The Conversation -- December 29, 2023

Ukraine, et al. Constant Méheut and Daria Mitiuk of the New York Times: “Russia targeted Ukrainian cities with more than 150 missiles and drones on Friday morning, in what Ukrainian officials said was one of the largest air assaults of the war. At least 26 people were killed, and more than 120 were wounded, according to Ukrainian authorities, and critical infrastructure was damaged.... For several hours on Friday, missiles, drones and debris slammed into factories, hospitals and schools in cities across Ukraine, from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east.... Thanks to its powerful air defense systems, Ukraine has often been able to shoot down most, if not all, Russian weapons targeting cities in recent months. But on Friday the Ukrainian military said it had shot down only 114 missiles and drones out of a total of 158.... The Ukrainian authorities had warned for months that Russia was stockpiling high-precision missiles to pound Ukrainian cities when cold weather began to bite....

:Yet Republican lawmakers in Congress have declined to pass a new $50 billion security package for Ukraine unless the law also imposes new restrictions on migrants trying to cross the southern U.S. border, and negotiations are continuing. Washington said on Wednesday that it was releasing the last Congress-approved package of military aid currently available to Kyiv. Ukraine's supply of surface-to-air missiles -- key ordnance needed to down incoming Russian missiles -- is now running short."

Brandi Buchman of Law & Crime: "For the second time in a month, the appeals court in Washington, D.C., has ruled once again that Donald Trump is not immune from lawsuits brought against him by police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. On Dec. 1, three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Trump in a case brought by Capitol Police Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, as well as lawmakers including Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.... Now, in a ruling released Friday, the appeals court ... concluded that a different lawsuit first brought in August 2021 by USCP Officer Conrad Smith and seven of his colleagues, was virtually 'indistinguishable' from the Blassingame case." MB: It is notable that in both of these cases, the appeals court judges ruled against Trump's argument that he was immune from the suits because all that incitement stuff constituted "official acts."

     ~~~ Marie: I had to do a little checking (here and here), but I found that two of the three judges heard both cases.

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Presidential Race 2024

** Jenna Russell & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "Maine's top election official on Thursday barred Donald J. Trump from the state's primary election ballot ... based on claims that his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election rendered him ineligible. In a written decision, the official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said that Mr. Trump did not qualify for the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, agreeing with a handful of citizens who claimed that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. 'I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection,' Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, wrote.... Maine's decision adds urgency to calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to insert itself into the politically explosive dispute over his eligibility." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) The Maine Morning Star report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We learned from Nikki Haley yesterday that the Civil War was about, well, something besides slavery, and the best those of us who went to school in the South could surmise was that that the "something" must have been states' rights. Now, many of the Supremes are more-or-less "Tenthers": that is, fans of the Constitution's Tenth Amendment who believe it severely limits the reach of the federal government. So let's see how they feel about states that have laws permitting, by one means or another, to kick a certain Republican off the ballot. It's well-established that we don't have a true federal elections system; rather, we have 50 state elections systems, each with unique laws and rules governing all elections. BTW, Trump is not the first prominent GOP candidate whom Bellows kicked off this year's GOP primary ballot: she determined that Chris Christie had not met the state's requirement for voter petitions and would not put him on the ballot. A Maine court later upheld her ruling. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Speaking on MSNBC last night, Bellows suggested people read her decision. So here it is via CNN; it's 34 pages long. And here's the secretary of state's press release, which also links to the decision.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Lawsuits seeking to remove Mr. Trump from the ballot were filed in about 30 states, but many have been dismissed; there are active lawsuits in 14 states, according to a database maintained by Lawfare.... Those states are: Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. (A judge has dismissed the Arizona suit but the dismissal is being appealed.)... Hours [after Maine's secretary of state released her opinion], the secretary of state in California announced that Mr. Trump would remain on the ballot in the nation's most populous state, where election officials have limited power to remove candidates.

It Was All Biden's Fault. Jonathan Weisman & Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Nikki Haley ... on Thursday walked back her stumbling answer about the cause of the Civil War, telling a New Hampshire interviewer, 'Of course the Civil War was about slavery.'... But she also insinuated that the question had come not from a Republican voter but from a political detractor, accusing President Biden and Democrats of 'sending plants' to her town-hall events.... Late Wednesday night, even Mr. Biden rebuked [Haley's] answer: 'It was about slavery,' he wrote on social media." Politico's story is here. Related stories linked below; also a video of Haley's not-slavery not-answer to the Biden plant's question. And plenty of commentary in today's thread from people who would not have found the question as tough as Haley complained it was. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The report has been updated. New lede: "Prominent Democratic donors, anxious about the increasingly authoritarian language of Donald J. Trump, have been calling on Democratic voters and independents to thwart the former president's comeback by voting for Nikki Haley in open Republican primary elections. But Ms. Haley's political gaffe on Wednesday night, when the presidential hopeful and former governor of South Carolina stumbled through the causes of the Civil War with no mention of slavery, may make that appeal considerably harder just as she is edging closer to striking distance of Mr. Trump in New Hampshire."

     ~~~ Meryl Kornfield and others of the Washington Post have a report which includes some of Haley's attempts, made later in the day yesterday, at a clean-up. There's this: "Speaking with reporters Thursday afternoon, Haley dismissed her opponents' assertions that she had flip-flopped on the cause of Civil War. She said she didn't mention slavery in her initial response because she thought it was 'a given.' 'If it requires clarification of saying, "Yes, the Civil War was about slavery," I'm happy to do that.'..." MB: You're happy? Like them darkies down on the ole plantation? Good grief. ~~~

     ~~~ Brakkton Booker of Politico: "Republicans of color said on Thursday they were dismayed by Nikki Haley's initial refusal to say that slavery was the cause of the Civil War. It wasn't just an offensive historical omission, they argued, but a tactical blunder too.... Rina Shah, a Republican strategist..., [wrote to Politico:] '... What I do see is her having left out the word "slavery" because she was scared to talk about anything regarding our nation's complicated history. I think by acknowledging slavery she felt she might be alienating' Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis voters....Shermichael Singleton ... [said,] 'She had a chance to be competitive even though she was always likely to lose [the nomination]. However, that's over now. She's toast.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What is most confounding about Haley's answer, as well as her past reactions to racist views, is that she certainly has been subject to racist attacks herself. Instead of her own experience making her a resolute defender of racial equality, she seemss more fearful of racists than she is appalled by racism. So she has described symbols of the Confederacy, like the Confederate flag, as emblems of "tradition" and describes the Civil War as a conflict about "freedoms to do what you want" and "government overreach" or something. Haley has learned to get by in life by trying to be all things to all people. That has worked for her in smaller venues than it has in a national political campaign. ~~~

~~~ David Kurtz of TPM: Nikki Haley's "remarks Wednesday evening while campaigning in New Hampshire, which did not secede from the union, were a tacit acknowledgment that the party of Lincoln has settled comfortably into its status as a revanchist minority-white rump Trumpist party." MB: See also the Florida Politics story linked under "Florida" below. As Kurtz writes, the problem ain't just Nikki's. The whole Republican party continues its project to resuscitate the "Lost Cause."~~~

~~~ Marie: South Carolina was the first state to secede from the U.S., and its "Declaration of Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union" is an instructive document Haley should have read in school. Here's the crux of the "immediate cause" a Convention of South Carolinians adopted in December 1860. And they weren't not wrong. "The Constitution of the United States, in its fourth Article, provides as follows: 'No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.'... But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them."

A Major Problem in Electing ANY REPUBLICAN to the Presidency*. Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in a Thursday interview that, if elected president, he would fire special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two indictments against former President Trump, on 'day one' of his hypothetical term in office.... '... after you win the election, start holding these people accountable, who have weaponized the legal system to go after their political enemies.... And that starts with day one, firing somebody like Jack Smith. That goes to dealing with people who are violating constitutional rights at the state and local government area.'..." MB: Yeah, Ron, you're just as Trumpy as Trump.

** Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign's plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail. So, Trump campaign operatives scrambled to fly copies of the phony certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to the nation's capital, relying on a haphazard chain of couriers, as well as help from two Republicans in Congress, to try to get the documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence while he presided over the Electoral College certification. The operatives even considered chartering a jet to ensure the files reached Washington, DC, in time for the January 6, 2021, proceeding, according to emails and recordings obtained by CNN.... These details largely come from pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who was an architect of the fake electors plot...." Includes audio of Chesebro's testimony. (Also linked yesterday.)

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A full-time employee of the Trump administration appears to have taken part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a new analysis. USA Today reported that Oliver Krvaric, who was working at the time as a 'confidential assistant' for the Office of Personnel Management, can be seen in photos and videos crossing the threshold of the west door of the upper west terrace of the U.S. Capitol immediately ahead of far-right influencer 'Baked Alaska.' 'I was not in the Capitol,' Krvaric told the newspaper. 'I did not go into any offices, I didn't wander the halls. I was not on the premises.'... He stopped responding to [a reporter's] texts when sent a surveillance video appearing to show him inside the building.... A spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management confirmed that Krvaric, who led the College Republicans while at San Diego State University, was employed by the department from November 2020 to January 2021, on a Trump executive order seeking to rid federal agencies of diversity and inclusion training." (Also linked yesterday.)

Edgar Sandoval & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Thursday threatened to sue Texas if it enforced a sweeping new law that would allow the state and local police to arrest migrants who enter the United States from Mexico without authorization, setting up the first significant legal showdown over federal immigration enforcement. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, this month in his most direct challenge yet to the Biden administration's handling of immigration.... In a letter obtained by The New York Times, Brian M. Boynton, an assistant attorney general with the D.O.J., gave Mr. Abbott until next Wednesday to retract his intention to enforce the law, which takes effect in early March. Otherwise, he wrote, 'the Department of Justice intends to bring a lawsuit to enforce the supremacy of federal law and to enjoin the operation of S.B. 4.' In the letter, which was addressed to Mr. Abbott, a third-term Republican, and Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, Mr. Boynton cited a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case, Arizona v. United States, in which the court narrowly decided in favor of the power of the federal government to set immigration policy."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration plans to more aggressively pursue thousands of small businesses with past-due pandemic loans, reversing an earlier policy that saw the U.S. government stop short in its efforts to collect an estimated $30 billion in delinquent debt. The new approach, announced Thursday, arrives months after federal watchdogs and congressional lawmakers first blasted the administration for its leniency, warning that the government risked breaking the law -- and exacerbating its losses -- if it didn't try harder to get the money back.... In [an] investigation, the [SBA's inspector general, Hannibal 'Mike' Ware] estimated that there were about $62 billion in past-due EIDL [Economic Injury Disaster Loan] loans worth $100,000 or less as of this March. Earlier, the inspector general found an additional $1.1 billion in unpaid PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans that the government had charged off as a loss and never referred to the Treasury Department for collection activities."

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "A House Ethics panel announced Wednesday that it will investigate whether Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) violated campaign finance laws and failed to file required disclosure forms last year as she ran in a special election for her seat and sought reelection months later." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nell Scovell, once a writer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," writes a lovely -- and realistic -- eulogy to Tom Smothers in the New York Times. "Tom Smothers came across as lighthearted and simple onstage. In real life, he thought and felt deeply about the creative process and social justice." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's video of the Cass Elliot/Tom Smothers sketch Scovell mentions. (Also linked yesterday.)

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Florida. A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics: "A Senate companion to a House bill designed to protect Confederate monuments was filed Thursday. Sen. Jonathan Martin's SB 1122 would impose penalties on local officials who removed those and other historical monuments after July 1, 2024, mirroring a House companion in key ways, including potential removal from office by the Governor and civil penalties and required restitution for monument restoration from the responsible lawmakers' personal accounts.... Martin's bill, a companion to a similar House bill from Rep. Dean Black, comes after the Republican legislator from Jacksonville watched his hometown remove a monument this week to the Women of the Southland from the city's formerly-named Confederate Park, now Springfield Park.... [A memo by Jacksonville's general counsel] notes regarding Black's bill, that Gov. Ron DeSantis 'cannot implement an unconstitutional statute retroactively to penalize the Mayor from exercising her exclusive executive powers over parks under the consolidated City's unique Charter.'" Thanks to Bobby Lee for the link.

Georgia. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "A federal judge [-- Steve C. Jones --] in Georgia signed off Thursday on congressional districts redrawn this month by the state's Republican-led legislature, ruling that the new map did not continue to illegally dilute the power of Black voters as Democrats and civil rights groups have argued.... The map added a new majority-Black district on Atlanta's west side. But it significantly altered a majority non-White district represented by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) in a way that Democrats say is designed to be favorable to Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Ga.).... Georgia lawmakers rejected a plan drawn by Democrats that would have protected McBath's district and combined McCormick's with one already represented by a Republican. At a hearing last week before Jones, Democrats argued that the Republican-passed map did not comply with the judge's original order and did not give Black voters sufficient power." The AP's report is here.

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ['hard-core pornography'], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it. and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. -- Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, concurrence in Jacobellis v. Ohio, which decided that the film at issue constituted protected speech ~~~

~~~ Wisconsin. AP: "Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow said Thursday that the school's governing board fired him because members were uncomfortable with him and his wife producing and appearing in pornographic videos. The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents, which oversees UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and 11 other regional campuses, voted unanimously during a hastily convened closed meeting Wednesday evening to fire Gow. After the vote, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and regents President Karen Walsh issued statements saying the regents had learned of specific conduct by Gow that subjected the university to 'significant reputational harm.' Rothman called Gow's actions 'abhorrent' and Walsh said she was 'disgusted.' But neither of them offered any details of the allegations.... 'My wife and I live in a country where we have a First Amendment,' [Gow] said [in reaction to his firing]. 'We're dealing with consensual adult sexuality. The regents are overreacting. They're certainly not adhering to their own commitment to free speech or the First Amendment.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Since the University of Wisconsin is a state-supported institution, maybe Gow has a case.

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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "An estimated 100,000 Palestinians have fled to the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah in recent days, the U.N. humanitarian agency said. Rafah is one of the only parts of Gaza that is not facing intense ground fighting, according to the agency, though a missile strike Thursday near Rafah's Kuwaiti Hospital killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens, the hospital director said. The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said an investigation into the killing of three Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers Dec. 15 found the deaths 'could have been prevented.'... The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it is working to establish the first organized camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli forces have increased attacks in recent weeks. The camp will include 300 tents at first and eventually expand to 1,000, the group said on social media.... U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Thursday discussed Israel's efforts in Gaza and 'preparations for the stabilization phase' that will come after 'major combat operations,' a Pentagon readout said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that the war 'isn't close to finished.'"

The Conversation -- December 28, 2023

** Jenna Russell & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "Maine's top election official on Thursday barred Donald J. Trump from the state's primary election ballot ... based on claims that his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election rendered him ineligible. In a written decision, the official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said that Mr. Trump did not qualify for the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, agreeing with a handful of citizens who claimed that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. 'I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection,' Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, wrote.... Maine's decision adds urgency to calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to insert itself into the politically explosive dispute over his eligibility." CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We learned from Nikki Haley yesterday that the Civil War was about, well, something besides slavery, and the best those of us who went to school in the South could surmise was that that the "something" must have been states' rights. Now, many of the Supremes are more-or-less "Tenthers": that is, those who to believe the Constitution's Tenth Amendment severely limits the reach of the federal government. So let's see how they feel about states that have laws permitting, by one means or another, to kick a certain Republican off the ballot. It's well-established that we don't have a true federal elections system; rather, we have 50 state elections systems, each with unique laws and rules governing federal elections. BTW, Trump is not the first prominent GOP candidate whom Bellows kicked off this year's GOP primary ballot: she determined that Chris Christie had not met the state's requirement for voter petitions and would not put him on the ballot. A Maine court later upheld her ruling.

** Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign's plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail. So, Trump campaign operatives scrambled to fly copies of the phony certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to the nation's capital, relying on a haphazard chain of couriers, as well as help from two Republicans in Congress, to try to get the documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence while he presided over the Electoral College certification. The operatives even considered chartering a jet to ensure the files reached Washington, DC, in time for the January 6, 2021, proceeding, according to emails and recordings obtained by CNN.... These details largely come from pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who was an architect of the fake electors plot...." Includes audio of Chesebro's testimony.

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "A House Ethics panel announced Wednesday that it will investigate whether Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) violated campaign finance laws and failed to file required disclosure forms last year as she ran in a special election for her seat and sought reelection months later." Politico's story is here.

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A full-time employee of the Trump administration appears to have taken part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a new analysis. USA Today reported that Oliver Krvaric, who was working at the time as a 'confidential assistant' for the Office of Personnel Management, can be seen in photos and videos crossing the threshold of the west door of the upper west terrace of the U.S. Capitol immediately ahead of far-right influencer 'Baked Alaska.' 'I was not in the Capitol,' Krvaric told the newspaper. 'I did not go into any offices, I didn't wander the halls. I was not on the premises.'... He stopped responding to [a reporter's] texts when sent a surveillance video appearing to show him inside the building.... A spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management confirmed that Krvaric, who led the College Republicans while at San Diego State University, was employed by the department from November 2020 to January 2021, on a Trump executive order seeking to rid federal agencies of diversity and inclusion training."

It Was All Biden's Fault. Jonathan Weisman & Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Nikki Haley ... on Thursday walked back her stumbling answer about the cause of the Civil War, telling a New Hampshire interviewer, 'Of course the Civil War was about slavery.'... But she also insinuated that the question had come not from a Republican voter but from a political detractor, accusing President Biden and Democrats of 'sending plants' to her town-hall events.... Late Wednesday night, even Mr. Biden rebuked [Haley's] answer: 'It was about slavery,' he wrote on social media." Politico's story is here. Related stories linked below; also a video of Haley's not-slavery not-answer to the Biden plant's question. And plenty of commentary in today's thread from people who would not have found the question as tough as Haley complained it was. ~~~

~~~ See today's Comments for the raison d'être of this video:

Nell Scovell, once a writer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," writes a lovely -- and realistic -- eulogy to Tom Smothers in the New York Times. "Tom Smothers came across as lighthearted and simple onstage. In real life, he thought and felt deeply about the creative process and social justice." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's video of the Cass Elliot/Tom Smothers sketch Scovell mentions.

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Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans said Wednesday they were investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden's decision to defy a congressional subpoena in their latest attempt to link the White House to accusations against the president's son.... 'In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the president engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,' Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan wrote in their letter [to White House counsel Ed Siskel]." (Also linked yesterday.) A CBS News story is here.

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to keep ... Donald J. Trump and his lawyers from claiming to the jury in his upcoming election interference trial that the case had been brought against him as a partisan attack by the Biden administration. The move by the prosecutors was designed to keep Mr. Trump from overtly politicizing his trial and from distracting the jury with unfounded political arguments that he has often made on both the campaign trail and in court papers related to the case. Ever since Mr. Trump was charged this summer with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, he and his lawyers have sought to frame the indictment as a retaliatory strike against him by President Biden. Mr. Trump has also placed such claims at the heart of his presidential campaign even though the charges were initially returned by a federal grand jury and are being overseen by an independent special counsel, Jack Smith." (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Tuesday fired off a new attack against Representative Debbie Dingell, the widow of John D. Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress in American history, calling her a 'loser' and suggesting that she had not been grateful for funeral honors granted by Mr. Trump for her husband. The salvo from Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, followed an appearance by Ms. Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, on CNN earlier on Tuesday in which she criticized Mr. Trump's increasingly incendiary language on social media.... Ms. Dingell had been reacting to a grievance-filled Christmas message on Truth Social from Mr. Trump. Referring to his political opponents as 'deranged' and 'thugs' and accusing them of trying to destroy the country, he wrote, 'MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!'" (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For every person who has behaved badly in public, for every person who chafes under criticism that s/he is ill-mannered, there is a potential Trump voter, a person who feels vindicated knowing that a person who is even more boorish than s/he can be president*. Trump is indeed their retribution.

Isaac Arnsdorf & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump incorrectly said a U.S. soldier died in recent days, appearing to exaggerate the injuries from an attack in northern Iraq on Monday as he sought to criticize President Biden. The attack left one U.S. service member in critical condition and two others injured, according to a statement released by U.S. military officials Monday night. The United States responded with retaliatory airstrikes against an Iran-backed armed group.... 'Last night, a young soldier was killed, U.S., and the two were very, very badly hurt and nobody even talks about it,' Trump said, describing the assault two nights prior. 'It's not even believable.' [MB: No, it's not.]... In the interview, Trump falsely claimed that the attacks had gone completely unanswered. 'We don't even do anything about it,' he said."

No Slight Is Too Small to Refute with a Braggadocious Lie. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump hit back at 'Home Alone' and 'Home Alone 2' Director Chris Columbus on Wednesday, refuting claims he bullied his way into the film and declaring his cameo is the reason the film was a hit. '30 years ago (how time flies!), Director Chris Columbus, and others, were begging me to make a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2. They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn't want to do it.... I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket, and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time,' Trump wrote on Truth Social...[.] The GOP frontrunner's screed came days after Columbus told Business Insider that Trump pushed his way into the film. 'We paid the fee, but he also said, "The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie,"' Columbus said of renting the hotel for the film. 'So we agreed to put him in the movie.'... Notably, the first 'Home Alone' was a massive hit with audiences taking in over $476 million worldwide in 1990 -- without a cameo from Trump."

Presidential Race 2024

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Wednesday demanded the Maine secretary of state recuse herself from her upcoming decision on the former president's ballot eligibility under the 14th Amendment, citing her past statements about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.... In response to three petitions challenging Trump's ballot eligibility, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, is set to issue a decision in the coming days. On Wednesday, Trump's lawyers wrote Bellows a letter demanding she disqualify herself over three tweets she previously issued referencing Jan. 6, including those in which she described the attack as an insurrection."

Julie Bosman, et al., of the New York Times: "The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Donald J. Trump an important victory in the legal battle over his eligibility to return to the White House by allowing the former president to appear on the state's primary ballot in February. But in a narrow ruling, the court left the door open for a new challenge to bar Mr. Trump from the general election ballot in the key battleground state over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The decision was the latest in the high-stakes efforts to block Mr. Trump from returning to power." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Several teevee commentators have noted that in Michigan, the political parties choose the candidates on their slates, and the parties are not required to put forward candidates who meet the qualifications for the offices they seek. Ron Fein, the legal director for the group that filed the suit told the Times, "The Michigan Supreme Court did not rule out that the question of Donald Trump's disqualification for engaging in insurrection against the U.S. Constitution may be resolved at a later stage."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Colorado Republican Party said it had asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear an appeal of the bombshell decision from the Colorado Supreme Court ordering ... Donald J. Trump's removal from the state's primary ballot. The state court ruled that he was ineligible to hold office because he had engaged in insurrection. The justices are likely to agree to hear the case, given the importance of the question it presents and the need for a nationwide answer to it." CNN's story is here.

Another GOP candidate who should be deemed ineligible to be president of anything more important than the Daughters of the Confederacy ~~~

~~~ Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Nikki Haley..., who for years has wrestled with how to approach issues of race, slavery and the Confederacy, found herself again confronted with those subjects at a town hall event on Wednesday in New Hampshire.... Her answer to a simple yet loaded question by an audience member in the city of Berlin -- 'What was the cause of the United States Civil War?' -- showed just how much she continues to struggle with such topics. 'I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,' she said eventually, arguing that government should not tell people how to live their lives or 'what you can and can't do.... I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people,' she said. 'It was never meant to be all things to all people.'... Ms. Haley, who governed a state at the heart of the Confederacy, has a particularly complicated record on issues of race." Politico's story is here. See also NiskyGuy's comment on an unrelated Haley ad at the end of yesterday's thread, and my response at the top of today's. ~~~

Michael Grynbaum & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement on Wednesday.... The Times is the first major American media organization to sue the companies, the creators of ChatGPT and other popular A.I. platforms, over copyright issues associated with its written works. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, contends that millions of articles published by The Times were used to train automated chatbots that now compete with the news outlet as a source of reliable information. The suit ... says the defendants should be held responsible for 'billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages' related to the 'unlawful copying and use of The Times's uniquely valuable works.' It also calls for the companies to destroy any chatbot models and training data that use copyrighted material from The Times." CNN's story is here.

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Herbert H. Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who kept watch over federal budgets in four terms as a United States senator, but as the die-hard owner of the National Basketball Association's often mediocre Milwaukee Bucks spent lavishly to keep the team afloat in his hometown, died on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Milwaukee. He was 88.... Herbert and his three siblings were born and raised in [Milwaukee], scions of a family that in one generation had built an empire of Kohl's stores across the Upper Midwest." The AP's obituary is here.

** William Grimes of the New York Times: "Tom Smothers, the older half of the comic folk duo the Smothers Brothers, whose skits and songs on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' in the late 1960s brought political satire and a spirit of youthful irreverence to network television, paving the way for shows like 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Daily Show,' died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., a city in Sonoma County. He was 86." The Hollywood Reporter's obituary is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead. Read Tommy's obituary for what the CBS suits did to smother the Smothers brothers. Much of this Tommy & Dickie made public contemporaneous to the suits' censor pencils. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

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Colorado Congressional Races. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Representative Lauren Boebert, a far-right House Republican, announced on Wednesday that she would run in a more conservative district in Colorado -- seeking to increase her chances after a strong primary challenger emerged in her district. The move -- from the Third Congressional District to the Fourth -- will thrust Ms. Boebert into a crowded primary to replace Representative Ken Buck, a conservative who is not seeking re-election.... A primary challenger has since emerged with significant backers among prominent former Republican officials in the state. Jeff Hurd, a 44-year-old lawyer from Grand Junction, has been endorsed by former Gov. Bill Owens and former Senator Hank Brown.... Ms. Boebert barely won re-election that year, pulling ahead of her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch, with roughly 500 votes.Mr. Frisch, who is running again in the Third District....: A Colorado Public Radio report is here.

Florida. Yan Zhuang of the New York Times: "A Confederate monument was taken down in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday, after an order by the city's mayor ended years of debate, as officials around the United States reckon with memorials on public property that commemorate the Confederacy. Donna Deegan, the Democratic mayor of Jacksonville, ordered the removal of two statues that were part of the 'Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy' monument in Springfield Park. In the early hours of Wednesday morning a crowd watched a construction crew use a crane to remove one statue, depicting a woman in robes carrying a Confederate flag, from the roof of the gazebo that housed the monument. A second statue, depicting a woman reading to two children, was then taken off a pedestal inside the gazebo. The removal was livestreamed on social media. Ms. Deegan said in a statement on Wednesday that the monument had been erected as part of a campaign to promote discriminatory Jim Crow laws and intimidate Black people." Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The story does not address what will happen to the statue. Maybe send it to nearby South Carolina so Nikki Haley can put it in her front yard.

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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel said it was expanding combat operations in Gaza Strip refugee camps Wednesday. A hospital director said the toll from a strike on a residential block in central Gaza's Maghazi camp had risen to 80. Tit-for-tat strikes along the Israel-Lebanon border continue to escalate regional tensions: This week, Hezbollah has launched scores of rockets and drones into Israel, including at a Greek Orthodox church, wounding two Israeli Christians.... At the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, held talks with Ron Dermer, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about 'the transition to a different phase of the war to maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets' as well as 'governance and security in Gaza' after the war, an official said." ~~~

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

The Conversation -- December 27, 2023

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans said Wednesday they were investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden's decision to defy a congressional subpoena in their latest attempt to link the White House to accusations against the president's son.... 'In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the president engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,' Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan wrote in their letter [to White House counsel Ed Siskel]."

Julie Bosman, et al., of the New York Times: "The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Donald J. Trump an important victory in the legal battle over his eligibility to return to the White House by allowing the former president to appear on the state's primary ballot in February. But in a narrow ruling, the court left the door open for a new challenge to bar Mr. Trump from the general election ballot in the key battleground state over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The decision was the latest in the high-stakes efforts to block Mr. Trump from returning to power.&"

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to keep ... Donald J. Trump and his lawyers from claiming to the jury in his upcoming election interference trial that the case had been brought against him as a partisan attack by the Biden administration. The move by the prosecutors was designed to keep Mr. Trump from overtly politicizing his trial and from distracting the jury with unfounded political arguments that he has often made on both the campaign trail and in court papers related to the case. Ever since Mr. Trump was charged this summer with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, he and his lawyers have sought to frame the indictment as a retaliatory strike against him by President Biden. Mr. Trump has also placed such claims at the heart of his presidential campaign even though the charges were initially returned by a federal grand jury and are being overseen by an independent special counsel...."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Tuesday fired off a new attack against Representative Debbie Dingell, the widow of John D. Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress in American history, calling her a 'loser' and suggesting that she had not been grateful for funeral honors granted by Mr. Trump for her husband. The salvo from Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, followed an appearance by Ms. Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, on CNN earlier on Tuesday in which she criticized Mr. Trump's increasingly incendiary language on social media.... Ms. Dingell had been reacting to a grievance-filled Christmas message on Truth Social from Mr. Trump. Referring to his political opponents as 'deranged' and 'thugs' and accusing them of trying to destroy the country, he wrote, 'MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For every person who has behaved badly in public, for every person who chafes under criticism that s/he is ill-mannered, there is a potential Trump voter, a person who feels vindicated knowing that a person who is even more boorish than s/he can be president*. Trump is indeed their retribution.

** William Grimes of the New York Times: "Tom Smothers, the older half of the comic folk duo the Smothers Brothers, whose skits and songs on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' in the late 1960s brought political satire and a spirit of youthful irreverence to network television, paving the way for shows like 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Daily Show,' died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., a city in Sonoma County. He was 86." The Hollywood Reporter's obituary is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

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Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Instead of using his majority to methodically flesh out the existing allegations against the president, [Rep. Jim] Comer [R-Ky.] and his allies -- including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee -- found themselves offering up baseless or debunked allegations to a conservative media ravenous for them. Throughout 2023, Comer, Jordan and their allies made little progress toward Comer's stated target [to nail President Biden] -- but did manage to significantly erode their credibility." Bump reviews their hilariously inept efforts to frame Biden.

Heather Knight of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court tossed out the conviction of former Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican, on Tuesday.... Mr. Fortenberry, 62, was convicted by a jury in March 2022 on three felony charges related to lying to the federal authorities about illegal campaign donations he received at a 2016 fund-raiser in Los Angeles.... In the opinion on Tuesday, a three-judge panel determined that Mr. Fortenberry should not have been tried in Los Angeles because he had made his statements about the campaign contributions to federal agents in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. Mr. Fortenberry was charged with and convicted of making false statements, not the receipt of the illegal contributions. 'The constitution plainly requires that a criminal defendant be tried in the place where the criminal conduct occurred,' Judge James Donato wrote on behalf of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court said Mr. Fortenberry could be retried in a proper venue."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Federal prosecutors on Tuesday urged a judge to reject U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's request to delay his bribery trial scheduled for next spring by two months, until July.... Four defendants, including Menendez, have pleaded not guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge that alleges that Menendez and his wife accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator';s help and influence over foreign affairs."

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: interviews Sen. Laphonza Butler, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) appointed to the Senate to replace Dianne Feinstein. Butler is not standing for election to the post.

Revoke Trump's Bail. Colleen Slevin of the AP: "Police said Tuesday they are investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and providing extra patrols around their homes in Denver following the court's decision to remove ... Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot.... The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement on the matter." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Most Dangerous Man in the U.S.A. Eric Bazail-Eilil of Politico: "Voters surveyed by the Daily Mail described ... Donald Trump's political goals as 'corruption,' 'revenge' and 'dictatorship.' On Tuesday..., Trump shared a word cloud with the results of a Daily Mail survey released Tuesday that prominently displayed the words 'corruption,' 'revenge,' 'dictatorship' and 'power,' indicating that those answers were provided by a large number of participants asked about Trump's plans for a second term in office. There was no caption or comment attached to the post.... It's not the first time Trump has called himself a dictator or hinted at his authoritarian desires, but it's the first time he's embraced the label via word cloud.... [President] Biden's word cloud contained the words 'nothing' as well as 'peace,' 'economy' and 'democracy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Daily Mail's report of its survey, which includes pictures of the Biden & Trump clouds, is here.

NEW. Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "One of the Republicans in Michigan who acted as a fake elector for Donald J. Trump expressed deep regret about his participation, according to a recording of his interview with the state attorney general's office that was obtained by The New York Times. The elector, James Renner, is thus far the only Trump elector who has reached an agreement with the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, which brought criminal charges in July against all 16 of the state's fake Trump electors. In October, Ms. Nessel's office dropped all charges against Mr. Renner after he agreed to cooperate. Mr. Renner, 77, was a late substitution to the roster of electors in December 2020 after two others dropped out. He told the attorney general's office that he later realized, after reviewing testimony from the House investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, that he and other electors had acted improperly."

Presidential Race 2024

Melania Trump is reportedly ready for her moment in the spotlight. The former first lady, who's made only a handful of public appearances since Donald Trump left office, was reportedly encouraged by her 'positive reception' at Rosalynn Carter's funeral. She's 'feeling more sure of herself -- as both her husband's representative and her own position as a diplomatic figure,' a Trumpworld source told Page Six. -- Daily Beast report, cited in Balloon Juice ~~~

~~~ Melanie Rising. Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice: "The report strikes me as weird on two levels, firstly because it implies the Third Lady thinks she earned a 'positive reception.'... The Carters and former first ladies who interacted with the wife of The Beast at the funeral were gracious because they have class and dignity, and they have some respect for the roles they play in national life. Maybe Melania Trump doesn't understand that, having spent years among garish rich people.... Maybe she never saw what Michelle Obama said publicly about putting aside her personal feelings of dismay, anger and disgust during the 2016 transition to be pleasant to Mrs. Trump for the good of the country.... Reason #2 that this is weird: the Third Lady wasn't interested in the job when she was in the White House, so why now?... Perhaps [Donald's] awful other half sees [another presidential* term for him] as a second opportunity to renegotiate the prenup, and this is her way of angling for a higher payout."

Palliative Care. Marie: I missed this quote from a New York Times story published December 24 because I don't read many of the GOP Who's-on-Third? stories, but it is another data point in Ron DeSantis' faltering campaign: "Ryan Tyson, Mr. DeSantis's longtime pollster and one of his closest advisers, has privately said to multiple people that they are now at the point in the campaign where they need to 'make the patient comfortable.'..."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden's daughter after a judge rejected the conservative group Project Veritas' First Amendment claim.... The documents were produced from raids that were authorized in November 2021. Electronic devices were also seized from the residences of three members of Project Veritas, including two mobile phones from the home of James O'Keefe, the group's since-fired founder." Project Veritas is considering appealing the decision.

That Boring Tie You Got Boosted the Economy. Rachel Siegel & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday, fresh retail sales data from Mastercard showed that consumers spent big on gifts, meals and apparel in November and December despite inflation's lingering bite. Add on strong consumer confidence, and the S&P 500's approaching an all-time high, and it's clear that the U.S. economy is in a far better place than just about anyone expected, zapping any hints of a recession and bolstering hope that people will keep opening their wallets in 2024."

Capitalism Will Kill You. Reed Abelson & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "The rate of serious medical complications increased in hospitals [link fixed] after they were purchased by private equity investment firms, according to a major study of the effects of such acquisitions on patient care in recent years. The study, published in JAMA on Tuesday, found that, in the three years after a private equity fund bought a hospital, adverse events including surgical infections and bed sores rose by 25 percent among Medicare patients when compared with similar hospitals that were not bought by such investors. The researchers reported a nearly 38 percent increase in central line infections, a dangerous kind of infection that medical authorities say should never happen, and a 27 percent increase in falls by patients while staying in the hospital."

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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel said it is expanding combat operations in refugee camps as it targets Hamas, as a hospital director said the toll from a strike on a residential block in a central Gaza in Maghazi camp rose to 80. At the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with Ron Dermer, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about 'the transition to a different phase of the war to maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets' as well as 'governance and security in Gaza' after the war, an official said.... The United Nations appointed Dutch politician Sigrid Kaag to the new role of senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, responsible for facilitating and accelerating aid deliveries. The position was mandated as part of the U.N. Security Council's resolution last week to expand aid to civilians in the enclave." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here: "Israel's military chief said the war against Hamas in Gaza will continue for 'many more months,' echoing comments from Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the conflict is far from ending. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said Israel is in a 'multi-arena war' in the region."