;)
October 23, 2022
Late Afternoon Update:
Bye-bye, BoJo. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Boris Johnson pulled out of the race to succeed Liz Truss as Britain's prime minister on Sunday evening, leaving Rishi Sunak, his former chancellor of the Exchequer, with a commanding lead in the contest to be Britain's next leader.... Mr. Johnson's decision ends a feverish couple of days in which he mounted a lively bid to reclaim the job he gave up three months ago amid a cascade of scandals. The former prime minister's campaign never gained momentum, however, as prominent members of the Conservative Party threw their support to Mr. Sunak as a better option to try to reunite a deeply divided party." The AP's story is here.
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Victoria Bekiempis of the Guardian & the AP: "The Biden administration is urging student loan borrowers to continue applying for debt relief despite a federal appeals court order late on Friday that temporarily halted this program. '[This] temporary order does not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement following the eighth circuit court of appeals' temporary stay.... The appeals court's decision stems from a motion brought by six Republican-led states which are seeking to block Biden's program."
** Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times: "The fragility of the convoluted [international cooperation it takes to make computer chips] became apparent in last year's Covid-induced chip shortage, which the White House has estimated cost the United States a full percentage point of economic output, or hundreds of billions of dollars.... The question of who controls the semiconductor industry carries geopolitical significance.... That's why I have been so impressed with the aggressive and creative way the Biden administration has gone about curtailing China's alarming, decades-long effort to build a domestic semiconductor industry that's independent from the rest of the world. This month, the Commerce Department announced a set of restrictions that prevent China from getting much of what it needs to establish a commanding position in the chip business.... Analysts ... said the [new] rules will devastate China's domestic chip industry, potentially setting it back decades." The trick now is to make sure China can't evade the rules. ~~~
~~~ Marie: When you are made even vaguely aware of the intricacies President Biden employed to get the better of China and compare it to Trump's ham-handed trade wars -- which he mostly lost -- you see an essential reason to choose Democrats.
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Republicans are already threatening to use a potential default on the nation's debt limit as a weapon in fiscal negotiations, so if the GOP wins the House, protecting the country from this looming disaster before the next Congress begins is imperative.... A group of House Democrats has written a letter to the party's congressional leadership, urging them to 'permanently end the threat that the federal debt limit poses.'... It's absolutely within Congress's power to put an end to these debt ceiling threats.... Legislation abolishing the debt limit would get filibustered in the Senate. So Democrats could instead use the 'reconciliation' process to raise the debt limit on a simple majority vote far beyond what it will attain during Joe Biden's presidency, or even to an astronomically high number that will never be reached. Another possibility: Transfer control over raising the debt limit to the treasury secretary, while giving Congress only the authority to reverse a hike by Treasury. That would have a budgetary component, [Rep. Brendan] Boyle [D-Pa.] suggests, so theoretically the Senate parliamentarian should allow it under reconciliation."
A couple of days ago, Akhilleus complained that the New York Times was questioning whether or not Congress can subpoena a former president*. Well now, the Times is laying out Trump's arguments for him: ~~~
~~~ Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "If ... Donald J. Trump decides to fight the subpoena issued to him on Friday by the House committee investigating his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, his lawyers are likely to muster a battery of constitutional and procedural arguments for why a court should allow him not to testify.... One Supreme Court precedent could prove relevant: In 1982, the court ruled that former presidents are immune from being sued for damages over official decisions they made while in office.... The question in Mr. Trump's case would be whether a president could be similarly hindered by a fear of being forced to testify in front of Congress. Mr. Trump's legal team could also invoke executive privilege in an attempt to ward off the subpoena.... Mr. Trump could also try to mount a procedural argument that the subpoena is invalid."
Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "The Trump Organization is set to face criminal tax fraud charges on Monday in New York.... Monday's case is centered on charges that [Donald Trump's] Manhattan-headquartered real estate company defrauded New York tax authorities by awarding 'off the books' compensation over 15 years to company executives.... Eyes and ears will be on the testimony of the Trump Organization's then chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, 75, who was charged in the DA's 2021 indictment but has since pleaded to 15 counts ranging from grand larceny to tax fraud to falsifying business records in exchange for his testimony."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has turned down former Arizona GOP senate candidate Kelli Ward's attempt to block a House committee subpoena for her phone records in connection with an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building and other events related to the 2020 presidential election. A divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 2-1, to deny Ward's request for an order preventing telephone carrier T-Mobile from complying with the subpoena issued by the House select committee probing Jan. 6."
Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The third week of the government's case in the seditious conspiracy trial of [five Oath Keepers] ... culminated in a minute-by-minute account of the Oath Keepers' actions on Jan. 6 that prosecutors say shows how the group's leaders plotted 'rebellion' beforehand, greenlit violence while at the Capitol and appeared to coordinate their actions with other figures pushing to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.>... At 2:28 p.m., [Oath Keepers leader Stewart] Rhodes wrote, 'Back door of the Capitol,' and sent it to an encrypted chat group that included [Proud Boys leader Enrique] Tarrio, Trump confidant Roger Stone, Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander and right-wing talk show host Alex Jones, according to prosecutors.... Rhodes has argued [that earlier] plans were only in preparation for the possibility that President Trump would deputize his group as a legal militia under the Insurrection Act. But in a Dec. 10 text message, Rhodes said that if Trump did not act, 'we will have to rise up in insurrection (rebellion).'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Over the years, I have read articles indicating that Trump used phones other than his official phone to conduct White House business. So I wonder if investigators on the January 6 committee or in the DOJ have asked White House staff if Trump had a burner phone or phones. That seems like something they should have asked and something even low-level staff might have observed. It seems to me any mob boss would have a few disposable, untraceable phones.
November Elections
Christina Cassidy & Ali Swenson of the AP: "Republican activists who believe the 2020 election was stolen from ... Donald Trump have crafted a plan that, in their telling, will thwart cheating in this year's midterm elections. The strategy: Vote in person on Election Day or -- for voters who receive a mailed ballot -- hold onto it and hand it in at a polling place or election office on Nov. 8. The plan is based on unfounded conspiracy theories that fraudsters will manipulate voting systems to rig results for Democrats once they have seen how many Republican votes have been returned early. There has been no evidence of any such widespread fraud. If enough voters are dissuaded from casting ballots early, it could lead to long lines on Election Day and would push back processing of those late-arriving mailed ballots." MB: With any luck, these goofballs will forget about voting altogether.
Arizona. Sasha Hupka of the Arizona Republic: "Days after Maricopa County officials warned people to stop taking photos of voters and election staffers at ballot drop boxes, the Arizona Secretary of State's Office continues to refer complaints to the Department of Justice. Two new complaints filed this week with the office allege that small groups of people are filming voters and capturing photographs of their license plates as they drop off their early ballots.... 'They're harassing people,' [Maricopa Board of Supervisors chair Bill Gates] said. 'They're not helping further the interests of democracy.'"
Georgia. Carlisa Johnson of the Guardian: "Georgia voters turned out in record numbers for the first week of early voting, casting their ballots in the two critical elections, the gubernatorial and Senate races. However, as the election progresses, the impact of Georgia's new voting laws continues to unfold.... Unlimited challenges to eligibility and poorly trained poll workers [are] caus[ing] frustration" among voters.
New York Governor. The New York Times endorses Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). Hochul's challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R), "has demonstrated a loyalty to Trumpism over his oath to defend American democracy and the Constitution. In his campaign for governor, he makes spurious arguments about crime, and his public safety plan appears to be little more than returning to the zero-tolerance policies that have no clear connection to improving safety. Ads from Mr. Zeldin's campaign use threatening images of Black men to stoke panic, and one features a crime that took place in California. And the plans Mr. Zeldin has laid out during this campaign lack a serious interest in the work of governing.... Hochul ... has used her first year in office as governor to show that she can get things done to improve the lives of New Yorkers."
Pennsylvania Senate. ~~~
Virginia. Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "State elections officials directed more than 30,000 Northern Virginia voters to the wrong polling place in mailers sent ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, an error they acknowledged Friday and blamed on the private printing company that produced the notices. Those mistakes follow even more error-riddled effort in Southwest Virginia, where an additional 30,000 voters were affected. Some notices in that part of the state were sent to physical addresses instead of P.O. boxes, then re-sent to the boxes but with the wrong information, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported this week. And earlier this month, the department disclosed that an unspecified technical glitch had left about 107,000 voter applications in limbo for months.... Democrats seized on the string of errors to question the competence of the Elections Department under Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), a former private equity chief who won the office last year on promises to bring 'election integrity' and his executive skills to state government[.]" See also RockyGirl's comment in yesterday's thread.
Way Beyond the Beltway
China. "Maximum Xi." Chris Buckley & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "Poised to take a groundbreaking third term in power, China's leader, Xi Jinping, has advanced a contingent of Communist Party loyalists ready to defend him, expand state influence over the economy and bolster national security. Mr. Xi opened the new phase of his authoritarian rule with a clutch of victories at the end of a party congress on Saturday. He hurried into retirement two top officials from a more moderate political mold. He positioned allies to dominate the new leadership. He kept officials who have promoted his muscular approach in diplomacy and the military. And Mr. Xi gave no hint of preparing for eventual retirement by anointing a likely successor." MB: And somewhere in Mar-a-Lardo, Donald Trump is eating his heart out. Trump conceives but Xi achieves. ~~~
~~~ Christian Shepherd of the Washington Post: "A meeting of top Chinese officials concluded on Saturday with leader Xi Jinping's power undisputed, as his 'core' status was enshrined in the Communist Party charter, his former political rival retired and his predecessor was escorted off the stage in a surprising departure from protocol.... The choreographed show of unity was undermined by an unexpected break from the program as former party general secretary Hu Jintao was abruptly led away by aides.... Two suited men helped him to his feet and guided him off the stage, leaving an empty chair to the left of Xi." The article describes Hu's peculiar exit. This CNN article concentrates on Hu's unceremonious departure.
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Sunday are here: "Kremlin-backed authorities are stepping up efforts to relocate civilians from the Russian-controlled city of Kherson, transporting them into Crimea and other occupied regions, in what Ukrainian officials have called an attempt by Moscow to 'depopulate' areas of Ukraine that Kyiv is poised to recapture.... Occupying Russian authorities ordered residents to leave Kherson and urged them to take 'documents, money, valuables and clothes' with them. Photos showed people boarding ferries and buses in Kherson, pets and luggage in tow. Officials are promising government payments of 100,000 rubles (about $1,600) and housing certificates to purchase an apartment for those who comply."
David Stern, et al., of the New York Times: "Russia unleashed a 'barrage' of missiles across Ukraine early Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials said -- targeting the country's electrical grid and blacking out large areas -- while the Kyiv government increased its calls for Western governments to urgently provide antiaircraft systems as a defense against the airstrikes. As Ukrainians braced themselves for the high probability of even more attacks -- and prepare for what could be a winter without heating, water and electricity in parts of the country -- officials said that they had managed to impede the assault in some places, while in others the rockets 'completely' destroyed electrical facilities. Along the front line, Ukrainian officials said their forces were holding their positions or making small but consistent advances."
U.K. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: Liz Truss "turned out to be a stooge for a reckless, unprincipled Boris Johnson, who was no doubt scheming to see if he could snatch back the reins. 'The moment she gets into political difficulty,' [former PM Theresa May's chief-of-staff Gavin] Barwell told The Times's Mark Landler, 'there's going to be a bring-back-Boris movement.' And here we are at that moment.... Many think Johnson planned this from the start.... Johnson threw his support behind Truss, knowing that she would be so mediocre that he'd look good in comparison.... The outcome was foggy, as Johnson rushed back from a vacation in the Caribbean.... British conservatives are becoming as shameless as American conservatives, willing to put up with any outrage to keep their posh offices and perks."
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Reader Comments (18)
Florida GOP don't seem to have gotten the word on holding onto their ballots. The Miami Herald reports GOP is outpacing Democrats in By Mail ballots in advance of early voting.
Had fun with the Dowd.
Commented in part that one great difference between the British Tories and our own is that our forcibly retired Republican leader sure ain't working on a book on Shakespeare.
More of the same…
If I read one more breathless article about how Democratic candidates are now all of a sudden being killed in the polls by unbeatable R’s….
Question for the “experts” writing this crap: what can you point to other than historically inaccurate polls based on skewed or outright stupid questions that accounts for this? Have candidates from the Party of Traitors suddenly announced serious policy proposals no one has heard of? Have Democratic candidates, en masse, been discovered practicing self abuse in the parking lots of preschools?
Have any of them spoken to any actual voters, besides the ubiquitous Trump loving malcontents whose voices scream out above everyone else?
Has there been any attempt at a serious deep dive into the issues and the stakes in this election?
Hardly. Because for the media, it’s all about the horse race. Who’s ahead, who’s behind. Never mind that Herschel Walker is a buffoon. “Oh! He showed his badge and everyone swooned! He’s gonna win easy!” Never mind that Kari Lake is a dangerous hater of democracy and a supporter of election fraud bullshit. “Oh, she was a media great just like us. The people love her. Democrats have no chance against her wonderful charisma!”
When democracy disappears completely from this country, the media assholes who helped make it happen will find someone else to blame. “If only the electorate had been better informed about the dangers of voting for imbeciles, fascists, white supremacists, and Christian nationalists. They killed us! But hey, who’s ahead in the polls today? I have an article I have to write and I don’t feel like doing any actual work.”
The WaPo editorial board equates thousands of conservo-synthetic local news fronts pushing pseudonym-bot-generated lies and fake reports, with dozens of liberal pseudo-local news organs that are bylined with real names and fact checked.
The Post condemns both as inimical to democracy.
Some days you just want to spend a few hours at the heavy bag.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/23/local-news-partisan-pink-slime-journalism/
More media malfeasance
CNN is running a story about a robocall directed at Georgia voters claiming to support Democratic candidates, notably Stacey Abrams. The call uses plenty of lies and trigger language but is clearly the work of some right-wing propaganda shop pretending to be the work of Democrats. Instead of clearly pointing this out, CNN opens the article by saying that the language in the call is the sort of polarizing yapping “favored by Democrats”. No mention is made of the truly polarizing language not just favored, but required in ALL Republican election lies.
The purpose of the call is to try to get voters to support Abrams who, according to this very much not polarizing language, is in favor of “abortion right up until birth” which, the caller claims, is what Democratic women want. Naturally, CNN makes no mention of the fact that there is no such thing as “abortion up until the moment of birth”.
Right at the very end of the piece the “reporter” points out that such a claim might be considered “specious”. This is their idea of being fair to both sides. In no possible universe can this claim be considered specious. Specious means something that sounds plausible even if it’s incorrect. Abortion right up until birth sounds plausible to this idiot? No. This is a pure out and out lie. It doesn’t sound remotely “plausible”.
Nowhere does the writer suggest that this is typical of the horrific lies routinely employed by R’s. It’s “well, both sides use polarizing language…in fact it’s a specialty of Democrats”. Oh yeah, and the robocall’s claim of abortion until birth is “specious”, because gee, it could have come from Democrats, right? And they make sure to point out that it’s a total mystery who really is responsible for such a call.
This is how these assholes help destroy democracy.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/politics/kfile-mystery-robocall-targets-democrats-abortion-rights/index.html
@Ken Winkes: Good point. Although nothing could make, say, John Boehner or Donald Trump take an interest in English drama, I think the underlying problem lies with our educational system. My husband told me that all Italians who were interested in getting posh jobs started by getting a liberal university education. I later read an article that backed him up: Olivetti said they would never hire anyone with a business education. Anything they learned in business school would be a waste; something they would have to unlearn at Olivetti. I think the same is generally true of the Brits: the upper crust get a good liberal arts education. It's probably true all over Europe.
In this country, the opposite is true; most businesses would laugh you out of the pre-interview if you showed up with with your Phi Beta Kappa key & a major in English. We place no value in "impractical" knowledge.
Another problem I see with this emphasis is that a person often has to decide on her career path when she's a teenager rather than when she has a good education to help inform her decision. I think in that four years you're getting a decent general education, you're apt to get a better inkling of what kind of work you might want to do for the rest of your life. But few of us, when we're 17 or 18, have any sensible idea of how we should spend our most productive years.
And. let's say you DON'T land a career that pays big bucks and provides you with creative awards and a sense of purpose. If you have a liberal arts education and a library card (or, today, wifi) you are well equipped to pursue and find joy.
As would a math major. Or a civil engineer. Etc.
It's all in how you use the tools you have. Not whether you have the most or latest tools.
But I must say I really like my cord-free impact wrench.
@Patrick: Is 1/2 inch enough? And what brand?
Forrest,
I have a Ryobi 1/2 inch battery powered impact wrench. It’s got plenty of power. Saved me one night when changing a tire out on the highway. Guys who put the tire on torqued the lug nuts down to the point where no lug wrench could move them. The impact wrench took them off no problem. Nice little tool.
I guess I'll just call AAA.
Absent a cord-free impact wrench, I recommend for emergencies (1) a phone, and (2) a novel to read while waiting for the AAA guy. You know, sort of the literary alternative to a specialty wrench. (Lest this sound like a "let them eat cake" rejoinder [as in "let the lugnuts handle the lug nuts], well, yeah, I guess it is.)
@ Marie
The educational system? Yes...but...and it's a big but.
Our educational system reflects and reinforces our society, one which has a distinct and long-standing anti-intellectual bent.
While exceptions abound, as I said yesterday it's all about the money and since the pursuit of money potentially corrupts everything, we should not be surprised that one of those things is our minds.
The Right's attack on colleges and universities that don't devote themselves exclusively to preparing their students for careers or the larger world of getting and spending is long-standing.
A wide-ranging, liberal education makes the Right nervous. Always has.
A liberal education raises too many hard, uncomfortable questions for the I'd rather not think about it crowd.
@Ken Winkes: I'm not suggested our education system does not reflect our culture. Clearly it does. And that of course includes all those businesses coveting the top grads from Harvard Business.
BTW, unless the Biz School grads have been prepped for this specific question, I'll bet the liberal arts majors could give a better answer than the accounting majors to this one: "How do you think your education has prepared you to be an asset to us at Big Fat Corp.?"
Marie, that Q (and suggested answer) is definitely on the MBA Study Guide for "How to Interview with BFCorp", along with "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?", "What would you say is your biggest weakness", and other invitations to BS.
Pro Tip: neither BFCorp, nor the headhunters doing the interview, care what answers you give. They already have your CV and grades. They want to see how you talk and engage and whether you can give them the impression that YOU care about what you're saying, and whether you can speak in sentences.
Twenty years ago I did some time on an examination panel for applicants, a very structured all-day process. The first graded exercise was a group problem solving session. I recall one where a female MBA-type quickly dominated the group and rapidly generated a prioritized list of solutions for the group to vote on. She was doing what BigFatBizSchool had taught her, which may have been appropriate for a McKinsey interview (or not), but in the context of the organization for which she was interviewing, she showed that she was a definite, and blatant, "no fit". She may have made a great CEO, but we weren't hiring those. She probably wondered why she didn't get in, although our letter (as for all candidates) discussed her performance. (We were looking for teamwork, not quick-fix skill.)
The point being -- you have to have situational awareness and adapt your actions to your environment. Your MBA often tries to apply quant tools to most problems; your well-educated person (who may also be an MBA) uses the quant stuff as one of the factors on addressing problems, and may draw on history, religion, art, literature and drama as well to inform and persuade those whose cooperation is necessary for a proposal to succeed.
Poll BFCorp CEOs for their most desired attribute in employees and the answer consistently comes back: ability to work with others. And that ability is often well-informed by a broad education.
"The Most Successful Con In American History Laid Bare
When you compare Trump’s cons with the $50 trillion that the GOP has swindled out of the American working class and given to the top 1 percent since 1980, Trump looks like a piker
Thom Hartmann"
A little surprised that he said it, but Mencken apparently did.
"In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican."
If true when he said it, wonder what he'd say today. Bathed in more barrels of acid, I'd wager.
I've had the dubious pleasure of working with degreed engineers that couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. As a hiring manager, pragmatic hands-on experience meant more to me than whatever piece of sheepskin (lambskin?) they had from wherever.
I remember working with one supplier that was comprised of numerous millennial graduates of MIT. Smart people but not very perceptive or practical. The joke with them became - M-I-T-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. They didn't stay in business very long.
Unwashed,
Very funny. Didn’t get it entirely until I sang it. Then💡
Some people are just now figuring this out. We did it years ago.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-lewis-writes-we-need-to-stop-calling-far-right-maga-trump-extremists-conservatives?ref=wrap