;)
September 3, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Valerie Hopkins & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Thousands of Russians on Saturday stood for several hours in snaking lines amid a heavy police presence to pay their respects to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday. Many Russians blame and revile Mr. Gorbachev for the breakup of the Soviet Union, but people of all ages, many of whom stood solemnly clutching flowers outside Moscow's famed House of the Unions, said that they had come to thank him for something severely restricted today in Russia: freedom.... For many, the funeral was a vivid reminder of the rights that Russians have lost under the leadership of ... Vladimir V. Putin and as a result of the almost complete dismantling of Mr. Gorbachev's legacy, culminating with the six-month-old war that Russia is prosecuting in Ukraine to take back former Soviet territory."
A New York Times illustrator draws many, many, many pictures of many, many, many documents, secret papers, gift boxes & other paraphernalia of all the stuff Donald Trump stole from you and refused to give back, forcing the FBI to go pick it all up under the authority of a warrant. And don't be surprised if there's more, squirreled away at Bedminister and the Kremlin, Pyŏngyang, Budapest & so forth. Scroll down the page.
"They're Mine." Marie: Went to the grocery stores this morning, walked out with every damned bottle of Marie's Salad Dressing. Some silly employee came running after me, yelling, "Lady, Lady, you can't take those!" but I fixed him by showing him my drivers license with "Marie" written on it in indelible state-printed official letters, then pointing to the bottles that said right on the labels they were mine. Next week, I'm changing my name to "Paul Newman." I do like some of those "Newman's Own" pizzas, salsas & such. Maybe after I've consumed 11,000+ packages of "My Own" I'll change my name again. But it won't be to "Chef Boyardee."
Ashley Strickland of CNN: "The launch team for the uncrewed Artemis I mission has recommended a 'no go' for Saturday's launch attempt after battling fueling issues. The team is awaiting the official word from the launch director on the status of the launch. Shortly before 5 a.m. ET, mission managers received a weather briefing and decided to proceed with loading propellant into the rocket. The countdown clock resumed at 7:07 a.m. ET. There was at least a 30-minute delay after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected at 7:15 a.m. ET in the quick disconnect cavity that feeds the rocket with hydrogen in the engine section of the core stage. It was a different leak than one that occurred ahead of the scrubbed launch on Monday." MB: @ 11:19 am ET, CNN reported on-air that the launch was a no-go.
Hard Time for Thee But Not for Me. Andrew Kaczynski & Samantha Woodward of CNN run down a number of times when Donald Trump declared that people who mishandled classified information must be imprisoned. "Trump acknowledged in a court filing Wednesday that classified material was found at Mar-a-Lago in January, but argued that it should not have been cause for alarm...."
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When a Speech Proves Its Point. Jana Winter of Yahoo! News: "President Biden's fiery speech in Philadelphia denouncing ... Donald Trump and what he described as'extreme MAGA ideology' has sparked online calls for violence, including death threats against the president, according to documents obtained by Yahoo News. Biden's remarks also prompted immediate concerns from senior counterterrorism officials who said they fear that calling Trump supporters extremists would be viewed as a call to arms and would only inflame an already volatile threat environment.... By Friday afternoon, posts on forums popular among white supremacists and far-right extremists called for the assassination of Biden, and named Jewish administration officials including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as potential targets. Declarations of civil war were also appearing, according to documents detailing some of the threats.... Site Intelligence Group, which tracks online extremism activity, issued several threat alerts detailing calls for violence in response to Biden's speech.... 'Users advocated for Biden to be murdered and predicted violence if he continues speaking about the topic.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: It seems a very strange thing for political actors to immediately prove their opponent is right. ~~~
~~~ Networks Not Worried about Fascists. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "While President Biden warned the nation about threats to democracy in a prime-time address on Thursday, ABC was airing a game show, 'Press Your Luck.' As Biden spelled out his objections to former president Donald Trump and 'MAGA Republicans,' NBC was broadcasting a rerun of 'Law and Order.' CBS skipped the speech to show a rerun of 'Young Sheldon.' The networks' rejection of Biden's speech -- delivered in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, washed in dramatic red lighting as Marines stood guard -- marked an unusual moment in the long relationship between the White House and the nation's most powerful broadcasters.... People involved in negotiations over Thursday's address said the networks deemed Biden's remarks as 'political' in nature and therefore decided not to televise it.... White House officials had earlier tried to counter the impression of partisanship, with one telling NBC News that it was 'not a speech about a particular politician or even about a particular political party.'... Biden's speech was carried live on CNN and MSNBC, but it was not aired on Fox News...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Always good to remember that the suits who bring you "Press Your Luck" are not all that bright. ~~~
~~~ Fascists Not Worried about Fascists. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The insurrectionists of Jan. 6 busted into the Capitol, hit police with fire extinguishers, flagpoles, bats, stun guns and pepper spray; they threatened to kill the vice president and tried to overthrow the 2020 election. And now, they want an apology. MAGA Republican leaders have fomented violence, attacked the rule of law and deceived tens of millions of people into rejecting the outcome of free and fair elections. And now, they, too, want an apology. I'm sorry, but these authoritarians have some terribly tender egos. They need to pull themselves up by their own jackboot-straps." Milbank offers his own "apologies. ~~~
~~~ digby assesses the responses of wingers & the press to President Biden's speech. Marie: IMO, it's political speech when you warn that your opponents are frivolously spending taxpayer dollars, for instance; it's not political speech when you warn than your opponents currently pose a genuine threat to our system of government (and, no, mask mandates are not threats to our system of government). There a vast difference between political speech and a Constitutional duty to try to protect the public from a clear & present danger. And, as noted above, like bread rising in an old bakery, that clear & present danger immediately proved itself.
Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Slowing job and wage growth, alongside rising labor force participation in August, is [are?] good news for President Biden and his hopes for a smooth transition to a more stable economic expansion. The jobs report on Friday was the first of the summer to support the case Mr. Biden and his economic aides have been making for months: that the economy is beginning to step down from a high-growth, high-inflation expansion coming out of the pandemic recession but avoiding another recession." (Also linked yesterday.)
Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The F.B.I.'s search of ... Donald J. Trump's Florida club and residence last month turned up 48 empty folders marked as containing classified information, a newly disclosed court filing shows, raising the question of whether the government had fully recovered the documents or any remain missing.... The list and an accompanying court filing from the Justice Department did not say whether all the contents of the folders had been recovered. But the filing noted that the inquiry into Mr. Trump's handling of the documents remained 'an active criminal investigation.'... The list suggests the files Mr. Trump took to his Florida home were stored in a slapdash manner and appeared to underline concerns that he had not followed rules for protecting national security secrets. It also offered the clearest indication yet that promises by Mr. Trump's team that all sensitive records had been returned were untrue.... In all, the list said, the F.B.I. retrieved 18 documents marked as top secret, 54 marked as secret, 31 marked as confidential, and 11,179 government documents or photographs without classification markings." ~~~
~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday released a detailed inventory from the Mar-a-Lago search that the Justice Department previously filed under seal in court. The search inventory released showed that classified documents had been mixed in with personal items and other materials in the boxes in which they were stored. Federal investigators also retrieved more than 11,000 non-classified government documents. One box containing documents marked with confidential, secret and top secret classification identifications also contained '99 magazines/newspapers/press articles,' according to the inventory from last month's search filed in federal court in Florida....The court filing also provided a breakdown of the type of markings on the classified material taken from Mar-a-Lago, including 18 documents marked top secret, 54 documents marked secret and 31 documents marked confidential. In addition, federal investigators collected more than 48 empty folders with a 'classified banner' and 42 empty folders marked to return to the staff secretary or military aide." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Gosh, what do you supposed happened to the contents of all those empty folders that had once contained classified documents? It does not seem likely the folders were empty when they left the White House. Maybe the feds should check around at West Palm Beach U-mail stores to see if anybody came around with batches of paper & requests to "Mail these to V. Putin at the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia."
"A Crock of Shit." Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William P. Barr dismissed ... Donald J. Trump's call for an independent review of materials seized from his Florida home on Friday -- and said an inventory of items recovered in the search last month seemed to support the Justice Department's claim that it was needed to safeguard national security. 'As more information comes out, the actions of the department look more understandable,' Mr. Barr told The New York Times in a phone interview, speaking of the decision by the current attorney general, Merrick B. Garland, to seek a search warrant of the complex at Mar-a-Lago.... 'I'm not sure the department could have gotten it back without taking action.' Asked what he thought of the argument for the appointment of a special master, an independent arbiter to review the material that could delay the investigation, Mr. Barr laughed. 'I think it's a crock of shit,' he said, adding, 'I don't think a special master is called for.'" ~~~
~~~ Trump, Under the Bus. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr on Friday smacked down various defenses of ... Donald Trump when it comes to the FBI's execution of a search warrant at his Florida estate. During an appearance on Fox News's America Reports, Barr argued that Trump taking 'classified material' with him to a 'country club' was just as unprecedented as the federal government raiding a former president's home -- swatting down the notion that the raid was an unwarranted political move. Barr also took issue with Trump's defense that he already declassified the documents, arguing that doing so would be 'an abuse' that 'shows such recklessness that it's almost worse than taking the documents.'... 'You know, they jawboned for a year. They were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. They then went and got a subpoena. They were deceived on that,' Barr continued, laying out the FBI's cause for the raid.... '... he facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around.'" Barr also said the whole idea of a special master was a "red herring." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "'What people are missing,' Barr told Fox News, is that documents, regardless of whether they were classified, 'still belong to the government and go to the archives.' The other documents that were seized, like news clippings, were 'seizable under the warrant because they show the conditions under which the classified information was being held,' Barr said."
Tierney Sneed & Marshal Cohen of CNN look at what they call "revelatory moments" in Thursday's hearing on Donald Trump's request for a special master: "Trump attorney Chris Kise stressed to the judge that this was an 'unprecedented situation' and there was a need 'lower the temperature on both sides.'... Later in the hearing, James Trusty, another attorney for Trump, argued..., 'So we are in a situation where, literally, they have taken a -- we have characterized it at times as "an overdue library book scenario" where there is a dispute -- not even a dispute, ongoing negotiations with NARA about archives that has suddenly been transformed into a criminal investigation.'" And so forth. MB: As Ken W. pointed out, more or less, in yesterday's Comments thread, if you stole 11,000 books, including a Gutenberg Bible & an original Shakespeare folio, from the library & refused to return them, it's unlike the librarian would treat the matter as an overdue book squabble. ~~~
~~~ Update. I see where George Conway agrees with Ken & me.
"The Mold Room." Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... behind a simple door [in a basement area workers dug out after Donald Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago on the cheap], is a large closet-type space that workers once called 'the mold room' in honor of leftover stonework molds deposited in the corner.... Today, staffers think of the room more like the former president's personal closet.... It is here, in this windowless nook, where some of the nation's most sensitive secrets allegedly were stashed. The raid exposed anew the potential risks of keeping highly sensitive material at a club that hosts weddings, galas and other large events, where outsiders are common and many employees -- as well as some visitors -- are foreign nationals.... People familiar with the matter said the [surveillance] video [the FBI obtained] showed various people coming in and out of the larger storage area. People close to Trump said a variety of Mar-a-Lago and Trump staffers had access to that area beneath the public living room. Access to the closet where the documents were kept was more restricted, they said.... [Two people] agreed that only one key existed to the lock on the closet's door. A single locked door -- even one with only one key -- hardly meets the exacting specifications required by federal regulations to physically store classified documents.... ~~~
~~~ "People who have visited the club since Trump left office said they were allowed in without so much as an identification check.... According to documents filed with the Labor Department, the club got permission to hire 87 foreign waiters, cooks and housekeepers for the season that began last fall and ended this spring. The company has asked to hire 92 more to start in October.... [Joel Brenner, a] former counterintelligence officer, said the U.S. government has special rules are in place to prevent foreign nationals from having access to classified documents.... Mar-a-Lago has experienced a number of embarrassing security lapses while Trump was president and since he left Washington."
Quelle Coincidence! Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Within a week of the FBI search of ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Meadows' submission to the Archives was part of a request for all electronic communications covered under the Presidential Records Act. The Archives had become aware earlier this year it did not have everything from Meadows after seeing what he had turned over to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. Details of Meadows' submissions to the Archives and the engagement between the two sides have not been previously reported.... The source familiar with the discussions said that the Archives considered Meadows to be cooperating, even though the process started slowly."
Annals of Journalism & "Journalism," Ctd. Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "A White House correspondent for CNN -- whose new leader wants the channel to adopt what he considers a more politically neutral voice to its coverage -- has departed the network after calling Donald Trump 'a dishonest demagogue' on the air. John Harwood announced his exit from CNN on his Twitter account Friday, a day after he spoke favorably of a nationally televised speech by Joe Biden in which the president said that Republican forces loyal to his Oval Office predecessor, Trump, imperiled American democracy.... 'The core point [Biden] made in that political speech about a threat to democracy is true,' Harwood said on CNN after the address, which was in primetime.... 'We're brought up to believe there's two different political parties with different points of view, and we don't take sides in honest disagreements between them. But that's not what we are talking about. These are honest disagreements. The Republican party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue.' By midday Friday, the 65-year-old Harwood tweeted that he was out at CNN.... According to the Hollywood Reporter, which cited an anonymous source with insight into the situation, Harwood learned 'last month' that he was out at the channel."
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. David Montgomery & Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “Eight migrants drowned and 37 others were rescued as they tried to cross the raging waters of the Rio Grande to reach the United States, administration officials said on Friday. The migrants were among scores of people crossing the river near Eagle Pass, a town in southern Texas that has become a major entry point for migrants in the last year. After heavy rains, the Rio Grande is several feet higher than normal, and law enforcement officials have reported making a number of rescues, including some over the last weekend as migrants struggling to keep their heads above water were being dragged by turbulent currents. Rick Pauza, spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection office in Laredo, Texas, said in a statement that the authorities were continuing with the aid of the local fire department and sheriff's office to search for possible survivors."
I believe people should just, just be ready to get out on the streets with pitchforks and torches with how low the liberal media has become. People need to decide "Am I going to put up with this? Am I going to tolerate this, taking somebody that gives money to churches or cancer research and use that as a hit piece in the media?" I'm appalled. It's disgusting. -- Tim Michels, Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial nominee ~~~
Wisconsin Gubernatorial Race. Scott Bauer of the AP: "The Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin endorsed by Donald Trump is calling for people to take up 'pitchforks and torches' in reaction to a story that detailed his giving to anti-abortion groups, churches and others -- rhetoric that Democrats say amounts to threatening violence. Tim Michels, who co-owns the state's largest construction company, faces Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the battleground state. If Michels wins, he will be in position to enact a host of GOP priorities passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature leading into the 2024 presidential election. Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in modern state history and is campaigning on his ability to serve as a check on Republicans. Michels, a multimillionaire, this week reacted strongly to a story published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailing charitable giving by he [his!] and his wife's foundation, some of which went to anti-abortion groups and churches that have taken anti-gay positions." MB: "Democrats say"?
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 latest summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "The European Council president accused Moscow of using 'gas as a weapon,' after the Russian energy giant said it would not reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Saturday as planned because of a leak.... Russia is holding funeral rites Saturday for Mikhail Gorbachev, laying the last Soviet leader to rest without an official state funeral.... Vladimir Putin, who disdained Gorbachev over the collapse of the Soviet Union, will not attend. Adored in the West but controversial, and at times despised, at home, Gorbachev was reportedly distraught over Russia's war in Ukraine.... The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve an additional $13.7 billion in aid for Ukraine's defenses."
Jeff Stein & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced Friday that they will impose a price cap on Russian oil, aiming to undercut the Kremlin's finances while keeping energy flowing to the West. The price cap plan, a top priority of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, aims to slash the huge energy profit Russia is using to finance its war in Ukraine without creating price shocks that could cripple the global economy." ~~~
~~~ Stanley Reed of the New York Times: "Gazprom said on Friday that it would postpone restarting the flow of natural gas through a closely watched pipeline that connects Russia and Germany, an unexpected delay that appeared to be part of a larger struggle between Moscow and the West over energy and the war in Ukraine. The Russian-owned energy giant had been expected to resume the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance. But hours before the pipeline was set to reopen, Gazprom said that problems had been found during inspections, and that the pipeline would be closed until they were eliminated. It did not give a timeline for restarting. The announcement had the hallmarks of a tit-for-tat move. Earlier on Friday, finance ministers for the Group of 7 countries said that they had agreed to impose a price cap mechanism on Russian oil in a bid to choke off some of the energy revenue Moscow is still collecting from Europe."
Argentina. Almudena Calatrava & Daniel Politi of the AP: "Judicial and law enforcement authorities were investigating Friday whether a Brazilian citizen who appears to have tried to assassinate Argentina's politically powerful Vice President Cristina Fernández was a lone gunman or whether he was part of a larger organization.... The only reason the assassination attempt failed was because the handgun misfired, President Alberto Fernández, who is not related to the vice president, said Thursday night in a national broadcast in which he declared a national holiday Friday in light of the incident. (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times report is here.
News Ledes
CNN: "The launch team for the uncrewed Artemis I mission has recommended a 'no go' for Saturday's launch attempt after battling fueling issues. The team is awaiting the official word from the launch director on the status of the launch. Shortly before 5 a.m. ET, mission managers received a weather briefing and decided to proceed with loading propellant into the rocket. The countdown clock resumed at 7:07 a.m. ET. There was at least a 30-minute delay after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected at 7:15 a.m. ET in the quick disconnect cavity that feeds the rocket with hydrogen in the engine section of the core stage. It was a different leak than one that occurred ahead of the scrubbed launch on Monday." MB: @ 11:19 am ET, CNN reported on-air that the launch was a no-go.
New York Times: "A pilot who threatened to crash into a Walmart in Tupelo, Miss., on Saturday morning, then flew erratically for several hours, was taken into custody after landing in a field, officials said. The plane landed in Benton County, about 50 miles northwest of Tupelo, and the pilot was taken into custody without injury, said Connie Strickland, a dispatcher for the Benton County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi. She did not identify the pilot. The Federal Aviation Administration said a Beechcraft King Air 90 landed in a field after taking off from Tupelo Regional Airport and circling the area. The FAA said only the pilot was in the plane. The agency said it was coordinating with local law enforcement agencies and would investigate the flight." ~~~
~~~ CNN is live-updating the story of the crazy young man in a flying machine who threatened to dive into the Tupelo, Mississippi Walmart.The latest at 1:00 pm ET: "A small plane that circled for hours Saturday morning over Tupelo, Mississppi, and surrounding areas landed in a field in Ripley, Mississippi, the FAA said. A source told CNN the pilot, who police said threatened to crash the stolen plane into a Tupelo Walmart, is in custody." ~~~
~~~ CNN @ 11:15 am ET: "A pilot who police said threatened to crash a small plane into a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, Saturday morning is still airborne. A government source familiar with the situation tells CNN the aircraft is flying over the Holly Springs National Forest. Tupelo Police are no longer in communication with the pilot, the source says. 'At this time the situation is ongoing with TPD and all Emergency Services in our area on alert,' Tupelo Police said in a news release earlier Saturday morning. 'With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.'" ~~~
~~~ Update: At 11:37 am ET, CNN is reporting on-air that the plane is down & the pilot is in custody. It doesn't appear the plane landed at an airport. The plane was stolen & the person who flew it & threatened to crash it was an employee of the Tupelo airport.
Washington Post: "Serena Williams said what is in all likelihood her goodbye to tennis Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 23 years and 22 Grand Slam titles after winning her first here at the U.S. Open. She lost to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in a tense, 7-5, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1 match full of the signature power and fight she has employed to rule women's tennis for the past two decades.... After the final game, Williams held her hand over her heart and mouthed 'I love you' to the thundering spectators on their feet in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the site of six of her Grand Slam titles. Her signature twirl and wave followed some time after as she choked back tears, thanked the crowd, then paid tribute to her family -- her mother, Oracene; sisters Venus Williams nd Isha Price; and husband, Alexis Ohanian, all standing in her player box."
12 Comments
Reader Comments (12)
Missing secrets? What missing secrets?
Those folders with the missing documents? Those top secret materials aren’t missing. They’ve been sold. They’re in new folders in Moscow, Pyonyang, and Riyadh. Not to worry. Putin, Kim, and MBS all have nice bedtime reading.
Either that or Fatty has scattered these docs around in the Marred a Lago bathrooms to impress his guests while they take a crap. The fact that both of these scenarios are entirely possible highlights not just the danger of having had this idiot in power (thank you Jim Comey, Jeff Zucker, Facebook, Twitter, and Vladimir Putin—all of whom surely got their money’s worth), but the ongoing danger of allowing him to prance around a free man-baby.
And stop calling that legal search a raid!! Jesus. I get it, Stenographers and headline writers loooove being able to use exciting and incendiary words like RAID, but it was nothing of the kind. No doors were kicked in at 5:00 am by a phalanx of heavily armed people in FBI windbreakers wearing bulletproof vests. And for all those whiny assholes still going on about how “look what they did to THE PRESIDENT!!”, one, he’s not the president, and two, had this been anyone else, illegal possession of even two or three of these documents, especially AFTER the government asked nicely to please return them, would have gotten them the perp walk of their life. Instantly.
The fact that this fat traitor is still walking around is a testament to how careful the DoJ is trying to be (too careful, if you ask me: lock him up! Before he sells any more top secrets).
"Not very bright?" Well, maybe broadcasters' decision not to carry Biden's speech was a matter of illumination, but I'd guess there's more to it. A lot more.
A political speech? Of course it was. Everything an elected leader says (or even what a disappointed Pretender grumbles) is political. It's just a question of which politics and its implications...
The networks that didn't carry the speech just didn't like the politics Biden expressed. He was saying democracy is in deep trouble in the land, and that the danger arises primarily from a transformed Republican Party.
Virtually everyone knows he's right. That's not the issue. What is at issue is how that politics plays, how much people and networks care, and some of both obviously don't care very much.
Those who don't have other priorities. Some people just like to be fascists, and the Republican Party has welcomed and nourished a gaggle of them.
The networks, though, are a business, whose priority is money, and being a business, they have a natural attraction to anything that they think will improve their bottom line. For any number of reasons some networks just didn't think Biden's message was good for business.
It's not as if businesses don't take political stands now and again. They do, but only very seldom as a matter of principle. Business' only principle is profit; and because its only interest is in profit, you can be sure that the political actions it does take are in that interest. Not airing Biden's speech was one of those actions. They just didn't think it was good for their business.
I have heard fascism described as an alliance between business and government and have so defined it here.
So here we have profit-seeking networks on the one hand and those who want political power for its own sake on the other. When they join hands, as the Republican Party has for as long as I can remember, their fascist tendencies are never far below the surface.
Soooo…the MAGA babies want an apology, do they? I thought they hated apologies.
But we have cinematic evidence of how that would go.
In an old Marx Brothers movie, a cop apologizes to Harpo for calling him a thief. As he shakes his hand, silverware and assorted stolen items pour out of the other sleeve. As the cop pumps Harpo’s hand, continuing the apology, more and more stuff tumbles out. Finally, after Groucho says “I can’t understand what’s delaying that coffee pot”, out it comes.
Except in this case, were Biden to shake the collective MAGA mitts, apologizing for calling them dangerous and violent, out would pour guns, knives, grenades, ammo, and plans to steal every election from now til rapture and murder anyone getting in the way.
At least Harpo was funny.
Ken,
The same network execs who pumped hours of uncut pure Trump lies into living rooms in 2016 are now staying away from Biden’s red alert message because they, what? Don’t want to appear to be taking sides in a political arena???
Game shows and reruns of stupid sitcoms instead of a vital message about the impending end of American democracy. A textbook example of Bread and Circus. Keep ‘em distracted and stupid.
Note to MAGAs: If you are upset about President Biden's
speech that means he was talking about you. Get it? Probably not.
The people who want to disband the FBI and the Dep't. of Education
and put the Attorney General on trial for treason, want Biden to tone
down the rhetoric. Huh?
About the fake outrage over President Biden's speech: you should
be more concerned that the leader of your party just declared that if
elected president* again, he'll grant mass immunity to people who
tried to violently overthrow the government and you said nothing,
so STFU!
@Forrest Morris: I demand an apology!
SPARKS FLY OVER THE RAINBOW:
I always get a kick out of Kevin McCarthy when he plays the serious side of being a minority leader–-reminds me of the high school jock giving a speech about fairness on the field when he is known for unfairness on the field. Yesterday Kevin got his group together and soberly delivered this:
"“The American experiment and the good people who believe in it have not said their last word. The electric cord of liberty still sparks in our hearts. The spirit of the Pilgrims, the Patriots and the Pioneers still inspire our souls. Our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. Our nation can flourish again and under a new historic Republican majority.”
Hold on there, big guy––-I think you ( or someone) swiped that electric cord business from Lincoln who said in a 1958 speech that the Declaration of Independence "links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men [and women?] together like an electric cord through generations."
Be that as it may, the Twitter feed fed on this like hungry hounds; here are a few examples:
"Uhh--I'm no electician but I don't think electric cords are supposed to spark."
" Either he's talking about people with pacemakers or he really is the ninnyhammer everyone says he is."
"The toaster of patriotism browns the bread of freedom."
"The ice machine of democracy produces digestible pellets of good ice that cools our souls."
and so forth––I almost feel sorry for the guy–-but that will wear off around noon.
And looks like our lady with the red pencil was busy today–--I thank her for the corrections.
@Marie: That's what the former guy I lived with said when I told
him he was an overbearing, cheap, lazy, nasty A-hole. He moved to
Floriduh. Perfect.
What are the chances that a prime time address by TFG would have gotten the networks' full attention? I'd say pretty good based on past behavior.
Akhilleus, businesses love to sell themselves as politically/socially conscientious to the public hoping it will help their bottom line. They claim support for women's rights, the LGBTQ community, black lives matter, or voting rights even as they hand over bags of cash to the politicians who are attacking those rights and communities. All so they can get another tax break or government handout. Principles are for suckers.
"Marie's Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing" is the best. Steal a truckload.
Patrick,
She’s not stealing that Marie’s bleu cheese, she’s checking it out, like from a salad dressing library. “Baudelaire’s French dressing? Poetry section. Caesar salad dressing? Ancient history, third floor in the stacks.”
But in most libraries, you can check books out for a couple of weeks. “Overdue” is considered a month or so late. A year and a half “overdue” is stealing. So Marie, chop-chop on the salads. Remember to return those empty bottles. And don’t wait too long. I’ve had “overdue” dressing…yuck.
And if you’re gonna change your name to anything, make it “Walton”. Then you can take whatever you want from any Walmart or Sam’s Club store.
RAS,
100% correct on network kowtowing to Trump. They regularly genuflected at the altar of hatred, unchallenged mendacity, and post-dog whistle white supremacy whenever Fatty opened the toxic pie hole. Can’t piss off the traitors and kooks, right? But decent Americans? To hell with those people. Give ‘em a rerun of a 1958 “Wagon Train”. Who needs democracy?