;)
The Commentariat -- October 21, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday dismissed criticism that his since-reversed plan to host the Group of Seven (G-7) summit at his Doral property would have led to an ethics violation. 'I don't think you people, with this phony Emoluments Clause -- and by the way, I would say that it's cost anywhere from $2 billion to $5 billion to be president,' Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. The Emoluments Clause prohibits elected federal officials from receiving gifts or contributions from foreign governments. Trump has repeatedly claimed the presidency has cost him billions of dollars. Trump offered a lengthy defense of using his Doral resort near Miami to host next year's G-7 summit, and lashed out amid questions about the backlash to his earlier decision.... 'It would have been the best G-7 ever,' Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting, adding that he felt the eventual location would not be as good. 'The Democrats went crazy, even though I would have done it free, saved the country a lot of money,' he added. Then they say, "Oh, but you'll get promotion." Who cares? You don't think I get enough promotion? I get more promotion than any human being that's ever lived.' Trump ... again criticized former President Obama for his book deal and contract with Netflix, both of which were agreed to after Obama left the White House." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There are parts of the Constitution that are phony. The emoluments provisions are definitely phony. As far as I can tell, impeachment provisions are also phony, so Article II people can & do ignore them. In fact, most of Article I is phony, so any so-called Congressional powers can & will be overridden by executive orders. Few would disagree with the premise that the U.S. Constitution is a flawed document. Luckily, we have Donald Trump to point out where it's not even real.
Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a 'fact sheet' Monday detailing ... Donald Trump's 'shakedown' of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a 'pressure campaign' to get Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and a subsequent 'cover up.'... 'President Trump has betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain,' Pelosi's document states." The article includes a reproduction of Pelosi's fact sheet, which is kinda handy.
Heidi Przybyla of NBC News: "House Democrats are zeroing in on a framework for their impeachment case against ... Donald Trump that will center on a simple 'abuse of power' narrative involving the president's actions regarding Ukraine, according to multiple people familiar with the deliberations.... Democratic House committee chairs and leaders are still debating the need for additional articles or charges that extend beyond the president's dealings with Ukraine, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been adamant that the case against Trump must be targeted and easy to communicate in order to build public support, according to those familiar with discussions. That's especially true since Democrats are hoping to win the votes of at least some moderate House Republicans...."
David Halbfinger & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel gave up on his latest attempt to form a government on Monday, clearing the way for Benny Gantz, the former army chief who narrowly defeated him in last month's election, to try to become the country's next leader.... President Reuven Rivlin ... said he would give Mr. Gantz, 60, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, the mandate to form a government 'as soon as possible.' Under the law, Mr. Gantz will have 28 days to do so.... It is unclear, however, whether Mr. Gantz will have any greater chance of succeeding. Mr. Netanyahu, who remains prime minister until a new government is formed, is counting on Mr. Gantz to fail." The NBC News story is here.
Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has been denied the opportunity to hold a second vote on his Brexit deal in the House of Commons after the Speaker, John Bercow, ruled that it would be 'repetitive and disorderly'. Bercow said it would break longstanding conventions for MPs to debate and vote on the agreement struck in Brussels last week, little more than two days after Saturday's historic sitting."
Jason Abbruzzese of NBC News: "Facebook unveiled new plans Monday to fight 2020 election interference. It will clearly label news that comes from state-owned media, and will give greater transparency for the origins of Facebook pages. And it has already found interference coming from authoritarian regimes overseas. In an interview with NBC News, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has thwarted new interference campaigns from Russia and Iran that it regards as the groundwork for future manipulation efforts."
Alex Johnson, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump suggested Monday that he would leave some U.S. troops in Syria to protect oil resources, but said he saw no need for U.S. forces to defend America's Kurdish partners. 'We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives,' Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting at the White House.... He said the U.S. would work out a deal where some oil revenue would go to the Kurds, and suggested a large oil company could be involved. He also said the U.S. would leave a small number of troops near Jordan at the request of Israel. 'Keep the oil, we want to keep the oil and we will work something out with the Kurds so they have some money, they have some cash flow,' Trump said. Should Trump ultimately decide to leave some forces within Syria, it would be the second time he has reversed course on pulling all U.S. troops out of the region in less than a year."
Lefteris Pitarakis & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "Angry over the U.S. withdrawal, residents of a Kurdish-dominated Syrian city hurled potatoes at departing American military vehicles as they drove by on Monday. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said U.S. troops will stay in eastern Syria to protect Kurdish-held oil fields for at least the coming weeks and he was discussing options to keep them there. 'Like rats, America is running away,' one man shouted in Arabic at a convoy of armored vehicles flying American flags passing down an avenue in the northeastern city of Qamishli, according to video by the Kurdish news agency.... At another location, near the town of Tal Tamr, a group of protesters raised banners to departing U.S. troops late Sunday, according to an Associated Press video. One man blocked the way of a U.S. van with a poster reading: 'Thanks for US people, but Trump betrayed us.'"
David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wants more than control over a wide swath of Syria along his country's border. He says he wants the Bomb. In the weeks leading up to his order to launch the military across the border to clear Kurdish areas, Mr. Erdogan made no secret of his larger ambition. 'Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads,' he told a meeting of his governing party in September. But the West insists 'we can't have them,' he said. 'This, I cannot accept.' With Turkey now in open confrontation with its NATO allies, having gambled and won a bet that it could conduct a military incursion into Syria and get away with it, Mr. Erdogan's threat takes on new meaning. If the United States could not prevent the Turkish leader from routing its Kurdish allies, how can it stop him from building a nuclear weapon or following Iran in gathering the technology to do so?"
Stonewall, Ctd. Caitlin Emma of Politico: "... Donald Trump's acting budget chief won't testify for House impeachment investigators this week. Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, tweeted this morning that he will refuse House Democrats' deposition request. Vought also said that Michael Duffey, the OMB political appointee tasked with managing a freeze on $400 million in foreign assistance to Ukraine last summer, won't show up for interviews, either."
I don't know those gentlemen. -- Donald Trump, October 11 ~~~
~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "The private Instagram page of a Rudy Giuliani associate accused of a conspiracy to funnel foreign money into elections show that he also had regular access to the President and his inner circle. The Wall Street Journal sifted through the contents of Lev Parnas' instagram page, which is not viewable to the general public, on Monday. Parnas poses with ... Donald Trump in multiple pictures on the account. One photo shows a thank you [note] signed by the President and first lady Melania Trump." Includes WSJ video report. ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler has been developing a conspiracy theory about the Trumpian Ukrainian conspiracy theory, which she thinks may be a continuation of Paul Manafort's efforts in Ukraine. One of the pictures in Parnas' Instagram feed supports her theory. Wheeler's conspiracy theories sometimes pan out.
The Supremes Favor GOP Gerrymandering. Harper Neidig of the Hill: "The Supreme Court in another defeat for gerrymandering reformers overturned a lower court's ruling that Michigan's electoral districts are overly partisan and need to be withdrawn. Monday's order follows a June decision from the nation's top court that questions over partisan gerrymandering are not under the jurisdiction of federal courts. The new order returns the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. A three-judge panel in that court had ruled that 34 state legislature and congressional districts needed to be redrawn because they were designed to favor Republicans. The League of Women Voters and a group of Michigan voters had argued that GOP officials in the state had 'engaged in a concerted effort to redraw district lines to benefit Republican candidates while disadvantaging their opponents.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
When we're dancing with the angels, the question we'll be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact? Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing? -- Rep. Elijah Cummings, closing remarks after Michael Cohen's testimony
Cummings is dancing with the angels. In 2019, he did his part. Will we? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ Citizens of the Nation, Unite! David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "The impeachment inquiry has reached the stage when it needs an outside game. We all know where the inside game is likely to lead: House Democrats will impeach Trump; Senate Republicans will acquit him; and he will claim vindication. But Trump's presidency has become too dire for Americans to accept that outcome without trying to change it.... Even more so than a month ago, Trump is a national emergency, flagrantly violating his oath of office and daring the country to stop him.... So it's time for a sequel to that first Women's March -- an Americans' March, in which millions of people peacefully take to the streets to say that President Trump must go.... The country is in crisis. Right now, that crisis feels all too normal."
It Was "Clean up after Trump Weekend" in Washington, D.C. -- Results, Mixed
Eric Schmitt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump is leaning in favor of a new Pentagon plan to keep a small contingent of American troops in eastern Syria, perhaps numbering about 200, to combat the Islamic State and block the advance of Syrian government and Russian forces into the region's coveted oil fields, a senior administration official said on Sunday. If Mr. Trump approves the proposal to leave a couple of hundred Special Operations forces in eastern Syria, it would mark the second time in 10 months that he has reversed his order to pull out nearly all American troops from the country. Last December, Mr. Trump directed 2,000 American troops to leave Syria immediately, only to relent later and approve a more gradual withdrawal. The decision would also be the potential second major political reversal in a matter of days under pressure from his own party, after he rescinded on Saturday a decision to host next year's Group of 7 summit at his own resort.... The proposal to keep a counterterrorism force in eastern Syria resulted from the Defense Department directing the military's Central Command in recent days to provide options for continuing the fight against Islamic State in Syria."
Mark Esper Is So "Ethnic." Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump shared an update on Sunday from his defense secretary that outlined 'minor skirmishes' between Turkish and Kurdish fighters.... 'Mark Esperanto, Secretary of Defense, "The ceasefire is holding up very nicely. There are some minor skirmishes that have ended quickly,"' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. '"New areas being resettled with the Kurds." USA soldiers are not in combat or ceasefire zones. We have secured the Oil. Bringing soldiers home!' Even for Mr. Trump, who often lards his online missives with typos, caps-lock abuses, occasional gibberish and errant exclamation points, Sunday's missive contained an outsize number of errors.... [No one seems to know what Mr. Trump means when he says] that United States had 'secured the oil,' a claim he has repeatedly made in recent days without any explanation. The ... [claim] that the United States was 'bringing soldiers home' ... is also not correct.... Hours after the original tweet was posted to the presidential account, the White House tried again, spelling Mr. Esper's name correctly.... Most of the other questionable assertions remained." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe we should be glad President Amerika-First has taken to promoting a largely-forgotten "constructed" international language.
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I did catch Trump's saying last week that he supported Turkey's "cleaning out" the Kurds from Northern Syria, but I missed this: Mark Sumner of Crooks & Liars: In a tweet on Friday, Trump wrote, "that Erdoğan wants this plan to work and 'the Kurds want it, and the ultimate solution, to happen.'" These barely-disguised euphemisms for ethnic cleansing & the "Final Solution" are not accidents, IMO. This is what Erdoğan wants, so it's what Trump wants, too. He has a mindset that makes "ultimate solution" roll off his tongue & allows him to placidly watch Turkish & Arab fighters roll over ethnic Kurds. (Also linked yesterday.)
Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi has traveled to Jordan [as head of a bipartisan congressional delegation] to meet with the Jordanian king for 'vital' discussions about the Turkish incursion into Syria and other regional challenges.... The visit by senior United States officials came as sporadic clashes continued on Sunday morning along the Turkish-Syrian border, where, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry, a Turkish soldier was killed by Kurdish fighters in the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad. Confusion and continued shelling have marred the cease-fire deal announced by Vice President Mike Pence last week, with both Turkey and Kurdish leaders accusing each other of violating the truce." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a surprise congressional visit to Jordan over the weekend, highlighting her sharp disagreement with President Trump over policy in a Middle East roiled by Trump's abrupt removal of U.S. troops from northern Syria and Turkey's subsequent attacks on Kurdish enclaves.... After meeting with King Abdullah II and senior Jordanian officials Saturday night, neither country released details of the talks before the delegation departed for the United States on Sunday morning.... 'I don't think it matters what they talked about, what matters is that she came here to draw a line under his abandonment of the Kurds and the outrage it has caused,' said a former Israeli general, who asked not to be named...."
Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump was forced to abandon his decision to host next year's Group of Seven summit at his private golf club after it became clear the move had alienated Republicans and swiftly become part of the impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency. In a round of phone calls with conservative allies this weekend, Trump was told Republicans are struggling to defend him on so many fronts, according to an administration official.... Democrats, meanwhile, continued to blast Trump for awarding the massive government contract to his own company and said they might add the alleged 'emoluments' violation to the articles of impeachment they are preparing.... Even many Republicans seemed reluctant to offer political cover.... The president was told repeatedly his G-7 decision made it more difficult to keep Senate Republicans in a unified front against impeachment proceedings, the official said. Before he changed course, Trump had waved off concerns from advisers who said hosting world leaders at his club would not play well." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "Would not play well"? Yesterday, after the Trumpertweet announcement, I speculated that the real reason Trump had caved was not, as he claimed, because "the hostile media & Democrat partners went CRAZY!" but because "My lawyers kept screaming, 'You'll be impeached! You'll be booted out of the White House! You'll do jail time!'" It turns out the advisers trod much more lightly. Their subtlety was just as effective as suggesting to a bull in a china shop that he might find it pleasant to exit quietly via the rear door. ~~~
It is really just about him ordering the country to pay him money. It is just indefensible. -- Paul Rosenzweig of the (right-wing) Heritage Foundation
This is no different than any other corrupt leader of an oil-rich African country who is taking money from the government and taxpayers. -- Jessica Tillipman, specialist in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The president first heard the criticism of his choice of the Doral watching TV, where even some Fox News personalities were disapproving.... Saturday afternoon..., he put in a call to Camp David, where [Mick] Mulvaney was hosting moderate congressional Republicans for a discussion of issues facing them, including impeachment, and was told the consensus was he should reverse himself. Those moderates are among the votes Mr. Trump would need to stick with him during an impeachment.... In a statement, an official at the Trump Organization, the president's private company, reiterated Mr. Trump's disappointment and his contention that American taxpayers had lost a good deal.... Legal experts said the statement itself showed how fundamentally Mr. Trump and his family misunderstood the ethical issues raised by his choice." ~~~
~~~ Maya Parhasarathy of Politico: "... Donald Trump was 'surprised' by the harsh pushback over his initial decision to host the G-7 conference at his Trump National Doral Miami resort..., acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday.... 'He was honestly surprised by the level of pushback.'" Mrs. McC: Well, Trump doesn't do anything "honestly," but I'll bet he was surprised/pissed off that people said they were appalled he would so flagrantly violate the Constitution because as far as Trump understands it, the Constitution says he can do whatever he wants. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve M.: "I think Trump has an extremely fragile ego that's bound up in his business interests. He wants world leaders to agree with him that his properties are the best, the finest, so, as Politico reports, he's forever pestering them on the subject.... Sure, he's selling his properties, but he also seems to respond well to flattery that makes him no money at all.... He's insecure. This is what he's done with his life and yet some people snub him, and he can't stand it. Stay at one of my properties. Tell me they're the best. Please? Many of them do, as a way of currying favor. They pay him money, so the transactions qualify as emoluments for which he should be impeached. But the real payment is in ego gratification.... The House should write and pass and article impeaching Trump for the cash transactions, as a stand-in for impeaching him because foreign governments are trading ego massages for favorable treatment." ~~~
~~~ Nancy Cook of Politico: "And [Mick Mulvaney] threw red meat to liberals and Democratic presidential candidates who have long questioned the appropriateness of the Trump family continuing to profit from their business holdings while Trump serves as president. 'At the end of the day, he still considers himself to be in the hospitality business,' Mulvaney told [Chris] Wallace about Trump's original decision to hold the next G-7 summit at his resort in Doral, Fla. -- a decision he reversed late Saturday. 'I just have to pick up: You say he considers himself in the hospitality business? Wallace asked. 'He's the president of the United States.' Mulvaney's interview did not play well among Trump allies and advisers, with one calling it a 'self-immolation.'" ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "During an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday,' [Mick] Mulvaney disagreed with an assertion by the show's anchor, Chris Wallace, that Mr. Mulvaney's remarks were proof of a quid pro quo, an exchange the president has publicly denied for weeks. But he struggled to explain how his comments Sunday were not at odds with what he said last week. 'That's what people are saying that I said, but I didn't say that,' Mr. Mulvaney said, adding that he had outlined 'two reasons' for withholding the aid to Ukraine in a news briefing with reporters on Thursday. In the briefing, however, he outlined three reasons: the corruption in the country, whether other countries were also giving aid to Ukraine and whether Ukrainian officials were cooperating in a Justice Department investigation. Mr. Wallace played back [the tape.]... Pressed by Mr. Wallace, Mr. Mulvaney said he was 'not acknowledging there's three reasons.' 'You said three reasons,' Mr. Wallace said.... 'I recognize that I didn't speak clearly, maybe, on Thursday,' he said. 'Folks misinterpreted what I said. But the facts are absolutely clear and they are there for everyone to see.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Mulvaney of course was using an element of the official Trump prevarication methodology: "What I said then means what I say now, even though the then contradicts the now. It's your fault for misinterpreting me."
Pompeo Has Worked Out His Ukraine Cover Story. Adia Robinson of ABC News: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he never saw the kind of quid pro quo that acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney referred to on Thursday with regard to the decision-making process he was involved in. The conversation was always around what were the strategic implications," Pompeo said on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday. 'Would that money get to the right place or would there be corruption in Ukraine and the money wouldn't flow to the mission that it was intended for.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Et tu, Bill Barr. (Nah.) Evan Perez of CNN: "Weeks before Rudy Giuliani publicly became a figure to avoid in Washington, he managed to get a meeting with the top official in the Justice Department's criminal division on behalf of a client. The Justice Department now says that official, Brian Benczkowski, and other fraud prosecutors at Justice headquarters wouldn't have taken that meeting with Giuliani ... had they known about a Manhattan US attorney probe of two Giuliani associates who were indicted this month. It is striking that the Justice Department is having to distance itself from the President's own personal attorney. A Justice spokesman issued an unusual statement seeking to remove the department further from Giuliani.... The Justice statement marks the second time in recent days that the department has publicly distanced itself from the collateral political damage surrounding Giuliani and his activities at the center of the House's impeachment inquiry into the President. On Friday, a senior Justice official disavowed comments by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney linking a quid pro quo on Ukrainian aid to a Justice investigation."
We are sending troops and other things to the Middle East to help Saudi Arabia. But are you ready? Saudi Arabia, at my request, has agreed to pay us for everything we're doing. That's a first. But Saudi Arabia -- and other countries, too, now &-- but Saudi Arabia has agreed to pay us for everything we're doing to help them. -- Donald Trump, remarks to reporters, October 11
They've agreed to pay fully for the cost of everything we're doing over there. . . . Saudi Arabia is paying for 100 percent of the cost, including the cost of our soldiers. And that negotiation took a very short time -- like, maybe, about 35 seconds. -- Donald Trump, remarks at the White House, October 16
When the Washington Post attempted to get details on this a-mazing 35-second negotiation, "... we ended up with a carefully crafted statement from [the State Department]:... 'While we will not comment on specific bilateral defense agreements, more broadly the United States encourages burden-sharing among partners in support of shared security interests, to include defense of the Arabian Gulf.'... 'Encourages burden-sharing' ... certainly sounds like an aspiration, not a negotiated outcome. And the State Department won't comment on a 'specific bilateral defense agreement' even though the president is talking about it? That doesn't make much sense.... It's certainly fishy that no one in the administration appears willing to explain what, if anything, has been negotiated. And we certainly can't accept it based on the president's rhetoric.... If more information is eventually forthcoming, we will update this fact check and possibly the Pinocchio rating as well. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
I would like to see bureaucrats do their jobs & tell the press the truth from the git-go. Instead of dodging & putting out "carefully-crafted statements," why not show some guts & say, "We are unaware of any such deal. Ask the White House"? The scandal here is that Trump unilaterally decided to move U.S. troops from protecting the Kurds to protect his buddies, the Saudi royal family. This may be what he means by his unexplained but repeated claim, "We have secured the Oil." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Josh Gerstein & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "The Justice Department confirmed Sunday that ... Donald Trump's son Donald Jr. and former White House counsel Don McGahn were never called before a grand jury that heard witnesses called by special counsel Robert Mueller. The disclosure was set in motion by Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., who ruled last week that Justice Department attorneys had deleted too much information from a court filing last month in an ongoing legal dispute over Attorney General William Barr's refusal to share with House lawmakers grand jury-related information in Mueller's final report. Howell's opinion, issued Thursday, suggested it was perplexing why Trump Jr. and McGahn were not subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury. 'The Special Counsel's reasons remain unknown,' Howell wrote. '... both of the non-testifying individuals named ... figured in key events examined in the Mueller Report. Assessment of these choices by the Special Counsel is a matter for others."
Qusay Lashes Out at Sickening Nepotists. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: Eric Trump "blasted children of politicians profiting from their relationship during a Saturday night appearance on Fox News with Jeanine Pirro. 'So where does Joe Biden get off been so pompous and above it all?' Pirro asked. 'If I was doing the same thing that that family was doing I'd be in jail,' Eric Trump said. 'Why is it that every family in politics enriches themselves?' he asked. 'It is sickening.'" Mrs. McC: I do wonder if Qusay is stupid enough to believe himself or if he's just trolling us.
Axios: "In an interview with 'Axios on HBO,' Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Trump's most vital allies on Capitol Hill, opened the door to changing his mind on impeachment.... 'Sure. I mean ... show me something that ... is a crime,' Graham told Axios' Jonathan Swan. 'If you could show me that, you know, Trump actually was engaging in a quid pro quo, outside the phone call, that would be very disturbing.' 'As to asking China to look into Biden, that was stupid. ... Bad idea. That didn't last very long. I think that's a frustrated Trump.' But Trump's Ukraine call isn't impeachable on its own, Graham said: 'I've read the transcript of the Ukrainian phone call. That's not a quid pro quo to me.'... Trump's loosening hold on Graham reflects the mess the president has created for himself in the past two weeks. At the very time he needs a Republican fortress against impeachment, GOP lawmakers are furious at him over his rash pullback in Syria. In the interview, Graham called Trump's abandonment of the Kurds 'dishonorable' and a 'sh*tshow.' Graham said he's changed his view of Trump's character since opposing him during the 2016 primaries[.] 'I've got to know him, and I find him to be a handful,' Graham said. 'I find him to be an equal opportunity abuser of people. But at the end of the day, he can be very charming and be very gracious, and I'm judging him by his conduct.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is Graham showing off to voters back home & to Trump, reminding them -- as he so often does -- that as a U.S. Senator, he isn't irrelevant. South Carolina Republicans will have to favor impeachment 9-to-1 before Lindsey would actually bail on the Dear Leader.
The Frivolous Political Story of the Day. Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't know why this is a big story, but it is getting quite a bit of ink, so here ya go. Ashley Feinberg of Slate: "... the Atlantic's McKay Coppins published a lengthy profile on Mitt Romney, apparently part of Romney's effort to set himself up as the noble Republican foil to an out-of-control president. These sorts of pieces, which are more about narrative setting than anything else, typically don't contain a lot of new information, but this had one notable exception. About midway through, the usually guarded senator revealed that, just like fellow lone-voice-of reason-haver, James Comey, he was the owner of a secret Twitter account." So Feinberg went about sleuthing out Romney's secret Twitter account, and it didn't take her long to find it. Shortly after Feinberg's post went up, the secret account she found -- handle, Pierre Delecto -- went private. And a couple of hours after that, Mitt copped to Coppins, "C'est moi." Coppins profile of Romney, since updated, is here. The New York Times has a story here. The most important thing, IMO, is that Mitt Romney named his alter-ego "Pierre Delecto." He may be a staid, ultra-religious (magic Mormon underwear) family man, but in his dreams, Mitt Romney is an international man of mystery. ~~~
Elevator pitch: A heist film where the crooks don the names Pierre Delecto, Carlos Danger, John Baron, Reinhold Niebuhr. -- Jeet Heer, in a tweet
That would be Mitt Romney, Anthony Weiner, Donald Trump & Jim Comey. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Presidential Race 2020
Alex Thompson of Politico: "Days after 2020 rivals accused her of not being candid on how she would pay for Medicare-for-All, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a crowd at a town hall that she would be rolling out a plan 'over the next few weeks' detailing how she would pay for the plan." Warren said she had been working out the details for months, but that wasn't good enough for Joe Biden whose campaign continued to criticize her. Mrs. McC: Say, Joe, it might be a good idea to criticize Trump, who has been "working on" his healthcare plan for four years & still hasn't quite got it out there. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times story is here.
Elena Schneider of Politico: "Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar shot out of the last Democratic debate with the most precious commodity a presidential candidate can get before the Iowa caucuses: momentum. Now, they're racing to actually crack open what for months has been a three-person race. The Minnesota senator and the South Bend, Ind., mayor each raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours following the debate, a sign that their critiques of progressive leaders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders during the debate struck a chord. Energetic crowds greeted them in the first caucus state soon after -- including voters who said they were looking for alternatives to Joe Biden, the longtime polling leader who has slipped in Iowa over the past month." Mrs. McC: Even if you prefer Warren or Sanders, for Klobuchar or Buttigieg to represent "moderate" Democrats is a good thing. Both would make effective presidents, IMO, and both are smart, well-spoken, quick on their feet & appealing.
Susan Page of USA Today: "It's a new three-way race in Iowa. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was initially seen as a long-shot presidential contender, has surged within striking distance of former vice president Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY Poll finds. Biden, long viewed as the Democratic frontrunner, is faltering in the wake of a debate performance last week that those surveyed saw as disappointing. The poll, taken Wednesday through Friday, put Biden at 18%, Warren at 17% and Buttigieg at 13% among 500 likely Democratic caucusgoers. Those standings reflect significant changes since the Suffolk/USA TODAY poll taken in Iowa at the end of June, when Biden led Warren by double digits and Buttigieg trailed at a distant 6%. California Sen. Kamala Harris, who was then in second place after a strong showing in the first Democratic debate, has plummeted 13 percentage points and is now in a three-way tie for sixth. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earned 9% support, the same number as in the June poll." Mrs. McC: Uh, a brokered convention could be really exciting -- as long as the old pols don't get together & pick old Joe.
Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "A settlement has been reached with four drug companies facing trial over their role in the opioid crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Unidentified sources told the newspaper that details of the settlement will be announced Monday morning. The deal was reportedly reached between companies McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corp and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and the two Ohio counties that had been selected to go to trial first among the more than 2,300 opioid lawsuits. A fifth company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, had yet to reach a deal Monday morning, according to the Journal." The Washington Post has a breaking (@8:25 am ET) story here.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. David of Crooks & Liars: "CNN viewers lashed out on Sunday after the network announced it had hired former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy (R), who quit his previous job in Congress to take care of his nine children. During a Sunday appearance on CNN's State of the Union program, Duffy defended ... Donald Trump by repeating a conspiracy theory about a Democratic Party server that he claimed is controlled by Ukrainians." Mrs. McC: I couldn't agree with CNN's Twitter critics more. I happened to have CNN on during the segment & was amazed the network would introduce a new pundit who immediately showed his level of expertise by citing a debunked conspiracy theory. The segment was a complete waste as the other talking heads -- and eventually host Jake Tapper -- argued with Duffy.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Canada. Paula Newton of CNN: "Canada votes in a general election on Monday, and the campaign rhetoric to this date has been toxic.... All that has undeniably turned off Canada's voters, and added another layer of complexity to one of the most unpredictable Canadian elections in recent history.... The two top contenders are Liberal leader and incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer. Through it all, they've been tangled in a virtual tie for the popular vote. Neither has a clear path to governing in Canada's parliamentary system.... Canada's election takes place in 338 ridings or seats across the country, and preliminary results should be announced around 8pm on election night. One hundred and seventy seats are needed to be able to form a majority government, and polls show neither Trudeau nor Scheer are anywhere near that threshold." ~~~
~~~ Leyland Cecco of the Guardian: "As Canadians head to the polls on Monday, Justin Trudeau is bracing for the possibility of an electoral loss, marking a stunning turn of fortunes for the charismatic Liberal leader who had pledged to reshape the country's politics. With the the prime minister's weakness exposed, smaller parties are fighting to emerge as power brokers in a general election that experts believe may produce no clear winner. In the closing days of the campaign, Trudeau acknowledged that there was a good chance the opposition Conservatives could take more votes, but after 40 days of frantic campaigning, no party appears set to capture the 170 seats needed for a majority in the House of Commons." ~~~
~~~ The Toronto Star has a page of links to election-related stories. A New York Times story is here.
News Lede
AP: "A tornado tore homes and businesses apart in a densely populated area of Dallas, where only minor injuries were reported, but a person was killed by a falling tree in northwest Arkansas as a late-night series of storms caused chaos in several states.... The storm disrupted flights in North Texas and northwest Arkansas.... About 55,000 electric customers are without power in Dallas and another 40,000 in the surrounding area...."
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