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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

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

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

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Monday
Jan152024

The Conversation -- January 16, 2024

Kayla Guo of the New York Times: "Top Democrats and Republicans in Congress on Tuesday released a $78 billion compromise they have reached to expand the child tax credit and restore three popular expired business tax breaks, but the package face a challenging road to enactment in an election year."

AP: "A federal judge is siding with the Biden administration and blocking JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, saying the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition. The Justice Department sued to block the merger, saying it would drive up fares by eliminating Spirit, the nation's biggest low-cost airline.... U.S. District Judge William Young, who presided over a non-jury trial last year, said in the ruling Tuesday that the government had proven that the merger 'would substantially lessen competition' and violated a century-old antitrust law."

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal appeals court said Tuesday it won't re-hear a case concerning executive privilege and Twitter after special counsel investigators in the 2020 election interference case were allowed to access data from Donald Trump's account without telling him. The case has centered around questions about protection of communication around the presidency, and if Trump should have been informed when the special counsel's office got court approval for a search warrant for his Twitter data. Ultimately, the courts decided federal investigators could access Trump's account for its criminal probe, and Twitter could be forced to keep the search secret from Trump. Both a trial-level judge and a three-judge panel in the Washington, DC, appeals court agreed that disclosing the Twitter search to Trump or his representatives could hurt the grand jury investigation. Eleven judges of the DC Circuit declined to look at the case again on Tuesday."

Forrest M. points to this democratic underground entry, where the writer calculates that Trump "won" the Iowa caucuses by grabbing 2.7% of registered Iowa voters. Woo-woo! Marie: I checked the writer's sources and arithmetic, and it all looks correct to me. Great way to pick a president*.

digby relies a good deal on McKay Coppins' Atlantic essay about his impression of a Trump rally he attended. Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: My own impression of watching a few clips of recent Trump rallies is that he is listless, muted, boring and incoherent. Coppins does make the point that he has lost his supposed charisma and h is appeal to all but the most plugged-in MAGAts.

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race 2024 -- Iowa CarcassesTM Jeanne Edition

The New York Times has a liveblog of developments in the Iowa Caucuses for today, for @7:30 am ET, there's not much in it. See yesterday's NYT liveblog, linked below.

NBC News projected at 7:33 pm CT that Donald Trump will win the Iowa Caucuses. No link. At about the same time, the AP projected that Trump would win the caucuses. MB: Maybe the bad news here is that the NYT projects (at 9:00 pm ET) that Trump will win about 52 percent of the caucus vote; i.e., more than half.

Here's the New York Times' liveblog Monday of developments in the Iowa caucuses. The caucuses began at 7:00 pm CT. The Times has the results on its front page (so free to nonsubscribers) and on the linked page. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's live updates for Monday are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ From the New York Times liveblog. More or less from most recent to earliest:

Shane Goldmacher: "Donald J. Trump won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, a crucial first step in his bid to reclaim the Republican nomination for the third consecutive election as voters braved the bitter cold, looked past his mounting legal jeopardy and embraced his vision of vengeful disruption." (Pinned item.)

Nicholas Nehamas: "DeSantis finishes [his concession speech] by vowing he will 'not make any excuses.' He and his campaign have spent the evening castigating the news media for calling the race early and pointed out how much money his opponents have spent against him."

Jonathan Weisman: "Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur and political newcomer who briefly made a splash with brash policy proposals and an outsize sense of confidence, dropped out of the race for the Republican White House nomination after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. He then immediately endorsed ... Donald J. Trump for the White House."

Jonathan Swan: "I haven't seen Trump give a speech like [his victory speech] since election night in 2016. He's confident enough of victory that he's praising all of his rivals and talking about uniting liberals and conservatives -- an absurd notion given the polarized state of the country and Trump's own role in demonizing the left."

Nehamas: "Judging from the DeSantis campaign's public statements so far, it seems the plan is to blame the media and The A.P.'s early call for his poor performance tonight."

Nate Cohn: "The early results show an extraordinary educational divide, with Nikki Haley routing Donald Trump in precincts where a majority of the population has a college degree, even as she fails to even clear 10 percent in many less educated areas."

Ruth Igielnik: "Twenty percent of caucusgoers said they made up their minds in the last few days, according to an early exit poll from the NEP. Among that group, Haley and DeSantis are neck-and-neck, and doing slightly better than Trump. Haley is also slightly ahead among caucusgoers who said they decided this month. Trump is dominant with the two-thirds of caucus-goers who said they decided before that."

Here are a couple of entries to give you an idea of the "flavor" of the caucuses: ~~~

Rebecca O'Brien: "The precinct captains here in Malcom are struggling to log the results of the caucus, because of fuzzy internet in the grain elevator offices." ~~~

~~~ Molly Longman: "After counting the votes on the dining room table of Mayor Sharon McNutt's house in Silver City, someone whistles to get the crowd's attention and the mayor announces the preliminary count: 1 vote Ramaswamy, 8 for DeSantis, 10 for Haley and 23 for Trump. No one seems surprised."

Michael Gold: "So Nikki Haley also just showed up at the super-site in Clive where Trump, Hutchinson and Ramaswamy have all spoken."

Maggie Astor: Donald Trump Jr., speaking at Franklin Jr. High, makes the brazenly false claim that there was 'world peace' during Trump's term and attacks Haley directly, saying she wants to 'be in every war in the history of the world.'"

Gold: "Donald Trump just made an unannounced visit to a caucus site in Clive, which is now hosting a high-profile collision between campaigns. Vivek Ramaswamy, who has recently been trading jabs online with Trump, was already scheduled to show up; Asa Hutchinson, whose long-shot campaign is often mocked by Trump, is here to speak on his own behalf; and Representative Chip Roy of Texas, a top surrogate for Ron DeSantis who Trump has suggested needs to be challenged in a primary, is here to support his candidate."

Gold: "Donald Trump did a local radio interview this morning in which he barely addressed the Iowa caucuses, instead largely attacking President Biden and Democrats. At the end, he said he thought he could get a 'record-setting' or 'close to record-setting' percentage of votes tonight."

Reid Epstein & O'Brien: "President Biden's re-election campaign said on Monday that, along with two allied committees, it had pulled in $97 million during the most recent fund-raising period."

O'Brien: "The parting messages from the candidates -- in their ads as in their speeches -- have been notably negative, defensive and dark."

Jasmine Ulloa & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: Nikki Haley's "disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses on Monday showed that for all the hype, her momentum ultimately stalled in the face of a Republican electorate still in the thrall of the former president. That included not only Mr. Trump's working-class base but also the bastions of college-educated Republicans in and around Des Moines that she was supposed to dominate. In her speech after the caucuses, Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, sharpened her attack on Mr. Trump, questioning his age and his ability to unite a fractured country. She lumped Mr. Trump with Mr. Biden as backward-looking barriers to an American revival."

Trump Urges Iowans to Die for Him. Really. Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former President Trump encouraged his Iowa supporters to caucus for him at any cost, joking that due to extreme winter weather, 'even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it.'... 'You can't sit home. If you're sick as a dog, you say, "Darling, I gotta make it,"' Trump said at an Indianola rally on Sunday. 'Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it, remember.' Meteorologists warned of 'life-threatening' conditions in Iowa for the weekend as the state prepares to caucus. Trump canceled three of his four in-person Iowa events Sunday due to the freezing cold and snow." MB: Show of hands, class, if you think Trump was "joking." Didn't think so. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "In Iowa -- and probably elsewhere, alas — they are all MAGA Republicans now.... Despite a year of practice, DeSantis is still painfully awkward attempting to sound human.... [At a campaign event invaded by climate change protesters, Ramaswamy] offered his exotic view that 'the earth is more covered by green surface area today than it was a century ago because carbon dioxide is plant food.' The denial of climate-change is but one plank in Ramaswamy's zany platform, which holds that Jan. 6, 2021, was an 'inside job' and white supremacy is a myth.... Haley, for all her timidity, was at least implicitly offering a serious, viable, alternative to Trump. Hers is a traditional Republican message of balanced budgets, lower taxes, help for small business, a strong national defense.... But this Republican electorate wants ... a guy who talks about being a 'dictator' on day one, echoes Hitler in his rhetoric about ethnic minorities, demands absolute immunity from legal liability and threatens 'bedlam' if he"s prosecuted."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post outlines five takeaways from the Iowa caucuses.


Erica Green of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris warned on Monday that American freedom was 'under profound threat' in a speech honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in South Carolina, amplifying a message that the Biden administration has made a rallying cry of its re-election bid. Ms. Harris used her keynote address at a South Carolina N.A.A.C.P. event to highlight curbs placed on civil rights by Republican lawmakers and the Supreme Court in recent years. She urged the crowd of more than 100 to continue to fight for the constitutional promises Dr. King spent his life holding America accountable for."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, the Pentagon said, ending a two-week hospitalization he had kept secret for days after developing serious complications from a surgery to treat prostate cancer.... 'Now, as I continue to recuperate and perform my duties from home, I'm eager to fully recover and return as quickly as possible to the Pentagon,' [Austin said]. It was not immediately clear how long that may be." (Also linked yesterday.)

Spousal Privilege. Benjamin Weiser & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were both charged last fall in a broad federal corruption case in which they were accused of accepting cash and gold bribes.... Both Mr. and Ms. Menendez are seeking to split their case and have separate trials, according to papers that each of their lawyers filed late Monday.... Husbands and wives cannot typically be forced to testify against each other. And Ms. Menendez wants to maintain the confidentiality of her communications with her husband, her lawyers wrote to the judge, Sidney H. Stein, of Federal District Court. The senator's lawyers, in a brief filed several hours later, made a similar argument." Read on for details.

Adam Reiss, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump intends to attend the start of the new E. Jean Carroll civil damages trial on Tuesday, according to two sources...."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Joseph Tacopina, the trial lawyer on Donald J. Trump's legal team with the most successes defending high-profile clients, will no longer represent the former president in his criminal trial in Manhattan, according to a notice sent to the court on Monday. Mr. Tacopina also withdrew on Monday from another case in which he was still legally representing Mr. Trump: an appeal of the verdict in a lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. Mr. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse an defamation last year and was ordered to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million." A Law & Crime story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Maryland. Ken Belson of the New York Times: "The Baltimore Sun, the largest newspaper in Maryland, has been sold to David D. Smith, the executive chairman of the nationwide Sinclair network of television stations and other media.... The Sun will remain distinct from Sinclair, which is based in Maryland and owns about 200 television stations, including the Fox affiliate in Baltimore. In 2018, Sinclair drew a backlash when anchors at its stations were ordered to read an editorial about media bias. Mr. Smith fiercely disagreed with the criticism of the scripts." The Hill's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Guatemala. Marie: I have paid little to no attention to the election turmoil in Guatemala. Luckily, digby has provided us with a short course. Thanks toRAS for the link.

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a site in Iraq's Kurdistan region that it alleged was being used by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency to plan attacks against Iran. The Iranian-backed Houthi militant group struck a U.S.-owned container ship in the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said. The separate strikes came amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran and spurred wider fears that the conflict in Israel could spill out across the Middle East.... Israel plans to slow its military operations in southern Gaza and focus on uprooting Hamas leadership, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a news conference. He added that the Israeli military is still 'working to eliminate pockets of resistance' in northern Gaza." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates are here.

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "... on Tuesday..., the Senate votes on a resolution that would freeze all U.S. security aid to Israel unless the State Department produces a report within 30 days examining whether the country committed human rights violations in its conduct of the war. If the Biden administration misses the deadline, the aid would be restored once Congress receives the report, or takes separate votes to ensure the assistance continues uninterrupted. The measure, forced to the floor by Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, has little chance of passing given opposition by Republicans and Democrats. But it is only one of a raft of measures that progressives in the Senate have proposed in recent weeks that reflect their uneasiness with Israel's conduct of the war and raise questions about whether and under what circumstances the United States would send a fresh infusion of funding to back the country."

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "American military personnel recovered Iranian-made missile warheads and related components during a ship-boarding mission near Somalia last week that disrupted the weapons' suspected transit to militants in Yemen but left two elite Navy SEALs lost at sea, U.S. officials said Monday. A massive search-and-rescue operation is ongoing in the Gulf of Aden, where the incident occurred Thursday. The SEALs moved to board the vessel, described by one official as a dhow lacking proper identification.... As The Washington Post and other media previously reported, Thursday's operation took place in rough seas. When one of the SEALs slipped from a ladder while attempting to climb aboard the dhow, the second, having witnessed their comrade fall into the water, dove in to help, officials have said. Both were swept away by the powerful swells. Neither has been publicly identified."

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Monday
Jan152024

The Conversation -- January 15, 2024

Trump Urges Iowans to Die for Him. Really. Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former President Trump encouraged his Iowa supporters to caucus for him at any cost, joking that due to extreme winter weather, 'even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it.'... 'You can't sit home. If you're sick as a dog, you say, "Darling, I gotta make it,"' Trump said at an Indianola rally on Sunday. 'Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it, remember.' Meteorologists warned of 'life-threatening' conditions in Iowa for the weekend as the state prepares to caucus. Trump canceled three of his four in-person Iowa events Sunday due to the freezing cold and snow." MB: Show of hands if you think Trump was "joking."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, the Pentagon said, ending a two-week hospitalization he had kept secret for days after developing serious complications from a surgery to treat prostate cancer.... 'Now, as I continue to recuperate and perform my duties from home, I'm eager to fully recover and return as quickly as possible to the Pentagon,' [Austin said]. It was not immediately clear how long that may be."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: ";Joseph Tacopina, the trial lawyer on Donald J. Trump's legal team with the most successes defending high-profile clients, will no longer represent the former president in his criminal trial in Manhattan, according to a notice sent to the court on Monday. Mr. Tacopina also withdrew on Monday from another case in which he was still legally representing Mr. Trump: an appeal of the verdict in a lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. Mr. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation last year and was ordered to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million." A Law & Crime story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Many people think today is Iowa Caucus day, and many people think it's the day before their estimated taxes are due, and some people will think it's Emmy Awards day, and many people think it's a day off when the weather sucks, but I think it's ~~~

Olivia Alafriz of Politico: "President Joe Biden had a blunt message after voters in Taiwan elected a new president Saturday: 'We do not support independence' for Taiwan. Biden's words, delivered as he departed for Camp David, reinforced the administration's position to Taiwan's new president Lai Ching-te, who has faced strong opposition from China over his calls for independence. The administration has clarified that while it does not support Taiwanese independence, it favors dialogue between Taipei and Beijing and expects differences to be resolved peacefully and without coercion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Congressional leaders unveiled stopgap legislation on Sunday to avert a partial government shutdown, teeing up a race to pass the bipartisan spending deal into law before a deadline at the end of the week. The bill, which came out of a spending deal negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, would temporarily extend funding for some federal agencies until March 1 and for others through March 8. It would keep the government funded at its current spending levels, without any policy changes or conditions.... In a sign that Democrats were preparing to muster the bulk of the [House] votes to pass the bill, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, signaled his backing of the bill on Sunday night."

Presidential Race 2024

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "While Iowa's [caucus] system allows citizens to frequently meet candidates, it also results in lower voter participation. In 2016, the last time there were competitive primaries for both parties, just 15.7 percent of eligible voters attended either Republican or Democratic caucuses. A week later, more than half the eligible voters in New Hampshire cast ballots in that state's primary.... Voters must be at their precincts at 7 p.m. Central time on Monday, where they will hear speeches from representatives of the candidates, fill out ballots and, if they want, observe as the votes get tallied. No early or absentee voting is allowed, except for a tiny number of military service members.... Democrats in Iowa shifted to a mail-in primary after the Democratic National Committee rearranged its nominating schedule." Besides having to contend with January weather, people with disabilities are not protected by federal accessibility laws as are those who participate in primaries.

Lisa Lerer & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Republican presidential hopefuls crisscrossed frozen Iowa on Sunday in the final sprint to the nation's first nominating contest, with ... Donald J. Trump ramping up his attacks on Nikki Haley.... Ms. Haley received a boost earlier Sunday when Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland and a prominent Trump critic, used a CNN appearance to urge rivals of Mr. Trump to unite behind her.... In his lone campaign rally of the weekend, Mr. Trump assailed Ms. Haley, [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis and those who 'crave to destroy the MAGA movement.' Framing the caucuses in dark terms, he called the voting on Monday a chance to score 'ultimate victory' over enemies he described as 'liars,' 'cheaters' and 'thugs.'" This is a liveblog. MB: I saw a very short clip of Trump at his supposed rally, and he looked listless and fatigued. I understand now why he is claiming Joe Biden has no energy -- he himself seems to have almost none. ~~~

     ~~~ NBC News also ran a liveblog of developments Sunday.

Elizabeth Spiers of the New York Times is surprised Nikki Haley learned about slavery in the second and third grade, as she claims, because "Haley attended a segregation academy, a type of private school established in the years after the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education by white parents who did not want their children attending school with Black children." Spiers describes her own education at a segregation school in Alabama. For example, "My fifth-grade teacher told us that if Jesus were alive in Alabama he would have been a white Dixiecrat, that God frowns on what she called race mixing and that children who are the products of interracial marriages are to be pitied because they're mistakes.... If you want to understand why evangelical conservatives are waging war on public libraries and universities, it's precisely because they expose kids to facts that undermine the kind of indoctrination I received."

Everybody Running Against Biden Wants to Ditch the Constitution. Brittany Gibson ofPolitico: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sunday defended his family's role in authorizing government surveillance of Martin Luther King, Jr.... [In Atlanta,] Kennedy [told Politico] that his father, Robert F. Kennedy -- who authorized the wiretapping of King as attorney general -- and President John F. Kennedy permitted the eavesdropping because they were 'making big bets on King, particularly in organizing the March on Washington.... They were betting not only the civil rights movement but their own careers. And they knew that Hoover was out to ruin King,' said Robert Kennedy Jr., referring to J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time.... 'My father gave permission to Hoover to wiretap them so he could prove that his suspicions about King were either right or wrong,' he continued. 'I think, politically, they had to do it.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Nice way to honor MLK: "It's okay to violate a civil rights leader's civil rights if it's in your own political interest to do so."


Rick Rojas & Sean Keenan of the New York Times: "Fani T. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., pushed back on Sunday against the criticism and questions about her judgment that have followed a court filing accusing her of being romantically involved with an outside lawyer she hired to lead the racketeering case against ... Donald J. Trump. Ms. Willis emerged from almost a week of silence to address the congregation at one of the oldest Black churches in Atlanta, which had invited her to be the keynote speaker for a service dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She did not address the allegation that she was in a relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired in 2021, who has earned more than $650,000 in the job to date. Instead, what Ms. Willis detailed were the frustrations and struggles that she said she has faced not only as a prosecutor, but also as a Black woman taking on the most powerful figure in the Republican Party. She said the scrutiny of her hiring of Mr. Wade reflected the racism directed at her, adding that he had 'impeccable credentials' that were being questioned only because both she and Mr. Wade were Black." The Huffington Post's report is here.

Herb Scribner of the Washington Post: "Business Insider and its parent company, Axel Springer, said Sunday that they stand by their reporting that a prominent former MIT professor committed plagiarism in her work, an allegation that ignited a storm of social media criticism from her billionaire husband, Bill Ackman.... Early this month, Business Insider published two stories that alleged that Neri Oxman, a former MIT professor, had plagiarized some of her work.... The stories came after her husband, the hedge fund manager Ackman, pushed Harvard University to oust then-President Claudine Gay over concerns that she had mishandled student protests and committed plagiarism in her career.... In a social media post on Jan. 7, Ackman said Business Insider's investigations editor was an anti-Zionist who had targeted Oxman because she's Israeli. Axel Springer, in response to Ackman's criticisms, said last week that it would conduct an internal review to find out what happened before the Oxman stories were published."

~~~~~~~~~~

Iowa. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "A principal shot earlier this month in a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, has died from his injuries, the funeral home handling the services confirmed on Sunday. The principal, Dan Marburger, 56, was shot on Jan. 4 by a 17-year-old student at Perry High School, who opened fire at the school in the early morning as students were returning from winter break. The gunman, Dylan Butler, shot Mr. Marburger and five students, killing one of them, Ahmir Jolliff, a sixth-grader.... A a website raising funds for [the principal's] family ... noted that the principal, who had served the school since 1995, had 'endured significant injuries' on Jan. 4, 'putting himself in harm's way to ensure as many students and staff could safely exit the building.'" Politico's story is here.

Texas, Where the Cruelty Is the Point. Sneha Dey of the Texas Tribune: "A woman and two children drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande, near the Eagle Pass park that Texas troopers have taken control over, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Saturday. State officers and National Guard members have been denying federal Border Patrol agents entry to the 47-acre Shelby Park since early this week. When Border Patrol agents received a call Friday evening from the Mexican government about the migrants in distress, Texas officials barred the federal agents from entering the area and providing aid, according to a DHS spokesperson. The Border Patrol officers made unsuccessful attempts to contact the Texas Military Department, National Guard and Department of Public Safety via telephone about the distress call. When the officers went to the park entrance to verbally notify the state, Texas Military Department personnel denied them entry, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said in a written statement. 'Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant (Border Patrol) access to the migrants -- even in the event of an emergency -- and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,' Cuellar said in the statement on X.... U.S. Custom and Border Protection condemned the state actions in a statement to The Texas Tribune." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "Texas officials told the Supreme Court early Saturday that the state is 'working promptly' to ensure US Border Patrol agents have access to a boat ramp used to launch patrol boats into the Rio Grande, a day after the Biden administration complained to the court that the state had effectively blocked agents' access to a key part of the US-Mexico border." Texas claimed it had no idea Border Patrol needed the boat ramp for "surveillance, patrol, and humanitarian rescue." MB: Really? Why not? Why, it's almost as if Greg Abbott didn't for one moment consider the consequences of his order to block federal access to a state park that borders the Rio Grande. As for "working promptly," I'd say not promptly enough. People died. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News: "The Biden administration on Sunday demanded that Texas officials stop preventing federal Border Patrol agents from entering a section of the U.S. southern border commandeered by state National Guard soldiers last week, calling the actions 'clearly unconstitutional.'... If the Texas National Guard does not heed the Biden administration's demand and cease its efforts to block Border Patrol's access to a public park in the border town of Eagle Pass, the Department of Homeland Security will refer the matter to the Justice Department and explore other options, Jonathan Meyer, the top lawyer at DHS, warned in his letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton."

Cruelty Is the Point, Ctd. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "State and city officials in Chicago are scrambling to adapt their plans for sheltering asylum seekers as Texas's governor disregards pleas to suspend migrant transports as dangerously low winter temperatures bring new urgency to the city's ongoing humanitarian crisis. Chicago continues to receive new arrivals sent north by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) even as the area experiences its coldest temperatures in half a decade, with wind chills bottoming out at minus-32 degrees on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.... [Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), said Sunday,] '... when we've asked [Abbott] to stop sending people because of the weather, because of the dangerous nature of this winter storm that we're experiencing now, he's refused to stop sending them. So he does not care about people. He doesn't care about the migrants.'" MB: From the Abbott Immigration Policy Handbook: If you can't drown them, freeze them.

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Denmark. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Denmark welcomed a new king on Sunday in a ceremony that didn't feature crowns or scepters or multiple robes -- but it did have huge crowds, a tearful balcony moment, and a celebration of hygge, a fuzzy Danish word that captures the country's more relaxed style. Denmark reinvented tradition on Sunday when 83-year-old Queen Margrethe II, Europe's longest-serving monarch, gave up her throne, and her 55-year-old son became King Frederik X. Royal successions are usually prompted by a death. But this one was different -- with the outgoing queen playing a starring role.... A sea of Danes braved freezing temperatures ... and waved their country's flag and sang their national anthem. 'My hope is to become a unifying king of tomorrow,' Frederik said from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in central Copenhagen, the seat of the Danish government. He wiped away tears. He kissed his wife, now Queen Mary, who was born in Australia. The crowd -- waving Danish and some Australian flags -- roared with delight."

Israel/Palestine, etc.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "A U.S. fighter jet shot down a missile fired from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen toward a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Red Sea, Central Command said, adding that there were no reported injuries or damage. Israel has made clear in recent discussions that its high-intensity military campaign in Gaza will continue throughout January, U.S. officials told The Washington Post, despite pressure from the Biden administration for restraint as civilian casualties soar.... The missile fired toward the USS Laboon on Sunday afternoon appears to be the first attack from Houthi-controlled areas against a U.S. vessel since American-led forces started striking the militant group's infrastructure in Yemen last week in retaliation for assaults on commercial ships in the Red Sea." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy SEALs lost at sea after a ship-boarding operation went awry near Somalia last week were dispatched to look for suspected Iranian weapons bound for militants in Yemen, which has become a staging ground for repeated attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, two U.S. officials familiar with the incident said Sunday. The two service members who went missing were preparing to board the ship in rough seas when one of them slipped from a ladder. The second sailor, seeing their comrade fall into the water, dove in to help.... The incident occurred Thursday in the Gulf of Aden."

News Lede

CNN: "About 79% of US to see below freezing temperatures: Over 140 daily cold records could be broken Monday and Tuesday from Oregon to Mississippi, as temperatures in Memphis, Dallas and Nashville are expected to stay below freezing for at least 72 consecutive hours. The coldest Iowa caucuses on record are forecast Monday, with below-zero high temperatures and wind chills in the minus 30s expected. Dangerous Monday morning commutes: Combined with the cold, the slick wintry precipitation won't melt on untreated surfaces for the Monday morning commute in places like Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana, making travel more dangerous. Accumulating ice is expected from Texas through the Lower Mississippi Valley into parts of the Tennessee Valley and Southern Appalachians. 'Have a cold survival kit if you must travel,' the National Weather Service said."

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Saturday
Jan132024

The Conversation -- January 14, 2024

Olivia Alafriz of Politico: "President Joe Biden had a blunt message after voters in Taiwan elected a new president Saturday: 'We do not support independence' for Taiwan. Biden's words, delivered as he departed for Camp David, reinforced the administration's position to Taiwan's new president Lai Ching-te, who has faced strong opposition from China over his calls for independence. The administration has clarified that while it does not support Taiwanese independence, it favors dialogue between Taipei and Beijing and expects differences to be resolved peacefully and without coercion."

Sneha Dey of the Texas Tribune: "A woman and two children drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande, near the Eagle Pass park that Texas troopers have taken control over, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Saturday. State officers and National Guard members have been denying federal Border Patrol agents entry to the 47-acre Shelby Park since early this week. When Border Patrol agents received a call Friday evening from the Mexican government about the migrants in distress, Texas officials barred the federal agents from entering the area and providing aid, according to a DHS spokesperson. The Border Patrol officers made unsuccessful attempts to contact the Texas Military Department, National Guard and Department of Public Safety via telephone about the distress call. When the officers went to the park entrance to verbally notify the state, Texas Military Department personnel denied them entry, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said in a written statement. 'Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant (Border Patrol) access to the migrants -- even in the event of an emergency -- and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,' Cuellar said in the statement on X.... U.S. Custom and Border Protection condemned the state actions in a statement to The Texas Tribune." Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "Texas officials told the Supreme Court early Saturday that the state is 'working promptly' to ensure US Border Patrol agents have access to a boat ramp used to launch patrol boats into the Rio Grande, a day after the Biden administration complained to the court that the state had effectively blocked agents' access to a key part of the US-Mexico border." Texas claimed it had no idea Border Patrol needed the boat ramp for "surveillance, patrol, and humanitarian rescue." MB: Really? Why not? Why, it's almost as if Greg Abbott didn't for one moment consider the consequences of his order to block federal access to a state park that borders the Rio Grande. As for "working promptly," I'd say not promptly enough. People died.

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Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "John Kerry, President Biden's special envoy for climate, plans to step down by spring, ending a three-year run in a major diplomatic role that was created especially for him and which will face an uncertain future with his departure. Mr. Kerry, 80, has served as the president's top diplomat on climate change since early 2021.... On Wednesday, Mr. Kerry met with Mr. Biden in the White House to inform the president of his intention to resign, according to one person familiar with the meeting. On Saturday, his staff learned of his decision at a hastily arranged meeting.... [Mr. Kerry] is widely expected to get involved in the 2024 presidential campaign to help raise awareness of Mr. Biden's work on climate change." The Guardian's story is here.

Rebecca Kaplan, et al., of NBC News: "House and Senate leaders have reached an agreement on a short-term spending deal that would avert a government shutdown in the next few weeks, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The deal would keep the government funded until March, buying legislators more time to craft longer-term, agency-specific spending bills, following the agreement last weekend to set the overall spending level for fiscal year 2024 at $1.59 trillion." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

     ~~~ Marie: So who do Republicans think is worse? A president* who cites a mob boss as a character witness or a president who wears a tan suit in August? On a serious note, Jim Acosta of CNN points out that Trump's putting a mobster in the same sentence as two judges overseeing his cases constitutes a threat; as in, "Yo, Judge, just to remind you, I have a professional killer on my side." Thanks to RAS for the link. Via digby. ~~~

     ~~~ Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "Gravano infamously turned on his boss -- the original 'Teflon Don,' John Gotti -- to become a witness for the government in the early 1990s, helping put Gotti behind bars until his death. Trump earned the same nickname during his political career.... From his new home in Phoenix, Arizona, Gravano has publicly admitted to being involved in 19 homicides, including 'a few' in which he personally killed someone -- explaining in a November interview with AZ Family, a local news station: 'When I'm ordered to kill, I kill.'"

Presidential Race 2024

Iowa. Colby Itkowitz & Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is polling at 48 percent in Iowa, maintaining his wide lead over his two main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Medicom poll released Saturday night.... The latest poll shows that former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has seized the No. 2 with 20 percent support over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 16 percent. The poll is widely considered an important benchmark ahead of the Iowa caucuses, revealing voters' preferences. The results are always widely anticipated, revealing who may be gaining momentum in the final days of the race." The Des Moines Register story is here.


Guns America Goes Postal. Nate Raymond of Reuters: "A federal judge in Florida on Friday ruled that a U.S. law that bars people from possessing firearms in post offices is unconstitutional, citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2022 that expanded gun rights. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of ... Donald Trump in Tampa, reached that conclusion in dismissing part of an indictment charging a postal worker with illegally possessing a gun in a federal facility.... [The] Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ... ruling recognized for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. It also established a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying restrictions must be 'consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.'... Mizelle said that while post offices have existed since the nation's founding, federal law did not bar guns in government buildings until 1964 and post offices until 1972. No historical practice dating back to the 1700s justified the ban, she said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Say, Judge, is it "traditional" to allow folks to carry guns into your courtroom? Is it traditional to surmise that your safety is more important than the safety of postal workers & customers?

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New York Congressional Race. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Republican nominee in a special House election to replace George Santos in New York provided a hazy glimpse into her personal finances this week, submitting a sworn financial statement to Congress that prompted questions and led her to amend the filing. The little-known candidate, Mazi Pilip, reported between $1 million and $5.2 million in assets, largely comprising her husband's medical practice and Bitcoin investments. In an unusual disclosure, she said the couple owed and later repaid as much as $250,000 to the I.R.S. last year. But the initial financial report Ms. Pilip filed with the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday appeared to be missing other important required information.... And despite making past statements that she stopped working there in 2021 when she ran for the Nassau County Legislature, Ms. Pilip reported receiving a $50,000 salary from the family medical practice in 2022 and 2023.... After inquiries from The New York Times, Ms. Pilip materially amended the statement on Friday."

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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked 100 days of the war by saying 'nobody will stop' Israel's forces until their 'total victory,' while dismissing the case it faces at the International Court of Justice over allegations of genocide.... The head of the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said the IDF had approved plans to 'increase military pressure on Hamas,' focusing on the center and south of the Gaza Strip. 'We are operating freely in Lebanese airspace,' he added in a warning to Hezbollah.... [In Tel Aviv,] relatives of hostages Hamas took from Israel on Oct. 7 are holding a 24-hour rally to mark the 100th day of their loved ones' captivity and to demand that Israeli authorities secure their release. Organizers estimate that 120,000 people attended the start of the rally Saturday night...." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Sunday are here. CNN's live update are here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This remarkably brutal war is working out rather well for Bibi. It is difficult to remove a head-of-state during an active war; no one thinks there's much chance of Israel's gaining "total victory" over Hamas, particularly when Israel's method is anathema to Palestinians -- and to people all over the world. So the war -- and Netanyahu -- will always be with us.

Alex Horton & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "A search-and-rescue operation was underway Saturday after two U.S. Navy SEALs fell into the ocean while attempting to board a ship off the coast of Somalia, according to current and former officials.... One U.S. official with knowledge of the incident said it was unrelated to the recent U.S.-led strikes in nearby Yemen and the broader international mission to protect commercial vessels from militant attacks originating there. It was also unrelated to the Iranian seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the official said. U.S. Central Command, which coordinates military activities in the region, said the missing service members were Navy sailors and declined to provide additional information 'until the personnel recovery operation is complete.'"

Taiwan. Eric Cheung, et al., of CNN: "Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party pulled off a historic third consecutive presidential victory on Saturday as voters shrugged off warnings by China that their re-election would increase the risk of conflict. Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's current vice president, declared victory on Saturday evening while his two opposition rivals both conceded defeat." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "Ukraine's military prospects are looking bleak. Western military aid is no longer assured at the same levels as years past. Ukraine's summer counteroffensive in the south ... is over, having failed to meet any of its objectives. And now, Russian troops are on the attack, especially in the country's east. The town of Marinka has all but fallen. Avdiivka is being slowly encircled. A push on Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, is expected. Farther north, outside Kupiansk, the fighting has barely slowed since the fall.... For now, Ukraine is in a perilous position. The problems afflicting its military have been exacerbated since the summer. Ukrainian soldiers are exhausted by long stretches of combat and shorter rest periods. The ranks, thinned by mounting casualties, are only being partly replenished, often with older and poorly trained recruits."

News Lede

Weather, Weather Everywhere. CNN: "An ongoing Arctic blast enveloping much of the US will set the stage for impactful snow and ice to fall in parts of the South for the first time this winter as a new storm tracks through the region. The South storm will be the fourth in the last two weeks to threaten major impacts to areas east of the Rockies as a frenetic start to 2024 shows no signs of stopping. Damaging ice and wind combined with deadly results in Oregon Saturday. On Sunday, serious lake-effect snow was ongoing in Buffalo, New York; blinding snow squalls were possible across the Northeast; and strong winds were still kicking up snow and affecting travel in the Midwest." Otherwise, it looks like a nice day!

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