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To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Friday
Oct132023

The Conversation -- October 14, 2023

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The judge presiding over the upcoming damages trial against Rudy Giuliani said Friday she will tell jurors that the former Trump lawyer intentionally hid financial documents and other records in defiance of court orders. In a five-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said the move was necessary given 'Giuliani's continued and flagrant disregard of this Court's August 30 Order that he produce financial-related documents concerning his personal and his businesses' past and present assets' and other pertinent information. That means jurors deciding how much Giuliani should pay two Georgia election workers he defamed will be told they can assume the worst about why the former New York City mayor has failed to turn over the court-ordered records. 'The jury will be instructed that it must, when determining an appropriate sum of compensatory, presumed, and punitive damages, infer that defendant Giuliani was intentionally trying to hide relevant discovery about the Giuliani Businesses finances for the purpose of shielding his assets from discovery and artificially deflating his net worth,' the judge wrote."

~~~~~~~~~~

Matthew Daly of the AP: "The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden's agenda to slow climate change. Biden called clean hydrogen essential to his vision of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. His goal is to establish seven regional hubs to help replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity. The seven hubs, which include projects in 16 states, will spur more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union positions, Biden said Friday at a cargo terminal in Philadelphia, where one of the hubs will be based."

Speaker Pick o' the Day

Clare Foran & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House Republicans have picked Rep. Jim Jordan as their new speaker nominee, though it is unclear if the Ohio Republican can win enough support to secure the gavel in a full House vote as the conference faces a leadership crisis. There are already signs Jordan will encounter resistance as several lawmakers have said they would not vote for him." This is an update of a story linked earlier today. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Olivia Beavers & Jordain Carney of Politico: Jim Jordan "won with 124 votes, according to two sources..., but he'll need to meet a much higher bar of 217 to be elected speaker on the House floor. The timing of a [floor] vote is in flux, as several Republicans publicly speculate that Jordan won't be able to get there." As Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) suggested, if "moderates" reward the hardliners' bad behavior and cave to voting en masse for Jordan, they should expect more bad behavior. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Friday nominated Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to be their next speaker, but quickly postponed a floor vote to elect him as scores of their members refused to commit to backing him. By a vote of 124 to 81, Mr. Jordan defeated Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, a mainstream conservative and an ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who had decided just hours earlier to seek the nomination. Mr. Scott had effectively put himself forward as a protest candidate against Mr. Jordan, the co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and a favorite of ... Donald J. Trump's. But while Mr. Jordan won the contest, his quest for the speakership still faced serious challenges. A second secret-ballot vote revealed that a sizable chunk of Republicans did not intend to support him on the floor, where he needs 217 votes to win the gavel. It was a continuation of the bitter party infighting that has broken out in recent days paralyzing the House.... Republicans sent their members home for the weekend late Friday afternoon with no resolution and no sense of when the feuding might end." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.)

Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "A bipartisan solution to the GOP's leadership chaos still sounds farfetched to most on the Hill -- but then, so does the idea that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) might overcome his dozens of skeptics and win a floor vote early next week.... Unless Jordan can overcome his skeptics and push to victory on the floor in the next several days, the only way forward might be with Democrats. A group of centrist Democrats wrote to Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) on Friday to propose a limited agenda and some perks for the opposing party in exchange for temporarily restarting House business during a time of global crisis. Some self-described GOP pragmatists have suggested that if Republicans can't chart a course on their own, they could cut a deal with Democrats to break the 10-day impasse." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you read through the report, you'll see why the reporters call the various schemes "far-fetched": Republicans can't agree on anything. Many are dug in with a "my way or the highway" 'tude, and the highway is a roundabout with at least half-a-dozen exits.

Sahil Kapur & Julia Jester of NBC News: "'House Republicans have selected as their nominee to be the speaker of the people's House the chairman of the chaos caucus, a defender in a dangerous way of dysfunction, and an extremist extraordinaire,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Friday on the steps of the Capitol, flanked by dozen of Democratic lawmakers. 'His focus has been on peddling lies and conspiracy theories and driving division amongst the American people.' House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., labeled Jordan an 'insurrectionist' and said he would be on a glide path to becoming speaker if not for the unified opposition of Democrats. 'He was directly involved in the right-wing coup that sought to overturn the 2020 election,' she said.... [Rep. Ted] Lieu [D-Calif.] also warned that if Jordan is speaker, he would fight to avoid certifying a potential Biden re-election victory in 2024: 'Jim Jordan is one of the leaders of not respecting the will of American people in elections, and he will absolutely do everything he can to not certify a Biden victory. That's what he did before.'"

GOP Beauty Contest/Queen for a Day. Scott Wong of NBC News: "Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., a member of the GOP leadership team, plans to jump into the race [for speaker] if [Rep. Jim] Jordan, R-Ohio, can't secure the 217 votes needed by early next week, according to a source familiar with the lawmaker's plans."

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "... there's one historical claim made by fascists that gets accepted at face value by people who ought to know better: The idea that authoritarian regimes are models of order and discipline.... The belief that the far right is ruthlessly efficient and well organized terrifies its opponents and emboldens its supporters, then and now. If you still buy any of that, consider the Republicans in Congress, who are behaving like a sackful of trapped weasels over what should be a simple task: Picking which one of the indistinguishable MAGA-monsters gets to be speaker of the House.... Veering hard toward the radical right hasn't made Republicans more cohesive or more disciplined. On the contrary, it's this rightward shift that is fueling the ugliness. Contrary to popular belief, authoritarianism brings chaos, not order." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... there is one eternal truth, one unwavering constant to steady us when all else is in flux: Every time the House Republican majority tries to govern, it's guaranteed to turn into a goat rodeo." Milbank wrote his column before Friday's events, but it's still LOL funny in places: "Reporters and TV crews chased [George] Santos back to his office, crashing into furniture in the hallway. 'How can you vote in the speaker election,' asked CNN's Manu Raju, 'when you've been charged with all these crimes?' Santos slammed his office door in Raju's face."

Marie: A year ago, much was made of former British Prime Minister's Liz Truss's failure to hold onto the top job for as long as the life of a head of lettuce. (The lettuce won.) Well, I am here to report (and this is true) that at the same time Republicans ousted My Kevin as Speaker of the House. I bought a lovely head of butter lettuce, which sat in my fridge crisper in its own little well of water to keep it fresh. For a while, I pulled off lettuce leaves, one or two at a time, to use in my sandwiches. But I never finished the head. House Republicans still have not elected another speaker, but what's left of my head of lettuce is a tiny black blob of unrecognizable origin.


Mark Mazetti & Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "The charges against Senator Robert Menendez and his wife [Nadine] highlight how Egypt's powerful intelligence agency wields influence.... [Indictments against the couple reveal how] they tried to head off potential cuts to the more than $1 billion in aid that the United States sends to Cairo each year. They gave Egyptian officials internal information about staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. And they pushed the U.S. secretary of state to help block a dam project on the Nile River that Egypt's government vigorously opposed. In return, prosecutors say, the Menendezes received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold bars, cash and other bribes.... The roles of the two Egyptian spies [-- Gen. Ahmed Helmy, Egypt's top spy in Washington ('Egyptian Official-3') and Gen. Abbas Kamel, the chief of Egypt's General Intelligence Service,('Egyptian Official-5') --] in trying to influence U.S. policy also provide more evidence to suggest that the information-passing and bribe-paying could be part of an espionage operation centered on Mr. Menendez, and not just another tactic to wield influence in Washington." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Interesting read. And for Pete's sake, don't allow Bob Menendez near any piece of classified information. He'll sell it to the highest bidder.

Graham Kates of CBS News: "... Donald Trump's ex-lawyer and 'fixer,' Michael Cohen, will not testify next week as planned in the New York civil fraud trial against Trump and his company, due to a medical issue.... Trump ... planned to attend the proceedings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday." MB: So we'll see if Trump shows up next week or if his purpose was simply to scowl at Cohen so he'll stay away.

Beth Reinhard, et al., of the Washington Post: "Less than five years into a 20-year sentence for his role in a massive fraud scheme..., [Philip] Esformes walked out of federal prison thanks to Donald Trump, who granted him clemency in the waning days of his presidency. But ... the Biden Justice Department is seeking to retry him -- a move made possible because the jury that convicted him reached no verdict on six counts, including the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud. Trump's clemency order was silent on those charges.... The highly unusual decision to retry a clemency recipient on hung charges has emerged as yet another flash point in the broader battle between the far right, which portrays the Justice Department as an arm of an out-of-control 'deep state,' and law-and-order proponents seeking to defend institutions of democracy against incursions by the former president and his allies. Experts say they know of no precedent for this dispute.... Some former prosecutors say a retrial is a chance to correct a grievous mistake in which Trump bypassed long-standing protocols to grant clemency to a corrupt nursing home executive."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would hear a second challenge to a foundational precedent on the power of executive agencies. The new case is almost identical to one the court agreed to hear in May, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451. The court's usual practice when asked to hear a follow-on case concerning the same issues is to hold the new case until the earlier one is resolved and then return it to the lower courts for reconsideration in light of the ruling in the first one. The court's unusual decision to grant review in the new case was almost surely because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had recused herself from the earlier case, having served on the panel that heard it when she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."

As Democracy Crumbles. Mark Sherman of the AP: "The Supreme Court avoided a catastrophic accident last year when a piece of marble at least 2 feet long crashed to the ground in an interior courtyard used by the justices and their aides, according to several court employees. The incident, which the court still fails to acknowledge publicly, took place in the tense spring of 2022, as the court already was dealing with death threats and other security concerns and the justices were putting the final touches on their stunning decision overturning Roe v. Wade.... No one was injured when the marble fell, the employees said. The piece was easily big enough to have seriously injured someone, they said. It was much larger than the basketball-sized chunk that fell near the court's front entrance in 2005." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

Marshall Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump has lost the first of several attempts to throw out a lawsuit that seeks to block him from the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado, based on the 14th Amendment's prohibition against insurrectionists holding public office. Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace this week rejected Trump's bid to get the lawsuit dismissed on free-speech grounds. The former president still has several pending challenges against the case, which was initiated by a liberal government watchdog group."

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "As [Donald] Trump dodges debates and is regularly seen on his golf courses in branded white polo shirts and red MAGA hats, it can seem that he is bypassing the 2024 primary fight entirely. He has done relatively few public campaign events until recent weeks. But Mr. Trump and his political team have spent months working behind the scenes to build alliances and contingency plans with key party officials, seeking to twist the primary and delegate rules in their favor....'They've rigged it anywhere they thought they could pull it off,' said Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official who founded ... [a] pro-DeSantis super PAC.... 'No one has tried to rig the rules like Donald Trump has been doing here at least in a very long time,' he said. 'And no one has ever done it who, in other circumstances, complains about the rules being rigged.'... Mr. Trump is doing to Mr. DeSantis exactly what he once accused Hillary Clinton of doing to Bernie Sanders: bending the system in his favor."

Dear Mrs. Trump: Donnie does not play well with others, to say the least. He has formed a gang of third-graders who steal from the younger children and bully even the boys & girls in the upper grades with almost mobster-like techniques. Last week he made lewd comments to me, which I will not repeat, and he super-glued a disgusting anatomical picture to the front of my skirt you-know-where. Our school counselor advises Donnie should visit with a psychiatrist. I think he also might benefit by attending a strict private boarding or military school where some discipline might be administered. I hope you and your family are well and safe because My God! -- Mrs. Clementine Woosley, Donnie's teacher ~~~

~~~ Make America Genocidal Again. Marianne Levine & Meryl Kornfeld of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump has denigrated undocumented immigrants in recent weeks by accusing them of 'poisoning the blood of our country,' associating them with drug and alcohol use and portraying them as dangerous threats to Americans, prompting widespread criticism and denunciations of racism and xenophobia from immigrant and civil rights groups. During a recent rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the former president said: 'These people are very aggressive: They drink, they have drugs, a lot of things happening.'... And in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump baselessly accused immigrants crossing the Mexican border of being involved in the recent attacks on Israel.... Across his campaign rallies, Trump devotes significant portions of his speeches to the border and to immigration, speaking in often exaggerated and graphic terms.... 'He appears to be taking pages from the Hitler Nazi playbook and using them in this production to divide Americans and engage in tribalism,' [Domingo] Garcia [of the League of United Latin American Citizens] said.... Civil rights groups ... are warning that his ... [remarks] could inspire violence against minorities and reflects rhetoric used by white nationalists."

Marie: So as Joe Biden plans for the future by addressing climate change and increasing green-energy jobs, Donald Trump recycles and escalates racist and xenophobic rhetoric. As Biden expresses unwavering support for Israel against barbaric attacks, Trump false accuses Israel's prime minister of backing out of a planned joint military strike at the last minute. ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live developments Saturday or the Israel/Hamas war are here. The AP's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here: "Israel's military has given Gazans a six-hour window to evacuate south on specified streets to 'ensure their safety.' It's unclear how widely the messaging has been received amid electricity and internet blackouts. The 'movement advisory' for Gaza residents comes a day after warnings were issued to the 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes, amid signs Israel is set to ramp up its retaliatory offensive against Hamas.... Israel's evacuation order prompted tens of thousands of people to leave their homes in Gaza Friday, according to the UN's humanitarian office. Gaza's humanitarian crisis is deepening with warnings people are at risk of starvation."

Paul Murphy, et al., of CNN: "A CNN investigation has analysed almost two years of training and propaganda video released by Hamas and its affiliates to reveal the months of preparations that went into last week's attack, finding that militants trained for the onslaught in at least six sites across Gaza. Two of those sites, including the arid training site shown in the December video, were a little more than a mile from the most fortified and patrolled section of the Gaza-Israel border.... Two years of satellite imagery, also reviewed by CNN, show no indication of an offensive Israeli military action against any of the six identified sites.... [One] video taken more than a year ago, shows Hamas fighters practicing take-offs, landings and assaults with paragliders -- the same unusual assault mode that Hamas deployed with lethal effect in the ... Oct. 7 attack.... The fact that Hamas trained for the attack in plain sight for at least two years raise further questions as to why Israel, home to the Middle East's most sophisticated military and spying operation, was unable to pick up on and stop the October 7 attack?" Some of the videos are included in the report.

Planned Barbarity. Anna Schecter of NBC News: "Documents exclusively obtained by NBC News show that Hamas created detailed plans to target elementary schools and a youth center in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Sa'ad, to "kill as many people as possible," seize hostages and quickly move them into the Gaza Strip. The attack plans, which are labeled 'top secret' in Arabic, appear to be orders for two highly trained Hamas units to surround and infiltrate villages and target places where civilians, including children, gather."

Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: "... Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Friday that all citizens of Gaza are responsible for the attack Hamas perpetrated in Israel last weekend that left over 1,200 people dead. 'It is an entire nation out there that is responsible,' Herzog said at a press conference on Friday. 'It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d'etat.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is stupid on its face. Half the people who live in the Gaza Strip are less than age 18. Of course some of the older teens are certainly pro-Hamas or participate in Hamas programs, but that number is surely balanced out by adult citizens who oppose violence and have seen quite enough of it. A million school-aged children are not responsible for Hamas.

Kareem Fahim, et al., of the Washington Post: "A Reuters videographer [Issam Abdallah] was killed and six other journalists were wounded Friday in southern Lebanon when the area they were reporting from was struck by Israeli shelling.... Journalists from the Al Jazeera news channel and Agence France-Presse were also injured in the strike.... A cameraman for Al Araby TV said ... there was no indication that fire from Lebanon was coming from anywhere near the journalists.... Reporters Without Borders said Abdallah was 'killed by an Israeli strike while covering the situation on the southern border' in Lebanon. The press advocacy group described it as a 'heinous crime against journalists' and said it was 'continuing its investigations into the circumstances of this tragedy.'"

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "A pair of classified C.I.A. intelligence reports issued in the days ahead of a major Hamas attack on Israel warned about a potential escalation in violence but did not predict the complex, multipronged attack that Hamas gunmen launched against Israel days later, according to U.S. officials. The first of the intelligence reports, dated Sept. 28, described the possibility that Hamas would launch rockets into Israel over a period of several days. The second report, dated Oct. 5, built on the first but was more analytical. The Oct. 5 report appeared in a daily C.I.A. summary of intelligence that is distributed widely to policymakers and lawmakers, the officials said. But intelligence officials did not brief either of the reports to President Biden or senior White House officials. Nor did the C.I.A. highlight the reports to White House policymakers as being of particular significance, officials said." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

A Conspiracy Theory with Legs. Thom Hartmann raises the question: did Donald Trump leak vital classified security information to Russia, who conveyed the information to Hamas, via Iran? Hartmann describes his evidence as "speculation," but it is plausible speculation, given Trump's history of passing around classified information to Russians, random guests at his resorts, and even to the general public. Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his commentary in yesterday's thread. MB: IMO, one factor that mitigates against the likelihood that Hamas relied to Trump's leaks is that Israel should have been so horrified by Trump's 2017 leak(s) that they would have been super-careful not to provide the U.S. with further intelligence that could further damage their defenses and personnel.

Every Word He Says Is a Lie, Including 'And' and 'The.' Courtney Kube & Katherine Doyle of NBC News: "... Donald Trump falsely characterized Israel's role in his administration's assassination of Iran's top general during remarks this week, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the planning of the operation. Trump said Wednesday that Israel planned to be part of the January 2020 operation that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani but abruptly backed out the night before it was to take place. In his remarks, delivered before an audience at his Mar-a-Lago club..., Trump sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for that decision after months of working with the U.S. on the operation. But the U.S. officials familiar with the planning said Trump's comments are entirely false. 'They were never on board with it,' said a former senior White House official, referring to the Israelis. 'They always thought it was a dangerous and destabilizing idea.'"

If you're sketchy on the last 3/4s of a century's history of the Israel & Palestine, here's a brief history.


New Zealand. Nick Perry of the AP: "Conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand's next prime minister after winning a decisive election victory Saturday. People voted for change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern."

Russia. Francesca Ebel of the Washington Post: "Three lawyers who represent the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have been arrested, Navalny's spokeswoman said Friday -- depriving the Kremlin critic of one of his few remaining channels to the outside world.... Navalny press secretary Kira Yarmysh wrote on X ... that the lawyers had been detained 'so that Alexei is without legal protection .. and to send a signal to other lawyers: it is dangerous to defend him and other political prisoners.'" MB: Expect Donald Trump to put this travesty in his Great Ideas notebook.

Ukraine, et al. Aamer Madhani of the AP: "The White House said on Friday that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine.... White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Korea's military and nuclear program."

News Lede

** CNN: "A 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse will put on a show from Oregon to Texas this Saturday -- as long as clouds don't spoil the fun. The moon doesn't cover 100% of the sun in an annular solar eclipse like in a total solar eclipse, but instead allows some light to peek through and encircle the moon in a so-called 'ring of fire,' also known as annularity. Only a narrow corridor of the western and central US will be able to experience the ring, when the moon will block out 90% of the sun for a few minutes on Saturday morning. Here are the best and worst places to see the eclipse unfold based on weather conditions:"

Comments Off
Friday
Oct132023

The Conversation -- October 13, 2023

** Speaker Pick o' the Day. Clare Foran & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House Republicans have picked Rep. Jim Jordan as their new speaker nominee, though it is unclear if the Ohio Republican can win enough support to secure the gavel in a full House vote as the conference faces a leadership crisis. There are already signs Jordan will encounter resistance as several lawmakers have said they would not vote for him." This is an update of a story linked earlier today. ~~~

     ~~~ Olivia Beavers & Jordain Carney of Politico: Jim Jordan "won with 124 votes, according to two sources..., but he'll need to meet a much higher bar of 217 to be elected speaker on the House floor. The timing of a [floor] vote is in flux, as several Republicans publicly speculate that Jordan won't be able to get there." As Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) suggested, if "moderates" reward the hardliners' bad behavior and cave to voting en masse for Jordan, they should expect more bad behavior.

~~~ The Washington Post is liveblogging developments: "House Republicans are holdilng a closed-door forum Friday afternoon at which they'll hear from at least two candidates for speaker: Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Austin Scott (Ga.). The conference is scrambling to find a nominee after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) dropped out of the race Thursday night as he struggled to round up the necessary 217 votes to get elected by the full chamber. It's unclear when a vote for speaker could take place on the House floor." So then ... ~~~

"Although Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) clinched the majority to become speaker-designate, it remains unclear whether he has the 217 votes needed to actually wield the gavel." ~~~

"House Republicans on Friday voted to make Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) their next nominee for speaker, according to Rep. Elise Stefanik, the Republican conference chairwoman. Jordan, who was endorsed by ... Donald Trump, is chairman of the Judiciary Committee."

~~~ Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "A little-known Republican emerged on Friday to challenge Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio in the raucous party feud over selecting a new speaker, underscoring the G.O.P. divisions that have left the House leaderless and paralyzed for more than a week. Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, a mainstream conservative and ally of the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, said he would seek the nomination. He effectively was putting himself forward as a protest candidate against Mr. Jordan, the hard-right Republican who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The surprise move promised to prolong the infighting that has raged among Republicans.... 'I think I can unite the conference,' Mr. Jordan told reporters.... 'When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this,' Mr. Scott told reporters, adding: 'But I believe if we as Republicans are going to make the majority, we have to do the right things the righ way. And we're not doing that right now.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Broadwater's story has been updated to reflect the pick o' the day: “By a vote of 124 to 81, Mr. Jordan defeated Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, an ally of the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had decided just hours earlier to seek the nomination."

      ~~~ Marie: You just have to love the depth of planning that House Republicans have demonstrated here. But, hey, if you suddenly realized right now that you'd like to be third in line to the presidency, don't hesitate. Submit your name now, and you have as good a chance as any of the bozos already sitting on the right side of the aisle. Here's a game plan. Oh wait, you don't need a plan. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Hill's liveblog of what-all House Republicans purport to be up to.

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "... there's one historical claim made by fascists that gets accepted at face value by people who ought to know better: The idea that authoritarian regimes are models of order and discipline.... The belief that the far right is ruthlessly efficient and well organized terrifies its opponents and emboldens its supporters, then and now. If you still buy any of that, consider the Republicans in Congress who are behaving like a sackful of trapped weasels over what should be a simple task: Picking which one of the indistinguishable MAGA-monsters gets to be speaker of the House.... Veering hard toward the radical right hasn't made Republicans more cohesive or more disciplined. On the contrary, it's this rightward shift that is fueling the ugliness. Contrary to popular belief, authoritarianism brings chaos, not order."

As Democracy Crumbles. Mark Sherman of the AP: "The Supreme Court avoided a catastrophic accident last year when a piece of marble at least 2 feet long crashed to the ground in an interior courtyard used by the justices and their aides, according to several court employees. The incident, which the court still fails to acknowledge publicly, took place in the tense spring of 2022, as the court already was dealing with death threats and other security concerns and the justices were putting the final touches on their stunning decision overturning Roe v. Wade.... No one was injured when the marble fell, the employees said. The piece was easily big enough to have seriously injured someone, they said. It was much larger than the basketball-sized chunk that fell near the court's front entrance in 2005."

Israel/Palestine. Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "A pair of classified C.I.A. intelligence reports issued in the days ahead of a major Hamas attack on Israel warned about a potential escalation in violence but did not predict the complex, multipronged attack that Hamas gunmen launched against Israel days later, according to U.S. officials. The first of the intelligence reports, dated Sept. 28, described the possibility that Hamas would launch rockets into Israel over a period of several days. The second report, dated Oct. 5, built on the first but was more analytical. The Oct. 5 report appeared in a daily C.I.A. summary of intelligence that is distributed widely to policymakers and lawmakers, the officials said. But intelligence officials did not brief either of the reports to President Biden or senior White House officials. Nor did the C.I.A. highlight the reports to White House policymakers as being of particular significance, officials said." CNN's report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

** Chaos Party Still in Chaos, Ctd. Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana withdrew on Thursday from consideration for the speakership he was on the cusp of claiming after hard-line Republicans balked at rallying around their party's chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos. After being narrowly nominated for speaker during a Wednesday closed-door secret-ballot contest among House Republicans, Mr. Scalise, their No. 2 leader, found himself far from the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor. Many supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the right-wing Republican endorsed by ... Donald J. Trump, refused to switch their allegiance.... [Scalise's] abrupt exit left Republicans back at square one, as fractured as ever over who should lead them and trading recriminations about the disarray in which they found themselves. They planned a Friday morning meeting to discuss how to move forward." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Clare Foran & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Republicans are confronting a deepening leadership crisis that has left the House paralyzed with no clear path to elect a new speaker, after an effort to replace Kevin McCarthy following his historic ouster was derailed by entrenched opposition and deep divisions within the party. By failing to coalesce behind a candidate, Republicans have plunged the House into uncharted territory and effectively frozen the chamber at a time when major international and domestic crises loom, from Israel's war against Hamas to a potential government shutdown in mid-November." ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "The House GOP has entered an angrier and more bewildered phase in its leadership crisis.... While Republicans appear to be turning next to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), some are already airing open doubts that Jordan can pull off what the majority leader couldn't. The lesson Republicans have learned in the frenetic week since [Kevin] McCarthy's fall: They have no clear choice for leader who can unite their ranks -- no matter how long this drags out and their chamber of Congress is paralyzed.... There's mounting anger across the entire conference that no GOP speaker candidate, including Jordan, appears able to prevail under the current margins.... 'We're going to have the same problem with Jordan that we had with [Steve] Scalise,' said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), even as he made clear that he supports the Ohioan. 'I think it's a math problem.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wait a minute. "A math problem" is where you have to solve for X or figure out where two trains headed toward each other will meet (and crash?!) when they're traveling at different speeds. It is not a problem where Republicans will crash because they can't get their act together.

Help! Bloomberg News, via Balloon Juice: "... Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, emerged from a contentious closed-door meeting of House Republicans to tell reporters that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries should spell out what concessions he would require to help the GOP elect a speaker. 'They put us in this ditch along with eight traitors,' Rogers said, referring to hardline GOP dissidents who toppled Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. 'We're still the majority party, we're willing to work with them, but they gotta tell us what they need.' Rogers said the Republicans' speaker nominee, Steve Scalise, is in the same situation McCarthy was in struggling to get the 217 votes needed for election. A lot of Republicans, Rogers said, would never vote for conservative firebrand Jim Jordan, who narrowly lost to Scalise on a secret ballot vote Wednesday. 'To limit ourselves to just getting 217 out of our conference I think is not a wise path forward,' Rogers said.... Democrats are ready to form a bipartisan coalition to lead the House, Jeffries said."

The Bickersons. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "House Republicans ... are consumed with an extended struggle of personal grievance, petty beefs, political payback and rampant attention-seeking that on Thursday night forced Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana to withdraw as his party's candidate for speaker. The tumult has sidelined Congress at a critical moment and rendered the Capitol a bastion of G.O.P. dysfunction. The spectacle of their infighting is even more glaring at a moment of international crisis, a fact not lost on Republicans themselves as they remain unable to settle on a speaker who could put the House back in business.... But there was no sign on Thursday that Republicans were ready to end their bickering despite the press of world events and it was unclear how they could right the ship after Mr. Scalise's wrenching decision."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times sounds an alarm: "... even if ... the rise and fall of Kevin McCarthy ... ultimately ends like any other Republican congressional drama in Washington over the last decade, something different and important has already happened: The right wing didn't just bring down a House speaker -- its members also made a credible bid at claiming the gavel for themselves. A founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Jim Jordan, won 99 votes in the House Republican conference vote Wednesday, good for about 45 percent of congressional Republicans.... The swelling congressional support for Mr. Jordan ... might ... herald the emergence of a new, alternative Trumpist governing elite -- one authentically loyal to Donald J. Trump's pugilistic brand of politics, and one that would pose a fundamental challenge to what remains of the beleaguered Republican 'establishment.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For what it's worth, I think this was apparent on January 6, 2021, when eight Republican senators (out of 50) and 139 representatives (out of 218) voted to challenge certain state results -- and that was after the bloody insurrection. That's nearly 2/3rds of House Republicans.

** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat charged last month with taking bribes in exchange for lucrative political favors, faced a stunning new accusation on Thursday -- that he conspired to act as an agent of Egypt even as he served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Manhattan federal prosecutors filed the fresh charge against Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, as well as a third defendant, Wael Hana, accusing them of conspiring to have the senator act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department. The prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes' residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible that the government says was given to them as a bribe. The charge ... is certain to intensify pressure for him to resign from office. It accuses him of violating an explicit prohibition on public officials serving as agents of foreign powers and appears to be the first time a sitting senator has been charged under the World War II-era Foreign Agents Registration Act." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story is here. Politico's story is here. The updated indictment, via Politico, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Tracey Tully & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A week after a fatal car crash involving the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez, a prosecutor's office in New Jersey filed an official account of the incident that contained apparent factual errors quickly noted by relatives of the pedestrian who was killed. But the seven-page report, which concluded that the driver, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, should not be charged, was never corrected -- raising new questions about whether the incident was handled properly by the authorities.... The documents prepared by the Bergen County Prosecutor's office are among a trove of records seized in recent days by the New Jersey attorney general's office as it scrutinizes the actions of the local police in suburban Bogota, N.J., and the county investigators."

Marie: About that nasty stare Trump adopts because he thinks it makes him look tough and intimidating? Well, looks like he plans to employ it next week: ~~~

~~~ Return of the Scowler. Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump plans to return next week to the New York courtroom where his civil fraud trial is slowly proceeding..., a reappearance that is likely to bring him face-to-face with his former fixer Michael D. Cohen.... Mr. Trump's return, first reported by The Messenger, is likely to coincide with the appearance of the most hotly anticipated witness so far: Mr. Cohen, whose congressional testimony in February 2019 that Mr. Trump inflated the value of his assets was the impetus for [New York Attorney General Letitia] James's investigation.... Mr. Trump may also be returning to New York for another reason: He is expected to sit for a deposition next week for a lawsuit brought by two former F.B.I. employees, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who say they were persecuted by his Justice Department...." The AP's story is here.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's coming trial on charges of mishandling classified documents scolded federal prosecutors on Thursday as she postponed a hearing on whether one of Mr. Trump's co-defendants understood that his lawyer might have conflicts of interest. 'I do want to admonish the government for frankly wasting the court's time,' Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Federal District Court in Fort Pierce, Fla., told David Harbach, a prosecutor working with the special counsel Jack Smith on the case. At issue was a request by Mr. Smith's team that Judge Cannon hold a hearing to make sure that Mr. Trump's co-defendants -- both of whom are employed by him -- understood that their lawyers, who are being paid by a political action committee affiliated with the former president and who have represented witnesses in the case, had possible conflicts....Judge Cannon rebuked Mr. Harbach as being overly vague in his request." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I might be wrong, but I find Cannon's pique immensely stupid -- and misplaced. It's up to the judge to decide how to address possible conflicts of interest, no matter who raises the issue in the first place. But since she failed to consider the co-defendants' rights, the prosecutor asked her what she wanted to do. Apparently she had no idea since she doesn't give a rat's ass about Trump's little co-defendants, so she railed at the prosector for failing to do her job for her. Just saying.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday, Ronald McAbee, 29, was found guilty of taking part in that assault on the West Terrace of the Capitol, the site of intense violence where in minutes multiple police officers were swarmed and beaten while trying to block a tunnel into the building. McAbee, a sheriff's deputy at a rural Tennessee jail at the time, was on medical leave on Jan. 6 because he had fractured his shoulder in a car accident six days before. McAbee pleaded guilty last month to assaulting another police officer, Carter Moore, in the tunnel. But he insisted at trial for the assault of Wayte that he was trying to protect the officer and alert police to the body of an unconscious protester. McAbee was found guilty on five charges, including assaulting, impeding or resisting an officer and civil disorder, as well as three related to having a deadly or dangerous weapon: his reinforced gloves." (Also linked yesterday.)

Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "A former IRS contractor pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of leaking tax information about former President Trump and others to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. Charles Littlejohn, 38, was charged by the Justice Department last month for disclosing tax return information on 'thousands of the nation's wealthiest individuals' to a news organization as well as passing along tax information associated with 'a high-ranking government official' to a different news outlet. He pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information." The DOJ's press release is here.

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "The European Union launched a probe Thursday into X...-Twitter, over the handling of content about the war in Israel and Gaza. The move to investigate the platform owned by Elon Musk is the most significant action taken by the EU under its new Digital Services Act, which aims to restrict the spread of illegal content and disinformation across social media platforms.... The European Commission probe comes after the commission received 'indications' of the spread of illegal content and disinformation on X, 'in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech,' according to the announcement.... Critics and experts monitoring the situation said the changes to X under Musk have amplified concerns about the spread of disinformation during the conflict. Under Musk, certain content moderation measures were rolled back."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israeli/Hamas war are here: "Frightened Palestinians packed belongings and left their homes in northern Gaza on Friday after Israel's military demanded that more than a million civilians move to the south of the blockaded coastal strip, a possible precursor to a ground invasion but one that the United Nations warned could be calamitous.... The United Nations, which said Israel's military had given civilians 24 hours to leave northern Gaza, pleaded for the call to be rescinded for fear of a humanitarian disaster." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Friday are here.

Jonathan Weisman & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Not long ago, Donald J. Trump occupied enormous psychological space in Israel and among American Jews: His face draped skyscrapers alongside Benjamin Netanyahu's during Israeli elections, and his politics drove a wedge between the Democratic Party and the Jews who have long called it their political home. But it is President Biden's face that now beams from a billboard over the main highway through Tel Aviv, and Mr. Trump's criticism of Israel's leaders that has left even Israeli conservatives stunned. The president is suddenly finding warm embraces for his response to the worst terrorist attack in the Jewish State's history in the most unlikely places.... Mr. Biden's speech condemning the 'evil' perpetrated by Hamas..., his swift offer of military assistance, and the presence of his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Israeli soil have all won remarkable plaudits." ~~~

~~~ Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump drew scorn from both sides of the political aisle on Thursday for remarks that he made one day earlier criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and referring to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, as 'very smart.'... Mr. Trump, who has frequently sought to cast himself as a champion for Israel, maligned Mr. Netanyahu on multiple occasions in recent days." The reporters give several examples of politicians criticizing Trump. MB: Once again, Trump finds there's a downside to his admiration for bloodthirsty dictators & torturers, and once again, it probably won't matter to his election prospects. ~~~

Washington Post Editors: "At a time when the United States, and the world, desperately need decency and moral clarity, President Biden has provided both. His words regarding the wanton atrocities Hamas has committed against hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as many Americans and citizens of other countries, in the past week have been unequivocal.... In condemning the terrorism, and offering support to Israel's military response, the president also reminded the new emergency war government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of its responsibilities under 'the law of war.' These measured statements put the United States in just the right place: supportive of Israel but positioned, if need be, to influence and temper its response.... In a reckless category of their own, however, were the comments of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.... The former president went in a bizarre new direction Wednesday by heaping scorn on Israel itself for failing to anticipate the attack and lecturing the Jewish state to 'step up their game.'"

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken invoked his Jewish ancestry on Thursday in a markedly personal appeal to the Israeli public aimed at offering solidarity as the country reeled from the deadliest assault in its 75-year history.... Blinken's unequivocal support for Israel came amid growing international calls to manage the deteriorating humanitarian situation stemming from Israel's airstrikes and shutdown of Gaza.... For Gaza, where resources are dwindling after Israel ordered a total blockade earlier this week, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged the allowance of 'rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.... Crucial lifesaving supplies -- including fuel, food and water -- must be allowed into Gaza,' he said." A related ABC News report is here.

Michael Crowley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran's access to $6 billion in funds recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal between Washington and Tehran that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from Iran last month. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told House Democrats on Thursday that Iran would no longer have access to the funds, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money was under close supervision and strict conditions that it be used only for humanitarian purposes. The move comes amid harsh criticism, mainly from Republicans, that the Biden administration gave Iran access to a vast sum that freed up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas before its attack on Israel over the weekend." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian & Agencies: "A senior US politician said Israel had received an official warning from Egypt of a possible attack from Gaza three days before Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault on Saturday. Michael McCaul, the chair of the US House foreign affairs committee, speaking after an intelligence briefing to senior members of Congress, said it was not clear at what level the warning was given. 'We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,' McCaul, a Republican, told reporters on Wednesday. 'I don't want to get too much into classified [details], but a warning was given. I think the question was at what level.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)

Fresh off his unintentionally rapid disembarkment from an aeroplane (see yesterday's Comments), Sen. Pototo Head (R-Ala.) expressed his ignorance of all things Middle East: Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is under fire for telling an interviewer that 'when you start picking sides in the Middle East, it can get really messy very quick' amid the violence in Israel spurred by Hamas." MB: I suppose this was meant to be a sideswipe at President Biden & his administration for supporting Israel, but it was about as adroit as a slip all the way down a set of boarding stairs.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Louise Glück, an American poet whose searing, deeply personal work, often filtered through themes of classical mythology, religion and the natural world, won her practically every honor available, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and, in 2020, the Nobel Prize for Literature, died on Friday at her home in Cambridge, Mass. She was 80."

CNBC: "Prices that consumers pay for a wide variety of goods and services increased at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in September, keeping inflation in the spotlight for policymakers. The consumer price index, a closely followed inflation gauge, increased 0.4% on the month and 3.7% from a year ago, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. That compared with respective Dow Jones estimates of 0.3% and 3.6%."

Comments Off
Thursday
Oct122023

The Conversation -- October 12, 2023

** Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Emily Brooks & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Thursday dropped out of the race for Speaker, just one day after he won the Republican nomination for the role. Scalise narrowly prevailed in a secret ballot internal GOP election on Wednesday, but it was clear almost immediately that he would struggle to get the 217 votes needed on the House floor."

Chaos Party Still in Chaos. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana scrounged on Thursday for the support to be elected speaker as Republicans balked at rallying around their party's chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.... Supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, said they were not giving up.... Adding to the drama, [Donald] Trump weighed in on Thursday against Mr. Scalise, arguing that he was unfit for the post because he is battling blood cancer.... Some Republicans were already discussing the possibility of dumping Mr. Scalise and rallying around an alternative candidate who would be able to unite their ranks in a way that he has been unable to." CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "In fact, resistance against Mr. Scalise's speakership appeared to have grown, with lawmakers newly declaring on Wednesday evening that they were irrevocably opposed to voting for him.... Here's a broad overview of the factions not yet sold on Mr. Scalise."

** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat charged last month with taking bribes in exchange for lucrative political favors, faced a stunning new accusation on Thursday -- that he conspired to act as an agent of Egypt even as he served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Manhattan federal prosecutors filed the fresh charge against Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, as well as a third defendant, Wael Hana, accusing them of conspiring to have the senator act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department. The prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes' residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible that the government says was given to them as a bribe. The charge ... is certain to intensify pressure for him to resign from office. It accuses him of violating an explicit prohibition on public officials serving as agents of foreign powers and appears to be the first time a sitting senator has been charged under the World War II-era Foreign Agents Registration Act." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story is here. Politico's story is here. The updated indictment, via Politico, is here.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday, Ronald McAbee, 29, was found guilty of taking part in that assault on the West Terrace of the Capitol, the site of intense violence where in minutes multiple police officers were swarmed and beaten while trying to block a tunnel into the building. McAbee, a sheriff's deputy at a rural Tennessee jail at the time, was on medical leave on Jan. 6 because he had fractured his shoulder in a car accident six days before. McAbee pleaded guilty last month to assaulting another police officer, Carter Moore, in the tunnel. But he insisted at trial for the assault of Wayte that he was trying to protect the officer and alert police to the body of an unconscious protester. McAbee was found guilty on five charges, including assaulting, impeding or resisting an officer and civil disorder, as well as three related to having a deadly or dangerous weapon: his reinforced gloves."

Michael Crowley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran's access to $6 billion in funds recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal between Washington and Tehran that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from Iran last month. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told House Democrats on Thursday that Iran would no longer have access to the funds, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money was under close supervision and strict conditions that it be used only for humanitarian purposes. The move comes amid harsh criticism, mainly from Republicans, that the Biden administration gave Iran access to a vast sum that freed up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas before its attack on Israel over the weekend."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times sounds an alarm: "... even if ... the rise and fall of Kevin McCarthy ... ultimately ends like any other Republican congressional drama in Washington over the last decade, something different and important has already happened: The right wing didn't just bring down a House speaker -- its members also made a credible bid at claiming the gavel for themselves. A founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Jim Jordan, won 99 votes in the House Republican conference vote Wednesday, good for about 45 percent of congressional Republicans.... The swelling congressional support for Mr. Jordan ... might ... herald the emergence of a new, alternative Trumpist governing elite -- one authentically loyal to Donald J. Trump's pugilistic brand of politics, and one that would pose a fundamental challenge to what remains of the beleaguered Republican 'establishment.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For what it's worth, I think this was apparent on January 6, 2021, when eight Republican senators (out of 50) and 139 representatives (out of 218) voted to challenge certain state results -- and that was after the bloody insurrection. That's nearly 2/3rds of House Republicans.

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian & Agencies: "A senior US politician said Israel had received an official warning from Egypt of a possible attack from Gaza three days before Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault on Saturday. Michael McCaul, the chair of the US House foreign affairs committee, speaking after an intelligence briefing to senior members of Congress, said it was not clear at what level the warning was given. 'We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,' McCaul, a Republican, told reporters on Wednesday. 'I don't want to get too much into classified [details], but a warning was given. I think the question was at what level.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Republicans in Disarray, Ctd.

Lisa Mascaro & Kevin Freking of the AP: "Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public floor vote.... In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader.... The House was gaveled into a brief session, then broke indefinitely, with next steps uncertain.... It's an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, moving into a second week without a House speaker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' main story on the House chaos caucus' failure to select a speaker is here. I'm leaving up the link to yesterday's liveblog because it offers some details that don't appear in the new, main story.

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments yesterday in House Republicans' attempts to choose a candidate for speaker: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Luke Broadwater @ about 12 noon ET: "House Republicans, deeply divided over who should lead them, gathered in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to try to choose a nominee for speaker. Should they unite around a candidate, a vote could come on the House floor as early as Wednesday afternoon, but that possibility was looking increasingly unlikely."

Broadwater @ about 12:15 pm ET: "Republicans are now voting on whether to select Scalise or Jordan as their nominee for speaker. The winner needs 111 votes."

Catie Edmondson @ about 2:45 pm ET: "It's impossible to overstate how unusual the scene playing out now is. For decades, the status quo was that a House speaker would be easily elected, in one vote, after the party that controlled the House nominated them. Kevin McCarthy's speakership was the first in a century to break that convention. Every speaker since 1923 has been able to clinch the gavel after just one vote."

Robert Jimison @ about 2:55 pm ET: "Not only is the House paralyzed until a new speaker is officially installed but the process of filling other positions in Republican leadership, such as majority leader and majority whip, are also largely on hold until the decision on speaker is finalized."

Broadwater & Annie Karni @ about 3:15 pm ET: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support [113 to 99] on Wednesday to become his party's choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker. Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party's candidate, Mr. Scalise's fate was thrown into doubt. Several G.O.P. lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker. Republicans delayed a vote of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon so the party could regroup.... 'I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,' said Representative Marjorie Taylor Green[e]...."

More fun reads throughout. Marie: Not casting any asparagus on Miss Margie & cohort, but they do not play well with others. It's obvious that over the years many members left their caucus -- where they voted for a speaker's candidate who failed to get the majority of the party's vote -- and went out onto the House floor and voted for a speaker who was not their first choice. IOW, they stuck together as a party so the House could get down to business. ~~~

~~~ NBC News live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans used to consider themselves the orderly party, the one that assiduously adhered to the rules and respected the will of the majority. But the traditional rule book has been thrown out the window when it comes to the extraordinary tumult in the House. In what would have been unthinkable in the past, numerous House Republicans on Wednesday refused to honor the results of their internal election of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana for speaker -- historically a given. They threatened a mutiny on the House floor that had factions of the party in open conflict amid the unrelenting chaos on Capitol Hill. After the weekend assault on Israel by Hamas, House Republicans had clamored for unity to allow lawmakers to get back to business and rush assistance to the nation's closest ally in the Middle East. Just days later, they were back at one another's throats...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These last two chaotic speakers' elections are another manifestation of Republicans' antipathy to democratic principles. With "normal" order, the person who wins the majority of votes in caucus is the party's nominee for speaker. But not anymore. In these last two speakers' election, a minority of Republicans have opted against majority rule & dictated conditions making it impossible for the House to conduct its usual business, where a majority of the entire House should determine the content of bills.

Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice reviews some of wingers' stated reasons for refusing to unite behind Steve Scalise, continuing what Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) charitably called "kind of a shit show."

** David Firestone of the New York Times outlines why Salise & Jordan are both even worse than McCarthy. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Fandos & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: "A clutch of Republican House members from New York began pushing on Wednesday to expel ... Representative George Santos, amid mounting federal charges that he defrauded donors and lied about his campaign finances. The group of six New York freshmen announced plans to swiftly introduce an expulsion resolution to try to capitalize on a spate of new charges against Mr. Santos and a vacuum in House Republican leadership.... As the House's most extreme form of punishment, expulsion requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, a barrier so high that it has only been cleared five times in the institution's history -- making it far from clear if the move was little more than a messaging exercise by Republicans preparing to defend swing seats next year. House Republicans repelled an earlier attempt by Democrats to expel Mr. Santos in May...." (Also linked yesterday.)


Fani Willis Stands Up to Gym Jordan. Sara Murray of CNN: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to provide House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan with any additional information about her investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies as well as any interactions with the Justice Department, according to a new letter obtained by CNN. 'A charitable explanation of your correspondence is that you are ignorant of the United States and Georgia Constitutions and codes, Willis wrote in her letter to Jordan, an Ohio Republican, Wednesday.... A more troubling explanation is that you are abusing your authority as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary to attempt to obstruct and interfere with a Georgia criminal prosecution.'... Willis previously provided information about the federal funding her office receives. But she has rebuffed Jordan's demands for information related to her investigation and copies of any communication between the district attorney's office and federal executive branch officials, particularly anyone at the Justice Department."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: Donald Trump's claim last week that he has absolute immunity from prosecution "does not look promising for Mr. Trump and his lawyers.... [Trump's] motion cited the 1982 precedent, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, at least 40 times over 52 pages. But that decision merely held that a former president is immune from lawsuits in civil cases -- ones from private litigants seeking money -- and then only if the suits concerned conduct 'within the "outer perimeter" of his official responsibility.'... Other Supreme Court precedents seem to be of no help to Mr. Trump. In Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the court unanimously allowed a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton to proceed while he was in office, discounting concerns that it would distract him from his official responsibilities. That was also a civil case.... And more recently, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7-to-2 margin in Trump v. Vance in 2020 that Mr. Trump had no absolute right to block the release of his financial records in a criminal investigation."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump lashed out at the special counsel, Jack Smith, on Wednesday, accusing his office of violating Mr. Trump's due process rights by seeking to obtain a guilty verdict against him before Election Day in the two federal cases he is facing 'no matter the cost.' The lacerating comments were contained in court papers in which the lawyers reasserted their request to delay, until after the 2024 election, Mr. Trump's trial in Florida on charges of mishandling classified documents.... [Trump's lawyer Christopher] Kise all but asserted that the [two federal] prosecutions had been filed against Mr. Trump in an effort to cripple his chances of being re-elected."

Michael Sisak & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans using financial statements that a court has since deemed fraudulent, a retired bank official testified Wednesday at the former president's New York civil fraud trial. Trump's 'statements of financial condition' were key to his approval for a $125 million loan in 2011 for his golf resort in Doral, Florida, and a $107 million loan in 2012 for his Chicago hotel and condo skyscraper, former Deutsche Bank risk management officer Nicholas Haigh testified. But although the bank didn't conduct its own full appraisals of Trump's properties, it sometimes gave sizable 'haircuts' to the values he'd placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said."

Presidential Race 2024

Get a Dictionary, You Nincompoops! Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump is arguing to a judge in Colorado that he was not required to 'support' the Constitution as president, reported Brandi Buchman from Law & Crime. The argument came as he seeks to dismiss a lawsuit filed in the state by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeking to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment. The Insurrection Clause of the amendment prohibits those who have 'engaged in insurrection' against the United States from holding a civil, military, or elected office unless a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate approve. But Trump's lawyers are arguing that the specific language of the Constitution argues that this requirement only applies to people in offices who are bound to 'support' the Constitution -- and the presidency is not one of those offices. 'The Presidential oath, which the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment surely knew, requires the President to swear to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution -- not to "support" the Constitution,' said the filing by Trump's attorneys."

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump chanted 'Barack Hussein Obama' and said the U.S. capital 'looks like shit' during a bizarre rant in Florida on Wednesday.... During the same campaign rally, Trump tore into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused Netanyahu of stealing credit for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani." ~~~

     ~~~ Loose Lips. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Trump suggested the story [about the capture of Soleimani] wasn't previously known. 'They'll say, "Oh, it's classified information." Well, maybe it is, but I don't think so,' he added. ... Earlier in his speech, Trump complimented the Iran-aligned Hezbollah, which on Sunday attacked Israeli positions from the north in what it described as being in solidarity with the 'Palestinian resistance.' 'You know, Hezbollah is very smart,' Trump said. 'They're all very smart.'"

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed that had the 2020 presidential election not been 'rigged' against him, Israel would not have been attacked by Hamas over the weekend. The election was not rigged."

Filip Timotija of the Hill: "'The Young Turks' founder Cenk Uygur announced on his show Wednesday that he will run for president as a Democrat, directly challenging President Biden." Uygur says he has lawyered up & will go to the Supreme Court on account of one little problem:~~~


Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Several members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed prepared on Wednesday to reinstate a South Carolina voting map that a lower court had ruled was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., for instance, seemed unpersuaded by the lower court's findings and reasoning. He said the evidence that Republican state lawmakers had used race as the predominant factor was circumstantial and consistent with something that is legally acceptable: trying to achieve the partisan goal of creating a district with a distinct conservative tilt.... Justices across the ideological spectrum agreed that the Supreme Court may only overturn the lower court's findings if they were ruled to be clearly erroneous, a demanding standard.... But several conservative justices indicated that they were prepared to rule that the lower court had committed a clear error." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I wish John Roberts would just come right out & say he's a racist. Or, at the very least, admit he doesn't want Black people to have equal voting rights because they tend to vote Democratic. ~~~

     ~~~ An Outcome in Search of a Justification. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority spent Wednesday morning seemingly hunting for a reason to uphold a South Carolina congressional map that everyone agrees was gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.... Under the Supreme Court's precedents, federal courts are not allowed to hear lawsuits challenging partisan gerrymanders -- that is, maps drawn to benefit one political party or the other. But federal courts may hear challenges to racial gerrymanders.... [AND] When a trial court determines that a legislative map is an impermissible racial gerrymander, the Court said in Cooper [v. Harris (2017)], the lower court's 'findings of fact -- most notably, as to whether racial considerations predominated in drawing district lines -- are subject to review only for clear error.'... But ... all six of the Court's Republican appointees appeared determined to find some way to uphold South Carolina's gerrymander."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "The United Automobile Workers union expanded its strike against Ford Motor on Wednesday evening, calling on 8,700 workers to walk off the job at a critical plant in Kentucky. The plant makes some of Ford's most profitable offerings, including the Super Duty version of its F-Series trucks and the Ford Expedition, a full-size sport utility vehicle."

~~~~~~~~~~

Oklahoma. Ken Miller of the AP: "The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial. An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial. Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff's comment about a prosecutor's genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV. Soderstrom ... was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November...." MB: Yeah, well, Oklahoma voters tend to make bad choices.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday of the Israeli war are here: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, as the Israeli military said its troops were massed at the border with Gaza 'making preparations for the next stage of the war.' Mr. Blinken was also set to travel to Jordan and meet with other regional leaders.... The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was scheduled to meet with Mr. Blinken on Friday.... On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged in televised remarks to 'crush and eliminate' Hamas.... Israel continued to pummel the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip with airstrikes of a magnitude and intensity not seen in past conflicts with Gaza. Hamas is holding in the enclave about 150 hostages taken during the weekend incursion." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here. The AP's live updates are here.

Matthew Lee & Aamer Madhani of the AP: At a roundtable of Jewish leaders, "President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22." ~~~

     ~~~ Phillip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden yelled while addressing the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, noting that he made sure to educate all of his children on the horrors of the Holocaust. On Wednesday, the president addressed the conflict while speaking to a group of Jewish community leaders by reiterating the United States' support for Israel and condemning anti-Semitism.... Biden then began screaming when he mentioned how he would make all of his children and grandchildren visit concentration camps in Europe to teach them about the significance of the Holocaust." ~~~

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senior U.S. officials have stepped up their efforts to lead Western governments to use hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian central bank reserves to help Ukraine.... The intensifying push to use the assets for Ukraine comes as U.S. and European governments that support Kyiv encounter new domestic political roadblocks for their plans to send taxpayer money to the war effort, although officials insist the matters are unrelated. The Kremlin has an estimated $300 billion frozen in various bank accounts throughout Western countries, but experts have warned that simply taking that money would face legal challenges and pose major financial risks."

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "In a private phone call Tuesday, President Joe Biden urged Israel's prime minister to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel sets out to destroy Hamas in reprisal for the deadliest attack the country has suffered in the last 50 years, two Biden administration officials and a former official told NBC News. The Biden administration is coordinating with other countries on a plan that would offer safe passage out of Gaza for civilians who risk getting caught in the crossfire in the densely populated coastal enclave, administration officials said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put out a statement on Wednesday blasting what he called Israel's 'serious violation of international law' in cutting off services to Gaza.... 'Right now, the international community must focus on reducing humanitarian suffering and protecting innocent people on both sides of this conflict. The targeting of civilians is a war crime, no matter who does it. Israel's blanket denial of food, water, and other necessities to Gaza is a serious violation of international law and will do nothing but harm innocent civilians,' Sanders continued, adding: 'The United States has rightly offered solidarity and support to Israel in responding to Hamas' attack. But we must also insist on restraint from Israeli forces attacking Gaza and work to secure UN humanitarian access. Let us not forget that half of the two million people in Gaza are children....'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know what it is that makes "leaders" think that fighting barbarism against civilians with barbarism against civilians will resolve conflicts.

Dan Williams, et al., of Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Israel formed an emergency unity government on Wednesday as it pounded Gaza to root out Hamas and deployed forces north of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, where the militants said they were still fighting after their cross-border assault. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form a war cabinet with former defence minister and centrist opposition party leader Benny Gantz and focus entirely on the conflict, a joint statement from Gantz's National Unity party said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States has collected multiple pieces of intelligence that show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel, information that has fueled U.S. doubts that Iran played a direct role in planning the assault, according to several American officials. These key Iranian officials did not know the attack was coming, according to the intelligence. The United States, Israel and key regional allies have not found evidence that Iran directly helped plan the attack, according to the U.S. officials and another official in the Middle East." (Also linked yesterday.)

Yuval Harari in a Washington Post op-ed: "The real explanation for Israel’s dysfunction is populism rather than any alleged immorality. For many years, Israel has been governed by a populist strongman, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a public-relations genius but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over the national interest and has built his career on dividing the nation against itself. He has appointed people to key positions based on loyalty more than qualifications, took credit for every success while never taking responsibility for failures, and seemed to give little importance to either telling or hearing the truth. The coalition Netanyahu established in December 2022 has been by far the worst. It is an alliance of messianic zealots and shameless opportunists, who ignored Israel's many problems -- including the deteriorating security situation -- and focused instead on grabbing unlimited power for themselves.... The way populism corroded the Israeli state should serve as a warning to other democracies all over the world."


Ukraine, et al.: The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

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