;)
Tuesday
Jul182023
July 18, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden met with President Isaac Herzog of Israel on Tuesday at the White House, a diplomatic overture to one of America's key allies amid tensions between the Biden administration and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister.... [Mr. Biden] gave Mr. Herzog a fist bump and called the relationship between the United States and Israel 'simply unbreakable.' Mr. Herzog said he brought 'greetings and gratitude' from 'all sides of the political spectrum' in Israel." ~~~
~~~ Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "Despite temperatures climbing higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts of [Israel], tens of thousands of Israelis held dozens of rallies across central Israel on Tuesday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to finalize a law next week that would limit the power of the Supreme Court. In what has become a regular weekly episode of disruption, demonstrators marched through several cities in a renewed effort to stop the government proceeding with a binding vote on the law in Parliament, which is likely to come on Monday. This is the 28th consecutive week of protest against the judicial plan.... They thronged the platforms of major train stations, waving Israeli flags, creating a sea of blue and white next to railways across central Israel. They blocked highways, tunnels and an access road to the headquarters of the Israeli military. They rallied outside the homes of government ministers, banged on the glass doors of the Tel Aviv stock exchange and chanted outside a branch of the United States Embassy."
Jane Timm of NBC News: "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that she has filed charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming that ... Donald Trump had won the 2020 election as part of a scheme to overturn the results.... The 16 people being charged in Michigan allegedly met [in December 2020] in the basement of the state's Republican Party headquarters and signed multiple certificates claiming they were 'the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,' Nessel said in recorded remarks. 'That was a lie. They weren't the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it,' she continued.... The documents were later sent to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives 'with the intent that Vice President Pence would overturn the results of the election, using the false electoral slate,' Nessel said. Nessel said the 'false electors' are being charged with eight felony counts each, including forgery." The New York Times story is here.
Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "US District Judge Aileen Cannon signaled she is likely to push back the start of a trial in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case beyond the mid-December date proposed by federal prosecutors -- but appeared deeply skeptical of arguments from Donald Trump's lawyers that he couldn't get a fair trial while running for president.... During [a] hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, Cannon said a proposal from federal prosecutors that the trial of Trump and his aide be held in mid-December was 'a bit rushed.' Cannon did not decide on a trial date but said she plans to 'promptly' issue an order on the matter. The judge also pressed the Trump legal team to commit to a timeline for at least some of the steps in the pre-trial process.... Trump himself did not attend to the hearing on Tuesday. [Walt] Nauta, a bodyman and aide to the former president, did appear for the hearing with his two attorneys." Includes some helpful background info. The New York Times story is here.
** Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that he recently received a so-called target letter from the special counsel Jack Smith in connection with the criminal investigation into his efforts to hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election, a sign that he is likely to be indicted in the case.... It is not clear what specific aspect of Mr. Smith's investigation into the efforts to obstruct the transfer of power that Mr. Trump may be indicted in." This is a breaking news story.
~~~ Update: The breaking story has been moved to a liveblog. Charlie Savage speculates on some of the possible charges. ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer notes that in the classified documents case, it took "about three weeks before an indictment ... was returned." ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "When [Trump] was indicted in the documents investigation, his advisers were blunt that in their view, he needs to win the election as a defense against possible jail time. That only increases with an indictment related to Jan. 6 at the federal level." ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "There have been at least two grand juries investigating Trump's efforts to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election. One is related to Trump's fundraising off his false claims of widespread fraud and his claim he needed money to fight it. The other relates to the so-called 'fake' electors that his allies sought to have votes tallied for Trump in the electoral college count."
~~~ The AP story is here. The NBC News story is here.
~~~ At 9:50 am ET, none of the other major outlets is reporting the story. CNN has a top-page headline, but the link to the story is broken. Update: The CNN link has been fixed:
~~~ Katelyn Polantz & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "'Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden's DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,' Trump posted on Truth Social." MB: Hilariously, Trump seems upset that Smith sent target letters on Sundays, Trump's day of prayer. (Probably amuses the two Corinthians, too.) ~~~
~~~ CNN's liveblog of developments contains quite a number of interesting points: "... Donald Trump reached out to some of his top allies on Capitol Hill to discuss how they're going to go on offense against the special counsel's investigation, according to sources familiar with the conversation." ~~~
~~~ CNN: "Will Russell, a close adviser to ... Donald Trump is expected to appear before a grand jury in Washington, DC, on Thursday in the special counsel's investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Russell, who has testified to the grand jury at least twice before, served as a special assistant to the president as well as deputy director of advance and trip director in the Trump White House. He has continued to work for Trump after he left office. His appearance indicates there will be additional activity in the grand jury, which is meeting today at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC." ~~~
~~~ CNN: "In the Department of Justice's criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, a key issue for prosecutors will be looking into ... Donald Trump's intent and his direct role, a CNN senior legal analysts said." ~~~
~~~ CNN: "The [target] letter caught Trump's team off guard, who had not been anticipating Smith to potentially bring charges this month, or against Trump. The letter indicates he could do so soon."
~~~ Sources have confirmed to both the NYT & CNN that Trump received a target letter.
~~~ The Washington Post story, by Perry Stein, is here. The story has been updated. ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler provides a redacted version of Trump's Liars Social post announcing receipt of a target letter (well, okay, a TARGET letter) to spare you "the whining and lies." Thanks to unwashed for the link.
Gawon Bae, et al., of CNN: "An American believed to have been detained in North Korea after crossing the inter-Korean border during a tour is a US Army soldier, a US official told CNN on Tuesday. He was detained during a Joint Security Area tour after crossing the demarcation line separating North and South Korea, according to the United Nations Command, which oversees the border area. A US defense official said the service member is a junior enlisted soldier assigned to US Forces Korea and was not in uniform when he crossed into North Korea. The official also added that he was on a tour as a civilian."
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: I will be shutting down Reality Chex at the end of this month. If anyone would like to take it over, let me know. I think I'm paid up till some time in September, and the annual fees for host & domain are not prohibitive.
Many thanks to all of you for your kind comments in yesterday's thread. If I had nothing else to do, I'd keep going. But I have been building a house for years, and much of the reason for the never-ending build is that, because I have to constantly monitor the news, I have not had time to properly babysit New Hampshire's lazy, irresponsible, crooked, stupid builders who have supposedly overseen the work. In short, I cannot do both. I am angry that a project that should have gone relatively smoothly has taken me away from my "volunteer" work here. But basically, I have to stand over these yahoos with a whip yelling, "Follow the blueprints!" When I don't, I stop by the site to discover things like: oops, built the first floor two-and-a-half feet too short; used the wrong material on all the exterior walls; forgot to build a fairly elaborate front stoop; forgot to put in a bay window, followed by built an illegal bay window; mismeasured the garage door opening by six inches; cannot get the trim done; disappeared altogether; didn't finish the roofing; didn't finish the siding; argued again and again that they would not tear down their gross, obvious mistakes and made up "justifications" that make the dog-ate-my-homework excuse sound smart. I even had to call the police once to force the framers off the property so they would not proceed with a major mistake. And these are just some of the problems that occur every single day because I'm not there cracking my whip. As for any sort of "real" private life, I have had no time for any of it.
I do want to thank all the readers, and especially the comments contributors, who have injected sanity not only into public discourse but also into my life these past years, particularly during the pandemic. It would have been lonely without you. I know you didn't think you were engaging in a therapy project, but you were.
~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick Kingsley & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden has invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to a meeting in the United States for the first time since Mr. Netanyahu re-entered office in December, easing months of tensions between the two leaders. Mr. Netanyahu's office said that Mr. Biden made the invitation in a 'warm and long' phone call on Monday evening, on the eve of a visit to Washington by Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, that had until Monday night been widely seen as a slight to Mr. Netanyahu." This is an update of a story linked earlier. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Haley Britzky of CNN: "US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered F-35 and F-16 fighter jets deployed to the Middle East, as well as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, in response to Iranian activities in the Strait of Hormuz.... The deployments come after two incidents earlier this month in which Iranian Navy ships attempted to seize merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman."
The Temp Is Too Damn High. Vivian Wang & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The heat wave choking China is so intense that it even became a repeated talking point for John Kerry, President Biden's special envoy for climate change, as he met with China's premier on Tuesday in Beijing to discuss cooperation on slowing global warming. 'You and I know things are changing,' Mr. Kerry told the premier, Li Qiang, while sitting in the Great Hall of the People, on the edge of Tiananmen Square."
Karoon Demirjian of the New York Times: "An increasingly deep divide among Democrats in Congress about how strongly -- or even whether -- to support Israel has reared its head on the eve of a visit by the nation's president to Washington, as progressives openly condemn the Jewish state and others toil to reconcile their backing for the country with disdain for its current government. The rift burst into public view over the weekend when Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said at a conference of the liberal Netroots Nation that Israel 'is a racist state,' leading to a swift condemnation from House Democratic leaders that prompted her to walk back the comment. Now Republicans, working to exploit the discord roiling Democrats, plan to keep the infighting in the spotlight by holding a vote on Tuesday proclaiming that Israel is not a racist or apartheid state and condemning antisemitism.... Other progressives in Congress came to [Jayapal's] defense. Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan and the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, defended Ms. Jayapal's comments on Monday in a Twitter post in which she said, 'The Israeli government is committing the crime of apartheid,' adding: 'Apartheid is a racist system of oppression.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: A rational person would have to agree that Israel has been dedicated to maintaining an apartheid state. The entire project that is today's Israel was fraught from the get-go with perhaps irreconcilable problems. From the start, these problems was handled badly by all parties involved. This is likely true of all projects that are imposed by force. I don't know precisely what a viable solution would be, but it certainly is not the ones extremists on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian standoff propose. Peace and prosperity are always possible, even in a 3,000-year-old war. But people are stupid, selfish and stubborn, and unless wiser minds can prevail, it is not possible in the near future. I do know this: no one should die over who owns the dirt under his feet. (What a shame Jared Kushner couldn't resolve the situation in the several hours he devoted to it.) In the meantime, we are granted yet another reminder that the Enlightenment's concept of the "rational man" was a hopeful but misguided view.
Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Several members of the Kennedy family have condemned a bigoted conspiracy theory from the Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suggested that the coronavirus was 'ethnically targeted' to spare Jews and Chinese people.... His sister Kerry Kennedy called his remarks 'deplorable and untruthful.'... His brother Joseph Kennedy II issued a similar statement.... And former Representative Joseph Kennedy III wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon: 'My uncle's comments were hurtful and wrong. I unequivocally condemn what he said.'" ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Jordain Carney of Politico: "House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan said Monday that he is moving forward with his plan to have Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testify at a subcommittee hearing on Thursday.... There are growing calls from Democrats, both on and off Capitol Hill, urging Jordan to disinvite Kennedy Jr." ~~~
~~~ Scott Wong & Rebecca Kaplan of NBC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday he disagrees with 'everything' Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly said last week about Covid-19's being bioengineered 'to attack Caucasians and Black people' and about Jewish people's being 'most immune.' But McCarthy, R-Calif., rejected calls by Democrats to cancel Kennedy's public appearance Thursday before a Republican-controlled House committee. Kennedy ... has pushed conspiracy theories, some of them about the safety of vaccines."
Jordan Threatens Wray with Contempt. Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) threatened Monday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress for what he claims is the agency's 'wholly inadequate' compliance with two subpoenas issued earlier this year. 'We write to notify you that if the FBI does not improve its compliance substantially, the Committee will take action -- such as the initiation of content of Congress proceedings -- to obtain compliance with these subpoenas,' Jordan said in a letter to Wray, giving the FBI a deadline of July 25 at 12 p.m. to hand over the documents before the committee will 'take action.'"
Jordan Threatens Zuck with Contempt. Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is considering holding Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Hill Monday.... Zuckerberg was among five tech company heads who received subpoenas in February from the House Judiciary panel to turn over 'documents and communications relating to the federal government's reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech,' along with any documents related to their content moderation measures, the committee said at the time."
What if the Shit Show Sucks? Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Stephen K. Bannon ... infamously declared in 2018 that the secret to political warfare was 'to flood the zone with s--t.' For many observers, this quote continues to capture the perils of our 'post-truth' moment: Our democratic culture remains deeply vulnerable to being swamped by disinformation.... We're now seeing what happens when the zone gets so flooded with excrement that it threatens to drown the MAGA movement itself. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) chaired a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week that purported to expose the FBI's 'weaponization' against conservatives. But GOP lawmakers floated so many allegations and conspiracy theories that the spectacle devolved into a haphazard, scattered mess with no storylines developed in meaningful depth.... Blame it on the 'MAGA persecution complex' -- the vast array of outlets in the right-wing media ecosystem that incentivizes GOP lawmakers to pander to conservative victimization and grievance. It's feasting on so many claims of persecution that it's essentially eating itself to death." (Also linked yesterday.)
Peter Stein & Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's trial for allegedly mishandling classified documents is scheduled to meet with prosecutors and the former president's attorneys for the first time Tuesday afternoon in a Fort Pierce, Fla., courtroom. The public hearing is expected to focus on administrative procedures required in a case that relies on classified government materials as evidence. It could also provide insight into whether U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon will push to resolve the trial before or after the 2024 presidential election.... On Monday, federal prosecutors asked in court filings for Cannon to issue an order that would require Trump, [co-defendant Walt] Nauta and their attorneys to sign an agreement that would prohibit them from divulging the classified material in any manner before they were able to examine the evidence as part of the pretrial discovery process. This proposed order is a typical pretrial move under CIPA [the Classified Information Procedures Act]...." The New York Times story, by Charlie Savage, is here. An AP story is here.
Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "In a ruling on Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected a long-shot attempt by ... Donald J. Trump's legal team to scuttle an investigation into election interference weeks before indictment decisions are expected.The pronouncement from the court was both unanimous and swift, coming just three days after Mr. Trump's lawyers submitted their filing. They had sought a court order that would throw out the work of a special grand jury in Atlanta and disqualify Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, from the proceedings.... Most of the court's nine justices were originally appointed by Republican governors.... They ... said that Mr. Trump's lawyers had not presented 'either the facts or the law necessary to mandate Willis's disqualification.'" An NBC News story is here.
Based on what information is available, this has the look of a textbook billionaire tax scam. -- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Finance Committee chair ~~~
~~~ Paul Keil of ProPublica: "Tax data obtained by ProPublica provides a glimpse of what congressional investigators would find if [billionaire Harlan] Crow were to open his books to them. Crow's voyages with [Justice Clarence] Thomas, the data shows, contributed to a nice side benefit: They helped reduce Crow's tax bill.... Despite Crow's representations to the IRS, ProPublica reporters could find no evidence that his yacht company was actually a profit-seeking business, as the law requires.... [For years, Crow took deductions on a supposed 'yacht charter business.'] By using those deductions to offset income from other sources, the Crows saved on taxes.... [But the yacht business appears to have been a fake business.] According to the former staff and the schedules, use of the vessel appears to have been limited to Crow's family, friends and executives of Crow's company, along with their guests.... Since April, when the Senate Finance Committee first sent Crow a long list of questions about Thomas' trips on his jet and yacht, Crow has refused to provide extensive answers.... One focus of the investigations is whether Crow disclosed his generosity toward Thomas to the IRS, since large gifts are subject to the gift tax. Another is whether Crow treated his trips with Thomas as deductible business expenses." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Amanda Marcotte of Salon suggests a cure for crazy billionaires: "Our billionaires are not okay. The most obvious example, of course, is [Elon] Musk, who is having a midlife crisis so unhinged that it would be upsetting if he weren't such a terrible person.... Paul Krugman of the New York Times argues that their money and privilege are rotting their brains: '... rather than accepting that the world is a complicated place nobody can control, they're susceptible to the idea that there are secret cabals out to get them.'... Too much money is not good for you.... The good news is that we already know how to save the hyper-wealthy from themselves: Tax them until their nest eggs make them merely rich.... It's not just better for society if a handful of people are unable to hoard all the wealth. It's better for the rich, as well.... The worst that could happen is people like Musk have less money to invest in harebrained schemes like 'ChatGPT, but more racist.' With so much to gain and nothing to lose, it's time to tax billionaires until they are billionaires no longer."
Presidential Race 2024
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "At an event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., the ... ostensibly bipartisan interest group No Labels ... had something of a soft launch of its potential third-party bid for the presidency when Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Jon Huntsman Jr., the former Republican governor of Utah, formally released No Labels' policy manifesto for political compromise.... But the dream unity ticket seemed anything but unified when it came down to the nuts and bolts." Huntsman & Manchin disagreed on both climate change and modest gun control.
Beyond the Beltway
Alabama. We Shall Not Comply. Kim Chandler of the AP: "Alabama Republicans, under orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to redraw congressional districts to give minority voters a greater voice in elections, rejected calls Monday to craft a second majority-Black district and proposed a map that could test what is required by the judges' directive.... Republicans, who have been resistant to creating a certain Democratic district, proposed a map that would increase the percentage of Black voters in the 2nd congressional district from about 30% to nearly 42.5%, wagering that will satisfy the court's directive.... However, the National Redistricting Foundation, one of the groups that backed challenges to the Alabama map, called the proposal 'shameful' and said it would be challenged.... Deuel Ross, a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said they will challenge the proposal if it is enacted by the Alabama Legislature."
Florida. Brianna Sacks of the Washington Post: Residents of southwest Florida, not yet recovered from the punishments imposed by Hurricane Ian, are now suffering under oppressive heat. "... this year, the state has been enduring the hottest and most humid year in modern history.... Abnormally warm sea waters and temperatures could produce another powerful hurricane season, underscoring the sobering reality that more and more Americans will endure significant compounding disasters and climate-intensified threats every year.... Category 5 Ian destroyed 5,000 homes and damaged about 30,000 more in Lee County [Fort Myers, Cape Coral, etc.] alone, home to around 800,000 people. Seniors and people with lower incomes owned and rented many of them, and they've been further beaten down by much higher rents, a tight housing market, and difficulties getting federal aid and insurance payouts.... Disasters like Ian harshly expose and further tip the inequality scales." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm sure Gov. White Boots would like to help, but he's busy doing his vanity presidenty campaign thing when he's not signing bills to ruin the lives of women, transgender kids, non-white people and librarians or unceremoniously disposing of hapless immigrants and fighting with the state's largest employer (Disney). As his campaign slogan says, "Make America Florida." Right.
Iowa. Jack Forrest of CNN: "Abortions in Iowa will for now remain legal up to 22 weeks into a pregnancy after a judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state's newly signed law that would ban the procedure as early as six weeks.... The law will now be placed on hold until the court can issue a final decision, according to the ruling." (A developing version of this story was linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.
New York. A Move that Is Decades Past Time. Benjamin Weiser & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Manhattan's top federal prosecutor is calling for an outside authority to take control of New York City's troubled jails, a major shift that could help persuade a judge to strip Mayor Eric Adams of his power over Rikers Island. The federal prosecutor, Damian Williams, said in a statement on Monday that Rikers has been in a crisis for years -- 'a collective failure with deep roots, spanning multiple mayoral administrations' and correction commissioners. 'But after eight years of trying every tool in the tool kit,' Mr. Williams said, 'we cannot wait any longer for substantial progress to materialize. That is why my office will seek a court-appointed receiver to address the conditions on Rikers Island.'"
Pennsylvania. Luz Lazo of the Washington Post: "A train hauling a chemical used for dry cleaning clothes derailed early Monday, prompting evacuations in a Philadelphia suburb in the latest instance of a freight train to go off its rails. The CSX train derailed about 4:50 a.m. on Norfolk Southern tracks in Whitemarsh Township, Pa., about 14 miles from downtown Philadelphia. No injuries or chemical spill were reported. Crews from both railroads were at the scene while beginning cleanup efforts, railroad officials said.... CSX spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman said the cause of the derailment appears to be a sinkhole stemming from weather-related issues." MB: So if CSX is correct & is not just deflecting blame, train safety is yet another casualty of climate change.
South Carolina. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "... looming large over the [murder] trial [of Alex Murdaugh] was another tragic death: that of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman who was killed in a boat crash involving the dead son years earlier. The authorities said that the son, Paul Murdaugh, had been driving the boat when it crashed in 2019, and a lawsuit brought on behalf of Ms. Beach's family -- threatening to reveal the lies and thefts surrounding Alex Murdaugh's finances -- was part of the tightening circle of events that was closing in on Mr. Murdaugh in the weeks before the murders. This week, Ms. Beach's family agreed to settle that lawsuit with a co-defendant, the owners of a gas station convenience store that sold alcohol to an underage Paul Murdaugh -- who was using his older brother's ID -- on the night of the crash. The $15 million settlement, which must still be approved by a judge, comes on the eve of a civil trial ... that had been scheduled for next month."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "After Ukraine's pre-dawn attack on a crucial bridge connecting mainland Russia and Crimea, which killed two people, a Kremlin official wrote early Tuesday on Telegram that part of the transit way had been reopened and posted videos of cars passing over it.... Russia carried out a wave of overnight attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched six Kalibr cruise missiles and 36 Shahed drones, with some targeting the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions.... Russia and Ukraine have each achieved marginal advances in different areas over the past week, the British Defense Ministry said.... Russia has positioned more than 100,000 troops and more than 900 tanks near Kupyansk in Ukraine's northeast, Ukrainian media reported.... Ukraine is 'not afraid' to continue shipping grain from its ports, despite Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea initiative, President Volodymyr Zelensky said while speaking to African media." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Matthew Bigg & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Russia said on Monday that it was ending an agreement that had allowed Ukraine to export its grain by sea despite Moscow's naval blockade, upending a deal that had helped to keep global food prices stable and alleviate one element of the global fallout from the war. Ukraine is a major producer of grain and other foodstuffs, and the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, said he was 'deeply disappointed' by the decision. Millions of people who face hunger, or are struggling, as well as consumers around the world facing a cost of living crisis, will 'pay a price,' he said. 'Today's decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere,' he told journalists." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Trump's Plan to End the War, Ha Ha Ha. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: On Sunday, Friend of Trump & Fox "News" host Maria "Bartiromo asked Trump how he would end the war within 24 hours, [as he has repeatedly claimed he would,] and he deflected.... [But Bartiromo pressed, and Trump said,] 'I would tell Zelensky: No more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin: If you don't make a deal, we're going to give them a lot....'... What Trump ... seemed to be saying was that he was going to tell ... Putin [one thing] while telling Zelensky the opposite.... Trump [is] telling everyone that's he's going to bluff before the negotiations ever begin. Generally speaking, bluffs work best when the other side doesn't know that's what you are doing." MB: The guy's a genius. How come Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres think of that?
News Ledes
AP: "Phoenix's relentless streak of dangerously hot days was finally poised to smash a record for major U.S. cities on Tuesday, the 19th straight day the desert city was to see temperatures soar to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 C) or more. Nighttime has offered little relief from the brutal temperatures. Phoenix's low of 95 F (35 C) on Monday was its highest overnight low ever."
New York Times: "Less than two weeks after the Earth recorded what scientists said were likely its hottest days in modern history, punishing heat waves are gripping much of the Northern Hemisphere." This is a liveblog.
Washington Post: "Canada deployed its military to help overwhelmed local authorities and emergency workers fight intensifying wildfires, which have burned nearly 25 million acres in the country this year.... Since the weekend, steering currents in the atmosphere have carried another massive plume of smoke from Canada into the Lower 48. Code Orange air quality, signifying unhealthy levels for vulnerable people, were predicted to effect parts of 23 states through Tuesday. Cities including Pittsburgh; Chicago; Albany, N.Y.; Baltimore; and Nashville had reached this level through Monday afternoon, according to AirNow, a tracker maintained by a group of U.S. government agencies."
AP: "An Australian sailor who had been adrift at sea with his dog for three months has been rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in international waters, the fishing vessel's owner said Monday. Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, was aboard his incapacitated catamaran Aloha Toa in the Pacific about 1200 miles (1900 kilometers) from land when the crew of the boat from the Grupomar fleet spotted them, the company said in a statement. The company said Shaddock and his dog Bella were in a 'precarious' state when found, lacking provisions and shelter. The tuna boat's crew gave them medical attention, food and hydration, it said."
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Reader Comments (21)
Marie,
So, okay. Still in a bit of a shock here, but for at least the next week or so, I’m going to go “la-la-la-la-la…I hear nothing…” and pretend RC is just fine and isn’t going anywhere. Even though the heavy heart won’t go along with this excellent plan.
Speaking of plans…Jesus! Sounds like you’re using D. Trump Builders. They hire only the best, right?
If only we could do a variation of your idea of calling the cops to forestall idiocy maybe the House of Representatives might not be such a disaster. Then again, the Congress cops would have to live there.
Anyway….”la-la-la-la-la…”
@Akhilleus: When you put it that way.... I might be the only person in the world who has had to explain to a college-educated, adult man that 8 feet and 11 feet are not then same. And receive a response of utter surprise and lack of comprehension. So then send a worker (we'll call him Joe) up to the second floor, ask him if he's standing right above us, then say, "Now, David, you have to build these walls so that when you're done, the soles of Joe's shoes are 11 feet, one inch above the soles of your shoes when you're standing here and he's standing there. Just as it says on these expensive architect's plans right here, which you are supposed to be working from." And receive another response of utter surprise and lack of comprehension. Or explain that two posts in the ground are not the same as the complicated, keyed concrete foundation on the plans. And receive another response of utter surprise and lack of comprehension. Or explain that some Rube Goldberg construction on the back deck is not a bay window and violates state law and be told, "Well, I'm not going to tear it down." Or explain to a builder that when one side of a bay window is 4" wider than the other side, the window is out of square and that has to be corrected and built as the plans say.
I've been dealing with this kind of thing for four years. Had I been on site instead of home enumerating Donald Trump's transgressions, and watching every stupid move, I could have avoided some of these conflicts (okay, and had other conflicts, but maybe not such costly ones). I'm just exhausted.
WHAT????? Our House of Mirth is shutting down? What awful news to hit you first thing in the morning (I wasn't privy to yesterday's message) so it's going to take time for me to process this. Until then I can only join all the others who have voiced their appreciation to you, Marie, for giving us such a great ride for so many years. R.C. isn't just a blog, it's our second home with like minded ink pissers whose need to write on a daily basis, giving vent to the political theater among other venues. It's early here–--I need to digest this along with my breakfast––-while I hear the faint strains of Ak's la la la la.
@Marie: Thank you for processing and assembling, year after year, a digest of news that has helped to shape my understanding of the world.
I didn't realize that New Hampshire was the training ground for NYC contractors where, as I understand it, every single contractor knows better than any darned architect or acoustical consultant.
Marie is sad that Jared Kushner (unqualified Harvard admission based on donation by rich, criminal father, followed by extremely unqualified White House admission based on nepotistic hire by rich, criminal father-in-law) couldn’t fix all the problems in the Middle East as he promised to do, at least in the few hours he spent considering the issues.
Me too.
Young Jared, with his extensive intellectual powers gained through an undeserved Harvard education, took five of six minutes looking at the Middle East and thought “Well this place is fucked. I can’t do anything here, but what I can do is kiss some criminal Saudi ass (funny how often criminals play a role in Young Jared’s cushy lifestyle) and make myself a bundle.”
And so he did! Hooray! Problems solved! Oh, not the actual problems of the Middle East; the problem of what poor Jared would do for money once his undeserved White House mooching sinecure ended (also funny how often “undeserved” pops up when talking about this greedy little grifter).
So the day his scrawny ass gets tossed out of his do-nothing “job” in the White House, Young Jared, who never spent an hour working in private equity, invents a private equity firm called Affinity. Affinity for the grift, that is. For personal and undeserved enrichment assisted by criminals (both words at once!).
Then, with no experience at the job and a firm with zero track record, the Saudis hand him $2 billion. That’s “billion” with a B. Who, in their right mind, would hand over $2 to Joe Schmoe No Experience Equity Thingie? Unless….hmmm…could it be a bribe? Or payoff for services rendered?
When called on this amazing event, some flack at Affinity for the Grift Equity Partners sez “While achieving six peace deals in the Middle East, Mr. Kushner fully abided by all legal and ethical guidelines both during and after his government service.”
Wait…no one said anything about legal and ethical guidelines. They just asked a question. It’s like a guy being asked by the cops where he was last night saying “I didn’t kill that guy with a 9MM Glock at 11:35 after he parked his car in front his house, the yellow one with the green shutters and the rose bushes in the yard!” Oh…good to know.
And how ‘bout them SIX PEACE DEALS?
Six? Fuck me. I didn’t even hear about one.
Oh, they must mean “piece deals” as in “piece of shit deals that don’t do jack but which impressed Saudi royal criminals enough to stop sawing an American journalist in half long enough to send Young Jared a $2 billion “Thank You” present.
And leave us not forget the “ethical” part of Jared’s portfolio. This is the same ethical guy who, during the Trump Pandemic, discovered that black and brown Americans were dying in much greater numbers than white Trumpy voters, which gave daddy-in-law the great idea to not do anything to stop it. If black and brown communities are being overwhelmingly affected, let the deaths continue! They ain’t gonna vote for Trump, so fuck ‘em.
Ethics to burn.
And now $2 billion to burn right alongside it.
It’s good to be an undeserving criminal grifter. Peace, schmeace. Gimme those greenbacks!
I guess he learned something at Harvard after all.
Eyes wide open.
Oh, Marie, but I did know that all these years I was and am engaging in a therapy project. I just thought it was all about me.
Marie — Longtime reader here to offer heartfelt thanks for the clarity and sanity you’ve provided with your site. Yours is the first news site I visit in the morning. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the political coverage without your sharp insights and perspective as a guide. Very best wishes for the future.
Let me add my appreciation and thanks for all the hard work you have put into RC over the years and the amazing community that has been built here. Good luck with finally whipping those builders into shape.
Marie - what Lizzy so eloquently said, every word of it! Seriously, I always knew I was reading on borrowed time here (so to speak). How long can this woman keep on doing this as a labor of love, it must take so much time - and all evidently uncompensated - I wondered.
Having built a house thirty years ago I know how important it is to be onsite as much as possible to make sure things go smoothly, even when you have very competent, experienced builders.
I wish you all the luck in the world going forward with this project. And thanks for many years of pleasure, even when the news was - as so often is the case - awful.
Marie: Ok, have digested this big SAD a bit and after reading your problems with the builders it's amazing you had the gumption to continue on with R.C. as long as you have. Did you hire a contractor and if so where the hell has he been on this project? The mistakes that have been made on your house are incomprehensible! I am so sorry you have had to endure their idiocy for as long as you have.
Many years ago you decided to close the site but gave instructions to some of us then to continue it. I tried but failed miserably; Safari took over but never continued–-you then took up the reins again to our great relief. As much as I grieve this loss I applaud your decision because you are taking care of YOU and that's the best therapy. Our lives will be the poorer for this loss but how wonderful it has been for all these years to be in this family of friends we never touched but knew in such a special way and grew to love.
Damn! Here I was expecting to get through the run up to the elections with a sanity corner to retreat to whenever the "both sides" narrative got to be too much for me.
We're losing a national treasure, a place where "wishy-washy" didn't exist and thoughts ran free.
I'll miss you all.
Marjorie Taylor Greene campaigns for Joe Biden and doesn't even
realize that she's doing it, (she may be a little dense).
Marjorie warns that Joe Biden is trying to "finish what FDR started"
by trying to address problems related to "rural poverty", "education",
and "medical care."
She warns it's similar to when LBJ passed "Medicare and Medicaid."
Hopefully more of her comrades will jump on her bandwagon and
complain that Joe Biden is trying to do good for the American voters
and we don't like it. All we care about is tax breaks for the rich and
corporations.
https://democraticunderground.com/100218095906
Forest: Re: the green bean: "(she may be a little dense)" You are such a card!. Biden should thank her for extolling his program, invite her over for a chat and a hot toddy. "Girl", he can say, "You be on my side which is the Right side which is left leaning and helps the American people in so many ways." She, wilted as a faded flower, will finally find she is speechless but is thinking–--"what will My Kevin say?" Doomsday looms large in that house of cards.
There’s been a lot of talk about intent regarding Fatty’s attempted overthrow of the government, and what he believed. “Did he intend to do that? Did he really believe he won the election? If so, should he be charged? Is he guilty if he really believed that?”
Absolutely.
Here’s the thing. Let’s say a guy believes his wife is doing the horizontal tango with the mailman. He shoots them both.
It doesn’t matter what he believed, or what his intentions were. He committed a crime.
In the same way, it doesn’t matter what the Fat Traitor believed or what he “intended”. He was directly involved with trying to steal the election. And whether or not he was one of the planners of the insurrection, he could have stopped it but he didn’t. He let the violence continue. He’s guilty. Now whether or not he’ll ever go to trial (Merrick is on his third year of hand wringing) it’s a certainty that he’s guilty and it doesn’t matter a whit what he believed.
If I rob a bank and tell the cops I believed it was my money in there, do they let me go?
I’m thinking of that scene in the movie “Unforgiven” where Clint Eastwood is ready to send the bad guy, played by Gene Hackman, off to the next life. The Hackman character complains “I was building a house. I don’t deserve this!” Eastwood’s character replies “Deserves got nothin’ to do with it.” and pulls the trigger.
With Fatty, belief got nothin’ to do with it.
Pull that trigger, Jack.
(See? La-la-la-la-la…)
It's possible that Jack is going to bury trump in indictments. I hadn't realized that there was more than one grand jury meeting regarding the Jan. 6 events. At the very least, trump is going to run out of lawyers to defend him. Yay!
I am a long time reader (not contributor) that looks forward to this news site every day. I am now starting the stages of grief. I certainly understand your reasons and want to thank you for the tireless work you have done for us. I will miss you and I will miss your regular commentors as well. I guess all good things come to an end.
@Akhilleus: The element of intent is different in federal law than it is state laws against your usual crimes like bank robbery. That is, the prosecution does not have to convince the jury that a bank robber knew that robbing a bank was "wrong" or "against the law."
But federal law is more complicated, and in many cases, the prosecution does have to prove intent or, at the least, ample reason to believe that what he was doing was unlawful. Moreover, it seems to depend on what statute is charged as some statutes specifically require intent and others do not. Similarly, intent is easier to prove in some federal crimes that it is in others. So it might be easier to prove Trump intended to prevent the transfer of power when he conspired to put forth fake electors than when he said on the Ellipse, "If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore."
This article is somewhat helpful.
Marie,
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve read that the idea of intent can be trickier for federal cases. Mostly I’m just pissed that something so obvious can be dithered and whithered until a clearly guilty POS like Trump walks. Pretty similar to my recent complaint that a guy who gets elected president, or steals the election, can effectively declare himself free of charges of stuff like espionage by appointing a rubber stamp lackey.
Speaking of rubber stamp lackeys…
Bill (dis) Barr…
I’ve given up with throwing stuff whenever I hear this creep intone on the many crimes of his former boss. It’s one thing for a former mob guy to give out with the nitty gritty details of his former life. It’s another when that guy tries to pretend he had nothing to do with all the criming upon which he now expostulates.
I love Marcy Wheeler's redacted version of Dumpy's latest post on his Untruth Antisocial thing about being another target.
Gibbon, Potato Head, and the Decline and Fall
It’s worth pointing out, again, that Senator Potato Head’s hold on advancements in the military is based purely on his religious beliefs. Despite the Christianist extremists on the Supreme Court and their evisceration of Roe, abortion has not been declared an illegal procedure by the high court. Instead, they snivelingly allowed religious fanatics in red states to do that dirty work for them.
But there it is.
This is not a position based on anything other than religion.
WWTFS?
(What would the founders say?)
They specifically decreed that religion should not be given priority in civic society. They had seen how that shit worked in Europe and they wanted none of it (Spanish Inquisition, anyone? Tudor era religious executions?). But cherry picking and fantasy are the orders of the day in Right Wing World.
Thus, one guy, an unqualified, white supremacist pig, a fucking racist football coach(!) has hogtied the entire military high command by insisting that his religious beliefs matter more than national security and military preparedness.
Cue Edward Gibbon. In his investigation into the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon found religion, specifically Christianity, to be one of the prime reasons for its extinction. Others were things like nepotism, corruption, ignorance, and narcissism (lookin’ at you, Donny).
Gibbon has been assailed by Christian apologists who took umbrage at his depiction of Christianity as a force for intolerance.
They might have had a point back in 330 CE (but maybe not). In that regard, what dispassionate, unbiased observer could say today, in America, that Christianity, as weaponized by Republicans against their hated enemies, is an avatar of toleration, kindness, and love?
The kind of religion-based right-wing demands that hover like killer bees around a supposedly secular, non-theocratic civic society mirror the religious intolerance that has infected too many governments and dangerous political groups the world over. 9/11, anyone?
And Potato Head is lining up to cripple the country unless we all now to his religious demands. This is the American Taliban.
Gibbon didn’t get everything right, but he did with religion.
At 95 and living in business that feeds and cleans up for the elderly I have been using a bedtime and noon visit to RC to keep me alert to what is happening in the Country and the World.
Thank you for your years of lucid explanations.