The Conversation -- October 24, 2023

According to CNN's liveblog on the House GOP disaster (also linked below), @ ca. 6:38 pm ET: "The House is set to adjourn shortly, meaning no floor votes for speaker are expected tonight as the GOP conference looks to decide on their next Speaker designee. House Republicans are currently holding a candidate forum to hear from the candidates vying for the gavel. They're poised to hold another secret-ballot vote to nominate a new speaker candidate at 8 p.m. ET."

** Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump's final chief of staff in the White House, Mark Meadows, has spoken with special counsel Jack Smith's team at least three times this year, including once before a federal grand jury, which came only after Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sources said Meadows informed Smith's team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump's prolific rhetoric regarding the election.... According to Meadows' book, the election was 'stolen' and 'rigged' with help from 'allies in the liberal media,' who ignored 'actual evidence of fraud, right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze.'... Under the penalty of perjury, Meadows offered a vastly different assessment to Smith's investigators, telling them he's never seen any evidence of fraud that would undermine the election's outcome, according to what sources told ABC News." Emphasis added. Read on. MB: The dam done broke & Trump has drownded."

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen attacked his onetime boss, Donald J. Trump, from the witness stand on Tuesday, accusing the former president of manipulating his net worth as Mr. Trump, seated feet away, stared blankly ahead. In the early afternoon, just before lunch break in a Manhattan courtroom, Mr. Cohen began to testify about the annual financial statements that are at the heart of a civil fraud trial against the former president that was brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James.... Mr. Cohen did not say anything he has not already said. Nonetheless the courtroom was silent and tense as he testified about his former employer -- whom he always referred to as Mr. Trump -- and said that he had committed crimes as part of his role at the Trump Organization." (This is an update of a story linked earlier today.)

** According to MSNBC on-air, Tom Emmer -- who won today's vote for speaker -- has already dropped out of the race.

The New York Times is liveblogging the House beauty pageant results: "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, emerged from a crowded field on Tuesday as his party's latest leading contender for speaker as the G.O.P. ground through rounds of closed-door votes to break a deadlock that has left Congress paralyzed for three weeks. Mr. Emmer won the first rounds of secret balloting, according to lawmakers who participated, and the field -- which began with nine candidates on Monday evening -- was winnowing as the lowest vote getters were forced out.... Mr. Emmer had yet to draw a majority and was still facing one conservative challenger: Representatives Mike Johnson of Louisiana...." ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater: "Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a lawyer who is the former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, is a favorite of the party's right wing. An evangelical Christian who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Johnson, 51, was a key architect of Republicans' objections to certifying the victory of President Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. Many Republicans in Congress relied on his arguments." MB: Gosh, he sounds ideal.

** Kayla Guo: "Tom Emmer of Minnesota wins the speakership nomination, making him the third to do so since Kevin McCarthy's ouster."

Robert Jimison: "Republicans are now expected to take another closed-door vote to see how many members in the conference will pledge support for Emmer on the House floor."

Broadwater "Tom Emmer defeated Mike Johnson, 117 votes to 97, according to members in the room."

Broadwater: "... the narrow margin of [Emmer's] victory reflected that House Republicans were still deeply at odds, and a swift backlash from the right, including from ... [MB: insane narcissist] Donald J. Trump, suggested his candidacy was in peril. Immediately following his nomination, about two dozen right-wing Republicans indicated that they did not intend to vote for Mr. Emmer on the floor.... Then as he met with holdouts to try to win them over, the former president issued a scathing statement on social media expressing vehement opposition to Mr. Emmer, calling him a 'Globalist RINO' ... whose elevation would be a 'tragic mistake.... I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA -- MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN![']"

Carl Hulse: "What's going on with House Republicans is a stark example of what happens when party discipline is abandoned. Members feel free to go their own way with no fear of payback."

Guo: "Republicans are going on a break now as Tom Emmer meets with holdouts individually and in small groups. He wants to secure the necessary 217 votes behind closed doors before bringing his nomination to a vote on the floor."

** Queen for a Day Three Hours. Broadwater : "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid for speaker on Tuesday hours after securing his divided party's nomination, after a swift backlash from the right, including ... Donald J. Trump, left his candidacy in shambles. Mr. Emmer's abrupt exit signaled that Republicans were as far as ever from breaking a deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed for three weeks. It made Mr. Emmer the third Republican this month to be chosen to lead the party, only to have his bid collapse in a seemingly endless cycle of G.O.P. grievances, personality conflicts and ideological rifts."

     ~~~ CNN's liveblog is here.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans are meeting on Tuesday to vote -- yet again -- on a nominee for speaker, as the party feud that has paralyzed the chamber enters its third week. Seven Republicans are now vying for the post, reflecting the deep divisions within the House G.O.P.... A a House floor vote could occur as soon as Tuesday afternoon, but there is no guarantee that the winner will have the 217 votes necessary to be elected...." ~~~

Marie: Carl Hulse's remark above reminds me of something Mark McKinnon -- GOP consultant & doofus who co-founded No Labels -- said Monday night on MSNBC: It was Kevin McCarthy himself who placed Chekhov's gun over the mantel when he agreed to allow any Republican member of the House to bring a motion to vacate the speakership. In so doing, McCarthy made it a foregone conclusion that somebody would pull that trigger. (paraphrase)

~~~ Jim Croce returns for some political commentary: Thanks to D in Md for this:

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer who amplified ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims of election fraud as part of what she called a legal 'elite strike force team,' pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors in Georgia. During a public hearing Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.... Ms. Ellis agreed to be sentenced to five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. She has already written an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, and she agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors as the case progresses." CNN's report is here.

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House GOP Holds Speakership Cattle Call. Leigh Ann Caldwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Republicans will regroup and again try to elect a speaker of the House this week, a usually simple task that has proved nearly impossible in a divided and wounded Republican conference that has for three weeks been unable to choose a leader. Eight candidates from across the Republican ideological spectrum presented their pitch to their party Monday in another closed-door meeting, a rare event that has become commonplace in recent weeks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The article gives a lot of attention to the Trump factor: "Behind the scenes, [Trump] personally directed his allies to hammer front-runner candidate, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).... Emmer's sins, according to people close to Trump, include voting to certify the 2020 election and failing to endorse Trump, both privately and publicly.... Emmer -- aware of the challenge Trump could pose ... -- spoke with the former president over the phone Saturday, in which they had a 'productive' conversation, according to a person familiar with the call. But a person close with Trump played down the significance of the call, saying it was a 'polite conversation. End of story.'" But it wasn't the end of the story: "During a stop ... in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump said Emmer is his 'biggest fan now because he called me yesterday and told me he's my biggest fan.'... Emmer thanked Trump on X...." I'll bet you've had thousands of polite conversations with people and you never came away thinking, much less boasting to others, "he's my biggest fan." What a sick dick. But wait. There's more. See "Presidential Race 2024" below.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the House GOP's continuing failed attempts to name a speaker are here.

Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "Republicans announced Friday that they had uncovered a 'direct payment' to President Joe Biden -- exactly the kind of evidence they've sought linking Biden to his family's foreign business deals. But the March 2018 payment came from Joe Biden's brother James, not a Ukrainian oligarch or Chinese tycoon, and the check was marked as a 'loan repayment.' Still, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who obtained the records via subpoena, said the $200,000 check looks suspicious for the president.... 'These records actually show that President Biden was the one who stepped in to help family members when they needed support, including by providing short term loans to his brother,' Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee's top Democrat, said in a statement. Raskin added that the 1,400 pages of records Republicans got from their subpoenas, which asked banks for several years of records relating to the president's brother and son, show no wrongdoing, but do reveal 'payments for things like groceries, vet visits, and plumbing repairs.'... The Committee has the bank documents that show both the loan Jim received from his brother in January 2018 and the repayment by check six weeks later,' [a lawyer for James Biden] said. 'At no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.'"

Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez [D] of New Jersey pleaded not guilty on Monday to a new federal charge that accused him of illegally plotting to be an agent of Egypt while serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It was Mr. Menendez's second not-guilty plea in a month after he and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were accused of being at the center of a broad web of political corruption. The couple has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for Mr. Menendez's efforts to increase aid and weapons sales to Egypt while also working to quash criminal investigations for associates in New Jersey."

Vera Lynn sings "We'll Meet Again":

~~~ :Trump and Cohen to Meet Again.: Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: The reunion of Donald Trump & his former lawyer & fixer Michael Cohen "is now set for a stage that has become familiar to them both: a New York courtroom, where Mr. Cohen will take the stand as soon as Tuesday as a star witness against Mr. Trump in a civil fraud trial.... Mr. Trump ... is expected to attend at least some of his testimony.... Mr. Cohen's testimony before Congress in 2019 served as the impetus for [New York Attorney General Letitia] James's investigation.... He is expected to reprise those comments and fill in details this week. But the testimony's substance may pale in comparison to the drama of the face-off. It also will test Mr. Trump's courtroom decorum.... In a statement ahead of his testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Cohen said: 'It's been five years since we have seen one another. I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does as well.'"

Motion Commotion. Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "In a slew of court filings late Monday, attorneys for Donald Trump filed several motions asking the judge overseeing the election subversion case in Washington, DC, to dismiss the charges against the former president on grounds that, among other things, they violate his First Amendment rights and are the product of a 'selective and vindictive prosecution.'... Trump's attorneys, in their filings, also moved to strike allegations around the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack mentioned in the indictment against him.... [Among the arguments:] because of the 'tradition of forceful political advocacy' in the US, the former president 'lacked fair notice that his advocacy in this instance could be criminalized.'" MB: Ah, nobody told me I couldn't try to overturn the election by any means possible, including violence, so I just did it, exercising my free speech rights. ~~~

The Constitution's plain text, structural principles of separation of powers, our history and tradition, and principles of Double Jeopardy bar the Executive Branch from seeking to re-charge and re-try a President who has already been impeached and acquitted in a trial before the U.S. Senate. -- Trump Attorneys, in a ridiculous argument filed just before midnight ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Washington Post's story.

Lisa Kashinsky, et al., of Politico: "At a series of appearances on Monday in New Hampshire, [Donald Trump] seemed to take delight in flouting the court system that now endangers his livelihood and the judges urging him to watch his mouth. Clearer still was that he fully intends to wring political advantage out of the cases he is navigating. It is, he told his followers, all 'bullshit.'... On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Trump a temporary reprieve from a gag order she had imposed just three days earlier, after Trump's attorney John Lauro argued that parts of the order were vague and indecipherable. Within hours, Trump had resumed his attacks on the lead prosecutor in his Washington and Florida criminal cases, special counsel Jack Smith, calling him 'deranged' and also swiping at a potential witness in his Florida trial."

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

Marie: Contributor Jeanne wrote something yesterday that I might have written myself had I been as honest as she: "I have never wished death on anyone until I realized I was hoping for his demise every single morning when I switch on the 'electric machine' to see what has been happening overnight. That has been going on for about seven years now." Shame on us. Maybe.

Presidential Race 2024

Jill Colvin & Holly Ramer of the AP: "Returning to New Hampshire to register for its presidential primary, [Donald] Trump held a rally where he railed against President Joe Biden's response to the Hamas attack on Israel and vowed to build an Iron Dome-style missile defense shield over the U.S. But he focused much of his dark and at times profane speech on the criminal and civil cases against him, at one point suggesting he would go to prison like the former South African president [Nelson Mandela] who spent 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's apartheid system and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't mind being Nelson Mandela because I'm doing it for a reason'..., [Trump said at a rally in Derry, New Hampshire.]" MB: Let's all hope Trump gets a well-deserved 27-year sentence, too, for crimes committed, even as we recognize that Mandela's incarceration was entirely unjust. ~~~

     ~~~ A Very Good Brain. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump spoke to a rally crowd in Derry, New Hampshire, on Monday, where he celebrated his own 'genius.' As part of his rambling speech, Trump seemed to realize the abbreviations of the United States, U.S., are the same letters as 'us.'.... Speaking about French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump explained, 'You know, he's for France. I'm for us.... You know how you spell 'us' right? You spell it U-S!' The crowd cheered. 'I just picked that up. Has anyone ever thought of that be -- I just picked that up,' Trump continued." ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Confuses Two of His Favorite Dictators. Seb Starcevic of Politico: "... Donald Trump appeared to confuse the leaders of Turkey and Hungary in a campaign speech in New Hampshire on Monday. 'There's a man, Viktor Orbán, did anyone ever hear of him?' Trump said, referring to the Hungarian prime minister. 'He's probably, like, one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. He"s the leader of Turkey,' the former president said. Turkey's president is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trump added that Orbán has a 'front' with Russia. Neither Turkey nor Hungary has a border with Russia."

** Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump is pushing for a major American foreign policy change in his second administration that would likely upend decades of global national security infrastructure. Sources tell Rolling Stone that Trump is planning to pull the United States entirely out of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance unless it caves to his demands that include one that would seem to undermine the entire purpose of the alliance. In addition to his standard calls for other NATO countries to chip in more for their defense spending, Trump also reportedly wants to rip up the strategic doctrine that an attack on one NATO country represents an attack on all NATO countries."

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

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

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it had struck hundreds of targets in Gaza overnight, and Palestinian officials said more than 700 people had been killed, adding to the devastating toll as Israel faces pressure to delay a ground invasion.... The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Israel's airstrikes had killed more than 5,700 people, nearly half of them children, since Oct. 7, when a Hamas-led attack killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.... Aid workers had started distributing relief supplies in southern Gaza after a third convoy of aid entered through Egypt on Monday. Humanitarian groups have called for more food, water and medicine to be sent in, as well as fuel, but Israel has balked at deliveries of fuel because it says Hamas could use it for military purposes." ~~~

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

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials.... The officials ... said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely."

New York Times: "More Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in the past few weeks than in any similar period in at least the past 15 years, according to Palestinian health authorities and historical data from the United Nations. Israeli forces and settlers have killed 95 Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, health officials said, a surge in violence in what was already a particularly deadly year in the West Bank. One Israeli soldier was also killed in clashes. Most of the Palestinian deaths in the West Bank have been in clashes with Israeli forces, while others were the result of settler attacks."

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is concerned that Israel lacks achievable military objectives in Gaza, and that the Israel Defense Forces are not yet ready to launch a ground invasion with a plan that can work, senior administration officials said. In phone conversations with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has stressed the need for careful consideration of how Israeli forces might conduct a ground invasion of Gaza, where Hamas maintains intricate tunnel networks under densely populated areas. Biden administration officials insisted that the United States had not told Israel what to do and still supported the ground invasion. But the Pentagon has sent a three-star Marine, Lt. Gen. James Glynn, along with other officers to help the Israelis with the challenges of fighting an urban war." ~~~

~~~ Ruth Michaelson, et al., of the Guardian: "Pressure has intensified on Israel to negotiate the release of more than 200 people held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, with desperate families begging officials to help free their loved ones before an anticipated ground invasion.... The pressure comes from inside and outside Israel. Many of the hostages were citizens or dual nationals of countries around the world, including Israel's closest allies." ~~~

~~~ Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice: "I think Biden knows Netanyahu is a corrupt, Trump-like snake who repeatedly puts his own political interests above the security and interests of his country. So maybe Biden [-- by embracing Israel --] is attempting to be the grownup in the room there too, not just for Israel's sake but for ours."

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

The Conversation -- October 23, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Israel/Palestine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

News Lede

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

The Conversation -- October 22, 2023

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

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

Last week's guy is frustrated:

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

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

     ~~~ Secretary Austin's statement is here.

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

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

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

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

Flippity Doo-Dah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Israel/Palestine

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

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

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

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

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

News Lede

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