;)
Friday
Jul212023
July 21, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "President Biden has asked CIA Director William J. Burns to become a member of his Cabinet, reflecting the central role the veteran diplomat has taken carrying out the administration's foreign policy and his key role as a messenger to Russia. The move, which is largely symbolic, will not give Burns any new authorities. But it underscores the influence Burns has in the administration and will be read as a victory for the CIA, which was among the agencies in the U.S. intelligence community that accurately forecast the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.... Burns, who repeatedly stresses that he is not engaged in diplomacy, has nevertheless emerged as a sort of 'secretary of hard problems,' U.S. officials have said. Since well before Russia invaded Ukraine, Burns has been the White House's key interlocutor to Moscow, having had the most direct interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin of anyone in the administration.... Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, has been one of the sharpest public critics of Putin...."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's prosecution on charges of illegally retaining dozens of classified documents set a trial date on Friday for May 2024, taking a middle position between the government's request to go to trial in December and Mr. Trump's desire to push the proceeding until after the 2024 election. In her order, Judge Aileen M. Cannon said the trial was to be held in her home courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., a coastal city two-and-a-half hours north of Miami that will draw its jury pool from several counties that Mr. Trump won handily in his two previous presidential campaigns. Judge Cannon also laid out a calendar of hearings, throughout the remainder of this year and into next year.... The date Judge Cannon chose to start the trial -- May 20, 2024 -- falls after the bulk of the primary contests. But it is less than two months before the start of the Republican National Convention in July and the formal start of the general election season."
** Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The Fulton county district attorney investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia has developed evidence to charge a sprawling racketeering indictment next month, according to two people briefed on the matter.... In the Trump investigation, the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, has evidence to pursue a racketeering indictment predicated on statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass, the people said." MB: We don't know what's happening the grand jury Willis has convened, and we don't know that the grand jury will direct Willis to bring any charges. But treating Trump as a dirty mob boss seems entirely appropriate to me.
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen, the longtime fixer to Donald J. Trump, who was set to go to trial next week against his former boss's company in a dispute over legal fees, has agreed to settle his lawsuit with the Trump Organization, lawyers for both parties said at a brief court hearing on Friday. Mr. Cohen's lawsuit, filed in 2019, accused the Trump Organization of failing to abide by the terms of a deal and refusing to pay more than $1 million in legal costs. Jury selection for the trial began earlier this week, and opening arguments were scheduled for Monday."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Over a forceful dissent from its three liberal members, the Supreme Court early Friday morning refused to halt the execution of a death row inmate in Alabama who said that the state's history of botched executions made it likely that he would suffer intense pain as he was put to death. The inmate, James Barber, was executed about two hours after the court's 1 a.m. order. Early news reports did not note major flaws in the procedure. Mr. Barber was convicted in 2003 of beating Dorothy Epps, 75, to death with his fists and a claw hammer. The Supreme Court's brief order gave no reasons for denying the stay.... In an 11-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said the majority had empowered 'Alabama to experiment again with a human life.'"
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Hunter Biden's attorney on Friday requested that a congressional ethics panel take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), citing her use of sexually explicit images of the president's son that she displayed during a congressional hearing earlier this week. 'Your colleague has lowered herself, and by extension the entire House of Representatives, to a new level of abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct,' Abbe Lowell wrote in a four-page letter sent to the Office of Congressional Ethics."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "After pressure from the White House..., seven leading A.I. companies in the United States have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology's development, the White House announced on Friday, pledging to strive for safety, security and trust even as they compete over the potential of artificial intelligence. The seven companies -- Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI -- will formally announce their commitment to the new standards at a meeting with President Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon. The announcement comes as the companies are racing to outdo each other with versions of A.I. that offer powerful new tools to create text, photos, music and video without human input. But the technological leaps have prompted fears that the tools will facilitate the spread of disinformation and dire warnings of a 'risk of extinction' as self-aware computers evolve." ~~~
~~~ Marie: President* Trump could not get such an agreement because he thought "A.I." stood for "Article I" of the Constitution, which covers the powers of Congress, powers that under Trump's thumb are themselves already under a "risk of extinction." (See today's "My Kevin" news, for instance.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved legislation that would impose strict new ethics rules on justices, moving over fierce objections from Republicans to address a string of revelations about Supreme Court justices taking free luxury trips and receiving other financial benefits from wealthy benefactors. The legislation, which stands little chance of advancing given the strong G.O.P. opposition, would require the Supreme Court to, at a minimum, adopt and adhere to ethics and disclosure rules equivalent to those applied to members of Congress. It would also impose new transparency requirements and create a panel of appellate judges to review misconduct complaints made against the justices. Democratic members of the committee said the action was necessary because the court has refused to police itself." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I acknowledge that it is a given that Republicans are horrified that confederate justices should have to abide by some kind of ethics code. But will somebody please remind me of why. What is the rationale -- real or fake -- behind "It's so wrong for our vaunted justices-for-life to be required to demonstrate that they're following ethical principles." I really cannot think of a quasi-reasonable excuse for the GOP's "strong opposition" to the proposed legislation. ~~~
~~~ Update: Near the end of yesterday's Comments section, Ken W. responded. His answer to my question, if not satisfactory, sounds right to me. And in today's thread, Akhilleus thinks up several rationales. I suspect his final thought is most apt. ~~~
~~~ Update 2: Come now Fox "News" & Sen. Foghorn Leghorn with this remarkable excuse: "Senator John Kennedy, R-La., called a new bill from Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to install a Supreme Court code of ethics a 'court-killing machine' that was both 'dangerous' and 'unserious.'... It would allow any jackaloon out there in America in a tinfoil hat, whose own dog thinks he's an utter nutter, to file a motion to recuse a United States Supreme Court Justice.'"
Kayla Guo of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration for the next half-decade, [also] moving ... to make a number of changes that affect passengers. The bill would address airlines' refunds and reimbursement obligations to passengers, enhance protections for passengers with disabilities, boost hiring of air traffic controllers, shore up aviation safety, unlock funding to modernize airport infrastructure, invest in upgrades to the agency's technology and more. The House passed it on a vote of 351 to 69, sending it to the Senate." MB: Apparently, anti-regulation Republicans, most of whom fly regularly, favor "deep-state" regs that help keep them safe.
Marie: If you would like to know what-all happened in Wednesday's House Biden Crime Family Hearing -- other than MTG displaying huge dick pix in front of those assembled in the room -- Aaron Blake of the Washington Post does a good job at explaining the, ah, substance: "It's basically one big he-said, they-said. And despite the hearing Wednesday, it remained in that realm." It appears star wingnut witness Gary Shapley, an IRS supervisor agent, didn't understand the DOJ's distinction between a "special counsel" & a "special attorney" when he spoke to Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss a while back. Now, I don't think the average person would know the difference, either, nor would the average surly IRS agent. Necessarily. But Weiss wrote a much-publicized letter to the committee last week, explaining Shapley's apparent misapprehension and assuring the committee that AG Merrick Garland did nothing to limit Weiss's investigation and charging decisions re: Hunter Biden. So one would think Shapley would have an Emily Litella moment and back out of the hearing. But no. He insisted to Democratic interrogators that Weiss was not telling the truth. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I wonder if Miss Margie should be prosecuted for displaying pornographic photos on C-SPAN (available in all major cable network packages) during children's viewing hours. Imagine some little kid tiring of Sesame Street's alphabet lesson and deploying the remote to switch to C-SPAN, whereupon the heretofore innocent child sees this.
Desperate Measures. Lucien Bruggeman, et al., of ABC News: "Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday released a confidential FBI informant's unverified claim that, years ago, the Biden family 'pushed' a Ukrainian oligarch to pay them $10 million. The exceedingly rare step by Grassley, R-Iowa, further promulgates an allegation that Democratic critics warned against accepting at face value and which the White House continues to deny, saying it has been investigated under the Trump administration and 'debunked.'... Grassley's office said he obtained his version of the FD-1023, which is only lightly redacted, 'via legally protected disclosures by Justice Department whistleblowers,' though the bureau said in a statement that such a release 'at a minimum - unnecessarily risks the safety of a confidential source.'"
My Kevin Makes a Deal. Rachel Bade of Politico: "After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested on national television last month that Donald Trump may not be the GOP's best presidential nominee in 2024, the former president was furious.... 'He needs to endorse me -- today!' Trump fumed to his staff.... But [McCarthy] ... wasn't ready to do that. To calm Trump, McCarthy made him a promise...: The House would vote to expunge the two impeachments against the former president. And -- as McCarthy would communicate through aides later that same day -- they would do so before August recess. That vow -- made reflexively to save his own skin -- may have bought McCarthy some time, staving off a public war with the man who almost single-handedly rehabilitated his entire career and ensured he won the gavel in January." But the plan may not go down well with so-called moderate House Republicans, Constitutionalist Republicans, and those who want to forget about January 6. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ My Kevin Denies He Made a Deal. Arthur Jones & Lauren Peller of ABC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday denied a report claiming he promised ... Donald Trump that the House would hold a vote before its August recess on expunging Trump's past impeachments. 'There's no deal, but I've been very clear from long before -- when I voted against impeachments -- that they put them in for purely political purposes. I support expungement but there's no deal out there,' McCarthy said." MB: IOW, McCarthy would have prostrated himself before the Lord High Executioner no matter what. That's the way to stand up to a commander-in-chief* who denied your frantic pleas to him to call off the barbarians who had crashed the gate on January 6. ~~~
~~~ Jordain Carney, et al., of Politico: "Roughly a half-dozen swing district Republicans said Thursday they were skeptical -- or even downright opposed -- to any vote designed to symbolically rescind one or both of Trump's impeachments." ~~~
~~~ digby: "I think McCarthy needs to call for that vote. It will either lose because the GOP moderates refuse to go along in which case Trump gets furious and there is hell to pay or it passes and every Democratic challenger in those swing districts use that vote to illustrate how Trump owns them. It's a good plan. Go for it."
Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "On Thursday, two of [the] legal proceedings [against Donald Trump] collided in an unusual spectacle, as a federal judge hauled the prosecutor leading the election interference investigation out of a grand jury proceeding and summoned him into his courtroom. The judge, Trevor N. McFadden, was apparently upset that the prosecutor, Thomas P. Windom, had kept a lawyer [-- Stanley Woodward Jr. --] representing a witness in front of the grand jury from appearing on time for the reading of a verdict for a Jan. 6 defendant whom the lawyer was also representing. While the incident came to an end quickly and seemed to have resulted in little more than a public display of tension, it nonetheless reflected the complexities that have ensued from Mr. Trump's crowded legal calendar." The article explains the delay, which was caused by Woodward's consultations with Trump bodyman Will Russell, who was appearing in a grand jury hearing. Politico's story is here. MB: Teevee commenters yesterday said it was unusual for one attorney to represent so many clients in so many different aspects of cases related to Donald Trump's misadventures.
Paula Reid, et al., of CNN: "As anticipation builds for ... Donald Trump to be indicted for the third time this year, investigators in the special counsel's election interference probe are expected to speak with additional witnesses over the next several weeks, including at least one former Trump attorney.... Prosecutors have been in talks with at least two witnesses to schedule interviews with investigators that won't be completed for at least another month. Former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, a Trump ally, is still in the process of scheduling his upcoming interview, and a former Trump lawyer plans to talk to investigators next month, sources familiar with the planned meetings told CNN. It is unclear if prosecutors would wait until after their interviews have been completed before indicting Trump."
Marie: Wednesday night I read U.S. Code Section 241 of Title 18, which is a "surprise" citation in Trump's target letter. I came to much the same conclusion, based on the same recent evidence, Marcy Wheeler reached: "The recent news that Jack Smith has subpoenaed the security footage from the State Farm arena vote count location in Georgia, taken in conjunction with Trump's efforts in places like Michigan -- where his efforts focused on preventing a fair count of Detroit, where he had actually performed better than in 2016, rather than Kent County, the still predominantly white county where he lost the state -- is a reminder that Trump and his mobs, many associated with overt white supremacists like Nick Fuentes, aggressively tried to thwart the counting of Black and Latino people's votes." We have known for a long time that Trump ran a Jim Crow presidency*. You see it in his political appointees, you see it in his judicial nominations. You see it in his immigration sentiments: more Norwegians, fewer people from "shithole countries," no Mexican "rapists," no Muslims. "There are very fine people on both sides." Message to violent white nationalist Proud Boys: "Stand back and stand by." The only Black people Trump has ever been able to make friends with are entertainers or sports figures, and many White racists have long given a pass to Black celebrities. If we failed to notice that Trump was picking on areas with primarily Black voters, then we haven't been paying attention to Republicans back to Richard Nixon. Wheeler gives a big shout-out to Roger Stone, and he is obviously provides a through-line from Nixon to Trump. But the racism is party-wide and hardly concealed. Just ask Paul Ryan why he and Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election:"urban voters." If the DOJ is catching up to reality -- and that remains a supposition -- well, good for them. (Also linked yesterday.)
Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: “The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that it had reached a settlement with the cash-rich shell company that planned to merge with ... Donald J. Trump’s social media company, potentially paving the way for the much-delayed deal to proceed. Under the settlement, Digital World Acquisition Corp. will pay a penalty of $18 million and revise some of its corporate filings to comply with federal securities laws. The S.E.C. was investigating whether Digital World had flouted merger laws governing special purpose acquisition companies. The S.E.C. charged Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company, with misleading investors with its disclosures.... But many hurdles remain for Digital World to complete its merger with Trump Media & Technology Group.... It is unclear why ... Trump Media has not yet signaled it is willing to keep the pending deal alive...."
Trump Appointee Found Guilty in Jan. 6 Insurrection. Spencer Hsu & Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "A former political appointee of ... Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday of joining assaults on police on Jan. 6, 2021, that included one of the most prolonged attacks on officers by rioters in a tunnel at the Lower West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol. Federico G. Klein, a State Department appointee with a top-secret clearance, was convicted on all counts, including 10 felony charges involving six violent confrontations with multiple law enforcement officers and obstruction of the electoral vote count, after a week-long bench trial before U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden. A co-defendant, Steven Cappuccio, was convicted of six felony counts, but McFadden acquitted him of the obstruction charge and a misdemeanor, ruling that Cappuccio was not politically savvy enough to intend to stop the electoral vote count.... One [of their victims was] D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges, who in one of the day's most harrowing events was recorded on camera being pinned to a metal door frame by the mob with Klein's help, while Cappuccio ripped away his baton and gas mask while yelling, 'How you like me now, f[uck]er!'... Klein, 42, served in the Marine Corps Reserves in Iraq before working on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and gaining a mid-level State Department appointment." The NBC News story is here.
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Thursday denied a bid from Jacob Chansley to withdraw his guilty plea to obstructing Congress on Jan. 6 and rebuked the so-called 'QAnon Shaman' for going on a Tucker Carlson program that gave a distorted view of the riot.... Judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced [Chansley] in November 2021 to 41 months in prison, the low end of federal sentencing guidelines, after Chansley said he was 'truly repentant' and called his behavior 'indefensible.'... But after leaving prison, he asked Lamberth to undo his conviction, saying security camera footage from inside the Capitol aired by Fox News host Tucker Carlson a few weeks prior showed police allowed him to wander around the building on Jan. 6. The attorney who represented Chansley when he took his plea told Carlson he did not have that video at the time.... All but 10 seconds of the video Carlson showed was produced to Chansley before his sentencing, Lamberth said, and the surveillance video Chansley now claims undermines his conviction is duplicative of police body-camera footage he was given months before he decided to plead guilty.
"'These videos are decidedly not exculpatory,' Lamberth wrote. 'Such footage, conveniently omitted by the [Fox News] program, shows nearly all of Mr. Chansley's actions that day, including: carrying a six-foot-long pole armed with a spearhead, unlawfully entering the Capitol through a broken door, disobeying orders from law enforcement on more than a half-dozen occasions, screaming obscenities, entering the Senate chamber, climbing onto the Senate dais, sitting in the Vice President's chair, and leaving a threatening message for the Vice President.... That law enforcement officers outnumbered by the quantity of rioters did not physically engage Mr. Chansley or impede his progress is irrelevant.'" MB: Otherwise, the bare-chested, spear-carrying, horn-wearing Chansley was just a patriotic tourist enjoying the sights in our nation's capitol. Why, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Trump campaign video, all decked out in his patriotic touring outfit.
The Lionization of Clarence Thomas (Sponsored by a Guy Named Leo). Shawn Boberg, et al., of the Washington Post: "In 2016, after HBO produced & aired a drama about Clarence Thomas & Anita Hill, there arose a "rush of favorable content [that] was part of a coordinated and sophisticated public relations campaign to defend and celebrate Thomas.... The campaign would stretch on for years and include the creation and promotion of a laudatory film about Thomas, advertising to boost positive content about him during internet searches and publication of a book about his life. It was financed with at least $1.8 million from conservative nonprofit groups steered by the judicial activist Leonard Leo, [a Washington Post] examination found." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2024
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ... appeared before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government ... [and] said he had 'never been anti-vax' and had taken all recommended vaccines except the coronavirus vaccine. Thursday's hearing ... was rooted in a lawsuit, filed last year by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana and known as Missouri v. Biden, that accused the [Biden] administration of colluding with social media companies to suppress free speech on Covid-19, elections and other matters. The subcommittee's chairman, Representative Jim Jordan..., opened the hearing by citing an email that emerged in that case, in which a White House official asked Twitter to take down a tweet in which Mr. Kennedy suggested -- without evidence -- that the baseball legend Hank Aaron may have died from the coronavirus vaccine.... Thursday's session had all the makings of a Washington spectacle." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN fact-checks Kennedy's stunning claim (made under oath) that he's never been anti-vaccine. Definitely worth watching:
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: As Republicans & Fox "News" fawn over RFK Jr., his poll numbers turn south.
Marie's Sports News
Ken Belson of the New York Times: "Owners of the N.F.L.'s 31 other teams unanimously approved the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris, the private equity billionaire, who agreed to pay a record $6.05 billion to Daniel Snyder, the scandal-plagued owner of the team. The figure surpassed the previous highest price paid for an American sports team...."
Ken Belson & Jenny Vrentas of the New York Times: "Daniel Snyder was fined $60 million, by far the largest penalty ever levied against an N.F.L. team owner, after he was found to have sexually harassed a woman who was both a former cheerleader and a marketing employee for the Washington Commanders. A league-sponsored investigation released Thursday found credible claims made by Tiffani Johnston, the former team employee, who said that Snyder put his hand on her thigh without her consent at a work dinner in 2005 or 2006, and that he later attempted to push her toward the back seat of his car after the event.... White's report also substantiated claims made by a former Washington ticket executive, Jason Friedman, who said the team had intentionally shielded and withheld revenues that were intended to be shared among the league's 32 teams." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's report, which is more detailed, is here.
Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Unionized workers at Anchor Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewer in the United States, want to buy the 127-year-old company and run it as a co-op to save it from shutting down, a union official said. The company said last week that economic pressures ... had left it 'with no option but to make this sad decision to cease operations.' But employees, who were given 60 days' notice and promised severance packages, have proposed a way to keep the beer flowing."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Way Down Upon de Swanee Ribber. Antonio Planas of NBC News: "Florida's public schools will now teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it taught them useful skills, part of new African American history standards approved Wednesday that were blasted by a state teachers' union as a 'step backward.' The Florida State Board of Education's new standards includes controversial language about how 'slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,' according to a 216-page document about the state's 2023 standards in social studies, posted by the Florida Department of Education. Other language that has drawn the ire of some educators and education advocates includes teaching about how Black people were also perpetrators of violence during race massacres.... Updates to the African American history curriculum were required by a controversial 2022 law that Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the 'Stop Wrongs To Our Kids and Employees Act,' or 'Stop WOKE Act,' NBC South Florida reported." See also Forrest M.'s comment at the top of today's thread.
Florida. Steve Contorno & Danielle Wiener-Bronner of CNN: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging the state's pension fund manager to consider legal action against Bud Light's parent company amid conservative backlash to the beermaker's recent marketing efforts, the latest attempt by the Republican presidential candidate to inject himself and the state he runs into the country's culture wars. In a Thursday letter obtained by CNN, DeSantis suggests AB InBev 'breached legal duties owed to its shareholders' when it decided to associate with 'radical social ideologies.' Sales of Bud Light have plummeted in the months since it entered into a minor partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that precipitated a boycott from conservatives.... Earlier this year, DeSantis praised conservative consumers for boycotting the company, telling the right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson: 'I'll never drink Bud again.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's how this works: DeSantis encourages and says he will participate in a boycott of Bud products, a boycott that is in line with DeSantis's infamous anti-woke campaign. The boycott brings down sales, which leads to a fall in the stock prices; ergo, also a fall in the stock's value in the state pension fund. So DeSantis says to sue Bud's parent company for falling prey to a boycott he aided. Can anyone see anything wrong with that?
Missouri. Anna Betts of the New York Times: "The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against the state attorney general's position on an abortion ballot initiative, a decision that allows an effort to restore abortion rights there to move forward. The court ruled that the attorney general, Andrew Bailey, who opposes abortion, had improperly held up his approval of a ballot initiative that would ask voters whether they want to change the constitution to include a right to abortion.... The delay prevented proponents of the initiative from beginning to collect signatures to try to place the question on the ballot for next year's election."
New York. Jake Offenhartz of the AP: "New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of roughly 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during racial injustice demonstrations that swept through the city during the summer of 2020. If approved by a judge, the settlement, which was filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, would be among the most expensive payouts ever awarded in a lawsuit over mass arrests, experts said.... With certain exceptions, people arrested or subjected to force by NYPD officers at those events will each be eligible for $9,950 in compensation, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs."
Way Beyond
China. Peter Alexander & Carol Lee of NBC News: "China-linked hackers accessed the email account of the U.S ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, as part of a recent targeted intelligence-gathering campaign, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter confirmed. The hackers also breached the email account of Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, the officials said. Kritenbrink recently traveled to China with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The breach, first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, was limited to the diplomats' unclassified email accounts, the officials said."
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "Russia struck Odessa early Friday in the fourth day of pounding the Ukrainian port region, the governor said. The attack on an agricultural facility there injured two employees and destroyed tons of peas and barley ... days after the Kremlin pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal. Moscow's withdrawal from the agreement suspends the flow of shipments from Ukraine, a major grain exporter, via Black Sea routes, raising fears for global food supplies.... On the battlefield, Ukraine is using U.S.-provided cluster munitions in an attempt to push through Russian lines in the southeast, The Washington Post reported. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the weapons were 'actually having an impact on Russia's defensive formations' and Ukrainian forces were using them 'effectively.'... [President] Zelensky called for limits on funding cultural activities during the war in his nightly address. The cultural minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, announced his resignation soon after, citing a 'misunderstanding about the importance of culture during war' with the president."
Julian Barnes & David Sanger of the New York Times: "In the most detailed public account yet given by a U.S. official, the director of the C.I.A. offered a biting assessment on Thursday of the damage done to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by the mutiny of the Wagner mercenary group, saying the rebellion had revived questions about his judgment and detachment from events. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, an annual national security conference, William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, said that for much of the 36 hours of the rebellion last month, Russian security services, the military and decision makers 'appeared to be adrift.'... Mr. Burns confirmed that the United States had some notice that the uprising might take place.... Mr. Burns's remarks on the Kremlin's paralysis during the uprising carried out by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and his mercenary group built on comments a day earlier from his British counterpart, Richard Moore, the chief of MI6, who said the rebellion showed cracks in Mr. Putin's rule."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Tony Bennett, a singer whose melodic clarity, jazz-influenced phrasing, audience-embracing persona and warm, deceptively simple interpretations of musical standards helped spread the American songbook around the world and won him generations of fans, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan, where he had lived for many decades. He was 96.... Mr. Bennett's career of more than 70 years was remarkable not only for its longevity, but also for its consistency. In hundreds of concerts and club dates and more than 150 recordings, he devoted himself to preserving the classic American popular song....
"A lifelong liberal Democrat, Mr. Bennett participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in 1965, and, along with Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr. and others, performed at the Stars for Freedom rally on the City of St. Jude campus on the outskirts of Montgomery on March 24, the night before the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the address that came to be known as the 'How Long? Not Long' speech. At the conclusion of the march, Viola Liuzzo, a volunteer from Michigan, drove Mr. Bennett to the airport; she was murdered later that day by members of the Ku Klux Klan.... [Mr. Bennett] was among the troops who arrived to liberate the prisoners at the Landsberg concentration camp, a subcamp of Dachau."
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Reader Comments (19)
I'm starting to think that Ron DeSantis is deranged, or uneducated,
or maybe just plain racist and stupid.
Florida schools will now teach the advantages blacks had by being
enslaved.
Like that free cruise from Africa to America? Being taught discipline?
They got the right religion? And on and on.
https://politicalwire.com/2023/07/19/florida-schools-will-teach-how-
blacks-benefited-from-slavery/
Marie asks what possible reason could the Party of Traitors have for so strongly opposing any ethics rules for the Supreme Court.
I’m not sure there’s just one. There are likely several “reasons”, such as they are. First…they ARE traitors. As Ken pointed out, they’ve long ago given up any flimsy pretenses of actually being for democracy and the rule of law, but it’s not just for money. It has to do mostly with power, money, of course being a prime ingredient to achieving that goal. Power allows them to do whatever they want (at least they seem to believe that’s true), such as step on groups and individuals they hate and fear. They call it a culture WAR for a reason, and all’s fair in love and war, even if it’s love of hatred.
Secondly, if Democrats are for it, they have no choice but to be against it, especially since, in this case, it involves shockingly bad acts on the part of heroes of the traitors who gave those uppity women and minorities what for in rulings that tossed precedence (along with ethics) out on the dung heap.
A corollary of number two is that a vote for ethics means those justices did something wrong, and like their tiny handed fat king always sez, never admit a mistake.
Then there is the Deep State and Woke Problems. Everyone knows by now that the hated guv’mint is chock full of deep state agents and woke pansies who live to serve the interests of baby-eating, world controlling Jews and who kowtow to lazy-ass blacks and browns who get everything and do nothing. Can’t have that shit. It doesn’t matter if they’re part of the guv’mint, they’re the “good guys”.
And whether or not your garden variety PoT voter knows much about the machinations of groups like the Federalist Society, the idea that a largely secret cabal of right-wing billionaires is working to keep certain justices fat and happy in order to ensure further victories on their behalf is not only not anathema, but must in fact be a sign from Jesus that they’re right after all, see 1, 2, and 2a, above.
And probably the real reason is that they’re all just fucking assholes.
Have the feeling this morning the walls are closing in. RC, my morning home for more than a decade, ends abruptly a week from Monday and I will be off the net for eight of those final days, beginning tomorrow, missing you all.
That's one excuse for delivering a final Sunday Sermon on a Friday. The other? It appeared in today's local paper, coincident with a front page announcement of a hearing on the proposed rule changes that will affect the local refineries where workers have died.
"In a 1932 opinion, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis popularized the idea that in our federal system individual states could act as laboratories of democracy. A state can pass a law, try it out, and if it serves the people, the idea might eventually be adopted by the entire nation.
Recent history would suggest that Brandeis, brilliant as he was, might have been too optimistic. He didn’t suggest that in our federal system, states might also serve as laboratories of cruel autocracy.
Fortunately, Washington State is not one of those states. Washington wants people to vote. Our legislature is working to expand access to medical care and housing, and with its proposal for updated process safety rules at our refineries, Washington again acknowledges the critical place of workers in our society (https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADLI/bulletins/3618653).
The proposed process safety standards update those last adopted in 1992. Since then, thirteen workers have died in Washington refinery accidents. Crucially, the updates rely on workers’ skills and knowledge by placing workers on the Pre-Startup Safety Review team and requiring employers to collaborate with workers in other phases of refinery operation.
Emphasizing worker safety and rights are two major differences between states that care about their people and those that don’t. Washington’s heat-protection rules include mandatory 10-minute cool-down periods every two hours once temperatures hit 89 degrees, and that employers provide cool water and shade (crosscut.com). Texas, which is setting heat records, in stark contrast has outlawed mandatory water breaks for its construction workers (nbcnews.com).
A recent survey offers a clear picture of which states care the least about their people. Texas ranks first of the worst (cnbc.com). All bottom ten are controlled by Republicans.
It apparently didn’t occur to Brandeis that some states would choose to become laboratories of cruel autocracy--and let democracy go hang."
I think we're all hoping and praying that Marie is just going to
take a break from RealityChex until the new home is completed, then
she'll be back all refreshed and ready to go, good as new.
If not, then that old saying is coming true for me. Two of our best
friends moved away, to Houston, for work, Just learned the two
remaining best friends are also moving away to be closer to family
as they age. They think family will take care of them? That isn't
always the case.
Number 3 is RealityChex.
Off to the garden before that 90 degrees hits us again.
Nary a chip off the old block:
Robert Kennedy Jr. is an embarrassment to his family but mostly to himself. Lawrence had a segment last night telling us that he went to college with Robert who was not a very good student, was into drugs even then. When he was married to his first wife he was banging another who became pregnant and after marrying him they had three other children; she killed herself much later. The fact that the GOP congress critters hauled this guy's behind up for a hearing and proceeded to lick it with sloppy kisses is beyond the pale.
Ken: It breaks my heart that this will be your last Sunday(Friday) Sermon. The Sense of an Ending–––-not easy, my friend, not easy.
My wife, usually the more delicate of the two of us, also agrees with Akhilleus' summary explanation of Republicans' reluctance to have anything to do with ethics...
Forest: Your hope that after Marie takes the whip to her inept builders and completes her new home she will continue on with this one whose occupants feel left out in the cold. Maybe she'll find she needs us as much as we need her. And your feelings of loss re: friends: I, too, reflect on how so many of my friends have either died or moved away and since my brother died last year it hits you hard.
As you tend to your gardens, we here are doing the same. Despite the heat our crops have been flourishing and the Rose of Sharons are spectacular.
The next time I'm over in St Augustine I'll have to check and see if DeSantis and the GOP have changed the historical markers at the Old Slave Market to read "Immigrant Welcome Center".
I’m still overwhelmed by changes that have been happening with Marie leaving at the top of my list. However… last summer we spent an inordinate amount of time just moving a beam in a 15X12 section of our camp in Maine so a daughter-in-law would have a place to sleep in our 713 feet camp. She’s an urban critter who doesn’t understand that maine has trees that may fall down on their tent (maine power woke us up at 4:30am and told us to get out since an oak was on the power line and might fall on our bunkhouse, tent or main camp)and that there is a possibility of bear between her and the “outhouse”. So.. building a house in my mind would require a lot of time and attention. But at 82 I find Marie leaving difficult. Marie i wish you the best and thank you for all you have done.
@Bobby Lee: Ha ha. There will probably be something in the plaque there about "marketable skills training available."
@Dede: Do you ever watch "Maine Cabin Masters"? (It's on what is now called the Magnolia Channel, formerly the DIY Channel.) For some reason, I'm addicted to the show, maybe because I know how to do most of the things they do, though I'm no longer in the business of moving 12x15 beams. (I did once build a large, very sturdy deck all by myself.) The cabin masters would set you up in quite a livable space in no time.
I realize that Hunter Biden is a somewhat shady character, with his
drug use and womanizing stuff, but why is this a congressional
matter? If it's a tax issue, that should be handled by the IRS, not
MTG.
That clip of MTG showing Hunter's butt has over half a million hits
so far. Who's interested in Hunter Biden's butt.
Will MTG be looking into the escapades of the trump spawn if he
gets back into office? Not on your life.
It was risky to link to the MTG Hunter dixpix, where the kids could have picked up the Monty on CSPAN all unaware. Think of the children!!
But it could have been worse, It could have been this
@Patrick; Once you hear a Rick Astley song and dance, it stays in
your brain forever and ever.
Maine Cabin Masters is addictive but we rebuilt our camp about 20 years ago. My husband was under it and trying to level it when he realized it was beginning to fall down on him. After much back and forth with the town of Orland and the State we agreed to move it back 30 feet from the lake's edge. Also they said we had to retain 30 percent of the original camp (insect eaten beams). It was an interesting time. My sister, an architect, and I drew many designs within the perimeters they gave us and we chose my plan. (also I made a laptop quilt during that time.) The camp is all of 713 square feet. We were able to put a full basement under it which has provided a tool storage space (this continues to magically acquire tools) for my husband and a place for my microscopes for lake plant ID) and a place for my ongoing illustrations (Dinosaurs and children flying around the old Natural History Building at the Smithsonian where my grandfather worked after retirement in 1936 through WWll). Now we have replaced an old beam with a new 15 foot one and have increased our potential sleeping area. Toddy Pond (9X1 miles) gives my small granite battered 8 foot red kayak and me places to explore ie coves with beaver dens, muskrat and otter homes within our shores, cedar swamps, and floating islands with pitcher plants and sundews.
On a more serious note, I keep thinking about the court. I have a feeling people had a greater sense of honor and responsibility also wars such as the civil war and WWll affected their reactions and votes(perhaps I'm wrong) although presidents thought that the justices would bend to their wishes. I know OWH was affected by the civil war. My grandmother was living with O. W. and Fanny Holmes during Teddy Roosevelt's presidency. TR put OWH on the court and apparently expected him to be compliant. She recounted TR going to their house in a carriage with his wife to convince OWH to vote his way on an issue and he failed.
At present we need an education that teaches critical thinking through scientific method or like my HS journalism class where every week we were given an article from a "liberal" newspaper, a "conservative" paper and the Christian Science Monitor and we discussed how each paper slanted the news. The Christian Science Monitor was used as the standard.
Right now books are being banned for no reason. A Moon Cake for Little Star by Grace Lin was banned in Pennsylvania. It teaches the phases of the moon and has incredible illustrations however little Star is Chinese. Apparently the book about the two male penguins who nurture a baby penguin has also been banned.
This is all to say I will miss you and the REALITYCHEX group.
Hi Marie, and all,
I'm a long time lurker, ever since NYT free comments,
and just wanted to express my appreciation for the insightful comments and commentary over the years!
I will miss this community!
-Lurker
Dede,
Methinks book banning by Party of Traitor supporters, acolytes, and apparatchiks cannot easily be described as being inflicted for no reason. “For no reason” can only be applied by those with a breadth of mind, spirit, and heart. Certainly, there’s a reason. The reason has to do with fear, hatred, and authoritarian impulses.
Currently there’s a volcanic meltdown among PoT culture warriors and You Ess Ay xenophobes over a crayon map in a movie about a doll (Barbie), see Cruz, Cancun Ted. Anything that smacks of, or can be rejiggered as an attack on white supremacy, American Exceptionalism, patriarchy, or Christian nationalism by right-wing bedbugs, employing the most lurid, pugilistic, propagandistic pap is given an all clear for takeoff by winger culture warriors.
Broad reading habits that include a wide variety of positions and opinions, in fact reading that strays 3 mm outside the approved You Ess Ay white supremacist, authoritarian, anti-democratic lane is right out.
Lifelong learning, especially through wide reading, is also considered a danger to Trump style hegemony.
Funny you mentioned Holmes. Shortly after he retired, at 92, he was visited by FDR, Teddy’s cousin, who found him reading Plato. Who’s reading Plato, or something similarly concerned with understanding more about the real world in their 90’s?
I’m guessing plenty of RC brothers and sisters.
Trump and his lot are still reading the Turner Diaries.
Dede,
Oh yeah, on another note, you mentioned Maine and beavers. My brother and I, canoeing across an upstate lake, once had to portage around a beaver dam where our lake worked its way into a different body of water.
Carrying your canoe, your backpacks, etc. fifty yards around a beaver dam was kind of a pain until I saw a beaver surface, look at us and give us what I took to be a semi-aquatic rodent thumbs up. We laughed about that for days after.
This comment was added to yesterday's page late today. I'm bringing it forward.
By Julie:
Marie,
Say it ain't so! Realty Chex has been my go to for these past 10 years. I will miss the bit of sanity I get from you and the amazing commenters, and the daily updates of what's going on in the world. Thank you to everyone! Does my heart good to know you're out there fighting the good fight.
Peace, Julie