;)
October 24, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ariane de Vogue & Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday agreed to temporarily freeze a lower court order requiring the testimony of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in front of an Atlanta-area special grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Thomas acted alone because he has jurisdiction of the lower court that issued the original order. Thomas' move is an administrative stay that was most likely issued Monday to give the Supreme Court justices more time to consider the dispute. The court has asked for a response from the Georgia investigators by Thursday." MB: Yeah, I think he asked Ginny what to do.
Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "As a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol during the January 6 attack in a desperate attempt to keep him in the Oval Office, Ted Cruz hid in a closet next to a stack of chairs, but he never thought twice about continuing to sow doubt about the former president's electoral defeat, the Republican senator ... has revealed.... Cruz said ... some [of his fellow senators] blam[ed] him and his allies in the chamber 'explicitly for the violence that was occurring'.... While we waited for the Capitol to be secured, I assembled our coalition in a back room (really, a supply closet with stacked chairs) to discuss what we should do next, Cruz continued.... Cruz said several of those in his coalition wanted to suspend their objections to the certification.... But ... 'I urged my colleagues that the course of action we were advocating was the right and principled one.'
Michigan. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "A former Minneapolis police officer who helped to pin George Floyd down as he gasped for air under the knee of another officer pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday, forgoing a trial in exchange for an agreement to drop a more serious murder charge. J. Alexander Kueng, a rookie officer..., placed his knee on Mr. Floyd for several minutes in May 2020 while Mr. Floyd protested that he could not breathe and eventually lost consciousness.... Mr. Kueng, who also is Black, is already serving a three-year prison sentence in the federal case, after a jury convicted him of failing to provide aid or to intervene as another officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Mr. Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. Mr. Kueng had knelt on Mr. Floyd's torso."
Michigan. Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "A Michigan teenager [Ethan Crumbley] calmly confessed in court on Monday to killing four fellow students and injuring seven others during a shooting rampage at his high school last November.... As the families of victims listened in the crowded Oakland County courtroom, the defendant, now 16, also made a disclosure that could play a role in his parents' pending criminal case on charges of involuntary manslaughter: The gun, he said, 'was not locked.' The defense attorneys for the teenager's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were not immediately available for comment. But they had previously said that the gun was secured. The parents have pleaded not guilty."
Peter Walker & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Rishi Sunak has become the new Conservative leader and will be prime minister after Penny Mordaunt followed Boris Johnson in withdrawing from the running, minutes before the party was due to announce how many MPs had backed each candidate. In an apparent acknowledgment that she had not reached the necessary 100 MP threshold to progress, two minutes before the nomination process closed at 2pm, Mordaunt tweeted that she had pulled out, and that Sunak had her 'full support'. Five minutes later, Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, formally announced the result: 'I can confirm that we have one valid nomination, and Rishi Sunak is elected as leader of the Conservative party.' He will formally take over as prime minister from Liz Truss, most likely on Tuesday, after meeting the king at Buckingham palace, at which point Truss would have served 50 days in the job. It is understood the king is travelling back to London from his Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Monday afternoon." ~~~
~~~ Richer & More Powerful than the King. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Rishi Sunak is one of the wealthiest people in Britain and will soon be the most powerful when he becomes prime minister. This may be the first time in history that the residents of Downing Street are richer than those of Buckingham Palace.... Sunak, a former banker, and his wife, Indian tech heiress Akshata Murty, have an estimated fortune of about 730 million pounds ($830 million), according to the Sunday Times Rich List. On this year's list, published before her death, Queen Elizabeth II was estimated to have about 370 million pounds ($420 million) by comparison. The couple's money comes primarily from Murty's stake in her father's company, Infosys.... Earlier this year, Sunak's wife was at the center of a tax scandal after it emerged that she had been filing in the United Kingdom as a 'non-domiciled' resident, which allowed her to avoid paying British taxes on the substantial income she earned abroad. The family had been living at 10 Downing Street, in the apartment designated for Britain's finance minister.... In the last leadership election this summer, they circulated a video clip from a 2007 BBC documentary in which he suggests he doesn't have any 'working-class friends.'"
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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 ~~~
~~~ Thom Hartmann discusses the impact of Lewis Powell's infamous memo (1971) that sounded the alarm about how liberals were on the verge of destroying capitalism. He also mentions a Supreme Court decision Powell wrote -- Bank of Boston v. Bellotti -- "which defined the free speech right of corporations." MB: Hartmann is a black-and-white thinker, so he tends to exaggerate & oversimplify, but he's usually on the right track. For instance, here's something from his essay I can go along with 100%: "... here we have Republican politicians acting on behalf of rightwing billionaires as they are spending mind-boggling amounts of time, effort, and money promoting 'solutions' to a problem that doesn't exist." That, IMO, is the fundamental GOP policy prescription. From that, all else flows. And it is, as Hartmann writes, the biggest con in American history. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Sarah Mervosh & Ashley Wu of the New York Times: "U.S. students in most states and across almost all demographic groups have experienced troubling setbacks in both math and reading, according to an authoritative national exam released on Monday, offering the most definitive indictment yet of the pandemic's impact on millions of schoolchildren. In math, the results were especially devastating, representing the steepest declines ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card, which tests a broad sampling of fourth and eighth graders and dates to the early 1990s.... The picture was mixed, and performance varied by grade level and subject matter in ways that were not always clear cut.... '... The results in today's nation's report card are appalling and unacceptable,' said Miguel Cardona, the secretary of education. 'This is a moment of truth for education. How we respond to this will determine not only our recovery, but our nation's standing in the world.'"
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "This week will drive home [a] stark reversal of fortune [for Donald Trump's businesses] as the company faces a highly public reckoning: a criminal trial in Manhattan, where the district attorney's office will accuse it of tax fraud and other crimes.... The trial in State Supreme Court will present an embarrassing scene for the former president.... This case centers on special perks doled out by the former president's business, the Trump Organization, which comprises a universe of more than 500 corporate entities. Last year, the district attorney's office accused two of those entities -- The Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp. -- of awarding off-the-books benefits like rent-free apartments and leased luxury vehicles to a few top executives who failed to pay taxes on the perks. As jury selection begins on Monday, the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, appears to have the upper hand. The Trump Organization's 75-year-old chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, recently pleaded guilty to conspiring with the two corporations to carry out the scheme -- and agreed to testify at their trial, tipping the case in favor of Mr. Bragg, a Democrat." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Some crap reporting here: (1) Trump cannot be embarrassed. As he famously said, not paying taxes "makes me smart." (2) Bragg's party affiliation has nothing to do with the fact that Trump's company (allegedly) cheated on taxes.
Hope Yen of the AP: "The [House January 6] committee is demanding [Donald] Trump's testimony under oath next month as well as records relevant to its investigation. To avoid a complicated and protracted legal battle, Trump reportedly had told associates he might consider complying with the subpoena if he could answer questions during live testimony.... Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday ... said the committee would not allow Trump's testimony to turn into a 'food fight' on TV -- much as was seen, she said, in Trump's broadcast appearances such as one of his 2020 presidential debates -- and she warned that the committee will take action if he does not comply with the subpoena. 'We are going to proceed in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath,' Cheney, R-Wyo., said on 'Meet the Press' on NBC. 'It may take multiple days, and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves. We are not going to allow -- he's not going to turn this into a circus.'" ~~~
~~~ Olivia Olander of Politico: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi goaded ... Donald Trump on the airwaves Sunday, saying she doesn't think he'll testify for the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. 'I don't think he's man enough to show up,' Pelosi (D-Calif.) told MSNBC's 'The Sunday Show' host Jonathan Capehart in a wide-ranging interview. She also suggested Trump's lawyers might not want him to show up, since he would be testifying under oath and possible penalty of perjury."
Bob Woodward in the Washington Post: "In more than 50 years of reporting, I have never disclosed the raw interviews or full transcripts of my work. But after listening again to the 20 interviews I conducted with ... Donald Trump during his last year as chief executive, I have decided to take the unusual step of releasing them. I was struck by how Trump pounded in my ears in a way the printed page cannot capture." MB: The point of this article is to promote Woodward's audio book. If you click on the audio button at the right of the screen, you can hear excerpts. I turned it on, then turned it right off. Listening to the grating, nagging voice of a whining braggart is too much.
Sam Jones of the Guardian: "Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand after the attack he suffered while preparing to deliver a lecture in New York state two months ago, his agent has confirmed. The 75-year-old author, who received death threats from Iran in the 1980s after his novel The Satanic Verses was published, was stabbed in the neck and torso as he came on stage to give a talk on artistic freedom at the Chautauqua Institution on 12 August."
Monica Alba of NBC News: "President Joe Biden will get the updated Covid-19 shot Tuesday after he delivers remarks about the pandemic and the administration's efforts to get people in the U.S. boosted, a White House official said."
Way Beyond the Beltway
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 are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "The United States, Britain and France rejected as 'transparently false' claims by Moscow's defense minister that Ukraine is preparing to use a 'dirty bomb' -- explosive weapons designed to widely disperse radioactive material -- on its own territory with Western help, characterizing the claims as an attempt by Moscow to create a pretext for escalating the conflict.... 'Ukrainian efforts to defeat' Iranian-made drones used by Russia on the battlefield 'are increasingly successful,' the British Defense Ministry said, citing claims by [President] Zelensky that Ukrainian forces are intercepting up to 85 percent of the unmanned aerial vehicles' attempted strikes.... Ukraine still faces widespread power outages and cuts after Russian strikes pummeled the country's energy infrastructure in recent days."
U.K. The New York Times is running a liveblog of developments in Britain's Conservative party effort to quickly come up with a new prime minister. Mark Landler: "Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor of the Exchequer, was poised to become Britain's next prime minister as soon as Monday, after Boris Johnson pulled out of the race to succeed Liz Truss on Sunday evening." ~~~
~~~ 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. (Also linked late yesterday.)
News Ledes
New York Times: "Leslie Jordan, a comic actor who after a late start in his performing career became a recognizable face from roles on numerous television shows, most notably 'Will & Grace,' then achieved even more fame during the pandemic when his quirky homemade videos attracted millions of Instagram followers, died on Monday in a car crash in Hollywood, Calif. He was 67."
Washington Post: "A man opened fire at a St. Louis high school Monday morning, leaving a teenage girl and an adult woman dead and several others wounded before being fatally wounded by police, according to school and police officials. The shooting was reported shortly after 9 a.m. at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, a specialty school of about 400 students known as CVPA, in the southwestern corner of the city. Police arrived a couple of minutes later to find students running from the building and reporting that the man had a long gun, according to Michael Sack, the St. Louis Police commissioner."
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Reader Comments (11)
From yesterday:
MITKEY the Mouse has been around for a long time, thanks to Frederic Brown.
His true story is here.
https://www.prosperosisle.org/spip.php?article872
A couple of years ago, a book came out that revealed how incredibly uninformed Trump was about Pearl Harbor. He had to turn to John Kelly, then chief of staff, to ask “This Pearl Harbor…what’s this all about? What are we doing here?” Whatever one thinks of Kelly, you can only imagine what, as a former marine, he must have been thinking when he realized what an idiot he had for a boss. As another former Trump lackey once put it, “He’s a fucking moron.”
This morning I listened to a few clips from Woodward’s tapes (tapes Trump now claims belong to him; what doesn’t?). One clip was a recording of Fatty’s volcanic anger at reporters who dared to expose his idiocy regarding that signal moment in WWII for Americans, even Americans who weren’t alive in 1941. Well, most Americans. Trump’s “proof” that he did too know about Pearl Harbor? “I watched all the movies! Of course the old ones are better than the new ones.”
Yeah. The “new ones” are Hollywood depictions of the attack, you fucking numbskull. You will never, ever hear Trump say “I read a book about it”. He truly believes that saying he watched a movie proves that he knows all about something. Interestingly, he makes sure to mention the Japanese kamikaze pilots; no mention of US servicemen who were killed. They weren’t cool enough, I guess.
I actually had to go back and listen to the interview online because, like Marie, once I hear that annoying bellowing I halfway stop listening. But I wanted to be sure that he actually did say “I watched the movies”.
Anyone remotely familiar with European history can point to numerous instances in which complete imbeciles, nasty pricks, greedy assholes, and mendacious incompetents were handed the scepter of power. But in almost all cases, these idiots were thrust onto the throne through birth, war, or by the machinations of powerful schemers. Trump is different. We (well, not any of us) CHOSE this dangerous, delusional dickhead. And millions are jonesing to do it again.
I watched the movie. Jesus Christ.
@Ken Winkes: Not sure how true, but MITkey had a long life; he was doing well in 1998 when he planned to move MIT to Orlando.
@Akhilleus: I know Moses parted the Red Sea because I watched the movie.
Of all the court cases ready to drop Fatty into a big vat of legal dung, perhaps the ones that could have the most immediate impact are several, including the one beginning today that will expose the crooked business practices at Trump Inc.
Theres also a civil case against the Trump family businesses. Legal scholars familiar with these cases say that the fact that these cases involve fraud make them almost a slam dunk. Fraud is a bread and butter issue for prosecutors. You say one thing then do another. That’s easy to prove and doesn’t require mind reading about intentionality. You have two sets of books? You raise money for X but spend it on yourself? Fraud. Easy. And the result could be catastrophic.
In NY state, once business fraud is proven, the perpetrators can be barred from doing business in that state. That means no real estate sales or ownership. That means no access to banks having NY connections. This last might not be a problem in East Bum, ND, having only an ATM drive through for Badlands Trust, but what major financial institution doesn’t have an office in Manhattan? No access to banks means no more dirty loans from places like Deutsche Bank.
Hitting Fatty in his pocketbook will be a major blow. Oh, he’ll still make money off the grift, but this means no more cushy no show jobs for Junior and Little Dracula, or Princess Ivanka.
It’s like going after Capone for tax evasion instead of murder. The former was much easier to prove. And Capone spent almost the rest of his life behind bars. The murder charge would have been nice, but…Alcatraz was still Alcatraz.
Gonna break out the popcorn to watch this stuff go down.
Marie,
Yeah! And how ‘bout when Luke Skywalker blew up the Deathstar? That was awesome! How come that’s not taught in schools? It happened! I watched the movie!
The CEO of Dominion Voting Systems was interviewed on 60 minutes
last night. He had the cohones to imply that Rudy Giuliani and
Sydney Powell were liars, claiming that the machines changed
votes from Trump to Biden without showing any evidence whatsoever.
Seems that comes naturally for these trump nutjobs, just say it on
Fox and millions of their followers will be up in arms and making
death threats to anyone willing to tell the truth.
Speaking of scams, this question:
With The Law closing in on the Pretender, in Georgia, New York Washington, D.C., and locations to be named later, and as his legal bills continue to mount as fast as his businesses shrink, how much longer will the RNC be willing to pay the majority of his legal bills?
@Ken Winkes: Don't know, but one of the reasons Trump isn't announcing a run for president* is that the RNC has to stop paying his legal bills if he's a candidate. Of course he has millions & millions he can syphon off his super-PACs to pay his lawyers.
I doubt that TFGs lawyers fees are included in the national GNP and yet these fees represent so much pseudo legal BS that its absence has got to affect the economy.
And speaking of Right Wing judges:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/us/politics/alito-kennedy-abortion.html?
During his confirmation hearing, Alito claimed he'd matured. He was no longer tied to some of his former crack-brained ideas.
Guess some years later, he began to rot.