;)
February 11, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Biden on Thursday said he rejected the accounts and findings of an Army investigative report in which military officials reportedly criticized Biden administration officials for failing to grasp the situation in Afghanistan as U.S. forces withdrew.... The [Washington] Post reported earlier this week that the Army report stretches thousands of pages and contains sworn testimony from commanders involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer."
"Projection Is Always the Sincerest Form of Trumpism." Chris Truax of the Bulwark: "... in the before times back in 2020, Nancy Pelosi made brief headlines for tearing up a copy of Trump's speech at the State of the Union address.... [MAGA world freaked out.] Matt Gaetz even filed a formal complaint with the House Ethics committee and asked that Pelosi be referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution.... To cap it all off, Donald Trump himself condemned Pelosi for her 'illegal' actions. 'Well, I thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech. First of all, it's an official document. You're not allowed -- it's illegal what she did.' Of course..., the copy of his speech that Trump handed to Pelosi was not an 'official record.' As a legal matter, it was simply a piece of paper and her personal property. And now, almost exactly two years to the day later, President Trump has been referred to the Department of Justice for -- and I have tears in my eyes as I write this -- ripping up official documents.... When most countries face a wave of populist authoritarianism, it's being led by an Orban or a Mussolini. Ours is being led by Elmer Fudd, a leader so incompetent and so ... actively stupid that it almost beggars description."
Get Out! The Canadian trucker "protest" situation is so dire, the New York Times is running a liveblog: "Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, declared a state of emergency for the entire province on Friday, as the police in Ottawa braced for thousands of protesters to descend for the third consecutive weekend of a crisis that has disrupted international supply chains. 'With a protest, you make your point and you go back home. I know that's what the vast majority did,' Mr. Ford said at a news conference. 'My message to those still in Ottawa, those still in our border crossing, to those who brought their children: Please take them home. And it's time to do so peacefully.' Otherwise, 'there will be consequences, and they will be severe,' he said, adding, 'Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the right of thousands of workers to make a living.'"
CBS News/AFP: "Two international journalists who were on an assignment for the United Nations refugee agency have been detained in the Afghan capital, the UNHCR said on Friday.... One of the journalists is Andrew North, a British former BBC correspondent who has covered Afghanistan for about two decades and has traveled regularly to the war-ravaged country to report on its deteriorating humanitarian crisis.... Khalil Hamraz, a spokesman for the Taliban's intelligence agency, told CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar that the group didn't know who had detained the journalists."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Get Out! Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday warned Americans to leave Ukraine, saying that U.S. troops would not be dispatched to retrieve them should Russia invade. 'American citizens should leave, should leave now,' Mr. Biden said in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt that aired on Thursday evening, adding that there was no scenario that could prompt him to send troops to rescue Americans. 'We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.... That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,' Mr. Biden added. 'We're in a very different world than we've ever been in.' Mr. Biden's comments followed a string of increasingly urgent warnings for U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine as thousands of Russian troops have amassed on its borders." The NBC News story is here.
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Biden will start to clear a legal path for certain relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to pursue $3.5 billion from assets that Afghanistan's central bank had deposited in New York before the Taliban takeover, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. At the same time, Mr. Biden will issue an executive order invoking emergency powers to consolidate and freeze all $7 billion of the total assets the Afghan central bank kept in New York and ask a judge for permission to move the other $3.5 billion to a trust fund to pay for immediate humanitarian relief efforts in Afghanistan, the officials said. The highly unusual set of moves, expected to be announced on Friday, is meant to address a tangled knot of legal, political, foreign policy and humanitarian problems stemming from the attacks and the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan." The AP's report is here.
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Central Intelligence Agency has for years been collecting in bulk, without a warrant, some kind of data that can affect Americans' privacy, according to a newly declassified letter by two senators[, Ron Wyden (D-0re.) & Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)]. The C.I.A. kept censored the nature of the data when it declassified the letter. At the same time, it declared that a report about the same topic, which had prompted the letter, must remain fully classified, except for some heavily redacted recommendations. That report, called 'Deep Dive II,' was part of a set of studies by a watchdog board scrutinizing intelligence community operations under Executive Order 12333, rules for intelligence activities that Congress has left unregulated by statute. The watchdog, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and its staff members have access to classified information." An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ There are links to the Wyden-Heinrich letter & the partial PCLOB report here, via Ron Wyden.
Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "Democratic senators urged President Biden on Thursday to announce his Supreme Court nomination as soon as possible, and Biden signaled he was moving quickly, as he and his party prepare for a potentially bitter confirmation battle that Democrats hope galvanizes their supporters.... Biden, who has pledged to make his selection by the end of the month, indicated to the senators he would begin interviewing the prospective candidates next week, after he spends this weekend continuing to review their record.... The FBI has started interviewing people who know [potential nominees Ketanji Brown] Jackson, [Leondra] Kruger and [Michelle] Childs as part of the formal vetting process, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Myah Ward of Politico: "President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he had thoroughly reviewed about four 'well qualified and documented' candidates to fill Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the bench. Biden ... told NBC's Lester Holt that he'd done the 'deep dive' on those contenders, making sure there was nothing in their background checks that might disqualify them.... The president has said he will seek advice from members of both parties as he makes his selection. He has already talked with a number of Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Biden said on Thursday that he expected his selection to get votes from the opposing party during the confirmation process."
Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Some of the White House documents that Donald Trump improperly took to his Mar-a-Lago residence were clearly marked as classified, including documents at the 'top secret' level, according to two people familiar with the matter. The existence of clearly marked classified documents in the trove -- which has not previously been reported -- is likely to intensify the legal pressure that Trump or his staffers could face, and raises new questions about why the materials were taken out of the White House. While it was unclear how many classified documents were among those received by the National Archives and Records Administration, some bore markings that the information was extremely sensitive and would be limited to a small group of officials with authority to view such highly classified information, the two people familiar with the matter said. The markings were discovered by the National Archives.... Archives officials asked the Justice Department to look into the matter, though as of Thursday afternoon FBI agents had yet to review the materials, according to two people familiar with the request." ~~~
~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "When ... Donald Trump is accused of wrongdoing, his almost-reflexive response is to vociferously deny it and try to accuse his accusers instead.... Which is what makes Trump's reaction to reporting that he violated the Presidential Records Act by destroying official documents and taking others with him to Florida so interesting.... Here's part of what he said:
"'Following collaborative and respectful discussions, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) openly and willingly arranged with President Trump for the transport of boxes that contained letters, records, newspapers, magazines, and various articles. Some of this information will someday be displayed in the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library for the public to view my Administration's incredible accomplishments for the American People.' It suggests that legal experts have gotten in Trump's ear and said this is something he needs to take seriously, rather than launch his usual political bombs." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has discovered gaps in official White House telephone logs from the day of the riot, finding few records of calls by ... Donald J. Trump from critical hours when investigators know that he was making them. Investigators have not uncovered evidence that any official records were tampered with or deleted, and it is well known that Mr. Trump used his personal cellphone, and those of his aides, routinely to talk with aides, congressional allies and outside confidants. But the sparse call records are the latest major obstacle to the panel's central mission: recreating what Mr. Trump was doing behind closed doors during crucial moments of the assault on Congress by a mob of his supporters." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "White House call records now in possession of congressional investigators do not reflect calls made to or from ... Donald Trump as the violence unfolded on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, leaving them with gaps so far in their understanding of what transpired that day, three sources familiar with the House investigation into the insurrection tell CNN. The records the House select committee has obtained do not contain entries of phone calls between the President and lawmakers that have been widely reported in the press." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
BTW, in yesterday Comments, contributor Patrick revealed why Donald Trump once was so upset about toilets not flushing properly. "People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once," Trump complained back in December 2019. Looks like "people are" should be "I am." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve M. "Much of the response to [yesterday's toilet-flushing] story is anger at [reporter Maggie] Haberman because she saved this information for her book rather than reporting it in real time[.]... So, yes, Haberman should have told us about the document-flushing when she knew about it, because it should have mattered. But it's unlikely that it would have mattered. We had very good reasons to believe that Trump was willfully destroying records in violation of the law -- but Trump wasn't held accountable, and if anyone had tried to hold him accountable, Republican outrage and wagon-circling would have made accountability impossible, as it has been throughout Trump's time in politics. So, yes, elite journalism is failing us -- but so is a system in which lawless Republicans have a veto over any attempt to make their own face consequences." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones explores whether or not Trump could be successfully prosecuted for records destruction & whether or not that would disqualify him from running for president*. Corn concludes disqualification "would be an uphill constitutional climb." MB: I do think it would be difficult for any candidate, even Trump, to run for president* from a cell at Club Fed. "Does this orange jumpsuit make my ass look fat?" "No, Don, your ass is fat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Where's the Outrage? Lisa Lerer & Katie Rogers: "Several Republicans who once railed against [Hillary] Clinton's document retention practices did not respond Thursday to questions about [Donald] Trump's actions. Others who had been directly involved with investigating Mrs. Clinton declined to discuss the specifics except to suggest, without evidence, that the National Archives and Records Administration was treating Mr. Trump more harshly." ~~~
Take a sip from your new mug as you read the news... https://t.co/7vfORxQviQ pic.twitter.com/HblDXCpsW8
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 7, 2022
GOP Candidtaes Covet Miss Margie. John Wright of the Raw Story: "... Georgia GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's endorsement is in high demand in party primaries across the country. Referring to Greene as a 'COVID vaccine-hating, conspiracy theory-spewing freshman congresswoman who came to national prominence as a far-right QAnon promoter,' the Daily Beast reported Thursday that her endorsement is coveted in large part due to her 'direct line to former President Trump and her vast network of small grassroots donors.'... Greenes's ascent 'underscores just how far the Republican Party's mainstream is going to tolerate, if not wholeheartedly embrace, its far-right luminaries and policies -- even if they're to the hard-right of Trump himself,' the Daily Beast reported." The Beast story is firewalled.
Federal Judge Rebukes Trump, Republicans, RNC, & Their Dupes. The lie that the election was stolen and illegitimate is still being perpetrated. Indeed, it is being amplified, not only on social media but on mainstream news outlets, and worse, it's become heresy for a member of the former president's party to say otherwise. So, it needs to be crystal clear that it is not patriotism. It is not standing up for America. It is not 'legitimate political discourse,' and it is not justified to descend on the nation's Capitol at the direction of a disappointed candidate and disrupt the national process. -- Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson to insurrectionist Mark Leffingwell in sentencing him to six months in prison
** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: After passage of the 14th & 15th Amendments to the Constitution, "in the 1870s, Congress passed laws to punish acts of violence meant to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights, to outlaw discrimination in public accommodations and to prohibit exclusion from jury service. In the 1880s, the Supreme Court either invalidated those laws or rendered them a dead letter.... It is Congress, and not the Supreme Court, that has, over time, done more to defend the civil and voting rights of all Americans.... For most of its history, the Supreme Court -- the 16 years of the Warren court notwithstanding -- has been a friend to hierarchy and reaction. Thus, for Americans who want a more equal society, the Supreme Court has been, is and will continue to be an adversary, not an ally. Understanding that fact is the first step toward doing something about it."
Poor, Pitiful Me. Tom Hays of the AP: Sarah ";Palin used her second day on the witness stand to accuse the [New York] Times of deliberately fabricating lies that hurt her reputation -- the basis of a lawsuit accusing the newspaper of libel that has resulted in a trial in federal court in Manhattan. 'It was devastating to read a false accusation that I had anything to do with murder,' Palin said. 'I felt powerless -- that I was up against Goliath. The people were David. I was David.'" MB: I wonder if Barack Obama was devastated when Palin falsely accused him of "palling around with terrorists." ~~~
~~~ Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "In the Manhattan courtroom of Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Thursday, Palin and her bombast bombed." Wemple cites several times Palin's fact-free, self-absorbed schtick would not fly in a courtroom where a witness has to provide evidence to back up Fox "Newsy"-style assertions.
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "The New York Times is free to publish documents pertaining to the conservative group Project Veritas after a New York State appeals court temporarily stayed an order by a state trial judge that had been denounced by First Amendment advocates and journalism groups. In a decision made public on Thursday, the appeals court said the order would not be enforced until a formal appeal could be heard. The decision means that, for now, The Times can publish certain documents and will not have to turn over or destroy any copies of the documents in its possession." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "New York City on Friday is expected to fire as many as 3,000 municipal workers who have refused to get coronavirus vaccines. They make up a small fraction of the city's employees -- less than 1 percent. But they would probably represent the most drastic example of a work force reduction tied to a coronavirus vaccine mandate. Mayor Eric Adams has said that he would prefer not to fire the unvaccinated, but by remaining so, they were 'quitting.' They are not going quietly. Hundreds marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday, chanting that the city should end the mandate and carrying signs that said 'Unvaccinated Lives Matter' and 'Fire Fauci.' Mr. Adams has reaffirmed the city's ultimatum: They will be the ones fired unless they get at least one shot."
Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Thursday that easing indoor masking requirements was 'probably premature,' as an increasing number of states announce plans to roll back such restrictions amid a sharp decline in covid-linked hospitalizations. But Biden refrained from criticizing the governors of those states, saying it was tough to judge if they were moving too quickly. 'It's hard to say whether they are wrong,' he told Lester Holt on NBC 'Nightly News.['] 'They set a time limit and I assume it has something to do with whether the omicron variant continues to dive,' Biden added."
Meredith Wadman in Science: "... the first large study to assess cardiovascular outcomes 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection has demonstrated that the virus' impact [on the heart] is often lasting. In an analysis of more than 11 million U.S. veterans' health records, researchers found the risk of 20 different heart and vessel maladies was substantially increased in veterans who had COVID-19 1 year earlier, compared with those who didn't. The risk rose with severity of initial disease and extended to every outcome the team examined, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, strokes, cardiac arrest, and more. Even people who never went to the hospital had more cardiovascular disease than those who were never infected. The results are 'stunning ... worse than I expected, for sure,' says Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Research." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Rob Gillies & Tom Krisher of the AP: "The Biden administration urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government Thursday to use its federal powers to end the truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country's COVID-19 restrictions, as the bumper-to-bumper demonstration forced auto plants on both sides of the border to shut down or scale back production.... The White House said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with their Canadian counterparts and urged them to help resolve the standoff. Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Royal Canadian Mounted Police reinforcements are being sent to Windsor, Ottawa and Coutts, Alberta where another border blockade is happening." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I don't know if this has any bearing, but the Guardian report, linked below, notes that "In Canada, politicians cannot direct police operations...." One would think that ending a blockade of international trade routes would be a national issue & not strictly relegated to local police enforcement. ~~~
~~~ Canada. Amy Cheng, et al., of the Washington Post: "Police in Ottawa are warning that any protesters blocking streets for the self-described 'Freedom Convoy' may be 'arrested without a warrant,' as raucous protests against vaccine mandates and coronavirus restrictions blocked a third border crossing with the United States early Thursday. The protests, which have led to at least 23 arrests and 80 criminal investigations in the capital, are sparking debate among officials over how best to de-escalate the situation there and at U.S.-Canada border crossings, where blockades have disrupted the flow of goods and people. Some are warning that mass arrests could prove counterproductive or even lead to violence.... Police in Manitoba province said the typically bustling Emerson crossing into North Dakota was 'shut down' after a convoy of vehicles and farm equipment blocked traffic heading both north and south.... So far, two major ports of entry -- the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, and the Coutts crossing linking Montana to Alberta -- have been closed or partially blocked.... ~~~
"Some protesters believe that 'they are fighting for a cause that is worth dying for,' [Windsor Mayor Drew] Dilkens said. 'That type of sentiment translates into different behaviors than any normal protests.'... About 25 percent of attendees inside some 400 trucks stationed at the scene are believed to be children, police say, which could complicate the ways in which officers respond to those protesting." MB: In addition, I heard on CNN that some protesters are wielding tire irons & other weapons. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Judy Trinh of CBC News: "Despite a strategic strike by police to cut off supplies to truckers encamped in [Ottawa]'s downtown core, protesters appear to still have the upper hand on police. It's a success that experts partly attribute to the deep knowledge of law enforcement and military tactics that exist in the convoy's organizational structure. The group Police on Guard, formed during the pandemic, has endorsed the truck convoy.... The organization says it has 'boots on the ground' in Ottawa and has linked to YouTube videos of its members participating in the protest.... Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, says the convoy's policing and military expertise can be seen in the co-ordination of their activities in downtown Ottawa.... 'It looks like a military operation.'" ~~~
~~~ Justin Ling of the Guardian: "Daily 'intelligence reports' compiled by protest leaders and seen by the Guardian -- as well as public comments by the organisers -- have grown increasingly alarmist in recent days. While the reports include misinformation, and should not be taken as credible intelligence, they nevertheless offer an insight on the occupiers' conspiratorial mindset.... The reports are prepared by Tom Quiggin, a private security consultant who has previously been accused of spreading misinformation, particularly by overplaying the threat of terrorism posed by Canada's Muslim community." MB: The CBC report linked above IDs Quiggin as "a former military intelligence officer who also worked with the RCMP and was considered one of the country's top counter-terrorism experts." He sounds rather Michael-Flynnish.
France/Russia. From a Distance. Jules Darmanin of Politico: French President Emmanuel Macron "refused to take a Russian COVID-19 PCR test in Moscow on Monday and so was forced to sit at an oversized table during Ukraine talks with [Vladimir] Putin, an Elysée official told reporters Thursday. The Kremlin had offered Macron two options: Either he could be tested by a Russian doctor, or he would have to make socially distanced arguments across a 4-meter-long table.... Reuters reported that Macron refused to get tested over fears that his DNA could be stolen in the process." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Isn't that a little stupid? Unless Macron had an official surface-cleaner following him around in Russia, he left his DNA in quite a few places there.
Beyond the Beltway
Virginia. Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "A top deputy overseeing election issues for Virginia's new Republican attorney general resigned Thursday after The Washington Post questioned the office about Facebook posts she had made praising Jan. 6, 2021, rioters and falsely claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Former deputy attorney general Monique Miles also espoused unfounded conspiracy theories about voter fraud and election interference in more than a dozen Facebook comments that spanned months.... Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jason Miyares, said the office had been unaware of the Facebook posts before The Washington Post, which obtained screenshots of the posts, shared them on Thursday morning." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Aw, Monique seems highly qualified to "oversee election issues." Nice vetting job there, Jason. I hear Sidney Powell is looking for a job, Jason. She has plenty of experience "overseeing election issues," too.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Bob Saget, the comedian and actor, died after what appeared to be a significant blow to the head, one that fractured his skull in several places and caused bleeding across both sides of his brain, according to an autopsy report released on Friday. The findings complicated the picture of Mr. Saget's death that has emerged in recent days: Far from a head bump that might have been shrugged off, the autopsy described an unmistakably serious set of injuries that would at the very least have probably left someone confused, brain experts said." ~~~
~~~ CNN: "Actor and comedian Bob Saget had Covid-19 but died as a result of 'blunt head trauma,' according to the autopsy report released today by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office. 'It is in my opinion that the death of Robert Saget, a 65-year-old white male found unresponsive in a hotel room, is the result of blunt head trauma. It is the most probable that the decedent suffered an unwitnessed fall backwards and struck the posterior aspect of his head. The manner of death is accident,' the statement from Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua D. Stephany said in his report."
CNN's live Olympics coverage is here. The AP's live updates are here.
New York Times: "The 15-year-old star of Russia's figure skating team who powered it to a win in the team figure skating competition tested positive for a banned substance weeks before the Beijing Olympics, throwing into question her team's gold medal and her continued participation in the Games. The skater, Kamila Valieva, already considered one of the top athletes in the sport, was found to have trimetazidine, a banned heart medication, in her system, according to a statement Friday from the International Testing Agency. The drug, which is not approved for use in the United States, is believed to improve endurance by helping the heart work more efficiently."
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Reader Comments (9)
I see the Pretender is still calling himself President.
Guess someone has to.
I understand that former senators and governors are out of respect sometimes addressed with their former titles, but I've never heard one of them refer to him- or herself that way.
And I have certainly never heard either Obama, Bush or Clinton refer to himself that way--and each of them won twice.
@Ken Winkes: I thought Trump was still president*. He won in 2020 by another landslide, didn't he? It's February. He's staying at the Winter White House. Naturally.
BTW, I just found some of my own presidential papers today. My cousin sent me a copy of a letter from Abe Lincoln to a man who was married to my great-great grandmother. I checked online & found in the Library of Congress the letter my ancestor's husband had written to Lincoln that precipitated the letter from Lincoln to him. Nothing embarrassing or cringe-worthy, to my surprise.
@Marie
And therein lies the gaping hole in the Pretender's charade.
As I said the other day, if he really believes he is still president, he has every right to those purloined papers or at least to assert that right.
Not claiming such a right suggests he knows he's just running another con.
Sounds like that pretend library he has in mind will be a can't miss attraction what with all those "various articles" displayed (once they're taped back together or un-crumpled and dried out).
BTW, I think you fortunate to have that Lincoln letter copy. Know that when I looked at it, it would inevitably prompt thoughts of contrast between men then and now, between quills and Sharpies, and to the beginnings of Lincoln's now unrecognizably racist party.
It may be true that "elite journalism is failing us" or we are just not paying attention. In the November 23, 2020 New Yorker, Jill Lepore reported on "The Trump Papers" and gave an extensive history of presidential papers. She begins by telling us that members of Trump's staff have routinely used apps that automatically erase text messages, and Trump often deletes his own tweets, tears up papers not
withstanding a warning from the National Archives and Records Administration that doing so contravenes the Presidential Records Act.
On Feb. 22nd Don McGahn 2017 sent a memo on the subject of Presidential Records Act. Obligations to everyone working in the Executive Office–--detailed instructions about how to save and synch e-mail. So everyone was schooled, including Trump. But we know McGahn's memo was ignored–-not only by some staffers but Ivanka, Jared, and of course Mr. Big.
Lepore ends her piece by accurately imagining what Trump would do when out of office––although she didn't reckon a coup.
"Will you shut up! man" an exasperated Biden said to Trump during their presidential debate. Donald J.Trump cannot shut up. Aside from the prospect of silencing former W.H. staffers, shredding papers, deleting files and burying evidence, another danger, when the sun sets on the twentieth of Jan, won't be what's left unsaid, unrecorded and unsaved but what Trump will be willing to say, still."
Oh my! Just read Amy Berman Jackson's rebuke: How one wishes that other Amy sitting supremely would take up the same cudgel–– ah, if wishes were horses.
WAYS TO WIN ELECTIONS–-GOP STYLE:
Arizona candidate for Senator, Jim Lamon, thought it would be real cool to dress up as a gun-slinging sheriff and make a video in which he shoots actors portraying Biden, Pelosi and Mark Kelly.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jim-lamon-gun-ad_n_6206272ae4b0ccfb3e536c63
The occasional president*
The other day I listened to an interview with a rabid dog Trump sycophant explain that Trump is still the real president. The reporter came back with “So then, Trump is responsible for the supply chain problems, for rising prices, for the removal of troops from Afghanistan.”
“No! No!” shouted the Forever Trumper. “Those problems are all caused by Biden. It’s a genius move by president Trump to let Biden hang himself so everyone can see that he stole the election.”
It’s like trying to convince a paranoid schizophrenic that no one is after him. “That’s just what they want me to think!”
It’s really a mental illness. Millions of mentally ill Trumpers, led by an unstable, incompetent crook.
Welcome to Red America.
Here’s something you don’t run across everyday, a double oxymoron:
Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.
Trump and “presidential”? Nope.
Trump and “library”? Double nope.
The Ottawa trucker situation would vanish like 45's documents if the MSM would stop covering it.