May 22, 2023

Evening Update:

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "With as few as 10 days remaining until the U.S. government could default, President Biden on Monday resumed direct negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), hoping to resolve a stalemate over the debt ceiling that has started to spook Wall Street. The two men entered the new round of talks after a weekend of turbulence and acrimony, and mere hours after the Treasury Department issued its latest warning -- this time, using more urgent language -- that the U.S. is 'highly likely' to run out of cash and other options in early June, perhaps as soon as the first of the month." See also Akhilleus' comment in Monday's thread on the WashPo's "journalism" re: the debt ceiling negotiations.

"Oops!" Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) on Monday inadvertently implied that House Republicans' high-profile investigation into President Joe Biden's family members and their finances is actually about helping Donald Trump win the presidency in 2024. Comer, who is leading the GOP's probe as chair of the House oversight and accountability committee, appeared to say the quiet part out loud during a 'Fox & Friends First' interview. 'We have talked to you .... about how the media can just not ignore this any longer...,' said the show's host, Ashley Strohmier. 'So do you think that because of your investigation, that is what's moved this needle with the media?' 'Absolutely. There's no question,' Comer replied. 'You look at the polling, and right now Donald Trump is 7 points ahead of Joe Biden and trending upward, Joe Biden's trending downward. And I believe that the media is looking around, scratching their head, and they're realizing that the American people are keeping up with our investigation.'"

Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors overseeing the investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's handling of classified documents have issued a subpoena for information about Mr. Trump's business dealings in foreign countries since he took office, according to two people familiar with the matter.... The subpoena suggests that investigators have cast a wider net than previously understood as they scrutinize whether he broke the law in taking sensitive government materials with him upon leaving the White House and then not fully complying with demands for their return. The subpoena -- drafted by the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith -- sought details on the Trump Organization's real estate licensing and development dealings in seven countries: China, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, according to the people familiar with the matter. The subpoena sought the records for deals reached since 2017, when Mr. Trump was sworn in as president.... Collectively, the subpoena's demand ... suggests that Mr. Smith is exploring whether there is any connection between Mr. Trump's deal-making abroad and the classified documents he took with him when he left office."

Paula Reid, et al., of CNN: "Donald Trump asked whether he could push back against Justice Department efforts last year to recover any classified documents still in his possession during conversations with his lawyer over compliance with a federal subpoena, according to multiple sources familiar with notes taken by his lawyer and turned over to investigators. Special counsel Jack Smith has obtained dozens of pages of notes that Trump's attorney Evan Corcoran took last spring, memorializing conversations with his client after the former president received the subpoena last May and before a key meeting with the Justice Department a few weeks later when Trump's legal team [falsely] said they had turned over all classified records they could find, the sources told CNN.... Some sources close to the former president say he was merely asking Corcoran for legal advice when he inquired about whether they could beat back the subpoena. But Trump has offered shifting explanations for why he did not return all the classified documents in a timely fashion. Trump has said he had 'the absolute right' to take the documents as recently as this month at a CNN town hall." See also the story by Hugo Lowell of the Guardian, linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IMO, just asking "Do I really have to do this?" is a perfectly legitimate question that anyone receiving a subpoena might ask his lawyer. The questions are, "What was the lawyer's advice?", "How did Trump respond to the advice?" and, ultimately, "What actions did Trump take in response to that advice?"

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump is running for president with a series of low-hanging legal clouds looming over him. It probably doesn't help that two of his former lawyers have pointed to the dissension, alienation and alleged missteps that have plagued his legal effort for years. Speaking to CNN on Saturday, attorney Timothy Parlatore, who recently left the Trump legal team, blamed infighting and one fellow lawyer in particular for his departure. And he seemed to warn of the problems that that lawyer, Boris Epshteyn, is creating for Trump's defense. Meanwhile, former top Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb went so far as to predict that Trump 'will go to jail' in the classified-documents case, while also citing the Trump team's poor handling of it."

Keep on Talkin', Motor Mouth. Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "E. Jean Carroll, who this month won $5 million in damages from ... Donald J. Trump, is now seeking a 'very substantial' additional amount in response to his insults on a CNN program just a day after she won her sexual abuse and defamation case."

Florida. Lev, the Giver Who Keeps on Giving. Aram Roston & Joseph Tanfani of Reuters: "Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas and his business partner were arrested in 2019, accused by the U.S. government of funneling a Russian oligarch's money into American political campaigns. One recipient of Parnas' donations -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- has said he was barely an acquaintance.... But DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges.... The disclosures from Parnas cast new light on the Florida governor's relationship with the businessman and the role Parnas played in helping DeSantis gain entree to the circle of .... Donald Trump."

DeSantis Welcomes Violent Criminal Cops to Florida. Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "Numerous police officers lured to new jobs in Florida with cash from Governor Ron DeSantis's flagship law enforcement relocation program have histories of excessive violence or have been arrested for crimes including kidnapping and murder since signing up, a study of state documents has found. DeSantis ... has spent more than $13.5m to date on the recruitment bonus program, which he touted in 2021 as an incentive to officers in other states frustrated by Covid-19 vaccination mandates.... Among the almost 600 officers who moved to Florida and received the bonus -- or were recruited in state -- are a sizable number who either arrived with a range of complaints against them, or have since accrued criminal charges, the online media outlet Daily Dot has discovered."

Naomi Nix, et al., of the Washington Post: "The European Union fined Meta a record $1.3 billion on Monday after finding the Facebook parent broke its privacy laws by transferring user data from Europe to the United States -- one of the most impactful penalties from the E.U. rules, which could have broad implications for American businesses. The Irish Data Protection Commission ordered Meta to suspend all transfers of personal data belonging to users in the E.U. and the European Economic Area -- which includes non-E. U. countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway -- to the United States. The Irish Data Protection Commission said in a statement that Meta's data transfers were in breach of the E.U.'s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), rules that restrict what companies can do with people's personal data. It is the largest GDPR fine handed down by the bloc...."

Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "The popular video app TikTok sued Montana on Monday, saying the state's new law banning the app statewide would violate Americans' First Amendment right to free expression. The federal lawsuit will set the stage for a broader debate over the short-video app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which some critics in the United States have said is vulnerable to Chinese government propaganda and espionage. The lawsuit seeks to overturn the law, which Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed last week and is set to go into effect Jan. 1. The legal challenge will probably delay the measure."

Washington State. Caroline O'Donovan & Naomi Nix of the Washington Post: "On Monday, some Amazon workers at the company's Seattle headquarters announced internally their plans to walk off the job. In messages sent out via Slack and email, employee organizers urged their colleagues to walk out on May 31 -- one week after the company's annual shareholder meeting -- in response to frustration over layoffs and the return-to-office mandate, as well as concerns about Amazon's climate commitments.... The walkout, which organizers hope will draw at least 1,000 Seattle-based participants, is part of a greater wave of anxiety spilling over into agitation among Silicon Valley workers as hiring freezes follow mass layoffs amid a looming potential recession."

Delaware Senate Race. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Senator Thomas R. Carper, a veteran Democrat from Delaware, announced on Monday that he would not seek re-election next year, opening up a seat in a deep-blue state that he said he hoped would go to his handpicked successor. Mr. Carper, 76, is in his fourth term in the Senate and is the last surviving Vietnam veteran to serve there. He has held public office since the 1970s, first as Delaware's treasurer, then for a decade as a congressman, then as governor and, since 2001, as a senator. 'This just seems like a good time just to turn the page and move on,' Mr. Carper said at a news conference in Wilmington, Del.... The senator said he intended to do all he could to help Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, the Democrat who serves as the state's only member of the House and was his former intern, win the race to succeed him." The AP's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Paul Kane, et al., of the Washington Post: "A day after partisan acrimony disrupted talks around the debt ceiling, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to restart negotiations Sunday, sending a newly hopeful signal that the two parties might avoid an economic catastrophe as few as 11 days away. The two leaders spoke by phone Sunday and agreed to dispatch their chief emissaries for further staff talks at 6 p.m. before Biden and McCarthy (R-Calif.) connect again in Washington on Monday.... The call with McCarthy took place as Biden was returning from the Group of Seven summit in Japan.... On Sunday, during an appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned that some bills would have to go unpaid if the government breaches the June 1 deadline." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Elliot Spagat of the AP: "The recent deaths of an 8-year-old Panamanian girl and 17-year-old boy from Honduras who were under U.S. government supervision have again raised questions about how prepared authorities are to handle medical emergencies suffered by migrants arriving in the U.S., especially as agencies struggle with massive overcrowding at facilities along the southern border."

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president. The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump's handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations.... The federal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith has recently focused on why the subpoena was not compiled with, notably whether Trump arranged for boxes of classified documents to be moved out of the storage room so he could illegally retain them."

Kris Grim of the New York Times: WNBA star Brittney Griner returned to the court this weekend after her wrongful detention in Russia. Fans gave her a rock-star welcome.

Maya Yang of the Guardian: "The convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein appeared to threaten Bill Gates and tried to blackmail the multi-billionaire over his extramarital affair with a Russian bridge player, according to a new report published by the Wall Street Journal. Speaking to the Journal, sources familiar with the matter said that after Epstein found out about the Microsoft co-founder's affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, he threatened Gates into reimbursing him for tuition costs that Epstein had initially covered for Antonova to attend software coding school."

Presidential Race 2024. Meg Kinnard of the AP: "As he launches his presidential campaign on Monday, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is officially wading into a GOP primary battle already largely dominated by two commanding figures: ... Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott, the only Black Republican senator, will make his campaign announcement in his hometown of North Charleston after making it official last week with the Federal Election Commission. The late morning event is taking place at Charleston Southern University, Scott's alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: In 2011, Ron DeSantis wrote a now out-of-print American "history book" in which he bashed then-President Obama, accusing him of "conducting a dangerous power grab" and "dismisse[d] slavery as a 'personal flaw' of the Founding Fathers, irrelevant to the really important stuff: context-free, cherry-picked quotes from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.... [Now of course he] has moved to stop history lessons in Florida that might make students uncomfortable and who attacked an AP African American Studies course he said 'lacks historical value....'"

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Ukrainian forces are staging counterattacks on Russian troops on the outskirts of Bakhmut, even as their presence in the eastern city dwindles just to small footholds, according to Kyiv. Their latest stated goal is the encirclement of Russian troops to force them to defend their ground.... Russia will probably need to send in reinforcements to hold on to Bakhmut and its surroundings 'at the expense of operations in other directions,' analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said.... Russia's ambassador to the United States suggested that any transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv would bring NATO partners into the conflict.... Workers are focusing on restoring electricity supplies in the Zaporizhzhia area after what a local official described as an 'emergency situation' at one of its energy facilities."

Jennifer Hansler of CNN: “Paul Whelan, an American who is wrongfully detained in Russia, told CNN on Sunday that he feels confident that his case is a priority for the United States government but wishes it could be resolved faster. 'I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning. I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,' said Whelan, who called CNN exclusively from his prison camp in remote Mordovia. Whelan said he does harbor concerns that he could be left behind again -- particularly after the Russians wrongfully detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich."

Greece. Nicholas Paphitis of the AP: "Despite inflicting the most crushing defeat in half a century on the opposition, Greece's center-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected Monday to seek a second national election within weeks, as he lacks the majority in Parliament to govern alone. With 99.55% of the votes counted early Monday, Mitsotakis] New Democracy party won 40.79% -- twice the leftwing main opposition Syriza's 20.07%. Socialist Pasok came in third at 11.46%. The margin far outstripped pollsters] forecasts and was the biggest since 1974, when Greece's first democratic elections were held after the fall of the seven-year military dictatorship. But the one-off proportional representation system in effect Sunday means ND only gains 146 of Parliament's 300 seats, five short of a governing majority. The new elections, expected in late June or early July, will revert to the previous system that grants the first party a bonus of up to 50 seats. That would ensure Mitsotakis a comfortable majority for a second term in power."

Italy. Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "At least 13 people are dead and tens of thousands displaced after floods hit northern Italy, upending production in agriculture-rich areas and prompting the country's prime minister to cut short her trip to Japan for the Group of Seven summit."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The man accused of murdering four college students during a predawn intrusion at their house near the University of Idaho declined to enter a plea to the charges Monday, electing to 'stand silent' during the first step in what promises to be a lengthy legal process. Judge John C. Judge said he would enter a not-guilty plea for the defendant, Bryan Kohberger, after Mr. Kohberger's lawyer, Anne Taylor, said her client had elected not to enter any plea at this stage. Mr. Kohberger has said through a lawyer in the past that he expects to be exonerated." MB: Judge Judge. Cute.

Washington Post: "C. Boyden Gray, a patrician conservative lawyer who served as White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush and was influential in shepherding Republican judicial and Justice Department nominees as a strategist and fundraiser, died overnight on May 20 or 21 at his home in Washington. He was 80."

Comments

[Forrest Morris]

Ron DeSantis wrote an American "history" book.

The only person I know who has no negative opinion about school
text books being rewritten, because then they have to be reprinted,
is my friend Dawn S.

Dawn owns controlling interest in Follett Corporation, a publisher of
textbooks and owner of a number of book stores.

Dawn's mother was Mary Follett. I maintained Mary's rose garden
at her cottage here on Lake Michigan for a number of years and did
other odd jobs, like mixing Manhattans, etc. until she went to that
great book store in the sky.

[Akhilleus]

Mountains? What mountains?

One of the biggest problems surrounding the Debt Ceiling Crisis(™ Republican Party), is the way this artificially imposed situation is presented to the public. The 2023 version of the Debt Ceiling Crisis™, is, like it’s predecessors, an attempt by a bunch of lazy-ass liars to get by force what they can’t accomplish legislatively: huge cuts in programs they hate, especially anything making life less onerous for the poor and lower middle class, while making the rich richer and big oil and gas less susceptible to fussy old things like safety regulations.

So we have an obscenely asymmetrical, completely unbalanced situation, one side responsible and honest, the other, well,…not. But in the press it all looks like BOTH SIDES are to blame. Which, as always, they’re not. It is, as always, ONE SIDE trying, and being very successful, to be undemocratic extremist assholes.

But take a look at the first few sentences in the WaPo piece linked above. Here’s what you see:

“Partisan acrimony”. “Two parties [working to avoid] economic catastrophe”. “Both leaders” talking by phone.

Is there acrimony? Absolutely. Both groups are angry. But there’s a difference. One group is angry because the other guys are pissing in the pool and the first group would prefer clean water. The other group is angry because normal people are saying “Hey, morons, don’t piss in the pool”.

“Two parties” working to avoid catastrophe? No. One party is doing that. They’re trying to make sure the ship of state doesn’t founder. The other party is attaching explosive devices to the hull under the water line.

“Both leaders”? No. No. Biden is a leader. My Kevin is a marionette whose strings are pulled by psychotics.

But you’d never get any of this from a quick glance at these articles. The problem here is that most journalists writing for big name outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, etc. came of age, professionally speaking, at a time when it was considered bad form to seem to be taking one side over another, so you got a lot of “On this side, blah, blah, blah, and on the other side…” a construct based on balancing the positions of both sides, the subtext of which is the proposition that both sides have valid points.

That last bit hasn’t been true for a loooong time. Like geologic era long time. It’s like writing about a land that’s still in the Cretaceous period: “Reports from out west say that big mounds are appearing that could end up being mountains. Wow! We’ll keep an eye on that…for News Center 5, this is Barney Rubble.”

So instead we get reporting that doesn’t admit the existence of the fucking Rocky Mountains dominating huge swaths of the country in our current geologic era.

In effect, Americans are being told that those mountains don’t exist.

[P.D.Pepe]

Read what Ezra has to say about the debt ceiling:

"The debt ceiling might be the single dumbest feature of American law. Congress decides to spend money and later schedules a separate vote on whether the government will pay its bills. If the government doesn’t pay its bills, calamity ensues.
Moody’s Analytics estimates that even a short debt ceiling breach could cause a recession. An analysis by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers modeled a more protracted default and foresaw a crash on the order of the 2008 financial crisis: The stock market falls 45 percent, unemployment rises by five points, and America’s long-term borrowing costs are much, much higher. All of this to pay money we already owe and can easily borrow. Madness.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/opinion/biden-mccarthy-debt-ceiling.html

[P.D.Pepe]

Forest: Did Mary's Manhattans open her up abit about the dark side of book stores? Perhaps not in her day but her daughter Dawn has drawn a different picture–-with or without cocktails

[RAS]

Akhilleus (from yesterday),
Most conservatives don't understand the Constitution because they get all their ideas and information from the same Republican Cliffs Notes. The original texts are foreign to most them and is why they don't understand what they are talking about most of the time. It's also why when they talk about the Constitution or the Bible it doesn't resemble what those texts truly represent. Their ignorance helps them sleep at night, as they probably dream of shooting libs.

[Marie Burns]

@P.D.Pepe: The trouble with Klein is that he goes on to argue that the 14th-Amendment strategy will not work because the confederate Supremes might/will rule against Biden's using it as a basis for paying debtss previously incurred by Congress.

Klein describes a 14-Amendment solution as not "normalcy," my unfavoritest word. But I disagree. What is not "normalcy" is defaulting on the debt. Just because Republicans have acted like spoiled brats throughout the 21st century does not mean that Americans and the world have to accept their irresponsible tantrums as "normalcy."

But let's assume Klein is right and five or six unelected justices/princes rule Biden's move unconstitutional. I think Biden can just fucking ignore them and go on paying the bills. (He should announce that's what he will do before the Court rules. The POTUS doing the right thing will be the "new normal." Remember, there's really nothing but the Supreme Court's own assertion that it gets to decide everything (see Marbury v. Madison). We've had 200+ years of accepting the Supreme Court assertion of its own primacy. It's the third branch of government (Article III), and it's run amok. By using the 14th Amendment (and Article II) to do what's in the national interest, Biden can reframe American politics in the whole of the 21st century. He made a stab at working within the current framework. Clearly, a new framework is required. That would make Biden a Lincolnesque hero. (Did I mention Lincoln "paused" habeas corpus in the national interest?)

[RAS]

Biden could tell the Supremes in private that he is going to pay our bills using the 14th whether they side with him or not. I think he would want to let them save face because of the Institution. Though there would still be a chance of the jackasses on the court wanting to call Biden's bluff. I would think that all the businessmen should be reminding the Supremes that they were put on the bench by them to make them money not lose it. Money is king and recessions are bad. But opposition to anything a Democrat wants is so ingrained in them by this point I'm not sure they even know what they'd do if the conflict makes it's way to them.

[Akhilleus]

Not doing the right thing because self absorbed creeps in robes won’t like it is no reason not to act. Just do it and MAKE them twist themselves into putzy pretzels explaining why the crystal clear language of the constitution is wrong.

I feel the same way (exercised) that I did when Dick Durbin declined to demand that Coke Can Pubic Hair Man come to congress and explain himself because, “He wouldn’t show up even if we did invite him.”

So what?

Make him refuse to show. Make him look fearful, arrogant, untrustworthy, and above it all. As my mother used to say, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.

And who knows what those pretend justices might do? Maybe Harlan Crow and other Supremes’ billionaire benefactors might say to their bought and paid-for employees “Defaulting is a stupid idea. It screws with works markets. We just lost a packet because your wild dogs in Congress are idiots. Shape up!”

[Marie Burns]

@RAS & @Akhilleus: You make a very good point. As we know now, the Supremes are not much more independent of their ultra-rich lobbyist "good friends" than are members of Congress to theirs. And as you say, maintaining the full faith & credit of the U.S. inures to the benefit of the Supreme's puppeteers.

[Akhilleus]

Another reason to go full Constitution on traitor asses is that they have now been given marching orders from the Orange Monster to let the country default. He said it, point blank. And his reason? “Cuz I’m not president now” tee-hee…so what do I care?

This isn’t just a suggestion, this is a marching order to the traitors in Congress. Ask for everything, if Biden doesn’t pay the ransom, let the country default. Then blame Biden.

These people cannot be reasoned with. They.Don’t. Care.

And I’m not even sure, as RAS suggests, that they’ve read a Cliffs Notes version of the Constitution. They don’t read. And they don’t care about anything other than killing Biden’s presidency and owning the libs.

They might be thinking, well, our hood buddies on the Court will bail us out.

Why let it get that far?

I’m chess, you play out every possible move your opponent might make as you get to endgame. Play it out. Do you see any possible way in which these people won’t either try to cheat or just upend the board if it looks like they might lose?

No.

Just end it. Don’t fool around with these bastards a second longer. But they are sure that Biden will cave. And he just might. And if he doesn’t, they’ll pull the default lever and let out a mad clown chuckle.

Call upon the Constitution. There’s no chance of caving and no chance of default.

It really is the only move. King (Biden) takes pawn (My Kevin), mate.

[Ken Winkes]

A kinda big deal:

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/arizona-california-nevada-cut-water-usage-drought-hit-colorado-river-rcna85567

Is it possible to kick water down the road?

Biden did.

[Akhilleus]

I meant to write “good” buddies on the Court, but “hood” buddies might be more appropriate (Otto’s not so dumb after all). Name me one case where Clarence Thomas came down on the side of black Americans. Now show me the waterfall of cases where he screwed them. See what I mean?

He won’t even recuse himself in cases involving his treason loving wife’s connection to election deniers and their white supremacist brown shirt Nazi street thugs.

Hood buddies.

Clarence uses his past as a poor black kid not to say “I’m gonna step up for other kids like I was once” but to say “I did it all on my own and so can they. And besides, I’m going on a round the world trip with my pal Harlan on his super yacht. It’s great being with the white Richie Riches”.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: I wonder if Clarence & Ginny noticed when their "good/hood friend" Harlan said he wasn't sure if he and Clarence would be friends had Clarence not got that Supreme Court gig. Clarence & Ginny think Harlan & his wife like them. Harlan indicated he was using Clarence. Did that hurt Clarence's widdle feelings?

[Akhilleus]

Marie,

Jesus. Talk about a tell. How do I get in a poker game with ol’ Harlan? It’s (too) often assumed that rich people are really smart. Some are, I’m sure, but coming out with that sort of thing—“yeah, we probably wouldn’t be buds if he wasn’t someone I could use”—doesn’t say “Mensa Material!” to me.

But maybe he’s a genius and really, he just doesn’t give a shit what Clarence and Ginni think. All he has to do is dangle another half million dollar all expenses paid trip to a private island in the South Pacific, and he can say whatever he likes. One would think that someone with Thomas’ background wouldn’t trade his self respect and reputation for something as transitory and cheap as a cushy seat on a yacht, but you can never tell about people.