June 2, 2023

Marie: Reality Chex is screwed up again and is not loading properly more than half of the time. Please SAVE your comments before you submit them, because the odds are high the submission will fail the first (and maybe the second and third) time.

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Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Yeah, Trump Is Still Hiding Documents. Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "Attorneys for Donald Trump turned over material in mid-March in response to a federal subpoena related to a classified US military document described by the former president on tape in 2021 but were unable to find the document itself, two sources tell CNN. Prosecutors issued the subpoena shortly after asking a Trump aide before a federal grand jury about the audio recording of a July 2021 meeting at Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. On the recording, Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran.... The special counsel's office complained late last year to a federal judge that they couldn't be sure Trump had turned over all documents with classified markings in his possession, even after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last August, CNN previously reported. The dispute resulted in several sealed court proceedings where the prosecutors sought to hold Trump in contempt, but the judge declined at that time, and Trump's team hired two people to search his properties." The New York Times story, by Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman, is here.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Work requirements for federal assistance programs do not, well, work.... But Republicans still want them, so much so that they threatened to crash the global economy to get them. Why? The obvious answer is that work requirements are an effective way to cut programs without actually cutting them. With a little extra paperwork and another layer of bureaucracy, states can keep thousands of people who qualify from getting access to benefits. Does any of this save money? Not really. It cost states tens of millions of dollars to institute work requirements... For [Republicans]..., the state of the real economy is less important than that of the moral economy, which is to say the conservative vision of the proper order for the distribution of rights and privileges in society."

Jeremy Herb & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department has closed its investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents found at former Vice President Mike Pence's home and will not bring any charges, according to a letter from the DOJ obtained by CNN.... In January, Pence's attorney found about a dozen documents marked classified in Pence's Indiana home after the former vice president asked his lawyer to search his records following the disclosure of classified documents in Joe Biden's possession in Delaware. Pence turned over the classified records to the FBI following their discovery, and the FBI and Justice Department's National Security Division launched a review of how they ended up at Pence's home. Pence has said that he had been unaware the documents were at his home but said that 'mistakes were made' and took responsibility for it. The Justice Department is still investigating the handling of classified records by Trump and Biden. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel in each investigation, citing the fact that they are candidates for president."

Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "An Atlanta-area investigation of alleged election interference by former president Donald Trump and his allies has broadened to include activities in Washington, D.C., and several other states, according to two people with knowledge of the probe -- a fresh sign that prosecutors may be building a sprawling case under Georgia's racketeering laws. Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) launched an investigation more than two years ago to examine efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his narrow 2020 defeat in Georgia. Along the way, she has signaled publicly that she may use Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute to allege that these efforts amounted to a far-reaching criminal scheme. In recent days, Willis has sought information related to the Trump campaign hiring two firms to find voter fraud across the United States and then burying their findings when they did not find it, allegations that reach beyond Georgia's borders, said the two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the investigation. At least one of the firms has been subpoenaed by Fulton County investigators." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

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Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "After weeks of political impasse, tense negotiations and mounting economic anxiety, the Senate gave final approval on Thursday night to bipartisan legislation suspending the debt limit and imposing new spending caps, sending it to President Biden and ending the possibility of a calamitous government default. The approval by the Senate on a 63-to-36 vote brought to a close a political showdown that began brewing as soon as Republicans narrowly won the House in November, promising to use their new majority and the threat of a default to try to extract spending and policy concessions from Mr. Biden.... On Thursday night, Mr. Biden cheered its passage, promising to sign it as soon as possible and address the nation from the Oval Office on Friday evening.... The agreement suspends the $31.4 trillion debt limit until January 2025, allowing the government to borrow unlimited sums to pay its debts and ensuring that another fight will not occur before the next presidential election." (This is a substantial update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sentence, from the linked story, annoys me: "The president refused for months to engage with Speaker Kevin McCarthy but finally did so after the California Republican managed in April to pass a G.O.P. fiscal plan, spurring negotiations with the White House that produced the compromise last weekend." How the hell can you negotiate from a starting point of "I've got a gun to your head"? Even a real hostage negotiator in a life-and-death situation in which a gunman has taken hostages inside a bank, say, doesn't start with the gun-to-their-heads but with "What do you want, Kevin?" And Kevin there has to tell the negotiator what he wants. He has to have some solid demands: $50,000 and free passage to Brazil or something. My Kevin had nothing. Nothing. Even the so-called "fiscal plan" he eventually came up with was written on a napkin. It wasn't anything like a proposed budget. So characterizing President Biden as "refusing to engage" is ridiculous. Listening to the hostage-taker rant would have gotten the White House hostages nowhere. But, hey, that's "journalism," courtesy of the Paper of Record. ~~~

     ~~~ An NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's how each senator voted, via the New York Times: Forty-four Democrats voted yes; 4 voted no. Seventeen Republicans voted yes; 31 voted no. Two independents voted yes; one voted no.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The president calculated that the more he bragged that the deal was a good one for his side, the more he would inflame Republicans on the other side, jeopardizing the chances of pushing the agreement through the narrowly divided House. His reticence stood in striking contrast to his negotiating partner, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has been running all over the Capitol in recent days asserting that the deal was a 'historic' victory for fiscal conservatives.... In private briefing calls following the agreement, White House officials told Democratic allies that they believed they got a good deal, but urged their surrogates not to say that publicly lest it upset the delicate balance. The strategy paid off.... The president's approach to the negotiations -- and especially their aftermath -- reflects a half-century of bargaining in Washington."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Just a few days ago it looked as if G.O.P. extremism might set off a global financial crisis.... In fact, [Republicans] barely scratched Biden's paint. And the mystery is why. Like many -- I think most -- observers, I didn't see this coming.... First, Democrats are no longer intimidated by deficit scolds.... Second, Republicans don't actually care about the budget deficit. Third, the Republican Party has largely backed off on its push to drastically shrink government. We've come a long way from 2005, when President George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security.... Maybe it came down to this: Kevin McCarthy wasn't willing to blow up the economy to extract policy concessions because he's the leader of a party that no longer cares about policy."

Stefan Becket of CBS News: "President Biden tripped and fell onstage at the commencement ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado on Thursday as he returned to his seat after nearly two hours of shaking hands with graduates. The president was walking across the raised platform when he stumbled over a black sandbag and fell to the ground. He was quickly helped to his feet and appeared to be unhurt. He took a seat behind the lectern and left the stage when the ceremony concluded soon afterward, jogging to his motorcade."

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "President Biden has officially nominated Sean Patrick Maloney, the former congressman from New York who chaired the committee to elect Democrats to the House, to become U.S. representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The nomination with the rank of ambassador was sent to the Senate, the White House announced Thursday. If confirmed by the Senate, Maloney would replace the current ambassador, former Delaware governor Jack Markell (D), who was nominated to serve as ambassador to Italy. The OECD, founded in 1961 and based in Paris, is an intergovernmental organization of more than 30 democracies with market-based economies dedicated to promoting economic growth."

Dan Diamond & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "President Biden plans to select former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to three people with direct knowledge of the pending announcement. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke with Cohen this week to congratulate her on her selection, the people said. Biden's formal announcement is expected later this month, after White House officials finalize Cohen's paperwork, the people said."

Christopher Wiggins of the Advocate: "On the last day of May, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Wednesday from the White House declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month. It comes amid a wave of conservative attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. 'During Pride Month, we honor a movement that has grown stronger, more vibrant, and more inclusive with every passing year,' the proclamation read. 'Pride is a celebration of generations of LGBTQI+ people who have fought bravely to live openly and authentically. And it is a reminder that we still have generational work to do to ensure that everyone enjoys the full promise of equity, dignity, protection, and freedom.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "An 8-year-old girl who died after being held for a week in Customs and Border Protection custody last month was seen by medical professionals 11 times before she was taken to a hospital, according to new details provided by the agency, which is conducting an internal investigation. While the investigation is continuing, the initial findings suggest that the child, Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, a Panamanian national, was not provided proper medical care while she was in government custody. On Thursday, the agency's acting commissioner, Troy Miller, said that 'several medical providers involved in this incident have now been prohibited from working in C.B.P. facilities.'"

Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "The Senate voted largely along party lines Thursday on legislation to block President Joe Biden's student debt relief program after the measure cleared a key procedural hurdle in the chamber. The 52-46 vote to pass the legislation comes a day after senators took a similarly close vote to proceed to the measure, which would repeal Biden's debt relief program and end the administration's pause on federal student loan payments. A few moderate senators -- Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona -- voted with Republicans on the final passage vote as well as the motion to take up the measure. Just a simple majority of senators were needed to pass the legislation and send it to Biden's desk. But the White House warned in a Statement of Administration Policy last month that Biden would veto the resolution.... The House passed the measure last week in a 218-203 vote, largely along party lines.... The biggest test for Biden's student loan relief plan, however, could still be ahead. The U.S. Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, is expected to rule on two cases on Biden's debt relief plan this month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Emily Davies of the Washington Post: "The man accused of attacking Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) in an elevator of her Washington apartment building has pleaded guilty to three assault charges, according to court documents filed Thursday. Kendrid Hamlin is scheduled to be sentenced in September for one count of assaulting a member of Congress and two counts of assaulting law enforcement officers. In court documents, authorities said Hamlin followed Craig into an elevator on Feb. 9, forcefully tried to stop her from pressing emergency buttons and then punched her in the chin. Officials in Craig's office have said the attack did not appear to be politically motivated, and D.C. police have said they believed Hamlin suffered a mental health crisis."

Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that federal labor law did not protect a union from liability for damage that arose during a strike, and that a state court should resolve questions of liability. The majority found that actions during a strike by a local Teamsters union were not even arguably protected by federal law because the union took 'affirmative steps to endanger' the employer's property 'rather than reasonable precautions to mitigate that risk.' The opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett M. Kavanaugh. Three conservative justices backed more sweeping concurring opinions. A single justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ BUT. Nina Totenberg of NPR: "At first glance, the Supreme Court did seem poised to issue a decision more damaging to unions.... Labor feared the worst: a decision that would hollow out the right to strike. Thursday's decision, however, was a narrow ruling that generally left strike protections intact.... This was a case of [the business community's] winning a relatively minor battle but losing the war. The high court did not overturn or otherwise disturb its longstanding rule giving the NLRB broad authority in labor disputes, leaving unions free to time when they will strike."

Zach Montague & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two Oath Keepers militia members convicted of seditious conspiracy were sentenced to several years in prison on Thursday for their roles in a violent plot to disrupt the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. Sentences for the two members, Roberto Minuta and Edward Vallejo, were handed down at back-to-back hearings in Federal District Court in Washington. Mr. Minuta, a tattoo artist from New York and Texas, was given a sentence of four and a half years. Mr. Vallejo, a retired military veteran from Arizona, received a term of three years in prison, plus one year in home confinement."

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The revelation that federal prosecutors have a recording of ... Donald J. Trump discussing a highly sensitive document in his possession after he left office underscores the weight of the evidence that the special counsel Jack Smith is assembling as he approaches a decision about whether to bring criminal charges.... During the conversation, Mr. Trump signaled his awareness of his inability to declassify the document because he had already left office.... If that description of the recording proves correct -- and Mr. Trump's lawyers have been careful not to confirm or deny it -- ... it would also show Mr. Trump, in his own voice, invoking a sensitive government document to settle a score.... A recording demonstrating that he knew he had material that he had not declassified -- and that it touched on highly sensitive national security issues -- could potentially be compelling evidence that he was aware he should not have kept it even as federal officials were stepping up their efforts to recover what he had taken with him....

"In a town hall interview with the Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Mr. Trump, when asked about the reports about the recording, said, 'I don't know anything about it.'... But the existence of the recording opens up new questions, including what role [Mr. Trump's last chief-of-staff Mark] Meadows might be playing in providing information to investigators.... Mr. Meadows has for months been a source of suspicion and frustration among some in Mr. Trump's orbit." ~~~

~~~ Marie: If this tape proves to be the only "admission" Trump made that disproves his "magic wand" theory of declassification, here's a possible "defense": "Look, I lie all the time. The fake Washington Post said I lied 30,000 times when I was in the White House. So I was lying to these nobodies who came to interview me. I didn't have a classified document proving Mark Milley wanted to go to war with Iran. Milley never wrote such a document. I waved some papers in front of these nobodies because I didn't have the goods on Milley. If I had had a document proving Milley was a warmonger, I would have showed it to them because I had already declassified it in my head. Which I had a perfect right to do.

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's legal team for months has weathered deep distrust and interpersonal conflict that could undermine its defense of the former president.... The turmoil inside the legal team only exploded into public view when one of the top lawyers, Tim Parlatore, abruptly resigned two weeks ago from the representation citing irreconcilable differences with Trump's senior adviser and in-house counsel Boris Epshteyn.... The turmoil has revolved around hostility among the lawyers on the legal team who have come to distrust each other as well as their hostility directed at Epshteyn, over what they regard as his oversight of the legal work and gatekeeping direct access to the former president. In one instance, the clashes became so acute that some of the lawyers agreed to a so-called 'murder-suicide' pact where if Parlatore got fired, others would resign in solidarity. And as some of the lawyers tried to exclude Epshteyn, they withheld information from co-counsel who they suspected might brief him."

Presidential Race 2016. Marcy Wheeler outlines how special counsel John Durham fabricated a conspiracy theory in order to criminalize Hillary Clinton and her campaign for doing customary oppo research on Donald Trump. Durham then used the fake conspiracy theory -- which he called the "Clinton Plan" -- as the basis for his entire failed "investigation." "Even on its face, there are real problems with Durham's Clinton conspiracy theory. As Phil Bump (one, two) and Dan Friedman already showed, Hillary's concerns about Trump couldn't have been the cause of the investigation into Trump. By the time (a Russian intelligence product claimed) that Hillary approved a plan to tie Trump to Russia on July 26, 2016, the events that would lead FBI to open an investigation were already in place."

Presidential Race 2024. DeSantis Doesn't Know His Own Name. Josh Dickey of the Wrap, via Yahoo! News: "When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis released a YouTube video last week announcing his presidential candidacy, the way he said his own name at the end hit some folks with a clang. 'I'm Ron DeSantis,' he said, clearly emphasizing the first syllable and pronouncing the long-e -- like 'DEE-Santis.'... Axios .. in a Thursday report, [wrote]: 'Some presidential candidates struggle to nail their message. Ron DeSantis is struggling to nail his NAME. In the early days of his campaign, DeSantis has gone back and forth between pronouncing his name Dee-Santis and Deh-Santis.'... Axios reports that DeSantis used the long-e (DEE-Santis) not just in that video, but also in a radio interview later that day. But during interviews last week with Fox News, Glenn Beck, Erick Erickson, and Mark Levin, he went back to the more casual-sounding (and so far, more widely used) 'Duh-SAN-tis.'... Axios also spoke with Professor William Connell, chair of Italian Studies at Seton Hall. Connell said ... that the proper Italian way would be something like 'Day-SAHN-tees.' But 'DEE-Santis' would be a departure, he said, since the Italian spelling would be 'DiSantis.'" ~~~

~~~ Whatsizname Has a Short Temper. Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter -- twice barking 'Are you blind?' -- at the end of his first campaign event in New Hampshire on Thursday. DeSantis, who delivered his stock stump speech to an audience of more than 100 people at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Laconia, became noticeably agitated when Steve Peoples of The Associated Press asked why he wasn't taking questions from the audience like most presidential candidates do in this state. 'People are coming up to me, talking to me,' DeSantis said. 'What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.' At the time, DeSantis was shaking hands and taking pictures with individual members of the crowd on his way out of the VFW hall. But he did not answer questions from his lectern so that voters could all hear his answers at once."

Trump ... Edited. Maanvi Singh of the Guardian: "Fox News hosted a town hall event in Iowa with Donald Trump on Thursday night, allowing the president to repeat his well-worn grievances and lies. But remarkably, the pre-taped hour-long prime-time special hosted by Sean Hannity excluded any mention of Trump's conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him.... Fox News pre-taped the event, allowing the network to edit out lies that could provoke further lawsuits.... On Thursday, Trump's very strong tendency to compound his own legal troubles by repeating lies and conspiracy theories that have already landed him in trouble were tamped by Hannity's gentle questioning and redirection -- and perhaps some strategic editing." MB: It isn't clear whether (1) Trump did not repeat his false election claims or (2) he did repeat them and Fox edited out those claims to spare itself another lawsuit.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Christopher Flavelle & Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Arizona has determined that there is not enough groundwater for all of the housing construction that has already been approved in the Phoenix area, and will stop developers from building some new subdivisions, a sign of looming trouble in the West and other places where overuse, drought and climate change are straining water supplies. The decision by state officials very likely means the beginning of the end to the explosive development that has made the Phoenix area the fastest growing metropolitan region in the country. The state said it would not revoke building permits that have already been issued and is instead counting on new water conservation measures and alternative sources to produce the water necessary for housing developments that have already been approved. On Thursday, Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said Arizona was not immediately running dry and that new construction would continue in major cities like Phoenix. The analysis prepared by the state looked at groundwater levels over the next 100 years."

Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "After facing an onslaught of harassment and violent threats for certifying the results of the 2020 election, a Republican on the governing board of Arizona's largest county will not seek reelection during the 2024 cycle. Bill Gates, a longtime conservative and Harvard-educated attorney, told The Washington Post that he intends to serve his term through the end of 2024 and carry out the election-related duties that come with it."

Florida. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times:"A federal judge in Florida disqualified himself from a court case brought by Disney against Gov. Ron DeSantis, but not before blasting the governor's legal team for engaging in 'rank judge shopping.' In a ruling late Thursday, Mark E. Walker, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, said he would no longer preside over the case, filed by Disney last month. Disney accused Mr. DeSantis and a board that oversees government services at Disney World of engaging in 'a targeted campaign of government retaliation.' The case was reassigned to Judge Allen C. Winsor, who was appointed to the court in 2019 by ... Donald J. Trump.Lawyers for Mr. DeSantis had sought to disqualify Judge Walker, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, because he twice mentioned Mr. DeSantis's actions against Disney in unrelated court cases last year.... Disney lawyers opposed the disqualification request -- and Judge Walker agreed with them. He ruled that the cited remarks 'cannot raise a substantial doubt about my impartiality in the mind of a fully informed, disinterested lay person.' But in a surprise, Judge Walker recused himself, saying that he learned last week that a relative of his owned 30 shares of Disney stock."

Florida. Greg Sargent & Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: In "conservative" Hernando County, Florida, parents push back against right-wing attacks on teachers. At a raucous school board meeting Tuesday night, "again and again, parents and students forcefully defended teachers. They cast the right's attacks, the censoring of educators and the removal of books as the real threats to education.... Things like this are happening all over. As Sarah Jones of New York magazine reports, liberal parents in states as far-flung as New York, North Carolina and Montana are organizing local groups, pressuring school boards and running for office to challenge the right's education takeover.... Nine Democratic governors representing nearly 9 million students have sent a letter to leading textbook companies decrying 'the negative impact that censorship and book-banning has on this nation's students.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "Ukraines army commander said air defenses shot down more than 30 missiles and drones as Russia launched a new round of air attacks overnight. No casualties were immediately reported in Kyiv early Friday, while air raid sirens blared around the country, from the Ukrainian capital to the Black Sea port of Odessa.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused local officials of negligence after civilians who were locked out of a shelter in Kyiv were killed in a Russian attack.... As he wraps up a Nordic tour, Secretary of State Blinken is in Finland and is giving a speech Friday on Russia's war in Ukraine.... President Biden, speaking at the Air Force Academy, said he expects Sweden to become the newest member 'as soon as possible,' while Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Norway that Washington anticipates Sweden's accession will happen by next month. Turkey and Hungary have held up Swedens bid to join NATO."

Italy. Spy Boat. Elisabetta Povoledo & Ronen Bergman of the New York Times: "A weather warning ... had not foreseen the violence of the storm that burst over [Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy], with winds so extreme they sank a boat, killing four of its 23 passengers.... In subsequent days, the story took off in the Italian media when it emerged that 21 people on the boat were spies, or former spies -- including 13 from the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, and eight Italian ones.... Two of those who died belonged to Italy's intelligence service, according to a note issued by Italian intelligence, while Israel said that another victim had been a retired Mossad operative. The fourth victim, a Russian woman, had been married to the boat's skipper.... Adding to the intrigue, the surviving passengers appeared to have been spirited away from the lake within hours of the accident. The Mossad sent an aircraft to return the Israeli survivors home, and tried to prevent publication of details about the incident in Israel, according to two Israeli defense officials.... None of the survivors had identification documents with them when they gave statements about the accident to Italian military police officers on Sunday night. They said they had lost them when the boat capsized, prosecutors said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Guardian story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two trains derailed in India in the eastern state of Odisha on Friday, government officials said, killing more than 200 people and injuring hundreds more in an accident that shook the country. Odisha's chief secretary, Pradeep Jena, said on Twitter that 207 people had been killed and another 900 injured. Indian news reports described harrowing scenes as teams of rescue workers with dogs and cutting equipment labored frantically to free the injured who were trapped in the train wreckage. Amitabh Sharma, a railroad ministry spokesman, was quoted by The Times of India as saying that 10 to 12 coaches of one train had derailed and that some of the debris then landed on a nearby track, where it was hit by another train."

CNBC: "The U.S. economy continued to crank out jobs in May, with nonfarm payrolls surging more than expected despite multiple headwinds, the Labor Department reported Friday. Payrolls in the public and private sector increased by 339,000 for the month, better than the 190,000 Dow Jones estimate and marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth."

Comments

[Akhilleus]

Krugman offers several entirely plausible reasons for the wimpy on the part of the Traitors to the manufactured Debt Ceiling Crisis ⟨™ Republican Party) but I still believe they had their choke collars tightened by their big money donor-owners who saw mountains of money disappearing down the Freedom Caucus shithole.

But several things can be true at the same time. Yes, the traitors don’t really care about deficits, and yes, they don’t really have much in the way of policy platforms aside from taking care of the rich and hating on groups that scare them. And a big part of obeisance to their donor class is not costing them a pile of dough for something stupid that they didn’t really care about in the first place.

At this point, the only non-donor motivation they have is hatred.

And honestly, I can’t think of a scarier situation. Ignorant, bug-eyed zealots screaming about stuff they hate.

Too bad the media hasn’t noticed.

[Akhilleus]

Sorry, somehow a single noun went missing in my comment. It should say “wimpy dénouement”…somewhere out in the internet ether, that word is floating around looking for a home.

Maybe…Marred a Lardo?

[Ken Winkes]

Interesting. I like that lady's ambition.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/02/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fulton-county/

[Jeanne]

Yup to your last sentence in the topmost comment, AK-- the media remains blissfully "bothsides." Marie's point sure pounds this one home, that the sentence from the NYT implied that Biden had avoided talking to MyKevin, due to selfish obstinance or something. No. He said he would not "negotiate" with the treasonous pigsnouts on the debt ceiling; he also said he'd be glad to talk "budget" with them, and despite a couple of weak nasty comments, that still has not happened. AK is right. Whoever is in charge of refuting all lies, exaggerations, and outright slanderous crapola aimed at the administration has a 24/7 job. Those crapweasels wouldn't know a policy if it ran over them in the dark. And all this occurs in the main media platforms with no pushback or editing for truth. Drives me insane.

And who THE HELL left a sandbag in Biden's path?? Biden would laugh it off but it isn't funny. He could break a hip and that is serious. I'm sure the Sedition Caucus and Fox Entertainment are roaring with delight-- someone should be fired.

[Akhilleus]

Jeanne,

In fact, scrolling through news sites, you’d be hard pressed to find more stories than the multitude of breathless and often snarky pieces about Biden’s fall. I mean it’s not like we have a convicted sexual molester, lifelong crook, congenital liar and democracy hating traitor running for president*.

Oh, look! Biden fell down. STOP THE PRESSES!

[Patrick]

There are a few stories today about Top Guv's seeking to clarify how his last name is pronounced, and guesses as to why that's happening. Dee-Santis? Duh-Santis? The Guv himself says now it's Dee- (but -- he also says he's Italian descent, which would normally be DiSantis. )

I'm guessing he's trying to move his name away from one that is catching on, and that uses the "Duh" form: Rhonda Santis.

Ron D. Santis doesn't seems to work as well, but it's where he says he wants to be.

A Ron by any other name would smell the same.

A doo Ron Ron yeah a doo ron ron.

So many possibilities to mock him will unfold in the next few months, and his name is just one.

[Akhilleus]

Asshole Friday

This being Friday, I thought I’d bring you all up to speed on my latest reading trends (I know, I know…you’ve been waiting patiently for this report…daily routines cast aside in despair while wondering “What is that Akhilleus reading today??!!”)

Well, you probably won’t gasp in surprise that, given the idiots and traitors who surround us, who primp and preen and strut their petty complaints across the stage as if they’re being dragged, unfairly of course, to the gas chamber, I’m reading about Assholes. Literally.

Today’s book is “Assholes* *a theory” by Aaron James, a professor of philosophy at UC Irvine.

He investigates what makes an asshole, what qualities allow us to inscribe certain names into the ranks of Assholedom.

I’ll save you the suspense.

Trump is a BIG ONE. And this book was written in 2012. But Fatty has been an asshole his whole life.

James suggests that while Dubya might do asshole things, he’s probably not personally an asshole. Color in the circle: strongly agree, agree, no preference, disagree, strongly disagree.

I choose “What planet do you live on?”

Admittedly, James, the academic, is circumspect about assigning assholeism across the board.

He does offer a rather fun taxonomy of assholes:

The Boorish Asshole

James, in an egregiously both sides seizure suggests that both Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore inhabit this realm. But here’s the difference: Moore might not be the most courteous guy when pursuing his quarry to illuminate corporate hypocrisy, gun violence, or 9-11 lies, but he’s going after the truth. Limbaugh is a boorish prick pushing lies.

H.L. Mencken also makes the list. I like Mencken but cannot, in good conscience, categorically disagree.

The Smug Asshole

Larry Summers. Right?

The Asshole Boss

I have my list, you have yours. Naturally, I was never one.

The Royal Asshole

Too many to mention.

The Presidential Asshole

Interestingly, and accurately, James lists Obama as the AntiAsshole.

In case you’re wondering where Darth Cheney ends up, he makes two—count ‘em, two—Asshole categories:

The Reckless Asshole (yeah, goin’ away) and…

The Self-Aggrandizing Asshole.

Because of course.

The Cable News Asshole

At the time of publication, the winner was Bill O’Reilly, described as a politico-entrepreneurial asshole. Other Faux assholes make the list too. More would be added now. A shitload more.

He also taxonimizes Newer Asshole styles, Corporate Assholes, Capitalist Assholes, and Management Assholes. Haven’t gotten there yet, but I’ll clue youse guys in later.

Of course an updated and revised edition would have to include pretty much anyone with a R after their name, and….

Well, shit. There are just too many assholes to account for. Linnaeus would’ve given up, gone home and tried out all those hallucinogenic plants he’d been studying.

(Chuck…try the Hawaiian. Good shit, man.)

Okay, you can back to emptying the dishwasher.

[Jeanne]

Thanks for a giggle, AK! We have so few these days...

[Akhilleus]

Marie posits a situation in which incontrovertible evidence of Trump’s willful and knowledgeable mishandling of top secret documents could be potentially scuttled or at least put into the Questionable Category.

And yes, Fatty declaring “I lie all the time” might convince some that he was “just kidding”, making him entirely innocent, but that gets us into the famous Liar’s Paradox.

“Everything I say is a lie” is one of those philosophico-logico problems that college students can debate until the first class the next day (philosophers too).

My old pal Saul Kripke has a solution that allows us to nail those lying bastards.

Kripke says that such statements don’t exist in a vacuum, that they cannot be adequately or accurately evaluated on their face. He says that statements like this are contingent. Let’s take Trump as an example. He might now and then say something true, “I grab them by the pussy”, but probably 80-90% of what he says publicly is a lie.

This is the contingency. If most of what he says is a lie, trying to make shit up to try to avoid being pinned down can, in light of a mountain of existing evidence, also be considered a lie.

It’s not a lock, but it bypasses the tricky-dicky Liar’s Paradox problem.

If you don’t know Saul, check out his book “Naming and Necessity”. It ain’t the easiest read, but it’s a blast once you get what he’s taking about.

Kripke’s thinking doesn’t, however, stick a pin in Fatty’s lies. That’s its own paradox.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: Well, all that philosophying is just fine, but let me just tell you that one of Trump's many former lawyers was on the teevee tonight, and damned if he didn't pose eggsactly the defense I suggested. The lawyer, Tim Parlatore, didn't use the word "lie," of course; he said Trump was "bluffing" when he did the ole Joe McCarthy, "I have here in my hand" routine.