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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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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Thursday
Oct052023

The Conversation -- October 5, 2023

Biden Builds the Wall, Ctd. Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "President Joe Biden said Thursday that he doesn't believe border walls work, even as his administration said it will waive 26 laws to build additional border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley amid heightened political pressure over migration.... The administration was under a deadline to use [the funds] or lose them.... Biden -- who, as a candidate, vowed that there will 'not be another foot' of border wall constructed on his watch -- defended the decision to reporters Thursday, saying that he tried to get the money appropriated for other purposes but was unsuccessful. 'I'll answer one question on the border wall: 'The ... money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn't, they wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can't stop that,' Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked whether he believes the border wall works, Biden answered, 'No.'"

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Last week, the Republican Party's leading presidential candidate proposed executing suspected shoplifters.... Trump's advocacy of extrajudicial killings was widely covered by newspapers and TV stations in California but generally ignored by the national press.... CNN and MSNBC mentioned it during panel discussions over the next few days. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS didn't report it at all. The New York Times wrote about it four days later, playing the story on Page 14 of its print edition. The Anaheim speech was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive rhetoric by Trump -- and a somewhat muted response by the news media to his repeated exhortations to violence....

"'Bombarded by a constant stream of deranged authoritarian extremism from a man who might soon return to the presidency, [journalists] have lost all sense of scale and perspective,' [Brian] Klaas wrote in the Atlantic last week, in a headline that felt both jarring and unsurprising: 'Trump Floats the Idea of Executing Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley.' Klaas continued: 'But neither the American press nor the public can afford to be lulled. The man who, as president, incited a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in order to overturn an election is again openly fomenting political violence while explicitly endorsing authoritarian strategies should he return to power.'"

Your Move, Judge Aileen. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump have again asked a federal judge to postpone until after the 2024 election his trial on charges of mishandling classified documents. In a court filing on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump's legal team proposed moving the start of the trial to mid-November from May 20, the date set by Judge Aileen M. Cannon. It was not the first time Mr. Trump has sought to push back the trial, in which he stands accused of illegally holding onto dozens of classified documents after leaving office and conspiring with two aides to obstruct the government's repeated effort to retrieve them."

Ella Lee of the Hill: "The judge overseeing former President Trump's fraud trial in New York Thursday issued an order barring Trump or any other defendants in the sweeping case from transferring any assets or creating a new entity to acquire them without disclosure first. The order, which came via the case's online docket, was delivered on the fourth day of the trial, which was prompted after Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for fraud, ruling that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) had proved the crux of her case. As part of that decision, Engoron ordered the selection of an independent monitor of Trump's businesses. On Thursday, Engoron said that appointed monitor -- former Judge Barbara Jones -- must be informed if the defendants intend to move their assets or create a new entity that isn't a defendant in the case to acquire them."

Congressman Has a Good Idea. Sahil Kapur & Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "A Democratic House member is asking Palm Beach County, Florida, to tax Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property at the rate the former president claims it is worth amid his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York.... Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., issued the request to Dorothy Jacks, Palm Beach County's property appraiser.... Trump has raged against [New York Judge Arthur] Engoron's ruling [that Trump committed fraud], insisting that his Florida resort is worth '50 to 100 times' what prosecutors in the New York civil case have said, or 'closer to $1.5 billion.' 'Between 2011 and 2021, you value the Mar-a-Lago property between $18 million and $28 million,' Moskowitz wrote in the letter to the Palm Beach County appraiser. 'Mar-a-Lago was listed as worth $490 million in financial documents given to banks,' he wrote. '... Will you be amending the property value in line with the Trump family's belief that the property is worth well over a billion dollars?'"

Uh-oh, Georgie. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "The accountant who oversaw the finances of Representative George Santos's political campaigns has agreed to plead guilty to one or more federal felony charges, according to court papers and an official with the Eastern District of New York. The accountant, Nancy Marks, has handled the finances of some of New York's most powerful Republicans over the years, and has been dogged by allegations of wrongdoing. She is expected to appear in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Thursday to formally enter a guilty plea, according to the court official.... It is unclear how the case against Ms. Marks will affect Mr. Santos, who in May was indicted and charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms." The AP's story is here. MB: Unclear, maybe, but looks a lot like a flip to me.

Note from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.): RINOs attacked & booed me. Send money. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Thankfully, Republican senators are a lot more thoughtful than the crass GOP clowns in the House. Here's a report on the philosophical musings of the junior senator from Oklahoma: ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Blanchet of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) accused Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of openly detailing his sexual experiences to fellow lawmakers in a bonkers interview with CNN on Wednesday....'He bragged about how he would crush E.D. [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with energy drinks so he could go all night. This is obviously before he got married,' Mullin told CNN's Manu Raju.... 'There's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him ― because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor that all of us had walked away, of the girls he had slept with,' Mullin said.... [Gaetz replied,] This is a lie from someone who doesn't know me and who is coping with the death of the political career of his friend Kevin. Thoughts and prayers.'... Mullin's claims arrive on the same day Marc Short, chief of staff for former Vice President Mike Pence, said Gaetz more likely came to Washington 'for the teenage interns on Capitol Hill' than to be a 'fiscal crusader.'"

Alabamy. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A federal court on Thursday ordered Alabama to use a new congressional map that could lead the state to elect two Black representatives for the first time in its history by creating a second district with close to a majority of Black voters. The order, the culmination of a nearly two-year fight over the Republican-dominated state's illegal dilution of Black voting power, could also lead to Democrats picking up another seat at a moment when control of the House of Representatives hinges on a thin conservative margin. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama signed off on a map that increases the percentage of Black voters in one of the state's six majority-white congressional districts to 48.7 percent, up from about 30 percent, while preserving the state's lone existing majority-Black district." The NPR story is here. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "A man with a handgun showed up at the Wisconsin Capitol demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Wednesday, was arrested, posted bail, returned to the Statehouse with a rifle and was taken into protective custody, according to police. The shirtless man had a holstered handgun and leashed dog with him when he appeared at the security desk outside of the governor's office Wednesday afternoon demanding to see the governor, according to a statement from the state police. An officer arrested him for openly carrying a firearm. The man was booked into jail and posted bail. He returned to the outside of the Capitol with a loaded AK-47 around 9 p.m., three hours after the Statehouse closed.... He asked to see the governor again. Officers ... asked to search his backpack. He agreed and they found a police baton, which they said violated state law...." The AP report is here.

Daniel Strauss of the New Republic (April 2023): For years, Clarence Thomas BFF (just ask Clarence) & billionaire Harlan Crow "was doling out donations and referring friends to No Labels, the outside group that claims to offer an avowedly nonpartisan approach to politics.... Between 2019 and 2021, Crow donated over $130,000 to No Labels.... Crow referred other donors to No Labels.... By 2021, Crow had steered nearly two dozen other donors to No Labels, the information provided to The New Republic shows.... No Labels has been torched by Democrats and Democratic-leaning groups, including the moderate Third Way, for mounting an effort that's almost bound to hurt Biden." Thanks to Jack M. & Ken W. for the link. TNR is subscriber-firewalled, but I don't have a subscription, and I was able to access the article through the link above, perhaps because it's an old story.

Ooh, AOC is so mean. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "President Biden canceled an additional $9 billion in student debt on Wednesday as repayments started up again this month after a three-year pause. The move affects 125,000 people who qualify under existing programs, including for public-service workers such as teachers and firefighters and for people on permanent disability, according to a White House statement.... The announcement comes as Mr. Biden tries to find workarounds to offer some debt relief after the Supreme Court struck down his more ambitious plan over the summer.... 'The money was literally about to go out the door, but Republican elected officials and special interests stepped up and sued us,' [the President] said [of his original plan]. 'The Supreme Court sided with them, snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars in student debt relief that was about to change their lives.'... The money [cancelled in this order] comes through 'fixes' the Education Department made to several debt relief programs, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program." A CNBC story is here. ~~~

~~~ Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "Here are five things to know as the monthly bills [for student loan repayment] arrive again[.]"

About Time. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden's dog Commander is no longer living in the White House after a series of biting incidents involving staff members and Secret Service personnel, according to a spokeswoman for Jill Biden, the first lady. Elizabeth Alexander, Dr. Biden's communications director, said the dog was no longer living with the first family.... The move came days after Commander, a 2-year-old German shepherd, bit a Secret Service officer. It was the 11th episode of 'aggressive behavior' by the president's pets, many of them involving Commander and the officers and agents who protect the president." An NBC News story is here.

¡Qué va! Biden Builds the Wall??? Valerie Gonzalez of the AP: "The Biden administration announced it waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction on Wednesday, marking the administration's first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency. The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing 'high illegal entry.' According to government data, about 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded so far this fiscal year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector which contains 21 counties. 'There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,' Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "There was a time, not that long ago, when the United States ... held itself up as a model of a stable, predictable democracy.... Instead, it has become an example of disarray and discord, one that rewards extremism, challenges norms and threatens to divide a polarized country even further.... The institutions that were already strained during Donald J. Trump's presidency now face a series of profound stress tests.... Outside the courtroom in New York on Wednesday, the former president proved undaunted by the gag order as he attacked the judge who imposed it. 'He's run by the Democrats,' Mr. Trump claimed. 'Our whole system is corrupt. This is corrupt. Atlanta is corrupt. And what's coming out of D.C. is corrupt.'... What is different now, according to some scholars, is that Republicans under Mr. Trump have directly attacked the foundation of the democratic system by refusing to accept an election that they lost and by tolerating if not encouraging political violence, most notably the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol."

Stephen Collinson of CNN: Kevin "McCarthy's short speakership underscored how the Republican Party in the age of Donald Trump has turned into one of the great forces of instability in American life, and potentially the world, with the ex-president dominating the 2024 GOP primary as he takes aim at a wrecking ball second term. A party that once defined conservatism as preserving a traditional sense of steadiness and strength has evolved over the last three decades into a haven for chaos agents, stunt politics and a perpetual ideological revolution that keeps driving it to new extremes. The party's willingness to accept the outrageous was also on display Tuesday in New York, where Trump ranted in a corridor outside a courtroom hearing his fraud trial and was slapped with a gag order for attacking a judge's clerk on social media.... In a party in which trying to break the cherished chain of peaceful transfers of presidential power, being criminally indicted four times and cozying up to some of the world's most bloodthirsty dictators is not a disqualification (see Trump), McCarthy's reluctant search for compromise [with Democrats] was unpardonable."

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: Speakers of the House "call the House to order; they allow members of Congress to deliver remarks in one-minute floor speeches; they decide whether there's a quorum to allow business to be conducted; they decide what bills get voted on; they appoint key House staff members.... Most recently, the past two House speakers have announced an impeachment inquiry into the sitting president. None of that can be done by the ... Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.).... Under ... rules [adopted after September 11, 2001], the temporary speaker can only preside over floor debate and voting about the election of a new speaker, said Charles Johnson, the former parliamentarian for the House during the [9/11] attacks.... Committees can probably continue holding hearings and votes without a speaker. But if they move legislation, there's no one to bring it to the floor. The speaker is also second in the line for president after the vice president. A temporary speaker does not fall in the line of succession, scholars say. So next up would be the acting president of the Senate, who is Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)."

Now that Kevin McCarthy is out as Speaker, we can expect more reasonable people to run for the job. Like these guys: ~~~

~~~ (a) Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday announced he would seek the Speakership." Great! Everything should go very smoothly. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ (b) Trump Won't Rule Out Accepting Speakership. Matt Dixon of NBC News: "'A lot of people have been calling me about speaker,' [Donald] Trump said Wednesday morning outside a New York City courthouse for the third day of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil fraud trial against him. 'All I can say is we will do whatever is best for the country and other Republican Party and people.... The current rules of the Republican House conference actually prohibit someone charged with a felony from serving in leadership. Trump is facing dozens of felony charges." MB: Time to change the rules! (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ (c) Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) formally threw his hat into the ring to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), pushing the need for unity in a letter to colleagues." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So you're a Republican member of Congress. Would you choose as speaker (a) the guy who, while a college wrestling coach, (allegedly!) covered for the team doctor who reportedly sexually abused numerous team members; (b) a twice-impeached, 91-times indicted, financial fraudster, rapist & compulsive liar; OR (c) a guy who used to pal around with KKK grand wizard David Duke? It's almost like a better choice is the guy over in the Senate who (allegedly!) accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, one of which is associated with a possible cover-up of his girlfriend's committing vehicular manslaughter (see links to stories below).

     ~~~ Marie: Did I mention that besides dumping their speaker, these yahoos did so without having any sort of plan -- as far as we know -- about how to replace him. So far it looks as if they're just going for holding vote after vote where GOP members vote for various candidates, with none receiving a majority, while Democrats all vote for Hakeem Jeffries.

Marie: Oh, call me the Oracle of D.C. As I speculated earlier Wednesday... ~~~

~~~ Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry's move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN. GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.... Sources close to Pelosi and Hoyer say it was retaliation for Democrats siding against McCarthy in voting to vacate the speaker's chair Tuesday. The unofficial offices are located near the House floor.... House Republican leadership also kicked Hoyer out of his Capitol hideaway office, his office confirmed to CNN on Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story, by Robert Draper, is here.

What Happened on National Kevin Day: ~~~

It's the Democrats' Fault. David Moye of the Huffington Post (Oct. 3): "... even though the Republican House is facing a dumpster fire to try to figure out who can get elected as the next speaker, GOP politicians and pundits decided the Democrats were at fault. Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary in the George W. Bush administration, seemed to accuse the House Democrats of masterminding [Kevin] McCarthy's political demise 'with the help of Matt Gaetz,' even though it was the other way around. Others [MB: including McCarthy himself and his designated temporary replacement, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)] chimed in with their own blame game." MB: I also saw clips of Fox personalities blaming Democrats; "You can't trust the Democrats," they told viewers.)~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Why, particularly for the past decade or so, has it consistently been up to Democrats to be the line of defense [against GOP bad behavior]?... In a letter to his colleagues, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) detailed occasions in which [Kevin] McCarthy had broken agreements or refused consensus. (He also reminded Democrats that [Matt] Gaetz's ability to seek McCarthy's ouster followed a rules change to which McCarthy had agreed.) Even when it came to Tuesday's question on whether he should get to serve as speaker McCarthy told his caucus in private and said publicly in an interview on CNBC that he wasn't going to reach a compromise with Democrats. There was just the expectation -- or McCarthy would later claim such an expectation -- that the Democrats would side ... with tradition and stability.... [Throughout his tenure,] McCarthy's party gave [Donald] Trump and his supporters space -- and encouragement -- to shred Washington and to undercut the functions of democracy."

This 400-pound Guy Working Out of His Basement Foments GOP Chaos. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "From [a] cavelike studio not far from where Congress meets, [Steve] Bannon, the former Trump adviser, has been stoking the chaos now gripping the Republican Party, capitalizing on the spectacle to build his own following and using his popular podcast to prop up and egg on the G.O.P. rebels.... With [Kevin] McCarthy's historic downfall this week, his wing of the party has claimed its most prominent trophy.... He is a vital part of a feedback loop of red-meat media hits and social media posts, online fund-raising and unfettered preaching to an often angry and fervently right-wing base that rewards disruptions and detests institutions.... For weeks, Mr. Bannon has been strategizing with Mr. Gaetz on the bid to take down Mr. McCarthy, offering himself up as a sounding board as Mr. Gaetz plotted his moves."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Facing a pileup of spending bills and a possible government shutdown, 20 Republican senators led by Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) say they will delay any legislation moving on the Senate floor that does not relate directly to funding the government. Scott circulated a letter at the Senate Republican lunch Wednesday warning Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that GOP lawmakers will not tolerate further delay to the annual appropriations bills, none of which has yet passed the Senate..., because they fear that letting the spending legislation pile up until December will inevitably lead to Congress passing another massive omnibus spending package."

** How Nadine Menendez Got a New Mercedes After Killing a Man with the Old One. Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "... in December 2018..., Nadine Arslanian, the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez, was zipping through the darkened streets of suburban New Jersey in a black Mercedes-Benz sedan [when she hit a pedestrian crossing the street].... The crash that ensued just after 7:30 p.m. killed the man, Richard Koop, 49, almost instantly. His body was thrown to the curb just steps from his home and badly mangled, according to the Bergen County medical examiner. After brief questioning, the police concluded that Ms. Menendez, who was alone in the vehicle, was 'not at fault.' She was released without a summons. What happened that night in the borough of Bogota outside New York City was not reported for years.... But now..., the episode adds a startling dimension to [the Menendez] scandal.... Prosecutors said in ... charging papers that Ms. Menendez needed a car so badly after a December 2018 'accident' that the senator, a Democrat, was willing to try to suppress an unrelated criminal prosecution for a New Jersey businessman in exchange for a $60,000 Mercedes convertible. [Emphasis added.]...

"Interviews, police reports, dashcam footage, audio of 911 calls and other records reviewed by The New York Times also raise additional questions about the inquiry into the collision itself, which was reported earlier Wednesday by The Record of New Jersey.... One witness at the scene said in an interview that officers appeared to know who Ms. Menendez was and treated her with striking deference. Police recordings captured the voice of a man who identifies himself as a retired police officer from a nearby department. He can be heard saying he came to the scene as 'a favor' to a friend whose wife knew Ms. Menendez.... The police reports indicate [Ms. Arslanian] was never tested for drugs or alcohol, and was allowed to leave the scene...." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Here are ABC News "highlights" of Day 3 of the Trump fraud trial.

AP Compares Trump to Putin & Li'l Kim. Michelle Price & Nicholas Riccardi of the AP: "From his earliest days in public life as a New York real estate tycoon, [Donald] Trump has favored language that makes him appear tough and scrappy, particularly when it comes to crime and retribution for his perceived enemies. But the rhetorical escalation on display in recent weeks is notable for its parallels to the hardline approaches that are hallmarks of authoritarian regimes that he has occasionally praised, such as the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin or North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. 'Violence is his political project now,' said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University. 'It is the thing, besides his own victimhood, that he brings up the most.'... Trump's words also can rile up his supporters and have direct consequences, most glaringly in the case of Jan. 6, 2021.... They can also rile up Trump's own party, which then incorporates the former president's vendettas and impulses into its own agenda."

Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "For more than a decade, friends conceded grimly, [Rudolph] Giuliani's drinking had been a problem. And as he surged back to prominence during the presidency of Donald J. Trump, it was getting more difficult to hide it.... Now, prosecutors in the federal election case against Mr. Trump have shown an interest in the drinking habits of Mr. Giuliani -- and whether the former president ignored what his aides described as the plain inebriation of the former mayor referred to in court documents as 'Co-Conspirator 1.'... The office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, has questioned witnesses about Mr. Giuliani's alcohol consumption as he was advising Mr. Trump, including on election night.... Mr. Smith's investigators have also asked about Mr. Trump's level of awareness of his lawyer's drinking as they worked to overturn the election.... The answers to those prompts could complicate any efforts by Mr. Trump's team to lean on a so-called advice-of-counsel defense.... Privately, Mr. Trump, who has long described himself as a teetotaler, has spoken derisively about Mr. Giuliani's drinking...." ~~~

     ~~~ Kelly Garrity of Politico: "... Rudy Giuliani vehemently denied having a drinking problem Wednesday, following a report [linked above] from the New York Times.... 'I do not have an alcohol problem. I have never had an alcohol problem,' Giuliani said during a press conference in Concord, New Hampshire in response to questions about the Times report. '[If] I have an alcohol problem, I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records,' Giuliani said, citing his various accomplishments and his job history as evidence refuting the report. 'Nobody could have achieved that if they did [have a drinking problem].... I was working 24 hours a day. It's a big damn lie,' Giuliani told reporters, who had gathered outside Merrimack County Superior Court to hear the former mayor announce his plans to sue President Joe Biden over a comment Biden made about him during the 2020 presidential race." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rudy was standing right in my path to Lowe's, so I'm thankful I decided against going to town to buy mortar mix yesterday, as I had sorta planned to do. Sometimes there's a reward for procrastination. ~~~

~~~ Most Frivolous Lawsuit Ever. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Rudy Giuliani sued President Biden for defamation Wednesday over his comments calling the former New York City mayor a 'Russian pawn' during a 2020 presidential debate." This is the same Rudy Giuliani who admitted he "mounted a sustained smear campaign against [two private citizens who were low-level election workers] by repeatedly accusing them of committing voter fraud to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia' and claimed the women were passing back and forth USB sticks passing around USB ports "as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine." Moreover, the evidence developed so far indicates Rudy did serve as what could accurately be characterized as a "Russian pawn," when he bought into false conspiracy theories pressed by pro-Russian Ukrainians, efforts that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "The Supreme Court appeared unlikely Tuesday to scuttle a federal agency set up to protect consumers from predatory lenders and other unlawful financial services practices as the justices considered a constitutional challenge backed by business groups. Both conservative and liberal justices seemed skeptical of the theory pushed by the plaintiffs that the mechanism allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, to be funded directly by the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional.... The legal question before the Supreme Court on Tuesday rests squarely on the conclusion reached by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in October of last year that the bureau's funding mechanism was unlawful. The court concluded that the funding structure, whereby Congress does not directly appropriate funding, runs afoul of the Constitution's directive requiring it to do so. That is despite the fact that Congress itself set up the CFPB and approved the current funding structure when it passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox weighs in: "By the end of the argument, even Justice Clarence Thomas ... appeared fed up with [former Trump solicitor General Noel] Francisco's inability to articulate a coherent argument [against CFPB funding]." (Also linked yesterday.)

Although "Justice" Clarence Thomas recused himself from a case brought by his former clerk John Eastman AND in which Thomas's wife Ginni was involved, Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams notes that Thomas thought it was fine to weigh in on a New York City rent-control case in which Thomas's benefactor Harlan Crow has a vested interest. Revolving Door Project executive director Jeff Hauser said, "Crow's industry lobbyist of choice, the National Multifamily Housing Council, filed an amicus brief urging the 2nd Circuit to take up the challenge to New York City's rent control law in 2021.... While the NMHC did not file a brief for the case before the Supreme Court, there should be little doubt that Thomas and his clerks are aware of NMHC's, and therefore Crow's, interest in the case." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

MEANWHILE, Thomas-Crow matchmaker Leonard Leo has determined he also is above following normative laws and practices: ~~~

~~~ Heidi Przybyla of Politico: "Judicial activist Leonard Leo is not cooperating with an investigation by Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb for potentially misusing nonprofit tax laws for personal enrichment, his attorney confirmed. David Rivkin, Leo's attorney, said in a statement to Politico that Schwalb has 'no legal authority to conduct any investigatory steps or take any enforcement measures' because Leo's multi-billion-dollar aligned nonprofits -- which poured millions into campaigning for the nominations of conservative Supreme Court justices and advocating before them -- were organized outside of D.C. Leo's consulting firm, CRC Advisors is registered in D.C. and his main aligned nonprofit, The 85 Fund, used a D.C. mailing address for at least a decade." (Also linked yesterday.)

Samantha Delouya of CNN: "On Wednesday, more than 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health providers, walked off the job, marking the largest health care worker strike in US history. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC, are represented by a coalition of eight unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser Permanente's total staff. The vast majority of the striking workers are in West Coast states. The strike began at 6 am local time, and will run through Saturday morning." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

** Republicans Are Killing You. Lauren Weber, et al., of the Washington Post: "Americans are more likely to die before age 65 than residents of similar nations, despite living in a country that spends substantially more per person on health care than its peers. Many of those early deaths can be traced to decisions made years agoby local and state lawmakers over whether to implement cigarette taxes, invest in public health or tighten seat-belt regulations, among other policies, an examination by The Washington Post found. States' politics -- and their resulting policies -- are shaving years off American lives.... Today, people in the South and Midwest, regions largely controlled by Republican state legislators, have increasingly higher chances of dying prematurely compared with those in the more Democratic Northeast and West, according to The Post's analysis of death rates.... [For instance,] many of [Ohio]'s [poor] public health outcomes are a direct result of political decisions..., experts say, pointing to differences in Medicaid and safety net funding, as well as tobacco taxes and highway safety laws between Ohio and its neighbors. They note that Republicans' stranglehold on the legislature, after defying repeated court orders to redraw state voting maps, has protected those politicians from the consequences of their votes."

Colorado. Déjà Vu All Over Again. Colleen Slevin & Jesse Bedayn of the AP: "On the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court victory this summer for a graphic artist who didn't want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples, Colorado's highest court said Tuesday it will now hear the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. The announcement by the Colorado Supreme Court is the latest development in the yearslong legal saga involving Jack Phillips and LGBTQ+ rights. Phillips won a partial victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 after refusing to make a gay couple's wedding cake.... The key issue in the case is whether the cakes Phillips creates are a form of speech and whether forcing him to make a cake with a message he does not support is a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech."

~~~~~~~~~~

Brazil. Diana Duran of the Washington Post: "More than 150 ... [pink river dolphins] have died in [Lake Tefé] in Brazil's Amazonas state, alarming scientists and wildlife advocates. The cause is unknown, but scientists say the likeliest culprit is extreme heat and drought, possibly linked to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon. The water temperature in Lake Tefé has reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit -- 59 degrees more than the average for a body of water in the Amazon -- and water levels have fallen dramatically. When the water is that warm, dolphins become disoriented, said Claudia Sacramento, head of the Environmental Emergencies Division at the governmental Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The loss of oxygen triggers an increase in their cell metabolism, and they die of asphyxia."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded on Thursday to the Norwegian novelist and playwright Jon Fosse 'for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.'"

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Wednesday
Oct042023

The Conversation -- October 4, 2023

How Nadine Menendez Got a New Mercedes After Killing a Man with the Old One. Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "... in December 2018..., Nadine Arslanian, the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez, was zipping through the darkened streets of suburban New Jersey in a black Mercedes-Benz sedan [when she hit a pedestrian crossing the street].... The crash that ensued just after 7:30 p.m. killed the man, Richard Koop, 49, almost instantly. His body was thrown to the curb just steps from his home and badly mangled, according to the Bergen County medical examiner. After brief questioning, the police concluded that Ms. Menendez, who was alone in the vehicle, was 'not at fault.' She was released without a summons. What happened that night in the borough of Bogota outside New York City was not reported for years.... But now..., the episode adds a startling dimension to [the Menendez] scandal.... Prosecutors said in ... charging papers that Ms. Menendez needed a car so badly after a December 2018 'accident' that the senator, a Democrat, was willing to try to suppress an unrelated criminal prosecution for a New Jersey businessman in exchange for a $60,000 Mercedes convertible. [Emphasis added.]...

"Interviews, police reports, dashcam footage, audio of 911 calls and other records reviewed by The New York Times also raise additional questions about the inquiry into the collision itself, which was reported earlier Wednesday by The Record of New Jersey.... One witness at the scene said in an interview that officers appeared to know who Ms. Menendez was and treated her with striking deference. Police recordings captured the voice of a man who identifies himself as a retired police officer from a nearby department. He can be heard saying he came to the scene as 'a favor' to a friend whose wife knew Ms. Menendez.... The police reports indicate [Ms. Arslanian] was never tested for drugs or alcohol, and was allowed to leave the scene...." Politico's story is here.

Now that Kevin McCarthy is out as Speaker, we can expect more reasonable people to run for the job. Like this guy: ~~~

Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday announced he would seek the Speakership." Great! Everything should go very smoothly. ~~~

~~~ Trump Won't Rule Out Accepting Speakership. Matt Dixon of NBC News: "'A lot of people have been calling me about speaker,' [Donald] Trump said Wednesday morning outside a New York City courthouse for the third day of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil fraud trial against him. 'All I can say is we will do whatever is best for the country and other Republican Party and people.... The current rules of the Republican House conference actually prohibit someone charged with a felony from serving in leadership. Trump is facing dozens of felony charges." MB: Time to change the rules! ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) formally threw his hat into the ring to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), pushing the need for unity in a letter to colleagues." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Did I mention that besides dumping their speaker, these yahoos did so without having any sort of plan -- as far as we know -- about how to replace him. So far it looks as if they're just going for holding vote after vote where GOP members vote for various candidates, with none receiving a majority, while Democrats all vote for Hakeem Jeffries.

Marie: Call me the Oracle of D.C. As I speculated earlier Wednesday... ~~~

~~~ Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry's move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN. GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.... Sources close to Pelosi and Hoyer say it was retaliation for Democrats siding against McCarthy in voting to vacate the speaker's chair Tuesday. The unofficial offices are located near the House floor.... House Republican leadership also kicked Hoyer out of his Capitol hideaway office, his office confirmed to CNN on Wednesday."

Most Frivolous Lawsuit Ever. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Rudy Giuliani sued President Biden for defamation Wednesday over his comments calling the former New York City mayor a 'Russian pawn' during a 2020 presidential debate." This is the same Rudy Giuliani who admitted he "mounted a sustained smear campaign against [two election workers/private citizens] by repeatedly accusing them of committing voter fraud to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia' and claimed the women were passing back and forth USB sticks passing around USB ports "as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine." Moreover, the evidence developed so far indicates Rudy did serve as what could accurately be characterized as a "Russian pawn," when he bought into false conspiracy theories pressed by pro-Russian Ukrainians.

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "The Supreme Court appeared unlikely Tuesday to scuttle a federal agency set up to protect consumers from predatory lenders and other unlawful financial services practices as the justices considered a constitutional challenge backed by business groups. Both conservative and liberal justices seemed skeptical of the theory pushed by the plaintiffs that the mechanism allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, to be funded directly by the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional.... The legal question before the Supreme Court on Tuesday rests squarely on the conclusion reached by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in October of last year that the bureau's funding mechanism was unlawful. The court concluded that the funding structure, whereby Congress does not directly appropriate funding, runs afoul of the Constitution's directive requiring it to do so. That is despite the fact that Congress itself set up the CFPB and approved the current funding structure when it passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010." ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox weighs in: "By the end of the argument, even Justice Clarence Thomas ... appeared fed up with [former Trump solicitor General Noel] Francisco's inability to articulate a coherent argument [against CFPB funding]."

Although "Justice" Clarence Thomas recused himself from a case brought by his former clerk John Eastman AND in which Thomas's wife Ginni was involved, Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams notes that Thomas thought it was fine to weigh in on a New York City rent-control case in which Thomas's benefactor Harlan Crow has a vested interest. Revolving Door Project executive director Jeff Hauser said, "Crow's industry lobbyist of choice, the National Multifamily Housing Council, filed an amicus brief urging the 2nd Circuit to take up the challenge to New York City's rent control law in 2021.... While the NMHC did not file a brief for the case before the Supreme Court, there should be little doubt that Thomas and his clerks are aware of NMHC's, and therefore Crow's, interest in the case." Thanks to RAS for the link.

MEANWHILE, Thomas-Crow matchmaker Leonard Leo has determined he also is above following normative laws and practices: ~~~

~~~ Heidi Przybyla of Politico: "Judicial activist Leonard Leo is not cooperating with an investigation by Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb for potentially misusing nonprofit tax laws for personal enrichment, his attorney confirmed. David Rivkin, Leo's attorney, said in a statement to Politico that Schwalb has 'no legal authority to conduct any investigatory steps or take any enforcement measures' because Leo's multi-billion-dollar aligned nonprofits -- which poured millions into campaigning for the nominations of conservative Supreme Court justices and advocating before them -- were organized outside of D.C. Leo's consulting firm, CRC Advisors is registered in D.C. and his main aligned nonprofit, The 85 Fund, used a D.C. mailing address for at least a decade."

Samantha Delouya of CNN: "On Wednesday, more than 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health providers, walked off the job, marking the largest health care worker strike in US history. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC, are represented by a coalition of eight unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser Permanente's total staff. The vast majority of the striking workers are in West Coast states. The strike began at 6 am local time, and will run through Saturday morning." Thanks to RAS for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bye-Bye, My Kevin, Good-Bye

The office of the Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant. -- Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), presiding officer, October 3

House of Chaos, Ctd. Catie Edmonson of the New York Times: "The House voted on Tuesday to oust Representative Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, a move without precedent that left the chamber without a leader and plunged it into chaos. After a far-right challenge to Mr. McCarthy's leadership, eight G.O.P. hard-liners joined Democrats to strip the California Republican of the speaker's gavel. The 216-to-210 vote reflected the deep polarization in Congress and raised questions about who, if anyone, could muster the support to govern an increasingly unruly House G.O.P. majority.... Soon after, Mr. McCarthy told Republicans behind closed doors that he would not seek to reclaim the post, ending a tumultuous nine months as speaker. Republicans said they would leave Washington until next week, with no clear path to finding a new speaker of the House.... It was the culmination of bitter Republican divisions that have festered all year, and capped an epic power struggle between Mr. McCarthy and members of a far-right faction who tried to block his ascent to the speakership in January. They have tormented him ever since...." The AP's story is here.

Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Mere hours after becoming the first House speaker ever removed from the position, [Kevin] McCarthy held a stem-winding, nearly hour-long news conference -- at times indignant and combative with the gathered press, at times appearing relieved.... He talked about his mom buying gas at Costco. He had complaints about Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). He went after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), again and again, for ousting him. He admitted to privately seeking out then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for advice, while publicly criticizing her. He compared Vladimir Putin to Hitler.... Without the constraints of the speakership, McCarthy declared something he would not when serving as speaker: that the House as an institution is broken. He blamed Democrats for it -- though Democrats pointed to his own politicized behavior as the reason they did not save him Tuesday.... It was the capstone to an unprecedented day that started with McCarthy's name hanging over the entryway to the speaker's suite and ended with him walking out of his former office with a box tucked under his arm."

Here are a few highlights from the New York Times liveblog, which ran yesterday as the House drama unfolded (all also linked yesterday):

Catie Edmonson: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that he would not try to broker a deal with Democrats to defeat a hard-right effort to oust him, even though he has little chance of hanging onto his leadership post without their support. In an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box,' Mr. McCarthy said Democrats would 'decide whatever they're going to do. And we will live with whatever happens.' Democrats 'haven't asked for anything' in exchange for voting to support him, Mr. McCarthy said, 'and I'm not going to provide anything.'... House Democrats were set to meet on Tuesday morning to consider whether to bail out Mr. McCarthy. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that the party would 'come to a collective decision at the end.'"

Edmondson: Speaker Kevin McCarthy [said] he planned to call a vote on Tuesday on the right-wing move to oust him from his post, after declaring that he had no intention of giving Democrats any concessions in exchange for helping him survive." ~~~

Luke Broadwater: "Speaker after speaker in the Democrats' closed-door meeting rose to speak against helping McCarthy, saying he can't be trusted and Democrats must remain united against helping him, said Representative Mark Takano of California. 'We don't have an obligation to save this speaker.'"

Kayla Guo: "McCarthy conceded to reporters that if five Republicans voted to oust him, and Democrats stay united against him, that he would lose the speakership. Does that seem likely to happen? 'Probably so,' he said. But he added that he remains confident he'll survive. 'I just don't give up.'"

Edmondson: "In a letter to House Democrats minutes ahead of an expected vote, the Democratic leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, wrote: 'Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.'"

** Edmondson: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy has lost the vote to kill Representative Matt Gaetz's bid to oust him, 208 to 218. That tees an up-or-down vote to remove McCarthy."

Carl Hulse: "Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is named interim speaker under a law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks in the event of a vacancy in the office."

Edmondson: "The House on Tuesday voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, a move without precedent in modern history that left the chamber without a leader and plunged it into chaos. Democrats joined with a small group of hard-liners in Mr. McCarthy's own party to strip the California Republican of the speaker's gavel in a 216 to 210 vote. It was the culmination of a bitter power struggle between Mr. McCarthy and members of a far-right faction who tried to block his ascent to the speakership in January and have tormented him ever since, trying to stymie his efforts to keep the government funded and the nation from defaulting on its debt." Update. Then this: "Shortly after the vote, Mr. McCarthy announced in a closed-door meeting with Republicans that he would not run for speaker again, and Republicans left the Capitol and prepared to return to their districts for the next week with no clear path forward."

From the CNN liveblog: "The US House of Representatives has voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy in a historic vote on Tuesday. The vote on the motion to vacate was 216-210 with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the speakership. The Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy were: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace and Matt Rosendale. The House will now need to elect a new speaker, but there is no clear alternative who would have the support needed to win the gavel. No House speaker has ever before been ousted through the passage of a resolution to remove them." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: The good news for My Kevin: I'm guessing he will get an official speaker's portrait, to hang somewhere around the House side of the Capitol.

Classy! Nicholas Wu & Daniella Diaz of Politico: "As one of his first acts as the acting speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry ordered former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday, according to an email sent to her office.... 'Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,' wrote a top aide on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee. The room was being reassigned by the acting speaker 'for speaker office use,' the email said.... The former speaker blasted the eviction in a statement as 'a sharp departure from tradition.'..." MB: Maybe the office is being "re-keyed" for McCarthy. McHenry was certainly well-aware that Pelosi was on the West Coast Tuesday; she missed the votes yesterday to accompany Dianne Feinstein's body to San Francisco and to attend Feinstein's memorial service. "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' staff helped Pelosi's office make the move...."

~~~ Post-Mortems

The Long Good-bye. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: Kevin McCarthy's "extraordinary ouster that ... left the House in chaos was the culmination of a tumultuous nine months that began in unprecedented fashion in January with 15 roll call votes to claim his gavel and ended in unprecedented fashion with a single one to vacate the speaker's chair. In between, the gregarious Californian, previously known more as a backslapper and prolific fund-raiser than a legislative wizard, narrowly pulled the country back from the brink of crisis -- twice. But he took many other actions, and said many things, that antagonized hard-line Republicans, Democrats and the White House. When the critical moment came, no one was willing to race to his rescue....

"With the G.O.P. base increasingly hungry for insurgency and confrontation, Mr. McCarthy found himself out of step, a problem that is likely to plague any candidate who tries to succeed him.... Mr. McCarthy practiced almost abject obeisance to the far right -- right up to the moment they decided to take him down. He gave them concession after concession to win their votes to become speaker, then went back on some of the ones they cared about most.... Along the way, he also deeply alienated Democrats, even though he was forced to turn to them at key moments, both to avoid a calamitous federal default in May and a government shutdown last weekend."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... Tuesday's events are much larger than [Kevin] McCarthy, for they made it clear, if there had been any doubt, that the Republican Party has lost the ability to govern. McCarthy's term began in chaos, with his 15 rounds of balloting. It lurched from crisis to manufactured crisis, with a needless debt ceiling showdown, failed votes and pulled bills on the floor, recriminations and name-calling in Republican caucus meetings, the launch of impeachment proceedings on fabricated charges, and last week's near-shutdown of the government. Now, it is ending in chaos, with Republicans openly savaging each other on the House floor and all legislative functions ceasing while the majority party tries to pick its next leader.... It's just a matter of time until [Rep. Matt] Gaetz [R-Fla.] -- and the many others like him -- render McCarthy's successor a failure, too. This is all they know how to do."

A Party about Nothing. John Harris of Politico in Politico Magazine: "For nine months, McCarthy had the title and the gavel and a Capitol suite with a nice view. But he never really held the office of speaker in anything like the historic meaning of that job. He never inspired fear. He sought favor from GOP colleagues -- 210 of whom actually stayed with him until the end -- but he had scant influence to bestow favors in return. He wasn't associated with any particular governing idea. At the start, his speakership was effectively an optical illusion. At the end, it was an exercise in self-abasement.... For a quarter-century, every Republican to ascend to the speakership has descended from it with his standing diminished. It's a line that travels from Newt Gingrich to Dennis Hastert to John Boehner to Paul Ryan to McCarthy.... A party that used to have an instinctual orientation toward authority and order -- Democrats fall in love, went the old chestnut, while Republicans fall in line -- is now animated by something akin to nihilism. The politics of contempt so skillfully exploited by Donald Trump is turned inward on hapless would-be leaders like McCarthy with no less ferocity than it is turned outward on liberals and the media." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Harris is understating the House GOP's inability to govern. Since 1931, there has been only one Republican speaker other than those Harris names. That was Joseph Martin, who served from 1947-1949 & 1953-1955 (when the GOP caucus ousted him from leadership).

Stephen Groves of the AP: "Where the House goes from here, no one can say." ~~~

~~~ Wait, Wait! Here's a Brilliant Idea to "Make the House Great Again"! Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) announced late Tuesday he will file paperwork to nominate former President Trump to be the next Speaker of the House. 'This week, when the U.S. House of Representatives reconvenes, my first order of business will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,' Nehls said in a statement. 'President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again.'"

The Civil Trial of an Uncivilized Thug

Here are NBC News' live updates of Day 2 of Donald Trump's fraud trial.

New York Judge Tells Trump to STFU. Steve Reilly & Adam Klasfeld of the Messenger: "The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud trial on Tuesday issued a gag order after the former president attacked his clerk by name and shared her image on social media. 'Personal attacks on members on my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I won't tolerate it [in my courtroom],' said New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. He added later to 'consider this a gag order for all parties from posting about any members of my staff.' The judge rebuked the 'untrue and personally identifying posts' about a staff member. 'Schumer's girlfriend ... is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!!' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, along with a picture of the clerk and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The post appeared to show a photograph of Greenfield standing next to Schumer, without any more context. Fact-checkers note that false rumors about Schumer and infidelity appear to trace their origins to a now-shuttered satirical website." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Trump had been a real president, you would not believe he had targeted a court clerk with a damaging story that included her personal identifying information or that his "source" for the story was a shut-down satirical website. But it's Trump, and you just shake your head. Even as a thug -- his greatest talent -- he's an amateurish screw-up.

Marie: Earlier yesterday, I linked to a story by Jake Traylor of NBC News, who noticed that "... Donald Trump is lashing out at political and legal foes in increasingly violent terms as his campaign to return to office accelerates." Traylor isn't the only one who noticed: ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump had a lot to say on the first day of the fraud trial against him and his company. Speaking to reporters at a Manhattan courthouse on Monday, he dismissed the judge as a 'rogue' justice and said he did not 'think the people of this country are going to stand for it.' And..., 'This is a disgrace,' he said, 'and you ought to go after this attorney general.' The remark urging people to 'go after' a top elected official in New York, by a former president whose invective has become a familiar backdrop of American life, was part of a pattern of increasingly sharp language from Mr. Trump.... His calls for supporters to refuse to 'stand' for what he insists is a broad miscarriage of justice -- are front and center in nearly every statement he makes." MB: You need merely put together his remark about people's not standing for the New York trial with his urging to go after Letitia James to see a nearly direct plea to harm James. There oughta be a law. (Also linked yesterday.)

Olivia Rubin & John Santucci of ABC News: "A number of ... Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Fulton County election interference case have received plea deal offers or have been approached about potentially making a deal by the District Attorney's office...."


Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The manufacturers of 10 expensive medications have agreed to negotiate with the federal government for lower prices for Medicare recipients, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday. The pharmaceutical companies said they would begin talks with the government even as several of them were suing the administration, arguing that the new law authorizing the negotiations -- and steep potential penalties if drug makers opt out -- is unconstitutional." The NBC News report is here.

Orlando Mayorquin of the New York Times: "With a growing number of satellites orbiting the Earth and space junk increasingly becoming a concern, the Federal Communications Commission announced on Tuesday that it had for the first time fined a company for failing to properly dispose of a dead satellite. The commission said that Dish, the television provider, had agreed as part of a settlement to pay a $150,000 fine for failing to thrust its defunct EchoStar-7 broadcast satellite to a higher altitude and into a designated space junkyard zone where it would pose little threat of colliding with active communications satellites and other spacecraft. As part of the settlement, Dish admitted liability, the F.C.C. said."

Maeve Reston & Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "Laphonza Butler was sworn in as the third female Black U.S. senator in history Tuesday -- bringing greater diversity to the upper chamber after nearly three years in which there have been no Black women serving in the Senate.... Butler, 44, a onetime labor leader who was most recently the head of Emily's List, was tapped by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to fill the term of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died at 90 last week. The last Black woman to serve in the Senate was Kamala D. Harris before she became vice president. Harris and Butler have been close since their paths crossed much earlier in their careers in California political circles, and the vice president administered the oath of office to Butler on Tuesday afternoon."

Lindsay Whitehurst & Claudia Lauer of the AP: "Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms. His lawyer Abbe Lowell said in court he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality." (Also linked yesterday.)

Scott Dance of the Washington Post: "Early analyses show global warmth surged far above previous records in September -- even further than what scientists said seemed like astonishing increases in July and August. The planet's average temperature shattered the previous September record by more than half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit), which is the largest monthly margin ever observed."

~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona Senate Race. Maggie Astor & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "Kari Lake, the Republican former news anchor who refused to acknowledge her loss in the Arizona governor's race last year, filed paperwork on Tuesday to run for Senate, setting up what is expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races in the country as Republicans try to win back the chamber. The incumbent, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year to become an independent, has not confirmed whether she will run for re-election, but a prominent Democrat, Representative Ruben Gallego, is already challenging her. Mark Lamb, a right-wing sheriff and an ally of ... Donald J. Trump, is also running." The NBC News story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Canada. Niha Masih of the Washington Post: "Canada's House of Commons voted in Greg Fergus as its first Black speaker on Tuesday, following the resignation of the previous speaker, who had invited a Nazi veteran to Parliament. Fergus, a member of the Liberal Party representing Hull-Aylmer in Quebec, was elected as the 38th House speaker in a secret ballot in the 338-member House, beating six other candidates.... Fergus, who has served as a member of Parliament since 2015, chairs the Black Caucus in Parliament and has held senior advisory roles in a number of ministries."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov for being pioneers of the nanoworld. The new laureates discovered and developed quantum dots, semiconductors made of particles squeezed so small that their electrons barely have room to breathe.

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Tuesday
Oct032023

The Conversation -- October 3, 2023

Bye-Bye, My Kevin, Good-Bye

"The office of the Speaker of the House is hereby declared vacant."

Washington Post: "The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as speaker, the first such removal in congressional history. McCarthy's removal was sought by hard-right members of his own party. Democrats did not provide votes that would have been needed to save him. The move puts the House in uncharted territory as it searches for a leader.... The clerk called the roll alphabetically, with House members rising individually to cast their votes.&" ~~~

~~~ MSNBC reports that Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) will serve as Speaker Pro-Tem. McCarthy designated him to the House Parliamentarian in January. Update from the NYT liveblog, linked below: "Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is named interim speaker under a law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks in the event of a vacancy in the office." ~~~

~~~ From the New York Times liveblog, also linked below. Catie Edmondson: "The House on Tuesday voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, a move without precedent in modern history that left the chamber without a leader and plunged it into chaos. Democrats joined with a small group of hard-liners in Mr. McCarthy's own party to strip the California Republican of the speaker's gavel in a 216 to 210 vote. It was the culmination of a bitter power struggle between Mr. McCarthy and members of a far-right faction who tried to block his ascent to the speakership in January and have tormented him ever since, trying to stymie his efforts to keep the government funded and the nation from defaulting on its debt." Update. Then this: "Shortly after the vote, Mr. McCarthy announced in a closed-door meeting with Republicans that he would not run for speaker again, and Republicans left the Capitol and prepared to return to their districts for the next week with no clear path forward."

~~~ From the CNN liveblog, also linked below: "The US House of Representatives has voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy in a historic vote on Tuesday. The vote on the motion to vacate was 216-210 with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the speakership. The Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy were: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace and Matt Rosendale. The House will now need to elect a new speaker, but there is no clear alternative who would have the support needed to win the gavel. No House speaker has ever before been ousted through the passage of a resolution to remove them."

House of Chaos, Ctd. Catie Edmonson of the New York Times: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that he would not try to broker a deal with Democrats to defeat a hard-right effort to oust him, even though he has little chance of hanging onto his leadership post without their support. In an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box,' Mr. McCarthy said Democrats would 'decide whatever they're going to do. And we will live with whatever happens.' Democrats 'haven't asked for anything' in exchange for voting to support him, Mr. McCarthy said, 'and I'm not going to provide anything.'... House Democrats were set to meet on Tuesday morning to consider whether to bail out Mr. McCarthy. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that the party would 'come to a collective decision at the end.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been folded into a liveblog: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy [said] he planned to call a vote on Tuesday on the right-wing move to oust him from his post, after declaring that he had no intention of giving Democrats any concessions in exchange for helping him survive." ~~~

Luke Broadwater: "Speaker after speaker in the Democrats' closed-door meeting rose to speak against helping McCarthy, saying he can't be trusted and Democrats must remain united against helping him, said Representative Mark Takano of California. 'We don't have an obligation to save this speaker.'"

Kayla Guo: "McCarthy conceded to reporters that if five Republicans voted to oust him, and Democrats stay united against him, that he would lose the speakership. Does that seem likely to happen? 'Probably so,' he said. But he added that he remains confident he'll survive. 'I just don't give up.'"

Edmondson: "In a letter to House Democrats minutes ahead of an expected vote, the Democratic leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, wrote: 'Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.'"

** Edmondson: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy has lost the vote to kill Representative Matt Gaetz's bid to oust him, 208 to 218. That tees an up-or-down vote to remove McCarthy."

CNN is liveblogging Donald Trump's civil trial in Manhattan. So far, Trump has sat through the second day of trial.

Update: "Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the New York attorney general's civil case against Donald Trump, said Tuesday that the trial itself is not the venue for Trump's attorneys to contest what he's already ruled on. 'That's why we have appeals,' Engoron said. The judge made several comments about the trial and the testimony at the start of the second day of a trial that's expected to go into December."

Update. "Judge Arthur Engoron rebuked Donald Trump after the former president attacked his clerk in a social media post on Tuesday and forbade the parties from making any future comments about his staff. 'This morning one of the defendants posted on social media account a disparaging untrue and personally identifying post about a member of my staff. Although I have since ordered the post deleted and apparently it was, it was also emailed out to millions of other recipients,' the judge said in court. 'Personal attacks of any member of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them,' the judge said. The judge then said all parties must not speak publicly about any members of the court staff." ~~~

~~~ New York Judge Tells Trump to STFU. Steve Reilly & Adam Klasfeld of the Messenger: "The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud trial on Tuesday issued a gag order after the former president attacked his clerk by name and shared her image on social media. 'Personal attacks on members on my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I won't tolerate it [in my courtroom],' said New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. He added later to 'consider this a gag order for all parties from posting about any members of my staff.' The judge rebuked the 'untrue and personally identifying posts' about a staff member. 'Schumer's girlfriend, Alison R. Greenfield, is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!!' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, along with a picture of the clerk and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The post appeared to show a photograph of Greenfield standing next to Schumer, without any more context. Fact-checkers note that false rumors about Schumer and infidelity appear to trace their origins to a now-shuttered satirical website." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Trump had been a real president, you would not believe he had targeted a court clerk with a damaging story that included personal information and his "source" for the story was a shut-down satirical website. But it's Trump, and you just shake your head. Even as a thug -- his greatest talent -- he's an amateurish screw-up.

Lindsay Whitehurst & Claudia Lauer of the AP: "Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms. His lawyer Abbe Lowell said in court he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality."

Marie: Earlier today, I linked to a story by Jake Traylor of NBC News, who noticed that "... Donald Trump is lashing out at political and legal foes in increasingly violent terms as his campaign to return to office accelerates." Traylor isn't the only one who noticed: ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump had a lot to say on the first day of the fraud trial against him and his company. Speaking to reporters at a Manhattan courthouse on Monday, he dismissed the judge as a 'rogue' justice and said he did not 'think the people of this country are going to stand for it.' And..., 'This is a disgrace,' he said, 'and you ought to go after this attorney general.' The remark urging people to 'go after' a top elected official in New York, by a former president whose invective has become a familiar backdrop of American life, was part of a pattern of increasingly sharp language from Mr. Trump.... His calls for supporters to refuse to 'stand' for what he insists is a broad miscarriage of justice -- are front and center in nearly every statement he makes." MB: You need merely put together his remark about people's not standing for the New York trial with his urging to go after Letitia James to see a nearly direct plea to harm James. There oughta be a law.

~~~~~~~~~~

Catie Edmonson of the New York Times: "Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida moved on Monday to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post in an act of vengeance that posed the clearest threat yet to Mr. McCarthy's tenure and could plunge the House into chaos. After days of warnings, Mr. Gaetz rose Monday evening to bring up a resolution declaring the speakership vacant, which starts a process that would force a vote within days on whether to keep Mr. McCarthy in his post. In doing so, Mr. Gaetz sought to subject Mr. McCarthy to a rare form of political punishment experienced by only two other speakers in the history of the House of Representatives." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Olivia Beavers & Jordain Carney of Politico: "It's far from clear that Gaetz has the votes to depose McCarthy, as the Floridian himself acknowledged to reporters after making his move. Only three colleagues, Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Bob Good (R-Va.), are openly supportive of his effort. But a handful of other House Republicans frustrated with the speaker are seen as persuadable on the matter of his future." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ What About Kevin? Carl Hulse & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The hard-right move to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post has presented House Democrats with a tricky question: Should they help rescue the California Republican who has worked against their agenda and recently opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden? Mr. McCarthy's slender majority and the size of the band of right-wing rebels working to depose him mean that he has little chance of surviving a vote to keep his job -- which requires a majority -- without at least some support from Democrats. But it is nearly unheard-of for members of the minority to vote for the opposing party's candidate for speaker.... Multiple Democrats said that they expected to take a unified position on the fate of the speaker, and that they would meet Tuesday morning to begin the process of determining what they would do.... Democratic officials said that, absent some sort of tangible and enforceable concession from Mr. McCarthy that benefited them, they could not envision a sufficient number backing him to offset Republican defections."

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... the only way to square the circle of a radical minority with democracy-destroying potential is to acknowledge the way our institutions work to empower the people who hope to overturn constitutional government altogether.... For as much as we have changed and transformed our political institutions -- to make them far more inclusive and responsive than they were at their inception -- it is also clear that they retain the stamp of their heritage. Our counter-majoritarian institutions, for example, continue to place an incredibly higher barrier to efforts to reduce concentrations of wealth and promote greater economic equality.... The Trump crisis may never have materialized if not for specific institutions, like the Electoral College, that gave [Donald] Trump the White House despite his defeat at the hands of most voters. And even with the Electoral College, Trump might not have won if our Supreme Court had not, in Shelby County v. Holder, invalidated the most aggressive and effective rule for the federal protection of voting rights since Reconstruction.... If anyone is aware of this, it has to be [President] Biden, who won the national popular vote by 6 million in 2020, but would have lost the election if not for a few tens of thousands of votes across a handful of so-called swing states."

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A Manhattan federal judge on Monday said Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who faces charges of wide-ranging corruption, will stand trial on May 6 next year, along with his wife and three businessmen who were indicted with him. The date would place the trial just one month before the June 4 New Jersey state primary and raises the specter, if Mr. Menendez runs for re-election, of voters going to the polls while he is on trial, without knowing what verdict, if any, the jury might return. In court on Monday, a prosecutor said the government expected the trial to last four to six weeks, assuming all five defendants were still part of the case. Mr. Menendez, a Democrat..., had been preparing to run for re-election but has not indicated whether, in the face of bribery charges, he still intended to seek a fourth full term."

Jake Traylor of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is lashing out at political and legal foes in increasingly violent terms as his campaign to return to office accelerates.... The aggressive turn began a week ago on Truth Social, where Trump alluded to the execution of his former top military official [Gen. Mark Milley].... It's clear that some Trump supporters are hanging on his every word as his language takes a combustible turn. Many supporters on the campaign trail with Trump this week admire what he has to say and reflect the same sentiments."

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: In a civil trial that began Monday, the New York State "attorney general's office accused [Donald Trump] of inflating his riches by more than $2 billion [link fixed] to obtain favorable deals with banks and bragging rights about his wealth. Outside the courtroom, fired a fusillade of personal attacks on [New York Attorney General Letitia] James and the judge, Arthur F. Engoron. He called the judge 'rogue' and Ms. James 'a terrible person,' even suggesting that they were criminals.... 'You ought to go after this attorney general,' he said, without specifying who or how. He said that Justice Engoron should 'be disbarred' and that the case against him was 'a witch hunt, it's a disgrace.'... Inside, Mr. Trump sat in uncomfortable silence as Ms. James's lawyers methodically laid out their case. 'Year after year, loan after loan, defendants misrepresented Mr. Trump's net worth,' Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for Ms. James, said during opening statements. Exaggerating for a television audience or Forbes Magazine's list of the richest people is one thing, he said, but 'you cannot do it while conducting business in the state of New York.'... As he left the courtroom on Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump passed Ms. James in the front row. He glared at her. Soon after, his son Eric[, who also is a defendant,] walked by and shook her hand." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you are old enough and if you live in an urban (or upscale) enough area, you probably have met extremely rich people. I'd be stunned if any of them ever boasted to you about his wealth. You may have met super-rich people and not even known it because they don't let on how wealthy they are. There is something fundamentally wrong with anyone who does say things like, "My financials are phenomenal," as Trump did Monday.

Marie: I wonder if anyone ever sat Donald Trump down and calmly showed him that he's absolutely crazy. The calm person could show Donald stuff like this to make her point: ~~~

~~~ Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Former President Trump said Sunday that Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) should be jailed for the 'egregious act' of pulling the fire alarm Saturday ahead of the House's vote on a stopgap measure to keep the government open past the midnight deadline. 'Will Congressman Jamal Bowman be prosecuted and imprisoned for very dangerously pulling and setting off the main fire alarm system in order to stop a Congressional vote that was going on in D.C.,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday. 'His egregious act is covered on tape, a horrible display of nerve and criminality.'" MB: Yeah but attempting to lead and carry out an insurrection in which dozens of police personnel are injured is fine, and jailing the perps is a violation of their First Amendment rights. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ And, worse, stuff like this: ~~~

~~~ ** Jake Tapper, et al., of CNN: "John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN. Kelly set the record straight with on-the-record confirmation of a number of damning stories about statements Trump made behind closed doors attacking US service members and veterans, listing a number of objectionable comments Kelly witnessed Trump make firsthand.... [Kelly described] 'A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all "suckers" because "there is nothing in it for them." A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because "it doesn't look good for me." A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family -- for all Gold Star families -- on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America's defense are "losers" and wouldn't visit their graves in France.... A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.'" And more. ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... some of the most serious reports about what he's said have gone largely unconfirmed by key players. That changed in a major way on Monday. Former Trump White House chief of staff John F. Kelly delivered a blistering statement to CNN's Jake Tapper that, for the first time, served to confirm years-old comments attributed to [Donald] Trump and for which Kelly was present.... You can now add [Kelly] to the list of former top aides warning in some very strong terms about another Trump term -- and effectively labeling Trump a clear and present danger." ~~~

~~~ AND what about this? ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Sainato of the Guardian: "Faced with a litany of criminal charges, Donald Trump on Sunday told a campaign rally in Iowa that he would prefer to die by electrocution rather than be eaten by a shark if he ever found himself on a rapidly sinking, electrically powered boat. The former president and frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination delivered the bizarre remarks during a speech in the community of Ottumwa. He was pontificating over batteries for electric powered boats.... Trump ... continued criticizing the prospect of any other sustainable energy technologies and claiming he would repeal the Joe Biden White House's electric vehicle mandate. 'These people are crazy,' Trump said." MB: More projection.

Colleen Long of the AP: "Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an interview that aired Sunday that he would resign if asked by President Joe Biden to take action against Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. But he doesn't think he'll be put in that position. 'I am sure that that will not happen, but I would not do anything in that regard,' he said on CBS '60 Minutes.' 'And if necessary, I would resign. But there is no sense that anything like that will happen.'... Garland said the president has never tried to meddle in the investigations, and he dismissed criticism from Republicans that he was going easy on the president's son, Hunter, who was recently indicted on a gun charge after a plea deal in his tax case fell apart." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Jackman & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "A senior member of the Department of Defense communications staff has been arrested and charged with participating in a dogfighting ring in the D.C. area for more than 20 years, federal authorities disclosed Monday. The ring regularly trained dogs for fights, ran thousands of dollars in bets on the outcomes, and executed dogs that didn't die during matches, court records state. Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., 62, of Arnold, Md., was a deputy chief information officer for command, control and communications for the Secretary of Defense's Chief Information Officer, court records and Moorefield's LinkedIn page show. He was arrested Thursday on a charge of promoting and furthering animal fighting venture, along with a longtime friend who allegedly admitted his participation in dogfighting, Mario D. Flythe, 49, of Glen Burnie. Investigators found battery jumper cables, which allegedly were used to execute dogs at Moorefield's house, along with five pit bull-type dogs at his house and five pit bull-type dogs at Flythe's house, court records show." A CBS News story is here.

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a long-shot bid to disqualify former President Trump from running for office under the 14th Amendment. John Castro, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, has filed various lawsuits seeking to challenge Trump's eligibility under the amendment's provision targeting those involved in insurrections. In a brief, unsigned order issued Monday, the justices declined to take up one of his cases after Castro lost in a lower court." (Also linked yesterday.)

Justice Thomas Regrets He Cannot Opine Today. Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday denied an effort by lawyer John Eastman to appeal a ruling that found he may have acted criminally with the legal advice he gave former President Trump. It spurred a rare recusal from Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife corresponded with the California attorney in the weeks ahead of Jan. 6. Thomas's recusal comes after reporting that his wife, Ginni Thomas, emailed Eastman, as well as Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and Arizona lawmakers wrestling with pressure from the Trump campaign, to look for ways to reverse the election. The episode ... triggered a renewed look at Thomas's failure to recuse himself from other matters relating to Jan. 6. His actions have further come under the microscope following reporting he accepted a series of lavish gifts from a Republican megadonor. The order says that Thomas 'took no part in the consideration' of Eastman's petition." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Marie: So you thought Elon Musk's rapid but evolving destruction of Twitter was a testament to his incompetence? Maybe not. Maybe it all has been adherence to a diabolical plan. Really. ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Collins of NBC News: "On the day that public records revealed that Elon Musk had become Twitter's biggest shareholder, an unknown sender texted the billionaire and recommended an article imploring him to acquire the social network outright. Musk's purchase of Twitter, the 3,000-word anonymous article said, would amount to a 'declaration of war against the Globalist American Empire.' The sender of the texts was offering Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, a playbook for the takeover and transformation of Twitter. As the anniversary of Musk's purchase approaches, the identity of the sender remains unknown. The three texts were sent on April 4, 2022. In the nearly 18 months since then, many of the decisions Musk made after he bought Twitter appear to have closely followed that road map, up to and including his ongoing attacks against the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization founded by Jewish Americans to counter discrimination.... The [article was published on a] site is run by the far-right blogger Darren Beattie, a former Trump White House speechwriter who was fired in 2018 for having spoken on a panel alongside white nationalists. After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Beattie promoted the baseless claim that the FBI had planted agents in the crowd who incited it to storm the building." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I know this sounds batshit crazy, but Collins is a reliable reporter on the batshit crazy, and he shows how Musk has fairly closely followed the plan laid out in the anonymous essay.

~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona. Isaac Stanley Becker & Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said Monday that her administration would effectively kick a Saudi-owned alfalfa farm off a critical stretch of state land, a forceful step that speaks to the firestorm of controversy over foreign extraction of natural resources as well as deepening dilemmas over water scarcity as climate change dries out the West. The move will prevent the Saudi-owned company, Fondomonte Arizona, from pumping groundwater that could one day serve as backup for booming urban areas. Currently, the company uses the water to grow alfalfa to feed the kingdom's dairy cows. Fondomonte came under fierce bipartisan criticism on the campaign trail last year, and Hobbs, a Democrat who took office in January, has been under pressure to act."

Kansas. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "The police chief of Marion, Kansas, who had ordered raids on the office of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher in August resigned on Monday, an official said, after facing mounting questions over his officers' aggressive actions against the news organization. The mayor of Marion, David Mayfield, told the city council on Monday night that the former chief, Gideon Cody, resigned 'effective immediately,' according to Zach Collett, a council member." ~~~

     ~~~ A Grudge in Search of a Crime. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "The Messenger has obtained emails exposing the Marion County Police Chief trying to invent a justification for raiding the local newspaper. The news site filed an open-records request seeking the emails of suspended cop Gideon Cody as he searched for a law that would enable him to get the FBI to back him up on a wide-ranging subpoena." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Washington, D.C. Andrés Martinez of the New York Times: "Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas, was held up at gunpoint and his vehicle was stolen in Washington on Monday evening, according to his office. He was not harmed and police later recovered the vehicle. Mr. Cuellar was parking on Monday at 9:30 p.m. in the Navy Yard neighborhood, about a mile from Capitol Hill, when three armed people approached him and stole his vehicle, said Jacob Hochberg, the congressman's chief of staff. The Metropolitan Police Department and Capitol Police are investigating the crime, he said. Mr. Cuellar's iPad and iPhone were also stolen, Mr. Hochberg said. He did not say whether the devices had been recovered." The Hill's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Another Crack in the Anti-Gay, Anti-Woman Roman Catholic Church. Anthony Faiola, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the shadow of Cologne's Gothic cathedral..., men with men, women with women, and women with men -- lined up to have their unions blessed by ordained Catholic priests wearing rainbow stoles. It was an act of love -- but also sedition, in direct defiance of the Vatican's decree that same-sex unions should not be celebrated or recognized. The German Catholic Church, long known for pushing the boundaries of the faith, has been translating frustrations among progressive Catholics in pockets throughout Europe into a veritable revolt.... Pope Francis has reprimanded Germany's Catholic leadership... On Monday, however, the Vatican released a document that seemed to open a door to blessing same-sex unions and the study of female priests. In the letter, dated Sept. 25, Francis wrote that there are 'situations' that may not be 'morally acceptable' but where a priest can assess, on a case-by-case basis, whether blessings may be given -- as long as such blessings are kept separate from the sacrament of marriage."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier on Tuesday for their experiments that 'have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. 'Electrons' movements in atoms and molecules are so quick that they are measured in 'attoseconds,' and the experiments conducted by the three scientists demonstrated that attosecond pulses could be observed and measured, the awarding committee said."

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