The Commentariat -- Sept. 7, 2016

Afternoonish Update:

Carrie Dann of NBC News: "Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face questions on military issues, national security and veterans affairs at NBC News' Commander-in-Chief Forum Wednesday, hosted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America." CW: The so-called forum, in which the candidates will answer questions separately (Clinton first), begins at 8 pm ET tonight.

International Man of Misery. Joshua Partlow & Gabriela Martinez of the Washington Post: "Mexico's finance minister, who helped arrange U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's visit to Mexico, has resigned, further roiling a political crisis that has been swirling here in Trump's wake. In formally announcing the resignation Wednesday, President Enrique Peña Nieto offered no explanation for the departure of Luis Videgaray, one of his closest aides.... But it came a week after Trump appeared with Peña Nieto in a meeting that was widely viewed across Mexico as an embarrassment for the country's leader. Videgaray had served as a behind-the-scenes liaison to the Trump campaign and advocated for the visit over the opposition of other ministers. The departure of one of his closest allies showed the huge political cost the Trump visit has exacted for Peña Nieto.... The Trump meeting has now dropped him to the lowest point of his presidency, with a new movement even calling for his resignation." -- CW

Julie Zauzmer of the Washington Post reports that President Obama has selected a Muslim judge as a nominee for the federal bench, a first. "President Obama nominated a Washington lawyer Tuesday to a prestigious federal judgeship, making Abid Riaz Qureshi the first Muslim American tapped for the federal judiciary, according to advocacy organizations. Qureshi has defended the civil rights of Muslim clients in cases against the New York City subway system and the Transportation Security Administration. The White House announced Tuesday that Obama had chosen Qureshi, a partner at the District law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, to fill a spot on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia." ...

... Akhilleus: "Defended the civil rights of Muslims"?? You mean Muslims have rights? Get ready for an epidemic of Excorcist-like head spinning by the wingnuts. By the way, that US District is the same one from which the president chose Merrick Garland if that's any indication of the likely success, or not, of this nomination. I'm guessing just the word "Muslim" is enough for a blanket "NO" from Confederates.

Bundy Trial Begins. Maxine Bearstein of Oregon Live: Ammon Bundy wants to show up in court dressed like Hopalong Cassidy. "Before prospective jurors file into Courtroom 9A in the federal courthouse in downtown Portland Wednesday morning, the judge is expected to rule on whether the defendants in the Oregon standoff case who are in custody can wear neckties, belts and boots at trial as requested. Ammon Bundy's lawyer J. Morgan Philpot argued that his client is innocent until proven guilty, and should be allowed to wear the civilian clothes that he chooses. ..."

... Akhilleus: A suit and dress shirt is Bundy's definition of looking like a "disheveled slacker". He wants to look like a real rootin' tootin' cowboy, just like in the movies. Gotta love those wingers. Only the important stuff. His reason? He IS a real cowboy. Also, something, something, something, Bible. Yee-haw, y'all.

Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: Dummkopf Drumpf Exposes His Own IRS Audit Lie. "... Donald Trump on Tuesday offered Hillary Clinton a deal. If the Democratic nominee somehow recovered and publicly released the 33,000 deleted emails she sent while serving as secretary of state, the real estate businessman would release his tax returns 'immediately.' ... Pressed ... about releasing his tax returns despite them being under audit, Trump attempted to turn the tables on Clinton ― and ended up unwittingly admitting there was nothing prohibiting him from doing so. 'When is she going to release her emails? She probably knows how to find it,' he said. 'Let her release her emails and I will release my tax returns immediately.'" ,,,

... Akhilleus: Stupid AND transparent are not the best qualities in combination. Of course tomorrow, Trumpado will dismiss this as "sarcasm".

*****

Esther Yu Hsi Lee of Think Progress: "During his visit to Laos on Tuesday, President Barack Obama promised to spend $90 million over the next three years to clear millions of unexploded bombs left behind during the Vietnam War, citing a 'moral obligation' to help Laos recover.... Laos became the most heavily bombed country in the world after it was carpet bombed between 1964 and 1973 when the United States funded The Secret War, a CIA-led war that rained down two million tons of bombs on Laos to cut off critical North Vietnamese supply routes.... Unexploded bombs have led to the deaths or maimings of more than 20,000 people since the war ended." --safari ...

... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama has grown accustomed to having his foreign travels overshadowed by terrorist attacks or police shootings. This might be the first time one of his trips has been marred by bad manners.... The trip has in fact yielded progress on several fronts, most notably climate change. But the miscues illustrate how poor planning, or even plain bad luck, can undermine a president's performance abroad. Worse, the dispute with [Philippines President Rodrigo] Duterte carries genuine risks for the United States, given the sensitive role of the Philippines as an American treaty ally that is engaged in an increasingly dangerous standoff with Beijing over maritime claims in the South China Sea." -- CW ...

Presidential Race

John Wagner & Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton escalated her attacks on Donald Trump's character and qualifications for the presidency Tuesday, seizing on renewed scrutiny of an improper political donation that Trump made to Florida's attorney general as she accused him of concealing 'scams.'... 'The list goes on and on: the scams, the frauds, the questionable relationships, the business activities that have stiffed workers,' Clinton said.... In an interview with ABC that aired Tuesday, Trump scrutinized Clinton's appearance. 'Well, I just don't think she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look,' he told ABC's David Muir." -- CW ...

... CW: You may want to watch Trump evade Muir's questions about what it means to "look presidential." Of course, we all know what he means: only men can be POTUS. Women should stay home and cater to their husbands' needs. This is just like his "jobs plan." What Trump will do to create more jobs is to create more jobs/Hillary Clinton doesn't look presidential because she doesn't have that presidential look. See more on the Muir interview in Dana Milbank's column, linked below. ...

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. I think the stakes are much higher in this debate and all the debates for Hillary Clinton because the expectations are higher for her because she's a seasoned politician. She's a seasoned debater. You know, yes we saw Donald Trump in the primaries debate for the first time, but he is a first-time politician. So um, for lots of reasons. Maybe it's not fair, but that's the way it is. The onus is on her. -- Dana Bash of CNN, Tuesday

Thanks, Dana, for explaining when it's fair for "journalists" to "Bash" a candidate while going easy on her opponent. If a person has never held public office, does he still have to be a good president? Or can he just fuck up the world and get a pass from CNN "journalists" because, hey, maybe he'll do better next term where he has some experience under his belt? Bash's defense of playing favorites would be more comical if it wasn't such a reprehensible example of journalistic malpractice. -- Constant Weader

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Fallows updates previous comparisons on how the press report "'doubts,' 'questions,' 'clouds,' and the 'atmosphere of entitlement' that surrounded Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, with the actual offenses, lawsuits, bankruptcies, unpaid contractors, anti-trust settlements, bogus-visa issues, and other legal problems surrounding Donald Trump and his enterprises." -- CW

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged Donald Trump to 'come clean' about his finances and said she would continue to press the Republican to release his tax returns until Election Day, declaring that 'he clearly has something to hide.' Speaking to reporters aboard her campaign plane, Clinton said she was responding to a statement Trump made to ABC News that people aren't interested in his returns.... She ticked off a list of what she characterized as questionable aspects about Trump's finances, including the multiple times his companies have declared bankruptcy, repeated accusations of 'fraudulent behavior,' hundreds of millions of dollars in business debt and continuing controversy over Trump University. 'Clearly his tax returns tell a story that the American people deserve and need to know,' Clinton said." -- CW

Dallas Morning News Editors: "There is only one serious candidate on the presidential ballot in November. We recommend Hillary Clinton. We don't come to this decision easily. This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since before World War II -- if you're counting, that's more than 75 years and nearly 20 elections.... Resume vs. resume, judgment vs. judgment, this election is no contest." CW: As Joe Biden would say, this is a big fucking deal.

** Danielle Allen, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The 58-page FBI memo on Hillary Clinton's email usage as secretary of state is a gripping must-read.... Clinton's mistake was, as she has said, to have decided to use a private server. There's not much duplicity, deceit or intention to evade to be found in this memo. What the document does reveal is Clinton's colossal failure to understand the monumental responsibility she took on with her choice; namely, the direct duty to archive public records.... This is what jumps out of the memo. The story of stuff that is missing, or turned in late, or not initially acknowledged to exist, or accidentally saved in inappropriate places only to be deleted later by low-level staff, appears to be mainly a tale of a bumbling group not remotely close to being equipped to handle, at a public-records standard, the material for which they were responsible. My favorite example is the laptop that either went missing in the U.S. mail or got lost in an office move." -- CW ...

... The FBI memo is here (pdf). ...

... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Chair of the House Committee on Harassing Democrats, has announced plans to harass Hillary Clinton as long as he lives and breathes. (CW paraphrase) "On Tuesday, Mr. Chaffetz asked the Justice Department for the second time in two months to investigate Mrs. Clinton. Citing newly released F.B.I. documents, he requested the department look into whether emails had been illegally deleted from her email server. Mr. Chaffetz has scheduled two hearings for the next week related to Mrs. Clinton, and he said in an interview on Tuesday that his inquiries may extend past November.... 'I would be derelict in my duties to drop it now or after the election and let it go," he said. Hillary Clinton took Chaffetz's fake investigation in stride: 'I believe I have created so many jobs in the sort of conspiracy theory machine factory because honestly, they never quit. They keep coming back, and here's another one." -- CW ...

... ** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Digby in Salon: "The fact that [Hillary Clinton has] been dogged by political enemies and investigated by special prosecutors, the media and Congress with unlimited budgets and every possible means of getting to the truth and has been exonerated doesn't seem to register [with people]. Indeed, the fact-checkers all find her to be more honest than virtually anyone in politics while Donald Trump, by contrast, lies more than he tells the truth. To understand how this came to be, go back to a column from 1996 in The New York Times by vicious right-wing columnist William Safire who first dubbed her a 'congenital liar.'... For many reasons, not the least of which was simple sexism, it was set in stone that this feminist, lawyer first lady was devious, calculating and power mad -- Madame Defarge and Evita rolled into one.... The political press has filtered its coverage of her through that lens ever since." -- CW ...

... Glenn Greenwald: "But this emerging narrative that Clinton should not only enjoy the support of a virtually united elite class but also a scrutiny-free march into the White House is itself quite dangerous. Clinton partisans in the media -- including those who regard themselves as journalists -- will continue to reflexively attack all reporting that reflects negatively on her, but that reporting should nonetheless continue with unrestrained aggression." -- CW

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Donald Trump blasted Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night over recently released FBI documents from an investigation into the former secretary of State's private email server.... 'The new revelations about Hillary Clinton from the just-released FBI documents make more clear than ever that she fails to meet the minimum standard for running for public office,' Trump said during a speech in Greenville, N.C. 'If she applied for a low-level job at the State Department today ... she couldn't even get a security clearance based on what she's done. ... People who have nothing to hide don't smash phones with hammers,' Trump said. 'People who have nothing to hide don't bleach their emails, or destroy evidence to keep it from being publicly archived as required under federal law.'" ...

By Driftglass.... CW: Up till there, Trump was on mostly solid ground, though, as usual, hyperbolic. But still he couldn't stop: "'No one takes all the risks Hillary Clinton took unless they are trying to cover up massive crimes,' he added."

Man with No Plan. Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "On his first day in office, Donald Trump would order the military to formulate a plan within one month for defeating ISIL, he said on Tuesday. Previously, Trump has maintained he has a plan to defeat ISIL (also referred to as ISIS) that he did not want to discuss to avoid tipping his hand to America's enemies.... In June, Trump rebuffed Fox News host Greta Van Susteren's attempts to extract the details of his 'foolproof' plan, explaining, 'If I run, and If I win, I don't want the enemy to know what I;m doing. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to tell at some point, but there is a method of defeating them quickly and effectively and having total victory.'" -- CW

I contribute to everybody. I've given to Democrats. I've given to Hillary.... I've got to give to them. because when I want something I get it. When I call, they kiss my ass. It's true. They kiss my ass. It's true. -- Donald Trump, in Iowa, January 2016 ...

... Steve Eder & Meghan Twohey of the Washington Post: "Donald "Trump's history of political giving stretches back decades -- and has repeatedly drawn regulatory scrutiny [CW: and findings against Trump].... In the 1980s, Mr. Trump was compelled to testify under oath before New York State officials after he directed tens of thousands of dollars to the president of the New York City Council through myriad subsidiary companies to evade contribution limits. In the 1990s, the Federal Election Commission fined Mr. Trump for exceeding the annual limit on campaign contributions by $47,050, the largest violation in a single year. And in 2000, the New York State lobbying commission imposed a $250,000 fine for Mr. Trump's failing to disclose the full extent of his lobbying of state legislators.... In recent years, Mr. Trump has made tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to at least four state attorneys general -- [Pam] Bondi of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, both Republicans, and the Democrats Eric Schneiderman of New York and Kamala Harris of California -- whose offices have looked into complaints about Trump University." ...

     ... CW: This is currently (5 am ET) the top story on the Times' online main page. Looks as if some editor has reacted to recent commentary on the media's failure to vet Trump's actual misdeeds while going full-tilt on Clinton's "shadows" and "clouds." ...

... Jeff Horwitz, et al., of the AP add details that finger both Trump & Bondi as liars and opportunists. ...

... A Favor among Friends. Arturo Garcia of RawStory: "Donald Trump hosted a fundraiser for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's (R) re-election campaign less than a year after she decided not to investigate Trump University, the Huffington Post reported. The March 2014 event at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach cost the state Republican Party $4,855.65 -- a far cry from the $140,000 Trump later charged his own presidential campaign for use of the facility. Tickets to the event cost $3,000 per person." --safari ...

... Here's the HuffPost story, by Christina Wilkie & others. ...

... Scott Maxwell of The Orlando Sentinel: "I understand the global interest in Trump. But when a prosecutor has been asked to investigate someone -- and instead takes $25,000 in campaign cash from him -- it's the prosecutor who most needs probing. That's why I began digging into this way back in 2013 -- long before Trump was even a candidate for the White House.... This has gone on long enough. Bondi's actions need to be probed by an independent body.... Besides, the Trump media circus will soon move on to the next outrage, gaffe or accusation du jour. Floridians, meanwhile, will still be stuck with an attorney general who thinks it's OK to take fat campaign checks from would-be subjects of her office's investigations." --safari ...

... ** Scammer-in-Chief. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Trump's campaign..., set to receive tens of millions of dollars of other people's money [beginning in May 2016], finally sent five- and six-figure checks to Trump's properties for events that had happened months earlier. In all, just shy of $1 million went out the door on May 18. More than $600,000 of that went to Trump-owned businesses, with $423,000 of it going to Mar-a-Lago alone, which hosted that March 15 party, an earlier one on March 1 and a news conference on March 11.... Paul S. Ryan from the Campaign Legal Center watchdog group ... called Trump's heavy spending on his own properties 'unprecedented' and said the timing of the payments is curious.... 'It looks like a candidate who is pocketing donors' money.'... Even as Trump has skimped on traditional expenses like campaign staff or advertising, he has spent campaign money lavishly on his own businesses." -- CW ...

... BUT He Stiffed the Kids. Kelly Weill of the Daily Beast: "The pre-teen dance troupe that briefly became a national sensation after they performed for Donald Trump are suing the self-proclaimed billionaire's presidential campaign for stiffing them.... The USA Freedom Kids said in a newly filed lawsuit the Trump campaign broke verbal agreements for performances at two events and refused to pay even a $2,500 stipend for the group's travel expenses." -- CW

** "Blind Trust." Dana Milbank: "Asked by ABC News's David Muir on Monday afternoon whether he'd be releasing his income-tax returns, as every other major-party presidential nominee has done for 40 years, Trump [said]..., 'I think people don't care.'... No? A Quinnipiac University poll two weeks ago found that 74 percent of likely voters, including 62 percent of Republicans, think Trump should release his tax returns.... Trump's excuse, that he's waiting for audits to end, has no legal justification. His own accountants have said his audits from 2002 to 2008 have been 'closed,' yet his returns from those years remain unreleased. Do the unreleased returns illustrate shady connections? The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump's real estate investments 'brought the GOP nominee into regular contact with people who had ties to organized crime.' Do they show (as earlier returns did) that he paid little or nothing in taxes? Do they confirm reporting by The Post's David A. Fahrenthold that Trump has been stingy with charities?"

** Washington Post Editors: "Melania Trump, like many an immigrant, may be reluctant to delve too publicly into the details of her earliest days in the United States. Yet it is [Donald] Trump's own double standards, on immigration and other issues, that invited questions -- questions he himself said publicly would be addressed. The country is still waiting." CW: Read the whole editorial; the writer succinctly lays out Trump's hypocrisy on this & other matters.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Trump Immigration Policy = "Mass Deportation." Dara Lind of Vox: "The media really loves the idea that Donald Trump is changing his position on immigration. In particular, they really love the theory that Trump secretly has a plan to legalize unauthorized immigrants.... There's just one problem: There is no secret plan. Period. Donald Trump's immigration policy has been fairly consistent -- and much clearer than the media presumes.... More unauthorized immigrants would be deported, all unauthorized immigrants would be at risk of deportation, and it would be much harder for any immigrant -- legal or otherwise -- to enter the US. That's it. That's all." -- CW

Jamil Smith of MTV: "Speaking before the first predominantly black audience of his 15-month presidential campaign, Trump's pleasantries and platitudes were white noise -- no pun intended.... Trump's campaign ... organized the Detroit visit to give him a safe space, protecting him from any substantive interactions with the people he was supposed to be addressing.... In politics, white candidates get a lot of praise for just standing alongside a certain kind of black people -- the 'good ones.'... Seeing Trump dip his toe into black America should have inspired universal ridicule, but instead, we saw absurd narratives and headlines like 'Trump Brings Message of Unity to Black Church in Detroit.'" Via Paul Waldman. -- CW ...

... CW: As Smith points out, Trump didn't offer one policy proposal aimed at helping minorities. Okay, we know almost no Republicans want to give minorities better prospects. Given that hard, cold fact, there is one Trump card Donaldo could have played that might have gained him some (albeit undeserved) creds, even though it isn't exactly substantive. Trump could have used the occasion of his visit with the "good ones" to admit that President Obama was a U.S. citizen. Alas, Trump is still a birther:

Put It in Perspective. David Corn of Mother Jones: "On Monday, [Trump] released a list of 88 former generals and admirals who back his presidential bid.... But here's the real story: Mitt Romney, during the 2012 campaign, had 500 retired generals and admirals on his side." --safari ...

... Nancy Youseff of The Daily Beast: "Trump's top brass is kind of tarnished...[M]any of the general and flag officers who announced their support for Trump on Tuesday are considered in military circles to be anything but the best and brightest. Many ... have had brushes with scandals." --safari

Only the Best People. Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate: "Marco Gutierrez, the co-founder of a group called Latinos for Trump [who] warned ominously that there would be 'taco trucks on every corner' in the United States if Hillary Clinton wins this November...has done some weird stuff in his past. The Bay Area Mercury News notes that his real estate license has been suspended over sketchy transactions involving client funds.... Meanwhile, the conservative blog Quinton Report has found a court filing in which it's revealed thatGutierrez and his wife have filed for bankruptcy a combined 14 times." --safari

Trump Compares His Supporters to Members of ISIS. Eric Levitz of New York Mag: "Donald Trump answers questions about policy like a tenth-grade stoner amped up on Red Bull ... masking his ignorance in layers of confident blabber, before becoming too bored with his own bullshit to maintain any semblance of coherence. [This] produce[s] some of the most delightfully Dada sentences that mankind has ever heard.... Trump begins by informing us that the word cyber did not derive from the theory of cybernetics, popularized in the mid-20th century, but rather from the events of the last few years. He proceeds to conflate cybersecurity ... with combating ISIS's digital recruitment efforts. And then he posits that the terror group has more success attracting new members when they spread the perception that they are winning -- a 'psychology' that he likens to that of his own supporters, who have been energized by a recent poll that shows him leading nationally." --safari

Senate Race

Lost in Translation. Las Dos Caras de McCain. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: Following his primary win, Sen. John McCain [R-Az.] has launched a Spanish-language Website, and it's way different from his English-language site. "The Spanish language site, for instance, lauds him as a member of the Gang of Eight that sought comprehensive immigration reform, and a supporter of a pathway to citizenship for the children of immigrants who came to the country illegally -- a group known as the 'Dreamers.' The English-language site makes no mention of either and portrays the senator as a champion of tougher border security.... McCain's English-language site highlights his stance on 'Homeland Security and Immigration Reform,' while the Spanish-language site features McCain's position on 'Inmigracion.'” -- CW

Other News & Views

Follow the Money. Richard Valmanis & Grant Smith of Reuters: "U.S. companies that have expressed the most fervent public support for President Barack Obama's environmental agenda are also funding its biggest enemies - the scores of U.S. lawmakers who are climate change skeptics and oppose regulation to combat it, according to a Reuters review of public records." With charts and stats. Via Think Progress -- safari

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Congressional Republicans want to censure the Obama administration for sending $400 million in 'ransom' to Iran on the same day as American prisoners were released -- an issue they bet will play big on the campaign trail two months before election day." ...

... CW: Whaddaya mean it's a "do-nothing" Congress. They're censuring President Obama. They're investigating Secretary Clinton. No wonder these anti-abortion fanatics don't have time to fund Zika-virus abatement. I'm talkin' to you, Marco Rubio. (Rubio opposes allowing Zika-infected women to have abortions; Demirjian reports that Rubio "introduced ... legislation to stop all future payments to Iran from a fund to pay judgments and settlements against the federal government until Tehran returns the 'ransom money' and instead settles claims from American victims of Iranian terrorism."

Patrick Boehler of the New York Times: "... at least four residents of Hong Kong ... took in [Edward] Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, when he fled the United States in June 2013. Only now have they decided to speak about the experience, revealing a new chapter in the odyssey that riveted the world after Mr. Snowden disclosed that the N.S.A. had been monitoring the calls, emails and web activity of millions of Americans and others.... They were all clients of one of Mr. Snowden's Hong Kong lawyers, Robert Tibbo, who arranged for him to stay with them." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. John Koblin & Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times, in a story on Gretchen Carlson's settlement with Fox, add some news: "Additionally, Fox News abruptly announced -- just minutes after 21st Century Fox confirmed the settlement with Ms. Carlson -- the departure of Greta Van Susteren. Ms. Van Susteren had been with Fox News for 14 years, and her departure was effective immediately: Brit Hume will take over her 7 p.m. time slot, beginning on Tuesday night. A financial disagreement with the network led to Ms. Van Susteren's exit, according to a person familiar with the situation. Ms. Van Susteren was only informed in writing on Tuesday of her departure ... and had expected to go on the air Tuesday night.... In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Ms. Van Susteren wrote that she decided to leave the network late last week... She said that she 'could not wait' because of a time-limited exit clause in her contract. Ms. Van Susteren's husband, John P. Coale, said in a phone interview on Tuesday..., 'There's so much chaos, it’s very hard to work there.'... He said, 'There's more than meets the eye' and that there 'might be litigation in the future' so he did not want to talk further." Also, there's this on Carlson's settlement:

The evidence that Ms. Carlson had in her sexual harassment case was damning, according to another person with knowledge of the settlement. For a year and a half, she had been recording her meetings with Mr. Ailes on her cellphone.... The vast majority of the remarks quoted directly in her lawsuit against Mr. Ailes -- including lines like: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better' -- were taken straight from the recordings, the person said. -- CW

... Erik Wemple of the Washington Post to Van Susteren: Buh-bye, Madame Trumpista. Maybe you can get a job in the soon-TBA Trump Network or, if worse comes to worst, as Trump's press secretary. Also, too, you still own Gretchen Carlson an apology for your fact-averse support for Ailes while accusing Carlson of being nothing but an "angry ... disgruntled employee." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Trumpbot Update: Goes down in flames, deflects responsibility in true wingnut form. AP via TPM: "A New Jersey Republican ended his campaign for local office Tuesday following reports that he called online for the rape of a ... Daily Beast reporter.Mike Krawitz, who was running for the township council in West Deptford, sent a handwritten resignation note to the party Tuesday saying he was dropping out. On Monday, Krawitz told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his account was hacked and that he didn't make the comment on journalist Olivia Nuzzi's Facebook account." --safari

The Commentariat -- Sept. 6, 2016

Presidential Race

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump ran virtually parallel campaigns on Monday as they geared up for the final stretch of the presidential race. She ... open[ed] up her campaign plane and chatt[ed] with reporters. He followed suit, inviting a smaller group of reporters onto his plane and answering questions during the 30-minute flight. She took along her running mate, and so did he, as both focused on Ohio and nearly crossed paths in Cleveland. Their motorcades all but passed each other, and all four candidates' planes ended up on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at the same time. Mrs. Clinton ... met with union leaders in Cleveland while her husband, Bill Clinton, appeared at a Labor Day parade in Detroit. Seeking the backing of progressive voters, she enlisted her primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who made his first solo appearance on Mrs. Clinton's behalf at a rally in New Hampshire." -- CW

Enjoli Francis of ABC News: "Hillary Clinton told ABC News' David Muir today that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, should not have to step down before the election from his position at the Clinton Foundation. 'I don't think there are conflicts of interest,' the Democratic presidential nominee said in a joint interview today with running mate Sen. Tim Kaine. 'I know that that's what has been alleged and never proven....' 'I'm very proud of the work that the Clinton Foundation has done,' Clinton said. 'It's a world-renowned charity because of the work that my husband started and many, many people helped him with.... He has made it his life's work, after the presidency. And he has said, if I am so fortunate enough to be elected, he will not be involved. And I think that is appropriate.'" -- CW

Jeff Mason & Mary Milliken of Reuters: "... Hillary Clinton said on Monday she will not accept an invitation from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto for a visit after rival Donald Trump created what she called a 'diplomatic incident' in his foray there. In a written excerpt from an interview with ABC News that will air Tuesday morning, Clinton simply said 'no' when asked if she would travel to Mexico before the election on Nov. 8, without elaborating further." -- CW

Annie Karni of Politico: "Hillary Clinton on Monday expressed 'a very serious' concern about Russia's apparent tampering with the U.S. election, implying that Vladimir Putin and the 'adversarial foreign power' he governs are actively trying to elect Donald Trump.... After more than a month when she spent most of her time out of sight raising money from mega donors and celebrities in wealthy enclaves from Los Angeles to the Hamptons, Clinton's aggressive stance toward Russia was part of a roaring back to the campaign trail on Labor Day.... Headlining two rallies in two states -- and campaigning through a hacking cough she said was brought on by her seasonal allergies -- Clinton also attempted a reset with the press. She took more than 20 minutes of questions from reporters aboard her plane, ending a 275-day standoff during which she refused to hold a press conference." -- CW

Paul Waldman: "The big difference [in news coverage of Clinton's & Trump's financial histories] is that there are an enormous number of reporters who get assigned to write stories about those issues regarding Clinton.... [But] when it comes to Trump..., a story about some kind of corrupt dealing emerges, usually from the dogged efforts of one or a few journalists;... and then it disappears.... The news organizations don't assign a squad of reporters to look into every aspect of it, so no new facts are brought to light and no new stories get written.... You'd have to work incredibly hard to find a politician who has the kind of history of corruption, double-dealing, and fraud that Donald Trump has. The number of stories which could potentially deserve hundreds and hundreds of articles is absolutely staggering." Waldman provides a partial list. ...

... CW: Here's what I think the real reason for this difference is. You only have to read one story from Waldman's list to be convinced Trump is a dirty rotten crook. Editors have read those stories. They're convinced. Clinton, on the other hand, constantly flies nearly as close to corruption as Icarus flew to the sun, so editors assign reporters to keep hunting till her wings melt. Just look at the the two WashPo stories linked below, the first by Helderman & Lee on Clinton & the second by DelReal & Fahrenthold on Trump. The Clintons' manipulation of rich friends is legion but also keeps coming up shy of illegal; the IRS determined that what Trump did was illegal in more ways than one. The "news" in the DelReal story is that Trump lied (or to be more charitable, either Trump on Bondi's advisors lied; also it depends upon what the meaning of "it" is) "Donald Trump lied about ..." could begin of the headline of every story in which Trump says something. So barely newsworthy. ...

... digby finds yet another motivation for the double standard: "... there is another dynamic at work, born of the same leftish skew among members of the press. We expect our own to adhere to a higher standard than conservatives. We don't expect the right to live up to those standards, and they don't disappoint us when they don't. But when appearances (even false media ones) suggest people like the Clintons have fallen short, we're on a hair trigger for throwing them under the bus. Dirty tricksters on the right know this and exploit it as a weakness." Read her whole post.

Rosalind Helderman & Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: When she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton recommended that an invitation to a department dinner on higher education go to "a representative from a for-profit college company called Laureate International Universities, which, she explained in an email to her chief of staff that was released last year, was 'the fastest growing college network in the world.'... The company was started by a businessman, Doug Becker, 'who Bill likes a lot.'... Nine months later, Laureate signed Bill Clinton to a lucrative deal as a consultant and 'honorary chancellor,' paying him $17.6 million over five years until the contract ended in 2015 as Hillary Clinton launched her campaign for president. There is no evidence that Laureate received special favors from the State Department in direct exchange for hiring Bill Clinton.... A close examination of the Laureate deal reveals how Bill Clinton leveraged the couple's connections during that time to enhance their personal wealth...." ...

     ... Kevin Drum: "I hope everyone will excuse me if I ignore this entire story until there's even the slightest hint of some kind of wrongdoing or corruption." ...

     ... CW: If you're wondering how the Clintons went from "dead broke" and "in debt" when they left the White House to fabulously wealthy when one of them worked for a charity & the other had a couple of lousy government jobs, the WashPo story provides some of the answers.

I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me. -- Donald Trump, in a GOP primary debate, August 2015 ...

... Jose DelReal & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Monday dismissed questions about his failure to disclose an improper $25,000 contribution in 2013 to a political group connected to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was at the time considering whether to open a fraud investigation against Trump University. The donation, made by the Donald J. Trump Foundation, violated federal rules that prohibit charities from donating to political candidates. Trump and his team also failed to disclose the gift to the Internal Revenue Service, instead reporting that the donation was given to an unrelated group with a similar name -- effectively obscuring the contribution. '... I never even spoke to her about it at all. She's a fine person. Never spoken to her about it, never,' Trump said Monday.... Marc Reichelderfer -- who worked as a consultant on Bondi's reelection effort -- told the Associated Press in June that Bondi spoke with Trump and solicited the donation herself.... Trump has bragged about making political donations to politicians to curry favor with them and benefit his businesses, regularly using such statements to undermine his critics in both parties." -- CW

By Driftglass.Hill: "In an interview with ABC News..., Donald Trump said people don't care if he releases his tax returns.... 'I don't think anybody cares, except some members of the press.'... Trump told ABC News he's provided the 'most extensive financial review of anybody in the history of politics.'" -- CW ...

... More Crazy Shit. Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump in an interview that aired Tuesday touted his temperament while attacking Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for not having a 'presidential look.' 'The single greatest asset I have, according to those that know me, is my temperament,' Trump told ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'But she came up with this ... line, "Oh, lets talk about his temperament." It's the single greatest asset I have.'" -- CW ...

... Extra Credit Crazy Shit. Jose DelReal: "Donald Trump said Monday that he would have left the G-20 summit in China over a logistical flap that left President Obama disembarking Air Force One onto a plain metal staircase." ...

     ... CW: This is akin to Newt Gingrich's shutting down the U.S. government because then-President Bill Clinton gave him a lousy seat on AF1. ...

     ... Paul Waldman: "It will certainly be impossible for other countries or actors to manipulate President Trump by insulting him." -- CW ...

... Extra, Extra Credit. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out granting legal status to undocumented immigrants who remain in the United States, breaking with an immigration proposal he laid out just last week. The Republican nominee vowed last week during a major speech in Phoenix that undocumented immigrants seeking legal status would 'have one route and one route only: to return home and apply for reentry like everybody else.' But asked Monday aboard his plane whether he could rule out a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants, Trump declined. 'I'm not ruling out anything,' Trump said. 'We're going to make that decision into the future. OK?'" -- CW ...

... He Can't Stop (Even in a Written Statement). Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Donald Trump lamented the passing of far-right activist Phyllis Schlafly in a statement on Monday, thanking her for sharing his commitment to an 'America First' agenda.... [Trump] also called Schlafly 'a champion for women.' She was known as a social conservative crusader who led the movement to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, painted feminists as aggressive 'men' in disguise, and claimed that 'virtuous women' never experienced workplace sexual harassment." -- CW

Stephen Collinson & Maeve Reston of CNN: "Trump's best chance for altering the race lies in the presidential debates.... In front of a vast television audience, the GOP nominee could reshape perceptions of his character and readiness -- if he can avoid being drawn into gaffes and personality clashes by Clinton. He will benefit from rock-bottom expectations, given controversies whipped up by his tempestuous personality and the vast gulf in experience between Trump and Clinton." -- CW

A Man with No Plan. Paul Waldman: Donald Trump's plan to bring back jobs is to bring back jobs. "Now why didn't anybody else think of that? And also 'renegotiating' trade deals, though he never actually says what that renegotiation would entail, other than presumably going to China to say, 'Hey China, give us back our jobs!' ... Fewer than one in 11 Americans now works in manufacturing, and the idea that after a couple of renegotiated trade deals we're all going to be sewing tube socks and assembling iPhones for fantastic wages is, shall we say, less than realistic. We all know that Trump is a spectacularly shallow candidate. But even here, on his supposed area of expertise, it's obvious that 'How?' is a question he is utterly incapable of answering." -- CW

David Cay Johnston on Democracy Now! runs off another laundry list of Trump's shady business dealings and ties to the mob. --safari

The Cowardly Liar, Ctd. Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: When actually in the room with the people he derides, Trump turns from bully to coward." Beinart's observation is similar to one Akhilleus made yesterday:

So far [Trump's] most egregious insults and lies have been delivered in front of audiences of howling supporters, not blacks or Latinos or women. When he finds himself in a position to scream in the face of one of his chosen villains, he backs down in a most obsequious way. Will actually facing Hillary Clinton, well prepped and loaded for bear have an effect on the size of the Trumpesticles?

Crazy Old Men for Trump. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's campaign will release an open letter on Tuesday from about 90 retired generals and military officials endorsing his presidential campaign, urging a 'long overdue course correction in our national security posture.'" Among them are "Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin of the Army, who was criticized by President George W. Bush for describing the battle against Islamist terrorists as a religious proxy fight between a 'Christian nation' and the 'idol' of Islam" and "Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney of the Air Force, who ... has previously submitted court documents challenging President Obama's place of birth." -- CW

Dave Weigel keeps running into voters who say they "don't know where the presidential candidates stand on the issues" and want the candidates to "cut the mudslinging" and "talk more about the issues people care about." Voter ignorance is not the fault of the candidates or the media; it's the fault of lazy voters who can't be bothered to look up the candidates' policies, which are readily available on their Websites (though Clinton's site has "exponentially" more info than Trump's) or on the Googles. Also, too, it isn't only lazy voters: "Watch those odd ads from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, [a deficit-obsessed, anti-"entitlement" org,] asking candidates for 'a plan' on Social Security, and you would think neither candidate has proposed entitlement plans. (They have.)" -- CW

Other News & Views

Josh Lederman of the AP: "In the wake of another missile launch, President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to work with the United Nations to tighten sanctions against North Korea, but added that the U.S. was still open to dialogue if the government changes course. Obama signaled the U.S. would redouble its effort to choke off North Korea's access to international currency and technology by tightening loopholes in the current sanctions regime. Obama called the series of ballistic missile launches 'provocations' that flouted international law and would only lead to further isolation." -- CW

William Wan & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: " After being called an obscenity by the president of the Philippines, President Obama canceled a meeting with the leader that had been scheduled for Tuesday. President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to curse out Obama if he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings by Philippine authorities in a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking.... Obama earlier said that when speaking with Duterte, he would not shy away from the topic of "international norms" when it comes to due-process rights." -- CW

"In Case We Accidentally Let You Vote, Vote Republican." -- GOP. Gene Robinson: "Every once in a while, the curtains part and we get a glimpse of the ugliest, most shameful spectacle in American politics: the Republican Party's systematic attempt to disenfranchise African Americans and other minorities with voter-ID laws and other restrictions at the polls.... Republicans claim they want support from African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities. They don't deserve the time of day until they stop this appalling effort to keep us from voting at all." -- CW ...

... Washington Post Editors: "In just four states are felons permanently barred from voting absent action by the governor. And in one of them, Virginia, lawmakers are considering an even more restrictive regime that would forever foreclose the possibility of redemption for tens of thousands of citizens. For this essentially racist project, Virginians can credit the ethically challenged majority leader of Virginia's state Senate, Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City). He filed legislation last week that would bar people convicted of violent felonies, in Virginia disproportionately African Americans, from ever having their voting rights restored.... The bill is retribution against Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who has infuriated Republicans by attempting to restore voting rights to some 200,000 ex-convicts, nearly half of them African Americans...." -- CW

Brian Stelter of CNN: "21st Century Fox has agreed to a settlement with Gretchen Carlson, the anchorwoman who sued Roger Ailes alleging harassment and retaliation in July, Vanity Fair magazine reported Tuesday. Ailes, the powerful Fox News CEO and chairman, resigned in the wake of the allegations, which he has continuously denied. 21st Century Fox, however, is acknowledging harm. In a highly unusual public statement on Tuesday morning, the company said, 'We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect that she and all our colleagues deserve.' According to Vanity Fair, Fox's settlement with Carlson is for $20 million. The magazine reports that Fox has also reached settlements with two other women who alleged harassment by Ailes." -- CW ...

... The Vanity Fair story, by Sarah Ellison, is here.

Sydney Ember & Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "A lawyer for Roger Ailes ... has sent a letter to New York magazine suggesting he might take legal action over its reporting about Mr. Ailes. Lauren Starke, a spokeswoman for the magazine, said that Charles J. Harder, who was Hulk Hogan's lawyer in his successful lawsuit against Gawker Media, had contacted the magazine by email and asked it to preserve documents related to Mr. Ailes in preparation for a possible defamation claim.... Gabriel Sherman, a reporter for the magazine, has written extensively about Mr. Ailes and the sexual harassment allegations by female employees that resulted in his ouster in July as chairman of Fox News. On Friday, New York published a lengthy article by Mr. Sherman about Mr. Ailes and his downfall, and in July Mr. Sherman was the first to report that Rupert Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, had decided to remove Mr. Ailes from his position." -- CW

Jay Michaelson of The Daily Beast: "In an unprecedented show of inter-tribal cooperation not seen, according to one elder, since the Battle of Big Horn, thousands of activists from at least 200 Native American tribes have gathered in a remote part of North Dakota to protest the construction of a new oil pipeline." --safari

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "The soaring temperature of the oceans is the 'greatest hidden challenge of our generation' that is altering the make-up of marine species, shrinking fishing areas and starting to spread disease to humans, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of ocean warming...The ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the extra heat created by human activity. If the same amount of heat that has been buried in the upper 2km of the ocean had gone into the atmosphere, the surface of the Earth would have warmed by a devastating 36C, rather than 1C, over the past century." --safari

Beyond the Beltway

Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "The trial in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal, which is scheduled to open on Thursday with jury selection, will play out like a documentary on the rise and fall of [Gov. Chris] Christie's presidential ambitions, a tell-all tale of how he and his aides built his administration and his 2013 re-election campaign with an eye to winning the White House, then scrambled to contain the damage as inquiries into the lane closings began to wreck those hopes." CW: Pretty enjoyable reading for those of us who aren't exactly Christie fans.

Brad Reed of RawStory: "Mike Krawitz, a New Jersey Republican who is running for a spot on the West Deptford Township Committee..., told Daily Beast reporter Olivia Nuzzi on Facebook that he hopes she gets raped by a Syrian refugee." -- safari ...

     ... Update. Matt Friedman of Politico: Nuzzi said [Krawitz] has been harassing her on Facebook for over a year. "'Fuck. You. Olivia,' he wrote [on Facebook]. 'I. Hope. Somebody. Rapes. You. Today.:). A minute later, he wrote 'Hope. You. Get. Raped. By. A. Syrian. Refugee. :).'...Now the West Deptford[, New Jersey,] GOP claims his account was hacked -- on a different social media site[: Twitter, not Facebook]." -- CW: It's kind of magical. Some awful person who owns Krawitz's Facebook page has been harassing a female reporter for a year because Krawitz's Twitter account was hacked.

The Commentariat -- Sept. 5, 2016

The Way We Were.

Presidential Race

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

In his first turn as a presidential debate moderator, Fox "News"'s Chris Wallace does not intend to commit journalism, as MAG points out in today's Comments. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: Wallace said on Howard Kurtz's Fox "News" show: "'I do not believe it is my job to be a truth squad. It's up to the other person to catch them on that. I certainly am going to try to maintain some reasonable semblance of equal time. If one of them is filibustering, I'm going to try to break in respectfully and give the other person a chance to talk. But I want it to be about them -- I want it to be as much of a debate, people often talk that it's simultaneous news conferences.' Wallace said that he hopes the event will become more of a debate between the candidates and not a debate between the candidate and moderators armed with facts." ...

... CW: Wallace prefaced his promise to let the candidates lie by making this analogy: "I view it as kind of being a referee in a heavyweight championship fight." Referees, Wallace must know, are charged with enforcing fight rules. Wallace is saying then that lying is not an infraction, thus the ref/moderator does not need to call out the candidates' lies. He also is admitting something we all know: that the Fox "News" standard sanctions lying. The debates committee would have done better to employ some print journalists to moderate the debates rather than the pretty teevee-star kind.

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Former CNN host Soledad O'Brien blasted the cable news business over the weekend for profiting off the hate speech that has fueled Donald Trump's political rise. According to O'Brien, the media had gone through 'contortions to make things seem equal all the time' when comparing Trump to ... Hillary Clinton." O'Brien slammed the she-said/he-said "journalism" employed where there's no equivalency. She said the cable news networks have "normalized white supremacy" by "softening the ground for ... white supremacists..., white nationalists, who would self-identify that way...." -- CW ...

     ... digby: "The idea that Clinton and Trump surrogates are equally dishonest is bullshit. Simple bullshit. But they have to do it. You can see the reflex there at work perfectly in Mark Leibovitz's obvious discomfort [in the segment above] at presenting Trump as something uniquely outrageous." -- CW ...

... Paul Krugman: The press is grading Donald Trump "on a curve. If he manages to read from a TelePrompter without going off script, he's being presidential. If he seems to suggest that he wouldn't round up all 11 million undocumented immigrants right away, he's moving into the mainstream. And many of his multiple scandals, like what appear to be clear payoffs to state attorneys general to back off investigating Trump University, get remarkably little attention. Meanwhile, we have the presumption that anything Hillary Clinton does must be corrupt, most spectacularly illustrated by the increasingly bizarre coverage of the Clinton Foundation.... If reports about a candidate talk about how something 'raises questions,' creates 'shadows,' or anything similar, be aware that these are all too often weasel words used to create the impression of wrongdoing out of thin air." ...

     ... CW: That's Krugman biting the hand that feeds him. Good for him. ...

... Judd Legum of Think Progress: "Hillary Clinton has faced consistent scrutiny for her role in the Clinton Foundation.... Much of the controversy about the Clinton Foundation focuses on ... whether [Secretary Clinton] was complicit in 'selling access' in return for donations to the foundation. These charges were elevated to prominence by Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute..., the non-profit arm of Breitbart.com.... Schweizer's book failed to uncover any clear evidence of wrongdoing  -- and was rife with errors --  but it did succeed in focusing mainstream media attention on the alleged issue.... Meanwhile, on September 1, news broke that the Trump Foundation 'violated tax laws by giving a political contribution to a campaign group connected to Florida's attorney general.' It was required to pay a $2500 fine to the IRS. The details of the case are even more unseemly.... The story has something that none of the Clinton Foundation stories have: Actual evidence of illegal conduct [and] a formal finding of wrongdoing by the IRS. And yet, coverage of the Trump Foundation, even in the few short days since the story of the IRS fine broke, has been scant." ...

     ... CW: Take a look at Legum's chart to see the difference in coverage of the Clinton & Trump foundations. ...

... Steve M.: "... the Clinton campaign should make an ad about the Trump Foundation. It may not be a message that wins over voters in key states, but ads become news of their own these days, and maybe the slap in the face the media needs on this subject is a Clinton paid ad. God forbid the press should do its job without that prodding." Also, Trump has said he won't talk about birtherism, "and the press has been completely deferential to his wish to avoid the subject." -- CW ...

... John Ziegler in Mediaite: "... perhaps the most amazing example of the news media largely letting Trump off the hook regarding a topic which should be a clear disqualifier for the presidency is his 'Birtherism' crusade against President Barack Obama.... Trump, according to The New York Times, lied about having investigators which had uncovered important new data on the topic." -- CW ...

... Stephen Brown of the New York Daily News: "Donald Trump has blasted Hillary Clinton for accepting money from Saudi Arabia through her foundation, but a Daily News investigation reveals he has padded his bank account with cash from the same country. Trump sold the 45th floor of Trump World Tower to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for $4.5 million in June 2001, according to a city Finance Department spokeswoman.... Rebecca Ocampo, who alleged in court papers she helped broker the deal between Trump and the Saudis, said the apartments were about more than money -- they were also about 'access' to a new, potentially lucrative market in the Middle East.... In 1985, Osama Bin Laden's half-brother Shafiq Bin Laden paid an $8,500 security deposit for an apartment in Trump Tower." ...

... CW: So it's horrible for the Clintons to take Saudi money for charity, but A-Okay for Trump to take Saudi money for profit.

Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press: Bill "Clinton will march with organized labor down Michigan Avenue in Detroi this morning and greet union members along the way. He's not scheduled to speak at the end of the parade." ...

     ... CW: Probably because Hillary Clinton's health is so precarious she can't walk down the street, so she's sending her husband, who has had quadruple bypass surgery, out in the noonday sun to do her job. Oh, wait, "Hillary Clinton and her running mate -- Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine -- are participating in a Labor Day Festival in Cleveland today. Clinton also plans on attending a Salute to Labor program in Hampton, Ill., while Kaine will be joined by [Vice President] Biden at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh."

I think that anytime that we hear intolerance, anytime that we hear policy measures that are contrary to our values, banning certain classes of people, because of who they are or what they look at, what faith they practice, then we have to be pretty hard about saying no to that. And I think that America will do that this time as well. -- President Obama, in an interview ...

... Obama: Trump's a Jerk, But He's a Copycat Jerk. Louis Nelson of Politico: "The America-first, nationalistic tones upon which Donald Trump has built his campaign are nothing new, President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday morning...."

By Driftglass.Cyra Master of the Hill: "... Donald Trump took to Twitter Sunday night to again attack rival Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.... 'Lyin' Hillary told the FBI that she did not know the "C" markings on documents stood for CLASSIFIED. How can this be happening?' he tweeted.... However, several people on social media noted that FBI Director James Comey has said the 'C' stands for confidential." CW: That is, Trump lied in a tweet in which he called Clinton a liar. SOP.

Cyra Master: "... Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Sunday on Twitter. He tweeted that the Republican Party needs 'strong and committed leaders, not weak people such as @JeffFlake' in order to address illegal immigration.... Earlier Sunday, Flake reiterated on CNN's 'State of the Union' that he would not be voting for Trump in November." -- CW

Louis Nelson"... Chuck Todd worked hard to nail down Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence on his running mate's immigration plan, asking the Indiana governor more than 10 times during Sunday's installment of NBC's 'Meet the Press' what would happen to undocumented immigrants who had not committed a crime in a Donald Trump administration. But each time Todd asked a variation of the question, Pence demurred.... In an interview on ABC's 'This Week,' Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway similarly declined to offer a concrete answer to the question of what the Manhattan billionaire would do with undocumented immigrants who have not committed a crime...." CW: Might be the only time we read the clause "Chuck Todd worked hard".

"Trump Card." Donald Even Rigged His Stupid Beauty Pageants. Lucia Graves of the Guardian: "Miss Universe judge Jeff Lee admitted in GQ that Trump -- who from 1996 to 2015 owned or co-owned both Miss Universe and Miss USA -- frequently had a say in which women made the final round. According to the story's author, Burt Helm: 'Lee will tell you that from 2005 until Donald Trump sold the Miss Universe pageant last year, the billionaire quietly handpicked as many as six semifinalists -- "Trump cards", they were called.'" But when Trump contestant Sheena Monnin wrote about the fix on her Facebook page, Trump disparaged her character, then sued her for $10MM. "... last year, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen bragged to the Daily Beast about the time he 'destroy[ed]' Monnin's life. Because her lawyer didn't show up or even tell her about a scheduled arbitration meet, a judge ruled for Trump, ordering Monnin had to pay Trump $5MM, though Monnin ended up paying nothing after she sued her incompetent attorney.

Wayne Barrett, in the New York Daily News, on the long, seamy relationship between Donald Trump & his top surrogate Rudy Giuliani: CW: It's impossible to decide which of them is more despicable.

Vincente Fox (former president of Mexico) in the Guardian: "The Republican presidential candidate arrived in my country offering diplomacy as fake as a $3 bill...[W]ith this visit to my country he has confirmed that he is without a doubt someone who cannot be trusted...He used the president of Mexico and all of the country's citizens to his own benefit...Well, even though I'm against walls, I’d gladly build one around Trump, to spare the world from people like him. We don't need you." --safari

**The Other Terrorism. Contributors of Juan Cole: "[A] study from The Program on Extremism at The George Washington University analyzed accounts from prominent white nationalist organizations such as the American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan. It found that from 2012 to 2016 these accounts had a 600 percent increase in followers, now estimated to stand at around 22,000 up from around 3,500 in 2012...The study also found that people who follow white nationalist accounts were unsurprisingly 'invested in Donald Trump's presidential campaign.' White nationalist followers used Trump hashtags more than any other white nationalist related hashtag except for #whitegenocide." --safari

James Kirchick of The Daily Beast: "Trump is a living repudiation of everything religious conservatives claim to believe in. A thrice-married, epically greedy, congenitally dishonest serial adulterer who brags about his sexual conquests and exalts the rich and powerful while heaping scorn upon the weak and vulnerable, Trump is the villain of Sunday school parables made real...[Yet] according to a July Pew poll, 78 percent of white evangelicals have expressed support for him, compared to just 73 percent who backed Mitt Romney at the same time in 2012." --safari

Other News & Views

Dana Priest, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are probing what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said.... The effort to better understand Russia's covert influence operations is being spearheaded by James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence." -- CW

William Wan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach a deal Monday on a cease-fire for Syria, but the two sides have agreed to continue negotiating even as Syrian government forces close in on the beseiged city of Aleppo. Meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 meeting [in Hangzhou, China], Obama emphasized the humanitarian importance and urgent need for a ceasefire but was adamant about not striking an agreement that wouldn't meet his long-term objectives in Syria, a White House official said...." ...

... Rebecca Morin of Politico: "President Barack Obama 'wouldn't overcrank the significance' of the altercations between Chinese and White House officials over press access that greeted Air Force One on Saturday after it landed in Hangzhou, China, for the G20 summit. At a news conference Sunday with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Obama said this is not the first time there have been issues with security and press access. The president said the U.S. provides access to the press pool that "other countries may not insist on.... After the arrival of Obama and White House officials, Chinese and White House officials had several disagreements, such as whether the press pool could be on the tarmac for the president's arrival." -- CW ...

... Mark Landler & Jane Perlez of the New York Times have the backstory on President Obama's bumpy arrival in China, which is more complicated that previously reported. -- CW

Way Beyond

Tom Phillips & Eric Cheung of the Guardian: "Two years after tens of thousands of young people poured on to the streets of Hong Kong to issue an unprecedented call for political change, a new generation of pro-democracy activists has gained a foothold in power in the former British colony. At least four radical young activists who support greater political autonomy or outright independence from China claimed seats in Hong Kong's 70-member legislative council, or Legco, after a record 2.2 million people went to the polls on Sunday." --safari

Juan Cole has a good summary of the ironclad rule of the recently deceased Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov. A little taste: " Karimov was only one dog-eaten uncle short of running a North Korea." --safari

News Lede

NBC News: "Storm warnings were in effect Monday from Long Island to Nantucket as post-Tropical Cyclone Hermine drifted slowly up the Atlantic, promising near hurricane-strength winds, floods and beach erosion. The National Weather Service said large waves will pound the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England through the end of Labor Day. Life-threatening rip currents are expected at least into the middle of the week, it added. At 5 a.m. ET, Hermine was about 305 miles southeast of the eastern tip of Long Island, N.Y. The storm was 'drifting northward' at 3 mph and 'expected to meander off the mid-Atlantic coast during the next day or two,' according to the National Weather Service." -- CW