;)
October 1, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 98th birthday Saturday by seeing family members and taking calls in his modest living room in Plains, Ga., the small town where he began his improbable campaign for the nation's highest office nearly half a century ago."
Trump Knocks McConnell, Makes Racist Remark(s) about Chao. Asawan Suebsaeng & Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: "'He has a DEATH WISH,' Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, while also adding a racist dig at McConnell's wife Elaine Chao, who is Asian American and a former member of Trump's own cabinet. 'Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!' Chao was born in Taiwan.... The screed came after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to fund the US government until Dec. 16 to avoid a shut down at midnight." MB: Chao was a lousy transportation secretary, except when it came to carrying out her corrupt projects (befitting of any post in a Trump administration), but no one should make racist remarks about her.
Washington Post Editors endorse Democrat Wes Moore for governor of Maryland: "The candidates are not merely a study in policy contrasts. They exist in different worlds. Mr. Moore has staked out the aspirational high ground as a liberal intent on tackling high crime, unaffordable housing, child poverty, and the racial wealth and opportunity gaps. [Republican Dan] Cox's political views are rooted in hard-right resentment -- at President Biden's 2020 victory, which he falsely denies; at pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, which saved countless lives; at critical race theory, a chimera wielded to stoke racial anger; at climate change forecasts, which he regards as phony."
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Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package that would keep the government open through mid-December, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine. The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse, clearing it for President Biden's signature. It would keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills. The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. New Lede: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Biden signed it soon afterward, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine."
Jennifer Schussler of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday issued an executive order re-establishing the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory board that was dissolved five years ago after its members resigned in protest over ... Donald J. Trump's reaction to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. The announcement reverses the outcome of one of the stormier episodes in Mr. Trump's mutually antagonistic relationship with artists and cultural figures. In a group resignation letter in August 2017, the committee ... decried what it called Mr. Trump's 'support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans,' saying 'the false equivalencies you push cannot stand.' In response, the White House issued a statement saying Mr. Trump had already been planning to dissolve the group, describing it as 'not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Besides, the committee probably refused to recommend purchasing this nice masterpiece, which somehow found its way to spot in the hall outside Trump's temporary HQ in the Oval Office. I guess a person could contemplate the painting while awaiting her audience with the King.
Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "'A woke military is a weak military,' former CIA director Mike Pompeo tweeted Tuesday. A few weeks earlier at CIA headquarters, in Langley, Va., current CIA director William J. Burns had a different perspective: cutting the ribbon on a new statue of abolitionist and military spy Harriet Tubman, a move some might decry as 'woke' for an intelligence agency. Burns shared ribbon-cutting duties with Tina Wyatt, a descendant of Tubman's who was invited to the private ceremony.... CIA employees proposed the statue project after attending a team-building program in Maryland, where Tubman was raised and where she eventually led scores of enslaved people to freedom. It is a reproduction of a statue by artist Brian Hanlon that stands in front of the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn, N.Y., and was made with the artist's permission." ~~~
~~~ Marie: BTW, I saw the Pompeo anti-"woke" ad referenced in this Fox "News" story. It ran on CNN or MSNBC, and it's disgusting, probably as a roll-over in early-primary states markets. And it's a reminder that the next Republican president* will be worse than Trump, because he (and mostly likely not she) probably will be less ham-handed than Trump. Instead of blurting out atrocious, bigoted remarks, the new president* will say them softly, over inspiring, patriotic theme music.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was welcomed by her colleagues on Friday at an investiture ceremony at the court that was attended by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The proceedings were 'purely ceremonial,' the court's public information office noted, as Justice Jackson has been a member of the court since she was sworn in on June 30. But the event was nonetheless stately and steeped in history." MB: Yeah, welcome to a hot mess. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post channels Sam Alito to explain the divine right of confederate Supremes to rule with impunity: "All I know is that the legitimacy of the Supreme Court is something that ought to be taken on faith, as a matter of dogma -- which, coincidentally, is also a pretty great way of making judicial decisions. Yes, I'm sure I have that right.... But to call my court's integrity into question -- the temerity! This kind of horrible disrespect is the sort I will not suffer in silence. All I want is to live my life as I choose, holding sway over the entire nation without pushback or criticism. Yet at every turn my benevolence is met with treachery and complaint.... So stop questioning my authority!"
Merrick Garland Is Tired of Trying to Reason with Aileen Cannon. Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Justice Department moved to quickly dismantle the independent review of documents seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, contending that the review -- ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon -- is impeding its criminal investigation. In a 15-page filing asking a federal appeals court to speed its consideration of the issue, prosecutors complained the 'special master' review prevents DOJ from accessing thousands of non-classified records recovered from the former president's estate.... Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators' efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.... The filing also hints at prosecutors' irritation with Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed days after his defeat in the 2020 election. The Justice Department noted that she has repeatedly overruled decisions made by the special master she appointed at Trump's suggestion...."
Trump Legal "Team."Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... just a few weeks after ... Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago..., he finds himself in a battle, trying to persuade Trump to go along with his legal strategy and fighting with some other advisers who have counseled a more aggressive posture. The dispute has raged for at least a week, Trump advisers say, with the former president listening as various lawyers make their best arguments.... [Kise] remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems..., but on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.... Trump seems, at least for now, to be heeding advice from those [lawyers] who have indulged his desire to fight." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Donald Trump is very upset Maggie Haberman didn't choose him as a fact-checker. But then, ironically enough, she proves in a tweet (showing a photo of her questions & Trump's handwritten answers) that she did, which is to say that the World's Greatest Fact-Checker even lied about fact-checking. For some reason, Haberman did not accept his fact-checking as, you know, conclusive.
[The Second Amendment] is about maintaining within the citizenry the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary. -- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)
[The Second Amendment was] designed purposefully to empower the people to resist the force of tyranny used against them. -- Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) ~~~
~~~ ** Jamie Raskin, former professor of Constitutional law & now Maryland MOC (D), in a New York Times op-ed (September 27) explains the Second Amendment to some his dimwitted colleagues: "It is essential to reject the myth that frustrated citizens have a Second Amendment right to raise arms against the government -- an outrageous betrayal of our Constitution.... Of the more than 900 people charged with crimes tied to Jan. 6 -- including smashing windows, assaulting Capitol officers and conspiring to overthrow or interfere with the government -- not a single charge has been dismissed by any federal (or state) court on the grounds that the Second Amendment or any other part of the Constitution gives them the right to engage in violent insurrection against the government.... The Constitution treats insurrection and rebellion as political dangers, not protected rights. Article I gives Congress the power to 'provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.'" [Raskin also cites Article IV & the 14th Amendment, which grant the federal government the power to put down "domestic violence" and "rebellion."] "The Supreme Court has been clear that the Second Amendment's reference to a 'well-regulated militia' means well-regulated by the government."
Marie: Maybe Reality Chex should go commercial. How about I try to get a big oil company to back me? RAS found this ad that would be perfect: ~~~
~~~ Via RAS, via Crooks & Liars, via Common Dreams, by director Adam McKay. Thanks, everybody!
Marie's Question of the Day: Why is it that so many (alleged!) virulent, murderous racists (WashPo link) look as if they could play Evil Santa? Even without makeup, these horrible miscreants are ready for their closeup. (Currently -- at 7 am ET -- photos of these fat pink fucks' faces also appear on the front page of the WashPo, so you can see what I mean without clicking on a firewalled page.)
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times: "... while officials along much of [the southwest Florida] coastline responded [ahead of Hurricane Ian] with orders to evacuate on Monday, emergency managers in Lee County held off, pondering during the day whether to tell people to flee, but then deciding to see how the forecast evolved overnight.... Lee County, which includes the hard-hit seaside community of Fort Myers Beach, as well as the towns of Fort Myers, Sanibel and Cape Coral, did not issue a mandatory evacuation order for the areas likely to be hardest hit until Tuesday morning, a day after several neighboring counties had ordered their most vulnerable residents to flee.... [the Lee County] delay, an apparent violation of the meticulous evacuation strategy the county had crafted for just such an emergency, may have contributed to catastrophic consequences that are still coming into focus as the death toll continues to climb. At least 16 storm-related deaths have been identified in Lee County, the highest toll anywhere in the state...."
~~~ Marie: In fairness to Lee County, this is the best they ever have done. It's true the messages came late, but I received four phone calls from Lee County emergency services (even though I haven't lived there for several years). I have never received advisory phone calls or text messages from Lee County prior to this so I have relied on weather reports to assess my own situation. To get elected a county commissioner in Lee County, you have to be a Republican. And you know, Republicans don't want to impinge upon your freeeedom.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: The most frustrating part of national reporting on Hurricane Ian is that reporters have no idea what area or town they're describing. So, for instance, CNN & MSNBC have reported massive destruction in Fort Myers -- over videos of massive destruction in Fort Myers Beach, a barrier island some 10 miles away from Fort Myers. Or they showed areas of North Fort Myers -- an unincorporated, low-lying area separated from Fort Myers by a mile-plus-wide river -- as Fort Myers. If the shots are wide enough, locals can tell what they're looking at, but others don't know. It's reasonable to assume this geographical ignorance is a commonly repeated error and that the networks often misinform viewers in this manner.
Georgia. Kate Brumback of the AP: "A federal judge on Friday found that Georgia election practices challenged by a group associated with Democrat Stacey Abrams do not violate the constitutional rights of voters, ruling in favor of the state on all remaining issues in a lawsuit filed nearly four years ago. 'Although Georgia's election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the VRA,' U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote, referring to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He detailed his reasoning in a 288-page order." MB: President Obama appointed Judge Jones.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Ukrainian forces say they have surrounded Russian forces in the eastern city of Lyman, pressing their counterattacks in a region that Moscow now claims as its own. Ukrainian forces advanced on the key transport hub overnight even as Russia put on a show of celebrating its annexation of Ukrainian territory with a grand ceremony and a pop concert in Moscow.... Ukrainian state firm Energoatom said the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant went missing, and accused a Russian patrol of detaining him after he left the facility Friday in his car. 'For the time being, there is no information on his fate,' the nuclear operator said early Saturday, appealing to the U.N. nuclear watchdog for help.... A U.N. resolution calling on 'all states' not to recognize Russian annexation failed to pass at the Security Council on Friday after Russias veto. Four nations, including China and India, abstained from voting on the resolution, which condemned Russia's 'illegal, so-called referenda' in Ukraine.... The United States sees no indications Russia is about to use nuclear weapons but is taking the threat 'very seriously,' U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday."
Vlad the Imperial. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Amid patriotic pageantry hyped up by the fervor of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a flagrant violation of international law that stands to escalate and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, sharpen Moscow's confrontation with the West and add to the Kremlin's growing global isolation. At a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, attended by senior political and military officials, members of parliament and even Russian war bloggers, Putin on Friday signed so-called accession treaties to absorb the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Patriotic music played ahead of the signing ritual, in which Putin sat at one white gold-trimmed desk and four proxy leaders of the occupied regions sat at another. Once the documents were signed, Putin and the four proxy leaders held hands and chanted 'Russia! Russia! Russia!' to cheers and applause from the audience." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ MB: You can see where Trump was a failed wannabe Putin. He tried to annex Greenland by buying it from Denmark, when all he had to do was get "his" generals to drop a few bombs, then hold a ceremony in a room furnished with gaudy Trumpian furniture, sign an executive order & lead a chant of "USA! USA!" What a wimp! ~~~
~~~ Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "The United States and its allies hit back at Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday, slapping sanctions on more than 1,000 people and companies including arms supply networks as President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin he can't 'get away with' seizing Ukrainian land. The Russian annexation, though expected, escalated an already heated conflict that's become fraught with potential nuclear implications." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Michael Crowley & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "President Biden condemned Russia's claimed annexation of captured Ukrainian territory on Friday, responding to Moscow's latest escalation with a range of sanctions and a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin that the United States would defend 'every single inch' of NATO territory from a potential attack.... World leaders rallied around Mr. Biden in a forceful collective denunciation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.... Even among Russia's traditional allies, no country stepped forward to recognize the annexation." ~~~
~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukraine is applying for 'accelerated ascension' into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia's move to illegally annex four of the country's partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under collective defense obligations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
U.K. A New King Is Minted. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday. The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
NBC News: "The death toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to more than 77 as one of strongest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving in its wake a trifecta of misery --- dangerous flooding, power outages and massive destruction."
Washington Post: "Hurricane Ian made landfall for the second time this week on Friday, crashing into coastal South Carolina as a Category 1 storm that brought lashing rains and storm surge but appeared unlikely to wreak the sort of devastation that was still emerging in Florida. There, the vast parameters of the damage became more evident as emergency crews pulled people and bodies from streets -- some still flooded and others dry but strewn with wreckage. About 34,000 Floridians had filed for federal emergency aid, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said. At least 23 people had been determined to be victims of the storm as of Friday evening, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said, but officials cautioned that confirming causes of death was a slow and deliberate process and said the toll was likely to rise as medical examiners completed more autopsies" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Hurricane Ian developments are here.
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Reader Comments (5)
Marie: Did your rented home in Ft. Myers withstand the storm? You last reported that your renter left it and that other homes nearby got swept away but yours was still standing but some part of the house was damaged.
That video from RAS is terrific!
I'm worried about Putin––the rage in his face while giving his speech makes me tremble! I keep thinking about his story of his youthful play at killing rats in his flat–--that he learned never to corner one because it made them enraged enough to attack furiously. Are we seeing this Russian rat in the same position?
Florida is facing years of rebuilding infrastructure. A lot of it will be so people can rebuild where they shouldn't have built in the first place,
My sister-in-law (the trumpette--)in Minnesota has a place in Fort Myers, a gated community complex. I sent her HuffPost photos, wondering if they were in Florida for the winter already, and she took the opportunity to tell me I had not seen photos of Ft. Myers because she knows I don't watch Fox, and also to tell me that this hurricane is just a weather thing, NOT ANYTHING ELSE, as she is assured by meteorologists-- they all agree there are good hurricane years and bad. Shortly after that, I saw TuKKKer's blabbing of stuff just like that. And you are right, MSNBC had a continuous loop of Ft. Myers Beach, where we have also been, and kept calling it Ft. Myers. I never have seen photos of FM damage but SIL trumpette told me that there was some huge piece of concrete right in the middle of town. Never saw that, and they just kept showing that poor little beach community that is destroyed. I bet people don't know that St. Pete Beach is also not the same as St. Pete. I guess the powers in charge of broadcasting don't worry about actual geography...
Jeanne: that's really very funny––-and I send you my condolences re: your Trumpette sister-in law––-times is hard! At least she's not flesh and blood. As you may remember my brother would have been her close Bud–-he is now in a nursing home and slowly withering away and we stay away from anything political in our phone conversations––-which are few and far between.
@PD Pepe: Sorry not to have responded earlier. As far as I know, my tenant evacuated to stay with relatives elsewhere in the area and she is fine. Also, my little house -- which is built of cinderblock & was constructed in the 1950s when cinderblock construction was common -- stood up like the Third Little Pig's house. Apparently the doors held pretty well, too, as only a few inches of water got in & may have damaged one room where the floor is lower than in the rest of the house. The floodwaters outside were several feet high, according to neighbors.
I may find out something different later when I ask a friend to take a look -- I won't ask him for days and he may not have time to go in for days after that -- but in the meantime, I'm grateful the damage isn't worse than it is. So we'll see.
The good news is that I've wanted to sell that house for years, but I didn't want to put the tenant out. Now, with the house in a somewhat dilapidated condition, I have a good excuse to rid myself of that meddlesome residence.