;)
April 28, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Alan Fram, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for an additional $33 billion to help Ukraine fend off Russia's invasion, a signal that the U.S. is prepared to mount a robust, long-term campaign to bolster Kyiv and weaken Moscow as the bloody war enters its third month with no sign of abating. Biden's latest proposal -- which the White House said was expected to support Ukraine's needs for five months -- has more than $20 billion in military assistance for Kyiv and for shoring up defenses in nearby countries. There is also $8.5 billion in economic aid to help keep Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government functioning and $3 billion for food and humanitarian programs around the world." ~~~
~~~ Bryan Pietsch, et al., of the Washington Post: “The White House on Thursday announced a proposal to allow U.S. authorities to liquidate the assets of Russian oligarchs and donate the proceeds to Ukraine, seeking what appears to be broad new legal powers to expand America's financial war on the Kremlin amid bipartisan pressure in Congress.... The White House has not revealed the legislative text behind its Russian oligarchs proposal but said the proposal 'would improve' the federal government's ability to send seized funds to Ukraine. Under current law, the United States can typically only freeze -- not seize or liquidate -- the assets of sanctioned individuals. Civil liberties groups had raised concerns that prior congressional proposals to do so ran afoul of constitutional protections by allowing federal law enforcement to circumvent judicial procedure. It was not immediately clear how the White House would seek to change existing statute without violating those protections."
Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Sixteen states, the District of Columbia and environmental activist groups are suing the U.S. Postal Service to block its purchase of 148,000 gas-guzzling delivery trucks over the next decade, alleging the agency has vastly underestimated the vehicles' costs and adverse ecological impact. The suits brought on by the state attorneys general, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council contend the mail service relied on faulty assumptions and miscalculations to justify spending as much as $11.3 billion on gas-powered vehicles that get 8.6 mpg...."
Alexandra Ulman & Nathan Layne of Reuters: There have been "eight known attempts to gain unauthorized access to voting systems in five U.S. states since the 2020 election. All involved local Republican officeholders or party activists who have advanced Trump's stolen-election falsehoods or conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, according to a Reuters examination of the incidents.... [For example,] in southern Michigan, a pro-Trump clerk who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory on social media defied state orders to perform maintenance on a voting machine on the unfounded belief that doing so could erase proof of alleged fraud. In another Michigan case, a Republican activist impersonated an official from a made-up government agency in a plot to seize voting equipment. Some of the people and groups involved in the vigilante election-investigator movement are drawing financial support from [Mike] Lindell, the My Pillow Inc chief executive and one of the most visible backers of Trump's false fraud claims." ~~~
~~~ Marie: My guess is that in 2024, some of this voting-machine tampering will be "authorized" by the new pro-Trump QAnon-type elections officials who are now running to take over local & state elections offices.
The War on Women, Ctd. Oklahoma. Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "The Oklahoma House approved a Republican bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law would take effect immediately, cutting off access for patients from Texas who have flooded into Oklahoma since a similar law passed there last fall.... Oklahoma's bill is modeled after the restrictive Texas ban, which has evaded court intervention with a novel legal strategy that empowers private citizens to enforce the law. The bill, which includes exceptions in medical emergencies but not rape or incest, cleared the Oklahoma Senate in March. It now goes to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), who is expected to sign it, and it will take effect with his signature."
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The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, was in Ukraine on Thursday as part of his efforts to broker peace and the evacuation of civilians, after meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and agreeing 'in principle' on relief for civilians trapped in the port city of Mariupol. Mr. Guterres's visit came as European leaders accused Russia of engaging in blackmail by cutting off supplies of natural gas to the continent, leaving two nations [Poland and Bulgaria] to scramble to find alternate sources for the fuel and feeding concerns that the conflict could spread beyond Ukraine's borders.... European Union countries are scrambling to work out how to pay for Russian gas without running afoul of their own economic sanctions and still meet the Kremlin's demand for payment in rubles. Natural gas prices jumped on Wednesday. Military analysts say Russia is making slow and measured advances as it confronts entrenched Ukrainian troops. 'More than half' of the 90 Howitzers the United States is sending to Ukraine have been delivered, the Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said at a news briefing." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of weaponizing energy after Russia cut gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday, putting the European Union on alert for further retaliation. In a speech after the move..., Vladimir Putin warned other nations against interfering in the war and threatened 'lightning fast' counterstrikes. President Biden will speak Thursday morning about U.S. support for Kyiv as battles rage across Ukraine's east, from the city of Kharkiv to the Donbas region." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's full report is here.
Flipper Is Not Our Friend. Rachel Pannett of the Washington Post: "Satellite photos show Russia has placed trained dolphins at the entrance to a key Black Sea port, in a move that may be designed to help protect a significant Kremlin naval base there, according to a naval analyst. The images, provided to The Washington Post by Maxar Technologies, show two dolphin pens at the entrance to Sevastopol harbor in Crimea -- which Russian forces annexed from Ukraine in 2014. H I Sutton, a submarine analyst..., said the dolphins could be used to counter specialist Ukrainian divers attempting to enter the port to sabotage Russian warships -- a role he said the United States and Russia have previously trained marine mammals for." The Guardian's story is here.
Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a mostly symbolic bill urging President Biden to sell the frozen luxury assets of Russian oligarchs hit with sanctions and use the funds to provide additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The legislation is nonbinding, but its 417-to-8 passage reflected a bipartisan desire on Capitol Hill for the president to take a more aggressive posture as the United States and European allies grapple with what to do with Russian assets seized in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It came a day after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland told a Senate panel that the administration would ask Congress for expanded authority to confiscate and liquidate Russian property."
Amy Cheng of the Washington Post has a tougher take on Rand Paul's pro-Russia remarks than did the CNN report linked earlier: "In a contentious exchange at a congressional hearing Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that U.S. support for Ukraine to join NATO contributed to Russia's decision to invade. Blinken vehemently objected to Paul's remarks, which were also criticized by Russia experts.... 'You could also argue that the countries that it has attacked were ... part of the Soviet Union,' the senator said; Putin has long wanted a 'sphere of influence' over former Soviet states. Charles Booker, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Paul in November, accused his opponent of 'pushing Putin's propaganda in the Senate.'... Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman ... criticized Paul's remarks. 'By that logic, Britain is justified in attacking the U.S. and colonial powers their former holdings. What century does he live in?' Vindman said." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "The United States and Russia announced on Wednesday a prisoner swap that has freed Trevor R. Reed, a former Marine who was convicted on charges that his family said were bogus, an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough with tensions running high over the Ukraine war. Mr. Reed, who was initially detained in August 2019, was released in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot sentenced to a lengthy term in the United States on cocaine-trafficking charges." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
If Madeleine were here with us today, she would also remind us this must be a season of action, and yes, once again we must heed the wisdom of her life and the cause of her public service. Stand up to dictators and demagogues from the battlefields of Ukraine to the halls of our own Capitol. Defend democracy at home just as vigorously as we do abroad. -- Hillary Clinton, memorial service for Madeleine Albright, Wednesday ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... her adopted country bade farewell on Wednesday to Madeleine Korbel Albright, who in the course of a storybook life became a relentless evangelist for American ideals at home and abroad and an implacable foe of tyranny everywhere. The little immigrant girl who survived Nazis and Communists before growing up to become the first female secretary of state was honored by presidents, cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, diplomats, generals, foreign leaders and dissidents at one of those only-in-Washington memorial services that was about this moment in history as much as it was about the dearly departed. In death as in life, Ms. Albright evoked the eternal struggle between democracy and autocracy that flared again in her final days in a land not far from her own native country." ~~~
~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "More than 1,400 people, including several foreign leaders, attended the service [for former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright], which began shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral, to which Albright had close ties for several decades. In addition to [President] Biden, former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton were slated to deliver eulogies in memory of Albright's life, including her distinction as the nation's first female secretary of state." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Funniest remark, IMO, during the service: one of Albright's daughters said that when she was a child, she called her mother at the office, only to be told that her mother was otherwise occupied: "She's on the floor with Senator Kerry."
Ellie Kaufman of CNN: "Approximately $7 billion of military equipment the US transferred to the Afghan government over the course of 16 years was left behind in Afghanistan after the US completed its withdrawal from the country in August, according to a congressionally mandated report from the US Department of Defense viewed by CNN. This equipment is now in a country that is controlled by the very enemy the US was trying to drive out over the past two decades: the Taliban. The Defense Department has no plans to return to Afghanistan to 'retrieve or destroy' the equipment, reads the report, which has been provided to Congress."
Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "Top congressional Democrats are exploring new proposals to suspend the gas tax and penalize giant energy corporations, hoping to lower prices as part of a broader effort to blunt the financial and political fallout from soaring inflation. The legislative push reflects a growing sense of urgency among party lawmakers, who returned to Washington this week after hearing from voters who have seen the costs of housing, groceries and other goods spike at their highest rate in roughly four decades. Democrats specifically have expressed renewed interest in pausing the roughly 18-cent-per-gallon federal gasoline tax, which Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) described at a news conference early Wednesday as 'part of the discussion' around a more 'comprehensive' solution to rising prices."
Steve Benen of MSNBC: The Raleigh News & Observer reports, "'U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate fellow Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn on Tuesday morning after the Washington Examiner broke a story Monday afternoon saying Cawthorn could be implicated in insider trading.' 'Insider trading by a member of Congress is a serious betrayal of their oath, and Congressman Cawthorn owes North Carolinians an explanation,' Tillis said in a tweet. 'There needs to be a thorough and bipartisan inquiry into the matter by the House Ethics Committee.'... A red-state Republican senator calling for an investigation into a GOP colleague from his home state just doesn't happen often."
Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tore into the Catholic Church in a recent interview with right-wing activist Michael Voris of Church Militant. In the wild interview, flagged online by Right Wing Watch, Greene charges 'Satan's controlling the church.' In a clip from the interview, Voris charges that U.S. Bishops 'taken enormous sums of money from the federal government, federal taxpayers to assist in illegal immigration, some refugee resettlement also' to 'essentially skirt around U.S. immigration laws.' 'I thought we had a separation of church and state,' Greene said in response."
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday released a report alleging that top Trump administration officials awarded a $700 million pandemic relief loan to a struggling trucking company [now called 'Yellow'] in 2020 over the objections of career officials at the Defense Department. The report, released by the Democratic staff of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, describes the role of corporate lobbyists during the early months of the pandemic in helping to secure government funds as trillions of dollars of relief money were being pumped into the economy. It also suggests that senior officials such as Steven Mnuchin, the former Treasury secretary, and Mark T. Esper, the former defense secretary, intervened to ensure that the trucking company, Yellow Corporation, received special treatment despite concerns about its eligibility to receive relief funds.... Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was a 'key actor' coordinating with Yellow's lobbyists.... The loan raised immediate questions from watchdog groups because of the company's close ties to the Trump administration and because it had faced years of financial and legal turmoil.... Yellow had many connections to the Trump administration." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ha Ha. George Will of the Washington Post suggests a Constitutional amendment: "No senator or former senator shall be eligible to be president." "The federal government's growth, and the national media's focus on Washington, has increased the prominence of senators eager for prominence, although it often is the prominence of a ship's figurehead -- decorative, not functional.... The Senate has ... [become] increasingly a theater of performative behaviors by senators who are decreasingly interested in legislating, and are increasingly preoccupied with using social media for self-promotion.... Josh Hawley ... exemplifies the worst about would-be presidents incubated in the Senate.... Nimbly clambering aboard every passing bandwagon that can carry him to the Fox News greenroom, he treats the Senate as a mere steppingstone for his ascent to an office commensurate with his estimate of his talents.... One of today's exemplary senators, Mitt Romney, surely is such partly because, his presidential ambitions retired, he nevertheless wants to be a senator." ~~~
~~~ Marie: One thing you have to say about George Will: he has the best words. No really. That line about Josh Hawley's "nimbly clambering aboard every passing bandwagon ..." is superb.
Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "... discussions involving the Trump White House about using emergency powers have become an important -- but little-known -- part of the House Jan. 6 committee's investigation of the 2021 attack on the Capitol. In subpoenas, document requests and court filings, the panel has demanded information about any Trump administration plans to use presidential emergency powers to invoke martial law or take other steps to overturn the 2020 election. Interviews with committee members and a review of the panel's information requests reveals a focus on emergency powers that were being considered by Trump and his allies in several categories: invoking the Insurrection Act, declaring martial law, using presidential powers to justify seizing assets of voting-machine companies, and using the military to require a rerun of the election."
** A Warning from a Right-Wing Judge. Michael Luttig in a CNN opinion piece: "The Republicans' mystifying claim to this day that Trump did, or would have, received more votes than Joe Biden in 2020 were it not for actual voting fraud, is but the shiny object that Republicans have tauntingly and disingenuously dangled before the American public.... Trump's and the Republicans' far more ambitious objective is to execute successfully in 2024 the very same plan they failed in executing in 2020 and to overturn the 2024 election if Trump or his anointed successor loses again.... The cornerstone of the plan was to have the Supreme Court embrace the little known 'independent state legislature' doctrine, which, in turn, would pave the way for exploitation of the Electoral College process and the Electoral Count Act, and finally for Vice President Mike Pence to reject enough swing state electoral votes to overturn the election.... Republicans had every reason to believe there were at least five votes on the Supreme Court for the doctrine in November 2020, with Amy Coney Barrett having just been confirmed in the eleventh hour.... Trump and the Republicans can only be stopped from stealing the 2024 election at this point if the Supreme Court rejects the independent state legislature doctrine ... and Congress amends the Electoral Count Act to constrain Congress' own power to reject state electoral votes and decide the presidency." You have to read the whole essay to follow Luttig's thread.
Guardian & Agencies: "A member of the far-right Proud Boys group on Wednesday pleaded guilty to obstructing police officers when he joined the 6 January 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of ... Donald Trump, in their attempt to overturn his election defeat. The plea agreement filed in federal court in Washington, DC, calls for Louis Enrique Colon of Missouri to admit to a single felony charge and cooperate with prosecutors. Colon admitted to crossing police barricades during the riot before climbing a wall to gain access to a higher level of the Capitol. While inside the Capitol building, Colon used his hands and a chair to obstruct police officers who were trying to lower retractable doors to stop rioters from streaming into the building."
Kara Scannell of CNN: "A special grand jury seated to hear evidence in the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into the Trump Organization's finances is set to expire at the end of the week and will not be extended, people familiar with the investigation tell CNN. The six-month special grand jury, which was empaneled in October, heard evidence late last year from several witnesses, including reporters to whom ... Donald Trump boasted about his personal wealth. Presentations to the grand jury were halted earlier this year after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was sworn into office and raised concerns about the strength of the evidence. The decision to not extend the jury's term is not surprising because prosecutors already had pulled back from presenting evidence, but the development does indicate that over the past few months, the investigation has not escalated to the point that Bragg's calculus has changed." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This despite the fact that we learned earlier this week in the release of excerpts of Trump's deposition testimony in the case linked below (fear of fruit) that Trump admitted/insisted he personally decided all Trump Org employee compensation matters. Bragg still could call another grand jury, but at this point, I'm afraid it appears he either suffers from fear of Trump or is corrupt. It's hard to claim you don't have a provable case when a person has repeatedly admitted under oath the he did the crime. ~~~
~~~ Another Trumpophobia: Fear of Fruit. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said he feared protesters would hit him with tomatoes, pineapples and other 'very dangerous' fruit at his campaign rallies, declaring in a sworn deposition that 'you can be killed if that happens.' Trump's comments about the potentially lethal effects of projectile produce were made public Tuesday with the release of excerpts of 4½ hours of videotaped testimony in a lawsuit filed by a group of protesters who allege that Trump's security guards assaulted them in 2015.... Trump was being questioned about his remarks at a February 2016 campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he encouraged members of the audience to 'knock the crap' out of any protesters who might try to pelt him with tomatoes. The incident was one of several in which Trump encouraged violence against his detractors, often framing such actions as justifiable in the name of 'self-defense.'" ~~~
~~~ Rachel Maddow read this part of the transcript on her show last night. You can watch it here, (it's third in the queue) although I can't isolate the segment, so you'll have to catch it today. You also can watch it on YouTube, though this is a pirated copy, so I assume this too will disappear. No sockpuppets, but entertaining nonetheless. ~~~
~~~ AND, according to Trump, had he not urged his audience to beat the crap out of anyone getting ready to throw a tomato, this is what would have happened at his rally. RAS is amazed that no one at Spain's Tomatina festival was maimed or killed: ~~~
Brian Chen of the New York Times tried out Trump's "Truth Social"; it's crap (a word you might not be able to use on "Truth Social"): "The Trump-backed social media app is inundated with phony accounts and features that don't work. It also hides some posts, including those with curse words."
Edward Wong of the New York Times: "Richard G. Olson, a retired diplomat who recently served as ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, said he would plead guilty to charges of illegally lobbying for the government of Qatar and failure to disclose gifts he received while he was an ambassador, according to court documents. Mr. Olson, who worked as a Foreign Service officer for 34 years, was U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2015 until 2016, when he retired." An Axios report is here.
Noah Bressner of Axios: "A federal judge on Wednesday denied Elon Musk's request to scrap a 2018 settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that required some of his tweets to be preapproved. The decision means Musk could remain barred from freely tweeting about Tesla despite reaching an agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion.... The settlement also required him to step down as Tesla's chair and pay a $20 million fine." Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Some observers already are speculating that, for myriad reasons, Musk won't buy Twitter. (Reuters link.)
Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Vaccine maker Moderna requested emergency use authorization Thursday of its coronavirus vaccine for babies, toddlers and young children -- a highly anticipated step toward making shots available to the last group in U.S. society lacking access.... Moderna's announcement will intensify pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to move quickly, as parents, pediatricians and politicians have become increasingly impatient about the lack of vaccines and treatments to protect young children. Politico reported last week that the agency may not make a decision on the vaccine until June and was leaning toward reviewing the Moderna shot for children younger than 6 alongside a three-dose regimen from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech. That has stoked anger and suspicion among some parents, who maintain that the agency is delaying vaccines." The Guardian's report is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... said on Wednesday that the pandemic was not yet over, after telling the 'PBS NewsHour' on Tuesday that the United States was 'out of the pandemic phase.' He offered clarification on NPR's '1A' on Wednesday, saying: 'I want to clarify one thing. I probably should have said the acute component of the pandemic phase. And I understand how that can lead to some misinterpretation.'"
Joel Achenbach & Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "The United States is finally 'out of the full-blown explosive pandemic phase' that has led to nearly 1 million deaths from covid-19 and more than two years of suffering and hardship, Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser, said Wednesday. 'We're really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity,' Fauci told The Washington Post."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "After ... man fatally shot a man [in the Coconut Grove section of Miami], witnesses and tipsters said the gunman was named Thomas James or Tommy James. That led the police to put a photo of Thomas Raynard James in a lineup, setting in motion a case of mistaken identification that led Mr. James, then 23, to be convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery on Jan. 11, 1991. He was sentenced to life in prison.... On Wednesday..., a judge approved a motion by prosecutors to vacate Mr. James's conviction and sentence, setting him free after ... over [more than!] 31 years -- in prison.... Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami-Dade state attorney, said the case pointed to the vulnerability of eyewitness identification.... No physical evidence tied Mr. James or anyone else to the crime, prosecutors said."
Minnesota. Shaila Dewan of the New York Times: "The Minneapolis Police Department routinely engages in several forms of racially discriminatory policing, fails to hold officers accountable for misconduct and has used fake social media accounts to target Black people and organizations, according to a damning investigation released on Wednesday by the state's Department of Human Rights. The department has a 'culture that is averse to oversight and accountability,' and city and department leaders have failed to act with 'the necessary urgency, coordination and intentionality required' to correct its extensive problems, the investigation concluded." The Guardian story is here.
New York. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "New York's highest court ruled on Wednesday that Democratic leaders had violated the State Constitution when they took it upon themselves to draw new congressional and State Senate districts, and ordered that a court-appointed special master draft replacement lines for this year's critical midterm elections. In a sweeping 32-page ruling, a divided New York State Court of Appeals chided Democrats for ignoring a constitutional amendment adopted by voters in 2014 to curb political influence in the redistricting process. The amendment also created a new outside commission to guide the process. The judges additionally found that the congressional districts designed by Democrats violated an explicit state ban on partisan gerrymandering, undercutting the party's national campaign to brand itself as the champion of voting rights."
News Lede
AP: "The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the first time since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, contracting at a 1.4% annual rate, but consumers and businesses kept spending in a sign of economic durability. The economy's overall decline in the January-March quarter does not mean a recession is likely in the coming months. Most economists expect a rebound this quarter as solid hiring and wage gains sustain growth. Instead, the steady spending by households and companies suggests that the economy will likely keep expanding this year even though the Federal Reserve plans to raise rates aggressively to fight the inflation surge. The first quarter was hampered mainly by a slower restocking of goods in stores and warehouses and by a sharp drop in exports."
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Reader Comments (8)
FLYING FRUIT:
Watch Rachel, trying to keep a straight face, read from a transcript featuring the Prickly Pear answering questions in a court proceeding. If one had any doubt about Trump's state of mind this might just seal the deal.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rachel-maddow-trump-fruit_n_6269fbdae4b0cca6755180cb
And since we are venturing into nature's bounty here is something I jotted down after yesterday's fun with words:
ODE TO NATURE'S WORST:
Cockleburrs & Dingleberries out in the midday sun
See their feisty nature, smell their sense of fun
How they cling onto a distorted way with words,
And in the end become––––a pile of stinky turds!
```~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watched Madeline Albright's farewell yesterday and was struck by the many dignitaries present. She was a force to be reckoned with and appeared to be loved by many–--except perhaps her husband who was out of her life early on or maybe he couldn't deal with a woman of her stature–-a common thread in those days. As Marie mentioned the humor coming from her three daughters was delightful as it was sad because it was so evident they will miss her terribly. And again, as with all these farewells, God is front and center and once Madeline gets up to heaven he may just have her knit him a sweater. If I were of that ilk, I'd like to imagine that happening.
It must be a miracle that no one at this festival was maimed or killed by those dangerous fruits.
Here is Trump going off about that other danger that keeps us all up at night with dread, the soup can.
@P.D. Pepe: Yes, and Rachel mentioned something yesterday that many of us have noted here: how do you wrap your head around these two seemingly conflicting facts? -- That Trump is (1) a LOL bumbling buffoon and (2) also a clear and present danger?
I think the answer is that nearly half of Americans don't understand this AT ALL. If these meatheads were not the source of Trump's power -- if they laughed along with us -- Trump would pose no danger to the nation as a whole.
I'd posit this, Marie.
There are degrees and kinds of humor. Some types demand more intellection than others.
There's the broad humor of Three Stooges slapstick, which sends our eight and six year old grandsons into a state of high hilarity that in turn makes me laugh, too, one step removed. This grandfather thinks it very funny that they find in the never-ending display of head bonks and pratfalls such comedic delight.
I'd say most Right Wing humor falls into the slapstick category, displays of outright violence or name calling head bonks. The closest their humor gets to anything that requires thought is of the "let's go Brandon" variety, which apparently prompts a we've got a secret, we belong to the club and you don't snigger among some, and even that mild subtlety is thinly disguised playground name-calling.
That's as far as the meatheads you mention can reach. Anything that demands (I was about to say "higher-order" but it ain't really all that high) thinking, like noticing and finding the humor in the contradiction of words by deeds or any other ironic juxtaposition belongs to a universe to which the meatheads don't have the key.
So, another way to categories the "us" and "them."
"They" just don't get it.
"We" do.
I wish I found that more funny than I do.
In a piece linked above we read “Attorney General Merrick B. Garland told a Senate panel that the administration would ask Congress for expanded authority to confiscate and liquidate Russian property."
Cool.
When does he ask for expanded authority to confiscate and liquidate Trump property? That’s what I wanna know.
"... military equipment the US transferred to the Afghan government over the course of 16 years was left behind in Afghanistan ... "
The story linked above seems to imply that there is a failing here, and although I have not seen the report which is subject of the story, that report also implies a failing.
Maybe it was a failing. But probably not. The materiel was signed over to Afghanistan, but within the few weeks last summer that the world realized that the Taliban was going to take over, the US DOD should have surged people and lift capability to recover all that stuff and bring it out to US junkyards? Airlifting, because no ports or rails were available. Not likely.
What will the Taliban do with that stuff? Sell it for scrap to Pakistani rag and bone collectors? Put some of it in museums like VietNam? did? Part it out and sell it off on e-Bay?
This report seems to me to be a "Pope still Catholic, Franco still dead, bear scat has been observed in the woods" kind of birdcage liner.
If Fatty fears that his life is in danger by an attack with fresh fruit, I point him to this DIY defense training film from Monty Python.
For a guy who preens non stop about what a macho, manly toughie he is, Trump is an incredibly panphobic little weenie.
https://youtu.be/F4PZXuk3TsM
Thoughts on International Relations -- Western European Edition. @Patrick has noted that Franco is still dead. Now having seen @Akhilleus' British defensive maneuvers designed to thwart fruit attacks, the Brits had better hope @Patrick is right, because @RAS has proved to us that, should Franco rise again & attack Britain in a Great Tomatina War, the Brits haven't a chance.