doo-Dah

** The Chese Cops a Plea. Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Kenneth Chesebro, a Donald Trump-aligned attorney who helped craft the 2020 fake elector plot, is pleading guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. The plea deal is another major victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump and 18 others in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Thursday, former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell also pleaded guilty. Chesebro is pleading guilty to one felony -- conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Fulton County prosecutors are recommending that Chesebro serve 5 years of probation and pay $5,000 in restitution. He agreed to testify at any future trials in the sprawling election subversion case and write an apology letter. The plea came shortly after jury selection began Friday. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had met with the pool of prospective jurors Friday and told them the trial could last four to five months." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Richard Fausset & Christian Boone of the New York Times: "... Mr. Chesebro's plea has added to a sudden sense of momentum in favor of prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga. As part of his plea deal, Mr. Chesebro agreed to 'truthfully testify' against the remaining co-defendants, as did [Sidney] Powell and Scott Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman who accepted a plea deal in the case in late September. These developments spell only bad news for [Donald] Trump and his 15 remaining co-defendants, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, his former personal lawyer, and Mark Meadows, his former White House chief of staff, who are set to be tried at a later date." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Mr. Chesebro's deal could present a ... serious threat to Mr. Trump ... given that he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count that involved both the former president and some of his closest allies. Mr. Chesebro also maintained an extensive correspondence with other pro-Trump lawyers charged in the case and played a central role in one of Mr. Trump's chief plans to stay in office: a scheme to create slates of pro-Trump electors in states like Georgia, which Mr. Trump had actually lost.... The electors scheme became a vital part of the end game strategy pursued by Mr. Trump.... If and when Mr. Chesebro takes the stand in Georgia, he could give an insider's perspective ... on ... the roles that other lawyers, including John Eastman and Rudolph W. Giuliani, played in the fake elector scheme.... If Mr. Chesebro were to testify that Mr. Trump's lawsuits challenging his loss were not designed to win, but merely as ploys to sow doubt about the election, it could cut against Mr. Trump's possible plan to use a so-called advice of counsel defense. That strategy involves blaming one's lawyers for giving bad advice."

Kara Scannell & Sabrina Souza of CNN: "The judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud trial admonished the former president's attorneys for a 'blatant violation' of a gag order and suggested that violations could result in 'imprisonment.' Judge Arthur Engoron said despite his clear order to take down a social media post attacking his clerk, 'I learned that the subject post was never removed from the website.... And, in fact, had been on that website for the past 17 days. I understand that it was removed late last night but only in response to an email,' Engoron said. The post was removed from Truth Social right after the gag order was issued but not from Trump's campaign website, DonaldJTrump.com.... 'I will now provide defendants an opportunity to explain why this blatant violation of this gag order should not result in serious sanctions including financial penalties ... and or possibly imprisonment.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Michael Sisak of the AP: "... Donald Trump was fined $5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case lingered on his campaign website for weeks after the judge ordered it deleted. Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in contempt, for now, but reserved the right to do so -- and possibly even put the 2024 Republican front-runner in jail -- if he again violates a limited gag order barring people participating in the case from personal attacks on court staff. Engoron said in a written ruling that he is 'way beyond the "warning" stage,' but that he was only fining Trump a nominal amount because this was a 'first time violation' and Trump's lawyers said the website's retention of the post had been inadvertent." (Also linked yesterday.)

Devan Cole & Piper Blackburn of CNN: "US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday temporarily froze the gag order she issued on Donald Trump in the former president's federal 2020 election subversion criminal case. In a brief order, Chutkan ... said she was issuing the administrative stay of the gag order entered earlier this week to give the parties more time to brief her on the former president's request to pause the order while his appeal of it plays out. Chutkan also said that the Justice Department has until Wednesday to respond to Trump's request for a longer pause on the gag order and that Trump would have until the following Saturday to reply to the government's filing. Trump has already appealed the gag order to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and in a 33-page filing on Friday, his attorneys urged Chutkan to pause the order while that appeal plays out." MB: Great! Now Trump can go back to threatening court and DOJ staff as well as potential witnesses.

Brandi Buchman of Law & Crime: "In a double serving of what could arguably be described as doses of one's own medicine, special counsel Jack Smith plucked apart Donald Trump's latest efforts to throw out criminal conspiracy charges against him in Washington, D.C., by citing two arguments the former president would seem hard pressed to deny -- one from the U.S. Supreme Court justice he appointed, Brett Kavanaugh, and the other from Trump's own mouth when he was impeached for the second time.... In Kavanaugh's 2020 concurring opinion for Trump v. Vance, the justice affirmed that no one is above the law and that this concept 'applies, of course, to a president.' And as for former presidents, Smith wrote Thursday, there are no 'duties' nor any 'leadership role' that a former president could have interfered with as the result of charges being brought or convictions being sought. [Although Trump claimed that his second impeachment trial centered on January 6 & therefore any other proceeding would constitute double jeopardy, he also argued that the Senate trial] was ... meritless and without jurisdiction."

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "A personal aide to ... Donald J. Trump and co-defendant in the classified documents case told a federal judge on Friday that he wanted to keep his lawyer despite a potential conflict of interest that could be problematic for his defense. The aide, Walt Nauta, is accused of conspiring with Mr. Trump to obstruct efforts to retrieve highly sensitive government documents after he left office. His lawyer, Stanley Woodward Jr., previously represented a key witness in the case. The hearing appeared to bring to an end a monthslong back and forth between the prosecution and defense over whether the co-defendants in the case, including Mr. Nauta, understood that their lawyers had possible conflicts.... On Friday, Judge [Aileen] Cannon spent nearly an hour making sure Mr. Nauta understood the 'potential perils' that could affect his defense." CNN's report is here.

Betsy Swan of Politico: "The federal prosecutors who have brought charges against hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters are seeing an uptick in violent threats and harassment directed toward their office, the office's lead prosecutor told congressional investigators. Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for Washington, said the threats come from around the country and have become 'pervasive,' though he did not elaborate on their substance or whether any law enforcement agency is investigating them. Graves' comments ... came in a closed-door interview on Oct. 3 with the House Judiciary Committee about the Hunter Biden probe.... Graves repeatedly declined to name subordinates in his office who were involved in the decision last year not to team up with David Weiss, the Delaware prosecutor who has long been investigating Hunter Biden on tax and gun issues. Linking his deputies to Weiss' probe could put them at risk, Graves said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You don't want to give Jim Jordan -- who chairs the House Judiciary Committee -- and his ilk any names of people Jordan would like to be harassed & threatened. Because the people will be harassed & threatened.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Biden administration officials to continue to contact social media platforms to combat what the officials say is misinformation, pausing a sweeping ruling from a federal appeals court that had severely limited such interactions. The justices also agreed to hear the administration's appeal in the case, setting the stage for a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era -- one that will require the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech." Politico's story is here.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court refused on Friday to reinstate an expansive Missouri law that restricted state and local law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal gun laws and allowed private lawsuits against law enforcement agencies that violated the state's understanding of the Second Amendment. The court's brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications asking them to intervene in an early stage of litigation. An appeal of a judge's ruling striking down the law will proceed, and the case could again reach the Supreme Court after that appeal is decided. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, giving no explanation." Politico's report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Florida. Michelle Watson of CNN: "A former Florida state lawmaker who acquired more than $150,000 in Small Business Administration loans by lying on applications was sentenced Thursday to four months in federal prison, the US Attorney's office for the Northern District of Florida said. Former state Rep. Joseph Harding, a Republican, pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with Covid-19 relief fraud. Following his prison term, he will face two years of supervised release, a court record said. CNN affiliate WKMG reports that Harding tearfully addressed the court, saying he had 'no one to blame but myself.'... Harding has drawn the national spotlight before, as a sponsor of the controversial ... 'Don't Say Gay' law." (Also linked yesterday.) Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his commentary in yesterday's thread.

Maryland. Jay Croft of CNN: "Baltimore has agreed to pay $48 million to three men who were wrongfully convicted of murder as teenagers and spent 36 years in prison. 'These are men who went to jail as teenagers and came out as young grandfathers in their 50s,' Baltimore Police Department chief legal counsel Justin Conroy told the city's Board of Estimates before the panel approved the payment on Wednesday. Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were 16 when they were arrested on Thanksgiving Day 1983, according to the federal lawsuit they filed after being freed. They were charged in the murder of DeWitt Duckett, 14, allegedly killed for his jacket in school. They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. But they were declared innocent decades later, after Chestnut filed a public records request. He discovered new evidence that was kept from his attorneys during trial and contacted Baltimore's Conviction Integrity Unit, which was reviewing old convictions."

Ohio. Julia Ainsley, et al., of NBC News: "Federal agents found more than two dozen minors illegally working inside a poultry plant in Kidron, Ohio, earlier this month, according to local immigration advocates who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity. The children, mainly from Guatemala, according to the advocates, were working in meat processing and sanitation in a plant run by Gerber's Poultry, which produces Amish Farm Chicken...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas conflict are here: "A convoy of 20 trucks carrying aid moved through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, according to the United Nations and images shown on Egyptian state television, after days of diplomatic wrangling to get food, water and medicine into the blockaded enclave where essential supplies were running out and hospitals were nearing collapse. The convoy carrying 'life-saving supplies' will be received in Gaza by the Palestinian Red Crescent with the support of the United Nations, the U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said. Four of the trucks carried medicine and other health-related essentials, the World Health Organization confirmed, which warned that Saturday's deliveries would 'barely begin to address the escalating health needs' in Gaza."

Vivian Yee: "Opening a summit of world leaders in Cairo, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt called for more aid to flow into Gaza and for the world to stand against the violence against civilians in Gaza. He expressed 'bewilderment and amazement at the silent stance that the entire world is embodying.' The world's reaction to Palestinian suffering, he said, revealed 'discrimination or double standards.'... He again rejected the idea of Palestinian refugees from Gaza being evacuated to Egypt...."

CNN's live updates for Saturday are here.

Alex Marquardt, et al., of CNN: "Hamas released two American hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natali Raanan, on Friday after they abducted around 200 people from Israel in a deadly attack on October 7. The US citizens were handed over at the border with Gaza and are now in the care of the Israel Defense Forces, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Friday. They are currently on their way to an Israeli military base to be reunited with family, according to the office for Israel's prime minister. The Raanans are from Chicago and had been visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, when they were taken, according to their family. The two were handed over to the Red Cross and are 'on their way out,' a source familiar with negotiations for their release said earlier on Friday. They are being released on 'humanitarian grounds' because the mother is in poor health, the same source said. The release was the result of negotiations between Qatar and Hamas." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The release of the Raanans was clearly a public relations ploy by Hamas. The two women were visiting Americans (though at least one report says they also hold Israeli citizenship), Natali is particularly photogenic, Judith is reportedly ailing and their plight has been well-publicized on television by their cousin, former NBC News Middle East correspondent Martin Fletcher.