;)
Wednesday
Apr252018
The Commentariat -- April 26, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Graham Bowley & Jon Hurdle of the New York Times: "A jury found Bill Cosby guilty Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home ... 14 years ago, capping the downfall of one of the world's best-known entertainers, and offering a measure of satisfaction to the dozens of women who for years have accused him of similar assaults against them. On the second day of its deliberations at the Montgomery County Courthouse in this town northwest of Philadelphia, the jury returned to convict Mr. Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, at the time a Temple University employee he had mentored. The three counts -- penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant -- are felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years in state prison, though the sentences could be served concurrently."
Brady Dennis & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... Scott Pruitt was unapologetic about his leadership during the first of two Capitol Hill hearings Thursday but conceded that he had known in advance of an aide's significant raise -- among the many controversies that has put his position on the line. Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on environment for three hours, Pruitt walked back previous denials of having any involvement in the salary discussion for agency senior counsel Sarah Greenwalt. She and another staffer got pay hikes this spring over the objections of officials in the White House Personnel Office.... Pruitt spent the hearing attributing the vast majority of allegations about his ethics and management decisions to policy critics...."
Karoun Demirjian & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as secretary of state on Thursday despite lingering objections from Democrats who've questioned his record of hawkish policy positions and past controversial statements about minority groups. The split vote represents the political scrutiny Pompeo is likely to encounter as he moves from the CIA to the State Department, where he'll face the simultaneous challenges of reinvigorating an agency beset by flagging morale and answering for a president who is prone to impulsiveness."
Allan Smith & Sonam Sheth of Business Insider: "US District Court Judge Kimba Wood said she would appoint a special master in [Michael] Cohen's case to initially review documents seized during the FBI's raids on Cohen's home, office, and hotel room. The special master will determine whether something falls under protected attorney-client privilege and what prosecutors could use against Cohen. Wood appointed Barbara Jones, a partner at Bracewell who specializes in white-collar litigation and a former federal judge for the Southern District of New York, as the special master. Jones was not one of the candidates submitted by Cohen's team or by the government to serve as the special master."
Peter Baker & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump distanced himself from his longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, on Thursday, saying that a federal criminal investigation was focused on Mr. Cohen's business dealings and had nothing to do with his legal representation of the president.... The president acknowledged that Mr. Cohen represents him in connection with Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actress known as Stormy Daniels.... Michael Avenatti, Ms. Clifford's attorney, quickly seized on the president's comments, suggesting they would help her lawsuit trying to nullify the 2016 nondisclosure agreement by proving Mr. Trump's involvement in the effort to keep her quiet before the election.... 'The president's statements this morning are very, very damaging to him in our case,' Mr. Avenatti [said on MSNBC]. 'It directly contradicts what he said on Air Force One relating to his knowledge, or lack thereof, of the agreement of $130,000.'... The president's discussion of Mr. Cohen's legal troubles came during an expansive, wide-ranging and at times rambling half-hour telephone interview on Fox. At times, it sounded as if he was shouting into the phone." Read on, for your amusement. See related Fox "News" story below, linked earlier today. ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Legal experts don't agree on the impact of Trump's remarks today re: the Clifford case. But they do seem to agree that Trump didn't do himself any favors when he spoke about the case. ...
... Here's the transcript of the Trump/"Fox & Friends" interview, annotated by Aaron Blake. Thanks to Patrick for the heads-up. See also Patrick's comment on the interview below. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "In the interview, Trump's sense of persecution was so acute he was barely able to concentrate on an open invitation to tout his own success, the thing he does best.... But the most disturbing moment came at the very end, when Trump threatened to force the Department of Justice to adopt his own chosen priorities, ignoring the 'phony' charges against him, and prosecuting the 'real' ones against his opponents[.]... At this point, astonishingly, the embarrassed hosts ushered Trump off the phone, insisting he must be busy -- likely the only time in memory a 'journalist' has cut short an interview with the president of the United States. Trump is making his intentions perfectly clear. He wants the Department of Justice to lock up his political opponents and witnesses to his misbehavior. And he wants it to stop investigating his own misdeeds.... Trump is, on national television, making existential threats to the rule of law."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. In a 14-7 vote, the panel approved the bipartisan proposal that deeply divided Republicans on the committee. With every committee Democrat backing the legislation, only one Republican was needed to secure passage. In the end, four Republicans voted for the bill: Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.). Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Lee (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas) Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ben Sasse (Neb.), John Kennedy (La.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) opposed it."
*****
** Nicholas Fandos & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The White House withdrew the nomination of Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, to lead the Veterans Affairs Department on Thursday after lawmakers went public with a torrent of accusations leveled against him by nearly two dozen current and former colleagues from the White House medical staff. In a statement released Thursday morning, Dr. Jackson announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration to be the secretary of Veteran Affairs. 'Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing -- how we give the best care to our nation's heroes,' Dr. Jackson said in a statement provided by the White House press office. He said that the charges against him were 'completely false and fabricated.' Within minutes of the withdrawal, President Trump lamented the loss of his nomination, and said that Senator Jon Tester of Montana, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, would 'have a big price to pay' for undercutting Dr. Jackson." (See links to related stories below.)
He's an admiral, highly respected, a real leader. And I watched Jon Tester of Montana, a state I won by over 20 points, they love me and I love them. Jon Tester, I think this is going to cause him a lot of problems in his state. He took a man who is an incredible man, an incredible man [and smeared him]. These are all false accusations. These are false. They're trying to destroy a man. -- Donald Trump, in a call-in to "Fox & Friends" this morning
It's always somebody else's fault. And news organizations are likely to find evidence that the accusations are not false. Isn't there an accident report or insurance claim on the vehicle Jackson allegedly smashed? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... For instance, in the Times report above, there's this:
The New York Times spoke with two former members of the White House medical office staff on Wednesday, both of whom described a culture under Dr. Jackson where medications were freely distributed and lightly accounted for. They both said they had witnessed Dr. Jackson intoxicated during White House travel, and said it was a regular occurrence while overseas. Both of the former officials separately told of a standing order to leave a bottle of rum and Diet Coke in Dr. Jackson's hotel room on official travel. And both said they had been uncomfortable enough with Dr. Jackson's behavior to file complaints at the time with the White House Military Office.
Brooke Singman of Fox "News": "President Trump, in a fiery ... interview with 'Fox & Friends,' blasted former FBI Director James Comey on Thursday as a 'liar and a leaker' who is 'guilty of crimes' -- while issuing a stern warning to the Justice Department about the Russia probe. He said he tries to 'stay away' from the Justice Department's affairs, 'but at some point I won't.' He suggested the DOJ hasn't adequately scrutinized Comey and others amid the focus on the Russia probe.... 'Michael [Cohen] would represent me on some things ... like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal he represented me, and you know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong,' Trump said. 'There were no campaign funds going into this.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: "Did absolutely nothing wrong"? Then we wonder why ...
... The President's Lawyer Takes the Fifth. Emma Brown & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen on Wednesday told a federal judge that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself in a lawsuit brought by adult entertainer Stormy Daniels. Cohen's declaration, in support of his request to pause proceedings in the civil case, cited an 'ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.'... In 2016, Trump sneered at Hillary Clinton aides for exercising their right not to self-incriminate during a congressional investigation into her private email server. 'The mob takes the Fifth,' Trump said at one campaign rally, according to the Associated Press. 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Yet in 1990, Trump himself took the Fifth to avoid answering 97 questions in a divorce deposition, the AP noted."
Josh Margolin of ABC News: "In a filing Wednesday afternoon, attorneys for ... Donald Trump told the federal judge overseeing the investigation of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, that Trump would, as necessary, personally review documents to ensure that privileged information is not revealed accidentally to the FBI or prosecutors. '... Our client will make himself available, as needed, to aid in our privilege review on his behalf,' wrote attorneys Joanna Hendon, Christopher Dysard and Reed Keefe in their filing. The filing is part of the ongoing effort by Cohen and Trump to get the first crack at reviewing records seized earlier this month from Cohen's home, hotel and office. So far, US District Judge Kimba Wood has ruled against Cohen and Trump, though she has said she would be willing to consider their backup request to have an independent third-party review record before prosecutors and agents do." ...
... Pocketa-Pocketa-Pocketa. The Secret Life of JeffBo Sessions. Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions evaded lawmakers' questions on Wednesday about whether his longstanding recusal from campaign-related investigations extended to the Justice Department inquiry into President Trump's personal lawyer, saying only that he would not confirm the existence of the investigation itself.... Mr. Sessions said he would recuse himself if a connection were made between the Cohen and Russia investigations. But he declined to say whether he had discussed his involvement in the Cohen case with anyone outside the Justice Department, including the president, or whether Mr. Trump or any other administration official had discussed pardoning [Michael] Cohen.... Mr. Sessions also demurred when asked whether he would quit if the president or his allies fired Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who oversees the special counsel investigation. 'The question calls for speculation,' Mr. Sessions said. 'I am not able to do that.'" ...
... Eric Tucker of the AP: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday defended ... Donald Trump's right to pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Bush administration official I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby. Both of those pardons were issued by Trump and bypassed the involvement of the Justice Department and its pardon attorney, which historically reviews petitions for clemency. Sessions made the comments at a Senate subcommittee hearing where Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, reminded him that as a Republican senator from Alabama, Sessions had once defended the role and value of the Justice Department's pardon attorney.... 'It's clearly within the power of the president to execute pardons without the pardon attorney,' Sessions said."
Robert Costa & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump's new personal lawyer dealing with the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, met with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Tuesday to reopen negotiations for a presidential interview, according to three people familiar with the talks. Giuliani, who joined Trump's legal team last week, conveyed the ongoing resistance of Trump and his advisers to an interview with federal investigators, but did not rule out the possibility, the people said, adding that Giuliani pressed Mueller for clarity on when the probe is expected to end. In response, Mueller reiterated that he would like a chance to ask Trump questions about steps he took during the transition and early months of his administration, the people said. The special counsel emphasized, as he did in conversations in March with Trump's team, that an interview is essential for investigators to understand Trump's intent in making key decisions as they seek to wrap up the portion of the probe focused on potential obstruction of justice."
** Macron Calls Trump Plans "Very Insane." Ben Smith of BuzzFeed: "French President Emmanuel Macron believes ... Donald Trump will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal as part of 'a strategy of increasing tension,' Macron told reporters at the conclusion of his high-profile, whirlwind trip to the United States. 'My view -- I don't know what your president will decide -- is that he will get rid of this deal on his own, for domestic reasons,' Macron told a group of a dozen reporters and editors in an exchange at George Washington University on Wednesday. The comment marked a recognition that even the theatrical personal chemistry between Trump and Macron couldn't dramatically shift Trump's plans, and that his trip was largely focused on containing the aftermath of US withdrawal. And Macron mixed personal praise and some optimism about Trump with sharp disapproval of US plans to pull out of treaties it had recently joined. 'It can work in the short term but it's very insane in the medium to long term,' he said of the US decision 'to change [its] opposition so often.'" ...
... Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday delivered an impassioned call for multilateralism and U.S. engagement in the world, saying it was 'an essential part of our confidence in the future.' Speaking to a joint session of Congress, amid frequent standing ovations and cheers, Macron recalled the long history of U.S.-French relations and shared values and culture on everything from democracy and freedom to human and civil rights, literature, jazz and the 'Me Too' movement.... Much of what he said, although couched in stirring and global terms, posed a direct challenge to the Trump administration, and the U.S. president with whom he has said he has a special relationship. Macron expressed his hope that the United States would reenter the Paris climate accord, which President Trump exited early in his administration.... Macron also called for resolution of trade disputes through negotiation and the World Trade Organization, indirectly criticizing Trump's imposition of tariffs.... On Iran, he repeated his support for the nuclear trade deal and outlined a four-part solution to Trump's concerns about the deal and Iranian expansionism in the Middle East." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "In his speech to American lawmakers, [Emmanuel Macron] offered a comprehensive rejection of the main tenets of Trumpism, excoriating 'extreme nationalism' and protectionism, championing climate-change science and defending the international liberal order. 'You can play with anger and fear for a time,' Macron said, alluding to the themes that fuel right-wing nationalist movements in the West, 'but they do not construct anything.' Macron went on, urging his American audience to look beyond borders and walls. 'We can choose isolationism. But closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world,' he said. And he bristled at the rise of autocrats and illiberal democrats, which include some leaders favored by Trump: 'I don't share fascination for new strong powers and the illusion of nationalism,' he said." ...
... The Hermeneutics of the Hat. Adele Stan of the American Prospect: "For the first meeting of the president and first lady with the first couple of France, Melania wore a statement-making, broad-brimmed white hat. It was an unusual sight; in the modern age, the wearing of outfit-matching hats is viewed as quaint. The newspapers couldn't get enough of it, searching for clues as to its meaning. But really, it's not that deep, people. As befits her husband's managerial style, Melania's hat provided a mad distraction from the chaos surrounding his administration, not to mention the accelerating pace of the groundwork underway for the construction of an authoritarian state." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
All the Best People, Ctd.
Jeff Zeleny, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is beginning to wonder aloud whether his embattled Veterans Affairs nominee should step aside 'before things get worse' and White House aides are now preparing for that possibility, White House officials told CNN. New allegations of improper behavior against Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, came as a surprise in the West Wing when they were published by Senate Democrats Wednesday afternoon and have left the President and his aides more uncertain about whether Jackson's nomination can move forward, three White House officials said.... Trump was also astonished that few have publicly come to Jackson's defense leading the President to believe Jackson's fate is more perilous than it seemed.... While the White House was preparing for the possibility Jackson could withdraw, it was not clear Wednesday evening whether Jackson was leaning toward dropping out or pressing forward." ...
... Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "White House physician Ronny L. Jackson has grown frustrated with the nomination process to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs and has told colleagues he may remove his name from consideration, according to two White House officials with knowledge of his deliberations. Jackson's indecision was brewing even before Capitol Hill Democrats on Wednesday released new allegations of professional misconduct, including the claim that Jackson had wrecked a government vehicle after getting drunk at a Secret Service going-away party." ...
... Burgess Everett of Politico: "GOP support for the Veterans Affairs nominee has cratered in the face of allegations of misconduct as White House physician. Jackson already faced serious doubts over his lack of management experience. At this point, it would take a miraculous comeback by Jackson to survive at least two more weeks of scrutiny and growing discomfort among Republican senators over his nomination." ...
... ** Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician nominated to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, provided 'a large supply' of Percocet, a prescription opioid, to a White House military office staff member, throwing his own medical staff 'into a panic' when the medical unit could not account for the missing drugs, according to a summary of questionable deeds compiled by the Democratic staff of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. A nurse on his staff said Dr. Jackson had written himself prescriptions, and when caught, he asked a physician assistant to provide the medication. And at a Secret Service going away party, the doctor got intoxicated and 'wrecked a government vehicle,' according to the summary.... White House officials on Wednesday ratcheted up their public defense of Dr. Jackson, calling charges of workplace misconduct leveled against him 'outrageous' even as new incidents of questionable conduct surfaced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Here's the Senate Democrats' two-page summary of the allegations -- so far -- against Jackson (via the WashPo). ...
If we don't get tough on the drug dealers, we are wasting our time. And that toughness includes the death penalty. -- Donald Trump, in Mancehster, N.H., March 19, 2018 ...
Is there a special get-out-of-the-electric-chair-free pass for physicians to the President? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... Richard Friedman, in a New York Times op-ed, suggests Ronny Jackson should not be practicing medicine if the allegations of his "candyman" approach to dispensing drugs are true.
Pruitt Will Blame Staff for His Ethical Lapses. Lisa Friedman & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "As Scott Pruitt ... prepares to testify before Congress on Thursday amid a series of spending and ethics investigations, an internal E.P.A. document indicates that he may blame his staff for many of the decisions that have put a cloud over his tenure at the agency. The document, known as the 'hot topics' list, appears to lay out talking points for Mr. Pruitt's two sessions before the House of Representatives. It suggests that Mr. Pruitt is prepared to say that he now flies coach when traveling; that others were responsible for giving two close aides who used to work for him in Oklahoma substantial pay raises; and that E.P.A. officials who were reassigned or demoted after challenging his spending all had performance issues. The document, which The New York Times has reviewed and the veracity of which the E.P.A. did not dispute, seemed to be a work in progress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Evidently, Bankers Paid Enough to Play. Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "Financial companies have worked to diminish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's powers since the day the agency was created. Now, they're on the brink of having one of their top demands granted: an end to the regulator's public database of complaints about their products and services. Since 2011, the bureau has maintained an open, searchable record of more than one million consumer reports about inaccurate debt \ collections, illegal fees, improper overdraft charges, mistakes on loans and other problems. By law, the consumer bureau has to collect those complaints. But it is not legally required to share them online. Mick Mulvaney, the bureau's acting director, hinted Tuesday that he would like to end that public access. 'I don't see anything in here that says I have to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government,' he said at a banking industry conference in Washington. 'I don't see anything in here that says that I have to make all of those public.'" ...
Nothing says drain the swamp like telling a room full of bankers to give more money to politicians who put the interests of banks ahead of people. -- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), in a Wednesday morning tweet ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Tuesday, [Mick Mulvaney] met with lobbyists and executives from the banking industry, promising further steps to gut regulations to prevent them from cheating customers. That's not even the scandalous part! The scandalous part is that Mulvaney asked the executives and lobbyists to donate more money, and told them the more they donated, the more influence they would have. Mulvaney didn't offer this as a sad concession to reality but an actual principle of governance he had personally abided[.]... The levels of corruption in this administration are simply staggering, and they range from open self-enrichment to openly selling policy to the highest bidder. The completely accurate sense that Trump and his party are out to get themselves and their friends rich is the administration's gaping vulnerability. What's especially odd is that nobody in the administration seems to have taken even cursory steps to address or paper over this weakness. They're all just grabbing as much cash for themselves and their allies as they can, while they can." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "It is hard to decide what is the worse thing here -- Mulvaney's pay-to-play operation, his shamelessness in bragging about it or Republicans' utter indifference to it."
"Great Society" May Shrink Further. Tracy Jan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson proposed far-reaching changes to federal housing subsidies Wednesday, tripling rent for the poorest households and making it easier for housing authorities to impose work requirements. Carson's proposals, and other initiatives aimed at low-income Americans receiving federal assistance, amount to a comprehensive effort by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to restrict access to the safety net and reduce the levels of assistance for those who do qualify. The ambitious effort to shrink federal assistance has been dubbed 'Welfare Reform 2.0', after Bill Clinton's overhaul of the welfare system in 1996. The proposals -- affecting housing, food stamps and Medicaid -- would require congressional approval."
Dr. Seuss, 1941.Nicholas Kristof: "A lifetime ago, Anne Frank's family applied for visas to the United States to escape Hitler, but we rejected the Franks and other desperate Jewish refugees. We thought: This is Europe's problem, not ours, and we don't want to be overrun by 'those people.' Today President Trump is again slamming the door on desperate refugees. Indeed, the Trump administration is going a step further by wrenching children from the arms of asylum-seekers, apparently as a way of inflicting gratuitous cruelty to discourage new arrivals." (See related stories re: yesterday's Supreme Court hearing & the National Museum for Peace & Justice, linked below.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I was surprised by Kristof's assertion about the Franks' failed attempt to immigrate to the U.S., but it's true. The U.S. has an unbroken history of racism & xenophobia. Far more often than not, we choose "leaders" who reflect those prejudices. As Patrick wrote in yesterday's thread, "[Trump] he is a symptom, not a cause. While it is good when symptoms are alleviated, we still have to deal with the damage and the chronic condition."
Betsy Woodruff & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: "Brian Ballard, viewed by some as the lobbyist closest to ... Donald Trump, is working for an ally of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Ballard's firm, Ballard Partners, disclosed on March 15 that it has taken on a Dubai-based trading company called ASM International General Trading LLC as a client. A Daily Beast analysis of open source materials ... indicates that ASM International General Trading is affiliated with a member of Syria's wealthy Foz family of international businessmen, which reportedly has close links to the Assad regime. Reached for comment, Ballard told The Daily Beast his firm will cut ties with the company if it has links to Assad.... Ballard's firm also represents an anti-Assad group...."
Senate Races. Gail Collins on Mitt Romney's candidacy for the U.S. Senate. "We need [a] principled national voice, not just a guy who bounces around on issues like a well-coiffed rubber ball. Romney has to do better. Otherwise, we'll go back to discussing the time he drove to Canada with the family dog strapped to the car roof." Also, too, Collins gives a little space to Don Blankenship, a West Virginia GOP Senate candidate & "a former coal mining executive who hopes voters will be so enamored with his pro-business platform they'll ignore his role in a fatal mine explosion, the poisoning of local drinking water and the fact that he actually seems to live near Las Vegas."
Robert Barnes, et al., of the Washington Post: "The conservative majority on the Supreme Court seemed to agree Wednesday that President Trump has the authority to ban travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries if he thinks that it is necessary to protect the country. Lower courts have struck down each of the three iterations of the president's travel-ban proclamation, the first of which was issued just a week after he took office in January 2017. But the conservative-leaning Supreme Court may be Trump's best hope, and it gave the administration a boost by allowing the ban to go into effect in December while considering the challenges to it." If you want to listen to the arguments, the WashPo currently has audio on its front page. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opens on Thursday, is a place unlike any other in the United States. Together with a new Legacy Museum which also opens this week, it addresses head on a subject that has been marked by a booming silence until now -- the enforcement of white supremacy in America through racial terrorism in the form of lynching, as well as its other guises: slavery, segregation and modern mass incarceration. The memorial records and honors the more than 4,000 people of color ... who lost their lives to terror lynching. It is the brainchild of Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights lawyer who for the past 25 years has been a firebrand for justice in a region that is so often resistant to it. He has championed the most desperate and vulnerable in the deep south, from 125 death row inmates he has helped avoid execution to children as young as 13 condemned to die behind bars."
Ken Belson & Mark Leibovich of the New York Times on an October 2017 meeting among NFL owners & players re: what to do about Trump. Here are more comments owners made about Trump. Mrs. McC: Medlar pointed out the main story to me yesterday, & I didn't want to read it. But I succumbed this morning, & the read was worthwhile. In a happier future, as we reflect on the Trumpocalypse, we may remember his favorable comments about the Charlottesville white supremacists as the most shocking, but his repeated attacks on NFL players protesting for equal justice are nearly as offensive. (And let's not forget the weasly lemming mike pence spent a bundle of taxpayer dollars to stage a phony "walkout" against players' protests.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. I Can't Believe I Said That. Brian Feldman of New York: "In late 2017, political commentator and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid became the center of what was at the time a minor social-media controversy after it emerged that she had written numerous homophobic comments on her old blog, the Reid Report.... On Monday, Mediaite published more old posts that are not flattering to Reid.... But the saga got even weirder when, instead of apologizing, Reid issued a confounding statement on the matter, claiming that she was the victim of a hack and that the material was 'manipulated' and 'fabricated.'... To hear Reid's lawyers tell it, someone either hacked her blog or the Internet Archive. The claim is not impossible but it is highly, highly suspect -- the Internet Archive found no evidence of this and there is no precedent for it.... What should be clear about this whole situation is that absolutely nothing lines up.... What this looks like is a very elaborate, incoherent smokescreen to avoid taking responsibility." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jason Schwartz & Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Popular MSNBC host Joy Reid will remain on the air amid a controversy over what appear to be old posts expressing anti-gay views on her now-defunct personal blog, an NBC spokesperson said.... NBC representatives declined to say whether the network itself will investigate the posts."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Stephen Chen of the South China [Hong-Kong] Morning Post: "North Korea's mountain nuclear test site has collapsed, putting China and other nearby nations at unprecedented risk of radioactive exposure, two separate groups of Chinese scientists studying the issue have confirmed. The collapse after five nuclear blasts may be why North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared on Friday that he would freeze the hermit state's nuclear and missile tests and shut down the site, one researcher said. The last five of Pyongyang's six nuclear tests have all been carried out under Mount Mantap at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea's northwest. One group of researchers found that the most recent blast tore open a hole in the mountain, which then collapsed upon itself. A second group concluded that the breakdown created a 'chimney' that could allow radioactive fallout from the blast zone below to rise into the air." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: What? Why, just this Tuesday, President* Trump told us Kim was "very honorable based on what we are seeing." This tells me Mike Pompeo, who is Trump's man in North Korea (besides being CIA director & Secretary of State-designate), has either been lying to Trump during daily briefings, or Trump needs more visual aids to understand the concept of "mountain collapses, radioactive material escapes into the air." Can't some crafter at State or the CIA make a dandy little mode of a collapsing mountain with smoke spewing out the "chimney"? C'mon, Mike, you can say, "Mountain fall down go boom." I'm sure Trump would find it almost as much fun as fake-driving a Mack truck.
Share Article
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.
Reader Comments (18)
Ronny's is gone.!!
NYT: Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, withdrew from consideration as secretary of Veterans Affairs, saying the allegations against him had become a distraction.
The 7 times Macron sounded a lot like Obama during his speech to congress:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/26/the-7-times-macron-sounded-a-lot-like-obama-during-his-speech-to-congress/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b0950ff3a136
So what happens when Trump discovers that all those kisses, warm handshakes and backslappings's were just "the French Way" and no way were they meant to convey "I'm on your side all the way," because clearly Macron's mindset is NOT in sync with Trump's. Listening to Macron's speech to Congress I couldn't help thinking that he was trying to save us from ourselves, something Merkel might try to do also. They both see this country losing its superiority ––and possibly part of its soul–-and as staunch allies, it's a frightening prospect.
Ronny Jackson––obviously had zero vetting for someone picked to run the Vet's vast program. This White House is so lame in its ability to pick people and many people they do pick tend to deconstruct and leave with their reputations in shatters–-whipped dogs with their tails tucked under. The King picks those he "likes" never taking in account their expertise–-if any–-. His rambling on about Jackson's "great guy" status the other day and saying if he was in Jackson's situation he would drop out––wouldn't take all the nasty, unfair blows ( and blamed these on those awful democrats who are sour because they couldn't stop Pompeo) this poor guy has to take–––but then said something strange––that he'd like to BE Ronny Jackson––What does THAT mean?
And then there's the hat...
Marvin,
I guess you didn’t hear. The implosion that was the Ronny Jackson dumpster fire of a nomination was all the Democrats’ fault. So sez immaculate, never wrong Donaldo. Cuz nothing is ever his fault. At one point he was making it sound like Jackson nominated himself! “Why would he want to do that?” asked the little dictator, incredulously.
Then it was the Democrats’ doing. Commenting on a slew of unsolicited reports of Jackson’s odd behaviors and clear lack of qualifications for the job are considered “attacks” by the Orange Baboon. Then it was “Well, it’s Ronny or bust”. Even Jackson said he was ready to stay the course. Then suddenly, it’s over. Very likely some flunky was told to call Jackson and tell him to back out. Because Trumpado never wants to look like it’s his fault.
Reminds me of that movie “Dave” in which the president, a sort of Poppy Bush type, tells his cabinet, when they plot to kill an initiative that helps the poor “If I kill it, it will make ME look like a prick. I don’t want to look like a prick. I want YOU to look like pricks”
The Way of Trump the Cowardly.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/a816dafa-7b20-4e72-8104-8fd90fb46c94
So now Jackson has sort of established that his judgment and professional standards are questionable. "Sort of" because he pulled out when the allegations were articulated in writing.
Does that mean that his January assessment of the health of the President* is questionable and possibly unprofessionally glossed?
Of course it does.
Look for him to retire after a decent interval but before next year's annual physical.
Huh? Really? Photo used with Dr.Richard Friedman's commentary in the NYT says "Ronny L. Jackson" second from right" BUT....Ronny Jackson does not have a widow's peak.
Who is that guy? Face shape is wrong.
@MAG: You're right. I recognize Scavino & Kelly, but I have no idea who the two other guys are, but neither one is Jackson. The guy on the far right looks like Jim Inhofe, but I assume he's somebody else.
The "designated" Jackson in the photo doesn't look a bit like Jackson, as you point out. But I'll just guess here that -- whoever he may be -- he'll be Trump's next pick for Secretary of Veterans' Affairs. Or a federal judge. Or whatever. Unless he's already been sent packing.
"....the Supreme Court seemed to agree Wednesday that President Trump has the authority to ban travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries if he thinks that it is necessary to protect the country."
Of course, those conservatives on the Supreme Court would take such a rationalist position. The law is, after all, the law, and a convenient alternative to thought, which is why conservative courts that specialize in such faux rationalism illustrate how divorced the rational is from the real, something especially true in this case when the real is a pretend president.
What if this president's ban is not based on security concerns at all, if no objective data supports it, or if those security concerns are in fact no more than concerns about keeping the Pretender's political viability secure among his irrational base? Does a rational court allow a demonstrably irrational president to make such irrational decisions?
Of course it does.
After all, these are the same folks who decided that we live in a post-racist America.
On another subject: Since the Pretender's public support of Ronny seems particularly deranged, I'm wondering if there's any way to find out how it played to the Faux News audience? Does anyone selectively poll the similarly handicapped?
Here is a well-written (but sort of long) essay on how gun culture has evolved, for this author living in the U.S.
southeast.
He writes, among other things, that he always carries a weapon, and that he suffers from the heightened awareness ('vigilance") and fear of threat that is sometimes associated with post traumatic stress disorder (although he does not mention PTSD). He also concludes that what has changed about "gun culture" in his lifetime (30+ years) seems to be fear-based -- rather than owning guns for practical rural living chores and recreation (e.g., hunting, varmint control, club competition), the culture now seems based on fear of human opponents -- hence the popularity of weapons designed to kill people (e.g. AR15s) , acquired by people who don't really know much about weapons.
I felt sort of sorry for the guy because he realizes that his threat perception and anxiety are a problem for him, and he can't find a way to rid himself of them. So he needs a gun on his person to feel that he has some form of ultimate defense. If a person this thoughtful can have this kind of profound affliction (i.e. needs a gun to feel, not safe but having a fighting chance against ... whatever) it worries me that there are millions who must feel that way, but who are not as careful and thoughtful. Scary.
Update: NYT has changed the photo with the Friedman article to one that actually is Ronny Jackson.
@MAG: Yeah, I wrote to them about it.
Ken,
But, as you well know, rationalism only goes so far with wingers. When the rational does not produce the required result, it's time to revert to ideology, then blame the other guy. Just ask the New Winger Justice (installed by the treasonous actions of Mitch McConnell).
How is this for rational? A guy is in his truck. It's freezing out, -27F. The brakes on the trailer have frozen up. His boss sez "Don't leave the trailer!" But if he does as he's told, he could die of hypothermia, so he unhitches the trailer and drives the cab to safety. But Neil Gorsuch declares this a breach of contract. The dude is GUILTY! If he had just stayed there and died, like he should have, he wouldn't have been fired.
So, rationalism is only useful as a tool in the moment. Tomorrow, it will be back to same ol', same ol'.
@Ken Winkes: I don't know how Foxbots view the Ronny Jackson fiasco, but Fox "News" does do polling -- there's a new one out today -- but they don't seem to single out Foxbots.
On the other hand, if you're looking for unscientific Fox "News" polling (I know, seems like a tautology) you can't do better than Lou Dobbs' Twitter poll. It did not go well for Lou.
Speaking of techniques other than, you know, chopping people's heads off, Confederates have found other ways to stick it to pesky citizen who refuse to toe their line.
Today, in two other red states where education has been under attack (Why always red states? Hmmm...) for years by the Party of Ignorance, teachers are walking out to strike for better pay and more classroom resources.
Wingers don't like this one little bit, no sirree bob.
In Colorado, Confederate pols are lowering the boom on those unreasonable and highly unpatriotic teachers who should just shut up and enjoy the bowl of cold gruel they've been given.
So, in order to punish these teachers, a bill was introduced in the Colorado senate that "...prohibits districts from supporting a teachers strike and requires schools to dock a teacher’s pay for each day they participate in a walkout. The teachers could also face up to six months in jail and a $500 daily fine if they violate a court order to stop striking. Under the new law, sponsored by state Sen. Bob Gardner (R) and state Rep. Paul Lundeen (R), a teacher could be immediately fired without a hearing."
Money and liberty taken away and job taken away without a hearing.
Isn't this the sort of thing that started people in this country and France thinking about overthrowing the assholes at the top?
Stand up for yourself, exercise your Constitutional rights, and we will deny you your pay, slap you in a jail cell, and get you fired.
And to put it in perspective, Colorado legislators make $30,000 a year (per Wikipedia) but only work for 17 weeks. Teachers in Colorado make an average of $45,000 but work (officially) for 36 weeks (not counting the weeks they put in on their own during the summer).
Therefore, were legislators in session as long as teachers, they'd make over $60,000. Considerably more than those teachers. And teaching kids is a hell of a lot more difficult than sitting on your ass dreaming up ways to fuck those same teachers.
Special ring of hell...
How can you not love these guys:
" TRUMP: I don’t watch them at all. I watched last night.
DOOCY: Well, that makes it easy"
Transcript by WaPo
Statement. Immediate negation of statement. Commendation and Applause.
Trumpidity
Trump the Stupid: Michael Cohen? Who? Oh, that guy? He only did a teensy-weensy bit of work for me.
Mueller the Fox: Great. Not much in the way of privileged material then. We'll let the Special Master get to it and we should have this review done in no time. Thanks, Donnie!
If he were less of an asshole, would I feel bad for such a blithering idiot?
No.
He was demanding that he be the one to determine which material Mueller and his bloodhounds could look at. Yeah. Like that was gonna fly. Like letting John Gotti tell the DA what crimes he could consider when taking his ass before a judge.
"Well, judge, lessee, we got three traffic violations, failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, a misdemeanor for improper disposing of Coke cans, and a warning for loud noises during a party at his house."
So now, using Trump's own words that Cohen did very little work for him, his demand that he be the one to decide which documents are examined is gone, as is his claim of privilege for thousands of other documents.
Good job, Donnie!
This was posted earlier but ended up in the spam dump. In case you were wondering about the comment about chopping people's heads off, this is where it came from...
Ignorance, Superstition, and Barbarism Forever!
Today, with any luck, smug, sniveling, taxpayer pickpocket, self-dealer, anti-science supporter of the extraction industries, and BFF of anti-environmental lobbyists, Scott Pruitt, will be grilled (I suggest hot coals with a little mesquite) by Congress (at least by the Democrats). They'll get in his face over that $43,000 Cone of Silence in his office, his extravagant spending, extended visits to five star hotels, his custom SUV with bulletproof seats, and the phalanx of round the clock bodyguards to protect him from taxpayers who might want to ask him a question.
All of that is meet and just. I hope they roast his ass. But that still leaves a big question hanging in the air. What can be done about the foul, sewage wave of science deniers now washing over all red states, many of whom are now burrowed in like ticks in DC?
Let's start with organizations like the EPA. Environmental protection, on its face, demands a serious and responsible understanding and appreciation of scientific evidence. But that's not what we get. We get the Confederate version of prehistoric shamans waving sticks over sick people. Oh, and we also get the pay for play lobbyists who aren't so much science deniers as encouragers of scientific ignorance and avoidance. At all costs. And it costs plenty. Just ask Mick Mulvaney.
Should scientists have to pay to play too? Apparently so. In the Age of Trump, they promise to listen, but only if you pay them enough. Facts don't matter. Franklins matter. Benjamin Franklins, that is. Piles of them. You hand over enough money, you can make your own facts.
But a more advanced society might play it differently.
In 1666, a forward looking gentleman named Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a minister for Louis XIV, founded the Royal Academy of Science, now the Académie des sciences, with the idea of creating a safe space for scientific research. He convinced the king that it was in the interest of the country to develop a more organized approach for French scientific investigation and discovery, much of which could benefit the country financially. What an idea!
The academy was largely insulated from political influence, so much so that, in a eulogy to Colbert, the great chemist Antoine Lavoisier, wrote that the academy was like a "little republic", set off on its own, allowed to pursue scientific progress free from "...opposition arising from ignorance, superstition, and barbarism." Throw in "corruption and greed" and you've got an accurate description of what's going on in Trump World.
I understand it will never happen, because science can point policies in directions that Confederates would never stand for, but it seems a logical step that agencies and administrations that rely on science as an essential element of their mission, be insulated from the likes of Scott fucking Pruitt.
Of course, a few years after Lavoisier wrote that eulogy, political extremists did intrude on his little republic. They outlawed all academies, and Lavoisier lost his head in the Terror. So there's that too.
Confederates haven't yet gotten around to placing guillotines in city parks and town squares as warnings to les citoyens, if they don't come around, but rest assured, they're using other techniques.
Can anyone actually see Trump putting on his reading glasses and going through the mountains of documents recovered in the Cohen raid? I've rarely heard of a more absurd proposal. Donald would get sidetracked after the third sentence of the first page, take a look left, then right, and proceed to force feed reams of documents into the shredder as fast as his tiny hands could amass them, all the while screaming fake news! at the top of his lungs. #toomuchmoron
Re: Akhilleus' note about CO.
I can't speak for all states, but those I know treat teacher labor actions (which before the ascension of the Right had been few and far between), but they have generally been treated as "snow" days. The schools make up the lost days at the end of the year.
Unscheduled walkouts are, of course, inconvenient for parents who understandably rely on schools to be open, but it seems that the teachers who have recently walked have nonetheless had their communities' support.
That must really gravel the R's.
Efforts to fire or fine striking (not always the right word to use) teachers have also met with very mixed success.
There is that whole due process thing....