;)
Thanksgiving Day 2018
Migrant Caravan Arrives in Massachusetts, 1620:
... Mayhem ensues. Say, maybe Trump is right. Oh wait. The migrant caravans traveling from Central to North America today are made up mostly of people with at least some indigenous heritage. Sorry, White Man, you ignorant parvenu, your family just got off the boat; the migrants' families got here first. Way first.
What was on the table at the first Thanksgiving? Uh, no mashed potatoes & cranberry sauce. No wheat-based bread stuffing and no pumpkin pies:
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. -- Edward Winslow, in a letter to a friend in England
And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. -- Gov. William Bradford, on the immigrants' foodstores in 1621
Syracuse Post-Standard Editors: "Fifty-five years ago today, three shots rang out in Dallas, Texas, killing President John F. Kennedy as he rode in a motorcade.... Thanksgiving would not come for another six days, but Kennedy had already issued the customary presidential proclamation on Nov. 4, 1963. We publish it again in honor of the fallen president and the national holiday we gather today to celebrate." ...
Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings -- let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals -- and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world. -- John F. Kennedy's November 1963 proclamation, in part
The Last Real Presidential Thanksgiving:
The Obama family serve Thanksgiving dinner to military retirees in Washington, D.C., November 24, 2016.
McDonald's employees have the day off,* so Trump must turn to a more traditional repast:
... Actually, many fast food chains, including McDonalds, are open on Thanksgiving Day. Newsweek has a list, tho you should check with your local chain of preference before you go out.
Commander-in-Chief* Shares His Thanksgiving Thoughts about Troops He Stuck at the U.S.-Mexico Border in a Pre-election Stunt:
Don't worry about their Thanksgiving. These are tough people. They know what they're doing and they're great.... You're so worrked about the Thanksgiving holiday for them. They are so proud to be representing our country on the border. -- Donald Trump, answering a reporter's question on his way to a holiday break at Mar-a-Lago
The Truth about Ben Franklin. And Advice for Cooking a Tender Turkey. Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "Benjamin Franklin ... had a misunderstood, electric and ultimately homicidal relationship with turkeys.... Going back more than 100 years, many Americans ... have genuinely believed that Franklin thought so highly of turkeys that he wanted one to serve as the country's national bird and symbol.... [In] a letter Franklin sent his daughter ... he wrote: 'For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly.' As for the turkey, Franklin wrote that it 'was a much more respectable Bird.'... But the letter itself -- and in its entirety -- had nothing to do with the national seal. Franklin, a known jokester, was ... attempt[ing] to denigrate the seal of a hereditary club called the Society of the Cincinnati. 'The joke,' according to the Harvard project, 'is based in the idea that the Society's symbol appeared to some to look more like a turkey than an eagle.' Guess you had to be there.... Decades before Franklin was [supposedly] extolling the virtues of turkeys, he was electrocuting them to test the power of electricity.... 'I conceit,' he wrote, 'that the Birds kill'd in this Manner eat uncommonly tender.'"
A Shameful Thanksgiving Dinner at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in Manhattan:
If you're eating a more modest meal at home with family & friends, Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic has "13 Easy Tips for Politicizing Your Thanksgiving Dinner."
*****
Afternoon Update:
Trump Celebrates Thanksgiving ...
... by Threatening All Migrants. Michael Burke of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday threatened to close off the southern border, telling reporters that he would 'close entry into the country' if immigration gets 'uncontrollable.' 'If we find that it gets to a level where we're going to lose control or people are going to start getting hurt, we will close entry into the country for a period of time until we can get it under control,' he said. Trump added that he meant the 'whole border,' though he appeared to be referring only to the southern border. 'We're either going to have a border or we're not,' he said, adding that Mexico wouldn't "be able to sell their cars" into the U.S. Trump also claimed that the U.S. closed the border earlier this week, though it was unclear what he was referring to. Earlier this week traffic lanes near a key port of entry in San Diego were temporarily shut down. 'Two days ago, we closed the border. We actually just closed it,' Trump said. "We said, "Nobody's coming in." Because it's out of control.'" ...
... but by Pardoning a Multi-Billionaire Murderer. Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIA's assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had 'feelings' but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. 'He denies it vehemently,' Trump said of the crown prince. He said his own conclusion was that 'maybe he did, maybe he didn't.'" ...
... by Threatening to Shut Down the Government. Roberta Rampton of Reuters: "... Donald Trump warned on Thursday there could be a government shutdown next month over security on the border with Mexico, suggesting he could hold up a funding deal if no more money is provided for a wall between the two countries." ...
... by Politicizing the Military. Jeremy Diamond & Kate Sullivan of CNN: "... Donald Trump struck a nakedly political tone during a Thanksgiving call with US service members stationed around the world as he steered the conversation toward controversial political topics. Speaking with a US general in Afghanistan, Trump likened the fight against terrorists to his efforts to prevent a group of migrants from illegally entering the United States, and he assailed federal judges who have ruled against his administration. The President also pressed the commanding officer of a Coast Guard ship in Bahrain on trade before touting his trade policies and arguing that 'every nation in the world is taking advantage of us.' US Presidents have traditionally called troops stationed abroad during the holidays to boost morale and remind the country of their service, making Trump's rhetoric yet another striking break from the norms of presidential behavior." ...
... by Dissing the Judiciary Again. Vanessa Romo of NPR: "As of Thursday morning, President Trump was still ruminating on a rare upbraiding from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, continuing attacks against the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and calling it 'a complete & total disaster.' 'It is out of control, has a horrible reputation,' Trump wrote on Twitter. He insisted judges 'know nothing' about security and safety issues along the border and alleged they are 'making our Country unsafe.' He also said 'there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death' unless law enforcement can 'DO THEIR JOB.'... A few hours later during a televised teleconference with members of the military, Trump again bashed the San Francisco-based court. 'We get a lot of bad court decisions from the Ninth Circuit, which has become a big thorn in our side,' he said. 'It's a terrible thing when judges take over your protective services, when they tell you how to protect your border. It's a disgrace.'"
... by Saying He's Thankful for Himself. Aris Folley of the Hill: "... when asked by reporters what he is grateful for on Thanksgiving, [Trump said,] 'I've made a tremendous difference in the country.... This country's so much stronger than it was when I took office and you wouldn't believe it. I mean you see it, but [it's] so much stronger that people can't even believe it.... When I see foreign leaders, they say, "We cannot believe the difference in strength between the United States now and the United States two years ago.'."
*****
Donald the Dimwit. Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS - Whatever happened to Global Warming? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet yesterday afternoon
In my over three decades of teaching, I have never had a student dumb enough to make the kind of inference Trump is making in this tweet. -- Shibley Telhami, former adviser to the Bush & Obama administrations ...
... "Trump Confuses Climate Change with Weather, Prompting Widespread Despair." Independent: "Donald Trump has once again confused the weather with climate change.... The 72-year-old has long denied the scientific consensus on climate change, claiming in 2012 the phenomenon was a Chinese hoax intended to hurt American exports. Scientists generally prefer the term 'climate change' to 'global warming' because the effects of humans emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases are more likely to manifest as extreme weather events rather than temperature increases alone. Mr Trump has rejected that distinction as a distraction by the 'dollar sucking wiseguys'[.]... Thirteen minutes after his initial tweet, Mr Trump followed it up with a rambling and inaccurate claim he was being blamed by the media for traffic jams. 'You just can't win with the Fake News Media,' Mr Trump wrote. 'A big story today is that because I have pushed so hard and gotten Gasoline Prices so low, more people are driving and I have caused traffic jams throughout our Great Nation. Sorry everyone!' US media has [Mrs. McC: have!] widely reported on possible record numbers of travellers over Thanksgiving this weekend, but The Independent could find no cases of outlets blaming the president for traffic congestion."
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Less than a day after drawing bipartisan ire for appearing to let Saudi Arabia off the hook for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi..., Donald Trump ... tweet[ed] thanks to [Saudi Arabia] for falling oil prices. 'Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82,' he said. 'Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let's go lower!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Speaking of Going Lower. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump sparked an immediate backlash on Twitter early Wednesday after he thanked Saudi Arabia for helping lower global oil prices. Hundreds of tweeters expressed incredulity at Trump's post, which came a day after his bizarre statement that the U.S. would remain a 'steadfast partner' of Saudi Arabia ― even if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the brutal slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi." ...
... Ali Kucukgocmen of Reuters: "Turkey accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to turn a blind eye to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, and dismissed comments from ... Donald Trump on the issue as 'comic'.... 'It is not possible for an intelligence agency such as the CIA, which even knows the color of the fur on the cat walking around the Saudi consulate's garden ... to not know who gave this order'..., said ... Numan Kurtulmus, the deputy chairman of President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party." ...
... ** "Trump Gives Guidance to Autocrats." Mark Mazzetti & Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: Trump's "633-word statement on Tuesday about the brutal killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi showed the extent to which he believes that raw, mercantilist calculations should guide the United States' decisions about the Middle East and the wider world. Tuesday's message could become something of a blueprint for foreign leaders -- a guide to how they might increase their standing in the eyes of the American president as well as how far they can go in crushing domestic critics without raising American ire.... It was also a revealing meditation on the role that Mr. Trump believes facts should play in political decision-making.... The president dismissed not only [the CIA's] assessment but also the very process of seeking the truth, implying that it did not really matter anyway." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... "Maybe He did and Maybe He Didn't!" Won't Fly. Burgess Everett of Politico: "The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is demanding a definitive determination from ... Donald Trump about whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a letter to Trump, the panel's chairman, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and ranking member, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), specifically asked on Tuesday whether the administration believed that bin Salman was involved in the murder of Khashoggi.... Under the Magnitsky Act, Trump can be required to make a determination about human rights violations by global leaders. The law requires the president to do so within 120 days of the committee's request, as well as apply any sanctions. Corker and Menendez made their first request on Oct. 10, without specifically asking about bin Salman.... Corker and Menendez's first sanctions inquiry citing the Magnitsky Act ultimately resulted in the administration's sanctioning 17 Saudi Arabian officials following Khashoggi's death." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Charles Pierce: "In the last week, [Trump] has attacked a heroic U.S. admiral who commanded the raid that rid the world of Osama bin Laden, and he did so while William McRaven is fighting leukemia. He did so because McRaven was mean to him. Now, he's letting MBS off the hook, and putting American lives at risk all over the globe, because the Saudis kiss his ass and throw some business his way. And 30 percent of our fellow citizens are fine with this. Elijah Cummings can't get that subpoena power soon enough."
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday finally submitted a set of written responses to Robert Mueller, signaling that he was done for good with the special counsel's questions. But Mueller is far from done with him. The special counsel still wants to question the president over his actions while in the White House -- Tuesday's answers only covered Russian hacking during the 2016 election. It's a fight that could resul in a historic subpoena and eventual Supreme Court ruling.... Next comes the perilous round of negotiations between Trump's lawyers and Mueller's prosecutors covering topics like Trump's intentions when firing FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. That line of questioning -- which Trump says he shouldn't have to answer -- is tied to Mueller's ongoing obstruction of justice investigation." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: "The date had been picked, the location too, and the plan was penciled in: ... Donald Trump would be whisked from the White House to Camp David on a quiet winter Saturday to answer questions from special counsel Robert Mueller's team. But as the Jan. 27, 2018, date neared and Mueller provided the topics he wanted to discuss, Trump's lawyers balked. Attorney John Dowd then fired off a searing letter disputing Mueller's authority to question the president. The interview was off.... Through private letters, tense meetings and considerable public posturing, the president's lawyers have engaged in a tangled, tortured back-and-forth with the special counsel to prevent the president from sitting down for a face-to-face with enormous political and legal consequences.... [Even as Trump said publicly that he really wanted to sit for an interview,] what he didn't mention was that his attorneys had already discussed, and scuttled, the planned interview with Mueller." ...
... Bart Jansen & Steve Reilly of USA Today (Nov. 20): "... Donald Trump's administration released details of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's past income and financial holdings ... after watchdog groups complained the information was months overdue.... Whitaker revised the filing five times after being named [acting AG]. Austin Evers, executive director for the advocacy group American Oversight, which called for the release of the document, said Congress should investigate the changes." ...
... Curt Devine, et al., of CNN: "An independent federal investigative agency is looking into whether acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker violated prohibitions on political activities by federal employees by accepting contributions to his 2014 Senate campaign earlier this year. Last January and February, when Whitaker served as chief of staff at the Department of Justice, four individuals donated a total of $8,800 to the committee for Whitaker's unsuccessful 2014 run for a Senate seat in Iowa, according to Federal Election Commission records. Austin Evers, the executive director of the watchdog organization American Oversight, told CNN his group submitted a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel that argued Whitaker may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from accepting political contributions. A spokesperson for the Office of Special Counsel confirmed receipt of the complaint and said a case file on the matter has been opened." ...
... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III asked a federal judge Wednesday to order George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser to President Trump, to start serving time in prison on Monday as scheduled. Papadopoulos's lawyers had asked U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss to allow Papadopoulos to delay his two-week prison sentence while a constitutional challenge to Mueller's appointment filed in a separate case in Washington is resolved. But Mueller's team responded that Papadopoulos waived his rights to appeal when he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and that he had failed to file his request in a timely fashion."
Even CJ John Roberts Has Has Enough. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. defended the independence and integrity of the federal judiciary on Wednesday, issuing a statement rebuking President Trump's criticism of a judge who had ruled against the administration's asylum policy. The chief justice seemed particularly offended by Mr. Trump's assertion that Judge Jon S. Tigar, of the United States District Court in San Francisco, was 'an Obama judge.' Chief Justice Roberts said that was a profound misunderstanding of the judicial role. 'We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,' he said in a statement. 'What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.' Later in the afternoon, the president responded. 'Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have "Obama judges," and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,' he said, before again lashing out at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco." ...
... Adam Liptak (Nov. 20): "President Trump lashed out on Tuesday against the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, calling it a lawless disgrace and threatening unspecified retaliation. 'That's not law,' he said of the court's rulings. ]Every case that gets filed in the Ninth Circuit we get beaten.' 'It's a disgrace,' Mr. Trump said. Mr. Trump's remarks came after a federal trial judge ordered the administration to resume accepting asylum claims from migrants no matter where or how they entered the United States. The ruling was issued by Judge Jon S. Tigar, of the United States District Court in San Francisco, and not by the Ninth Circuit itself.... 'This was an Obama judge,' Mr. Trump said of Judge Tigar, who was indeed appointed by President Barack Obama.... Mr. Trump vowed to take steps to address his unhappiness with the court. 'I'll tell you what,' he said, 'it's not going to happen like this anymore.' But it was not clear what he proposed to do. 'The Ninth Circuit is really something we have to take a look at because it's not fair,' he said. 'People should not be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and file their case.'" ...
... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "If anybody actually believed what Roberts pretends to believe Merrick Garland would be on the Court right now. What he wants is for you not to call his political opinions political. Judge him by his actions, not his words."
Tara Copp of Military Times: "The White House late Tuesday signed a memo allowing troops stationed at the border to engage in some law enforcement roles and use lethal force, if necessary --- a move that legal experts have cautioned may run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act. The new 'cabinet order' was signed by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, not ... Donald Trump. It allows 'Department of Defense military personnel' to 'perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary' to protect border agents, including 'a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention. and cursory search.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
Trump, supposedly writing his "American carnage" speech at Mar-a-Lago, January 2017. ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Excuse me. Since when can the White House chief-of-staff direct military operations, including those that may violate existing law? Kelly himself did receive Senate approval for his previous job as Director of Homeland Security, and he is a former Marine general, but he has retired from that position. His present position as chief-of-staff does not require Senate confirmation nor -- as far as I know -- give him authority over the military. Is Jim Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, going to put up with this? Or is the idea to get Mattis to resign in protest? And let's not pretend Trump can't sign anything because he's on vacation. They have pens at Mar-a-Lago. ...
... Update. Wesley Morgan of Politico: "The 5,800 active-duty troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border will remain mostly unarmed and won't expand their duties to arresting migrants, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday -- despite a new White House order giving him discretion to provide new types of protection to Border Patrol agents. 'I'm reviewing that now,' Mattis said of the order. But he added: 'We are not doing law enforcement. We do not have arrest authority.'... The new order ... does not give new tasks to the military but allows Mattis to expand the troops' duties if Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen requests it.... 'We'll decide if it's appropriate for the military, and at that point, things like Posse Comitatus obviously are in play,' Mattis said. 'We'll stay in strict accordance with the law.'"...
... Spencer Ackerman & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "When the Department of Homeland Security requested the so-called force protection mission [last month] from the Pentagon, Mattis declined because he thought he lacked the authority to do so, [an] official said.... Homeland Security went above Mattis' head in order to get Donald Trump's chief of staff to secure for them the potentially lethal military force for which immigration hardliners in the administration had clamored."
Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this week to press for action on a criminal justice measure that has long divided McConnell's GOP, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Trump's Tuesday call to McConnell comes as the criminal justice bill creates tension within the Senate Republican caucus, with Arkansas' Tom Cotton repeatedly slamming legislation supported by multiple senior GOP colleagues. The intra-party schism underscores McConnell's long-running reluctance to spend a week or more of floor time on a criminal justice proposal that splits his party -- despite winning the president's vocal endorsement."
Butt Out, Mrs. Huckleberry. Kathy Kiely & Mike McCurry in a Washington Post op-ed: "While backing out of what was shaping up to be a titanic legal fight over the First Amendment, the [Trump] administration never backed off the notion -- expressed in a Justice Department brief -- that the president has 'broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists.' Rather, President Trump seemed to double down on this sweeping assertion, announcing through his press secretary new rules of decorum for reporters on the White House beat.... Limiting press questioning harms the press, the public and, potentially, the president.... Since the late 1800s, Congress has pointedly butted out of decisions about who gets credentials to cover its proceedings, turning over the duties instead to a Standing Committee of Correspondents.... Why should that not be the same model at the White House?... Decisions about White House access should be in the hands of security and media professionals, not political appointees."
But the E-mails! Caitlin Oprysko: "A pair of Republican committee heads have requested information from the White House regarding Ivanka Trump's use of a personal email account to conduct official business throughout her time in the administration. In a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly, House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) asked that the administration provide his committee with an accounting of Ivanka's email use for government business, including details on whether the White House had complied with security and record-keeping requirements as laid out by the Presidential Records Act, and whether Trump, a senior adviser to her father, had sent any sensitive or classified information over her personal email. Gowdy noted that while his committee opened an investigation in 2017 into White House staffers' use of personal emails and encrypted devices to conduct official business, the White House had yet to update his committee on the findings of an internal review.... The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday also wrote to the White House asking for details about Ivanka’s email use and any training she received regarding compliance with record-keeping statutes. Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and ranking member Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) wrote to White House counsel Emmet Flood to request information that would help the committee determine 'the extent to which Mrs. Trump's use of personal email for official business was intentional and substantial versus inadvertent and de minimis.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: Donald Trump is losing in the courts. "As Fred Barbash noted a few weeks ago in the Washington Post, 'by a very rough count, 40 to 50 federal judges have weighed in against the Trump administration in cases.' This is not, as Barbash observes, because these are all a bunch of demented 'judicial activists,' as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions once attempted to argue. Nor are they the 'judges of the Resistance.'... A good many of these jurists were appointed by Republican presidents and in some cases Trump himself. No, the Trump administration is still managing to lose a tremendous amount of its lawsuits despite the fact that the judicial branch has changed dramatically in the past two years and the Supreme Court itself now tilts to the political right.... Trump loses so much at least partially because his administration must often contort itself into absurd postures to justify policies enacted by random tweet (as was the trans ban) or by vengeful tantrum (as was the sanctuary cities policy) or without proper procedures (the asylum changes).... Trump also loses whenever courts take his tweeting or offhand comments into account, because they often undermine or even contradict stated legal arguments.... To be sure, there is still a great deal to be worried about." (Also linked yesterday.)
Tess Bonn of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that House Republicans plan to hear testimony on Dec. 5 from the prosecutor appointed by former Attorney General
CBS/AP: "The Los Angeles district attorney declined to prosecute attorney Michael Avenatti on felony domestic abuse charges on Wednesday and referred allegations that he roughed up his girlfriend to the city attorney for a possible misdemeanor case. Avenatti, 47, was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge last week after his girlfriend told police he abused her at his Los Angeles apartment following an argument. A restraining order against Avenatti was issued after actress Mareli Miniutti said he dragged her across the floor of his Los Angeles apartment after an argument. She wrote in a sworn statement that Avenatti shouted expletives, told her she was 'ungrateful' and 'forcefully' hit her in the face with bed pillows. Avenatti, who had called the allegations 'completely false' and a fabrication, said in a statement he was thankful the district attorney had rejected the charges. 'I have maintained my innocence since the moment of my arrest,' he said.... 'This Thanksgiving,' he said, 'I am especially grateful for justice.'"
Share Article
Reader Comments (8)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas
Two turkeys needing a reprieve
From being shoved into an oven
Roasted to perfection with lots of lovin
And eaten by hungry one and all––
Such is this ritual, this Thanks for Giving we call
It–-our very special American tradition.
So–-gobble, gobble, wish upon a drumstick that the real Turkey in this play of plays gets roasted sooner than later.
And hold your family close.
The way to explain the distinction between weather and climate to ignoramus science deniers is weather is your mood, climate is your personality. So, like Trump, you could be in a good mood or a bad mood depending on the day, but you’re an asshole no matter what.
@Akhilleus: Still, little by little as you grown & mature, your personality can change, which is why you're even more of an asshole now that you were just a few years ago.
This one could come up at dinner.
CNN: "At one point, Trump was asked what he was most thankful for on this Thanksgiving.
'For having a great family and for having made a tremendous difference in this country," Trump said. "I've made a tremendous difference in the country. This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office that you wouldn't believe it.'"
He's right. He has made a tremendous difference. And he's right about the strength part, too. I wouldn't believe it.
A Happy Thanksgiving to All.
Yes, and getting assholier by the day.
And today, instead of being thankful for all the amazing breaks he’s gotten in life, for the money and opportunities he’s had handed to him or simply stolen, he’s probably whining and complaining about how unfair it all is.
Ken,
So, in other words, the Turkey in Chief is thankful for himself.
What a surprise.
Lest we forget - turkeys can't fly.
Thanks, Ms. B. McC!
Thanks to all the RC community, for your insight, commentary, and support during these insane times I am grateful for this site every day.