;)
The Commentariat -- April 26, 2019
Late Morning Update:
Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is on his familiar I-didn't-say-what-they-say-I-said tour:
Trump "Answered Perfectly." Katie Galioto of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday defended his 2017 statement that there were 'very fine people' on both sides of the deadly white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, comments that recently came under fire again after former Vice President Joe Biden attacked Trump for them.... 'If you look at what I said you will see that that question was answered perfectly,' Trump told reporters on the White House lawn ahead of a trip to Indianapolis to speak at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting. 'I was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee, a great general[, whether you like it or not].'... In the days following the deadly protests, Trump did not denounce the marchers, instead condemning violence on both sides and calling for Americans to 'come together.'" ...
... Actually, No. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post reviews the transcript of the Q&A surrounding Trump's "very fine people": "REPORTER: You said there was hatred and violence on both sides -- TRUMP: Well, I do think there's blame, yes, I think there's blame on both sides. You look at both sides. I think there's blame on both sides.... You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." (Emphasis Blake's.) Blake goes on with the transcript. "Trump does this a lot. He will say something suggestive -- in this case, suggestive that the violence in Charlottesville wasn't really such a clear-cut result of resurgent racism -- and then he will later say something else to give himself plausible deniability. But the plausibility here is basically nil. Trump seemed to find something redeeming in a group of protesters that was clearly full of racists.... [In is presidential announcement video,] Biden correctly described who was marching that day, and then he correctly characterized Trump's comments. The idea that he's launching his campaign on the 'Charlottesville hoax' or the 'Charlottesville lie' is a rather amazing contention."
Three Lies In One Breath. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday insisted that he did not order former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, despite McGahn's testimony to the contrary, explaining that he was aware of the potential consequences. 'I'm a student of history. I see what you get when you fire people, and it's not good,' Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a National Rifle Association conference in Indianapolis. The president maintained he had the legal right to fire Mueller, but that he chose not to." Mrs. McC: "(1) didn't order McGahn to fire Mueller; (2) student of history; (3) doesn't fire people because it's bad. Not only does the Trump administration have the highest turnover rate in recent history, largely because Trump has a lot of people fired, he also has (what I think is) the highest percentage of "acting" people in top-level positions because, he says, that gives him "flexibility."
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday issued a forceful denial that his administration paid any money for the return of Otto Warmbier following reports that North Korea issued a $2 million medical bill in exchange for his release. 'No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else,' Trump wrote in a tweet in which he falsely contrasted his position with that of his predecessor and criticized a hostage swap that took place in 2014."
Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "A federal judge on Friday ordered Russian agent Maria Butina to serve 18 months in prison. She will get credit for nine months already served. Butina, who was arrested in 2018, had pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the Russian government."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "In his first television interview since the release of the redacted version of the Mueller report, President Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night that the investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election was a 'coup' and an 'attempted overthrow of the United States government.'" Mrs. McC: You can click on the link to read more of the conspiracy theories Trump shared with Hannity's followers.
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump disputed Thursday that he had told then-White House counsel Donald McGahn to seek the firing of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the midst of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.... 'I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so,' Trump wrote. 'If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn't need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself. Nevertheless, Mueller was NOT fired and was respectfully allowed to finish his work on what I, and many others, say was an illegal investigation.'... McGahn emerged as a key witness in Mueller's 448-page report, detailing several occasions when Trump ordered him to 'do crazy shit,' according to the special counsel's findings.... In television interviews Sunday and Monday, Trump legal spokesman Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Trump lawyer John Dowd also sought to cast doubt on McGahn's recollection of Trump's order to seek Mueller's firing. Both argued that Trump wasn't as direct as McGahn seemingly believed. Trump was only seeking to have Mueller 'vetted,' Dowd said during an appearance on Fox News." ...
... Ken W., in today's thread, finds himself in a quandary: Whom to believe? McGahn or the Pretender? The guy who 'couldn't remember' thirty times in his written responses to Mueller's questions -- or the real lawyer who takes notes? That's another tough one.
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "President Trump told The Washington Post's Robert Costa on Tuesday that the White House plans to try to block [Don] McGahn's testimony, and aides confirmed they may invoke executive privilege.... But the ... White House has already effectively waived its right to executive privilege twice when it comes to McGahn. The first time came when it authorized him to speak extensively to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III -- a decision that resulted in 30 hours of interviews and one that Trump has reportedly come to rue. And then it declined to assert executive privilege over redactions in the Mueller report ahead of the report's release last week." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Harry Litman pointed out on MSNBC Thursday, Trump waived executive privilege re: McGahn a third time when he (mis)characterized their conversations in those tweets John Wagner reports in the article linked above. McGahn is a private citizen now, so it will be up to him to decide whether or not to answer the House subpoena.
Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "Three months before Robert Mueller's report was even delivered to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump was already meeting with his lawyers about how to resist, combat, and impede the possible Democratic investigations that might arise from the special counsel's findings.... Starting early this year, the president demanded briefings on his options for how to best go on the offensive.... In these meetings, Trump would repeatedly stress that '[we] can't cooperate' with what was coming down the pike on Capitol Hill.... The president also indicated ... that he wanted Democrats to pay for what they've done to him and his associates." --s
A Clear Case of Obstruction. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: The day after Don McGahn refused to carry out Trump's order to fire Robert Mueller, "Trump turned to ... Corey Lewandowski, his former campaign manager, described by senior White House advisers to investigators as a Trump 'devotee.' In a private Oval Office meeting, the president dictated a message he wanted delivered to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions: that he needed to give a speech announcing he was limiting the scope of the investigation.... The episode, which discomfited even some of Trump's most loyal advisers, was read by some legal observers as one of the clearest cases laid out in Mueller's report of potential obstruction of justice by the president. In unequivocal terms, the report states that there was 'substantial evidence' that Trump hoped his actions would derail Mueller's investigation and prevent further scrutiny of his campaign and his own conduct.... The roughly month-long period in the summer of 2017 depicted in Mueller's report details repeated and escalating efforts by the president to stymie the Russia probe -- laying out evidence that former prosecutors said meets the elements required in an obstruction-of-justice charge."
Uh, thanks to forrest m.Mueller Proved Conspiracy. Jed Shugerman in a New York Times op-ed: "Attorney General William Barr accurately quoted [the Mueller report] as saying that 'the investigation did not establish' that the Trump campaign 'conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.' But the opposite is also true.... It's the difference between the report's criminal prosecution standard of proof 'beyond a reasonable doubt' and a lower standard -- the preponderance standard of 'more likely than not' --; ... and closer to the proper standard for impeachment.... The 'prosecution and declination decisions' part of the report uses proof 'beyond a reasonable doubt' 10 times, particularly with respect to declining indictments for Russian contacts crimes for Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr.... By the preponderance of evidence standard, the report contains ample evidence to establish conspiracy and coordination with the Russian government.... Contrast the Mueller report with the Starr report on President Clinton, which framed itself as an impeachment referral, not a prosecution decision, and thus avoided having to reach the more daunting standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.... Even without knowing what is redacted, the report offers 'substantial and credible information' of the Trump campaign conspiring or coordinating with the Russian government. Under federal criminal law, 'conspiracy' does not require direct proof or explicit words of agreement." ...
... AND David Knolls of AOL.com: "In a scathing op-ed and accompanying video published Thursday, [Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew] Napolitano said that special counsel Robert Mueller's report ... and Trump's efforts to cover it up showed a clear pattern of criminal behavior. 'When the president asks his former adviser and my former colleague K.T. McFarland to write an untruthful letter to the file knowing the government would subpoena it, that's obstruction of justice,' Napolitano said in his video. 'When the president asks Cory Lewandowski, his former campaign manager, to get Mueller fired, that's obstruction of justice. When the president asks his then-White House counsel to get Mueller fired and then lie about it, that's obstruction of justice. When he asked Don McGahn to go back to the special counsel and then change his testimony, that's obstruction of justice. When he dangled the pardon in front of Michael Cohen in order to keep Cohen from testifying against him, that's obstruction of justice.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's Napolitano's Fox op-ed, which tracks closely to the video. It appears to me that Napolitano's video did not appear on the Fox "News" channel but only on Fox "News" Digital, wherever that may be.
Elizabeth Drew in a New York Times op-ed: "... the Democrats would ... run enormous risks if they didn't hold to account a president who has clearly abused power and the Constitution, who has not honored the oath of office and who has had a wave of campaign and White House aides plead guilty to or be convicted of crimes.... Even if the Republican-controlled Senate doesn't vote to remove Mr. Trump, a statement by the House that the president has abused his office is preferable to total silence from the Congress. The Republicans will have to face the charge that they protected someone they knew to be a dangerous man in the White House.... The report by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, left clear openings, perhaps even obligations, for Congress to act.... If [House Democrats] choose to ignore clear abuses of the Constitution, they'll also turn a blind eye to the precedent they're setting and how feckless they'll look in history." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Party of Corruption & Obstruction. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans see the special counsel's report -- with its stark evidence that President Trump repeatedly impeded the investigation into Russian election interference -- as a summons for collective inaction. Republicans in the upper chamber, who would serve as Mr. Trump's jury if House Democrats were to impeach him, reacted to the report's release with a range of tsk-tsk adjectives like 'brash,' 'inappropriate' or 'unflattering.' Only Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, called out the president's behavior as 'sickening.' Yet no Republican, not even Mr. Romney, a political brand-name who does not face his state's voters until 2022, has pressed for even a cursory inquiry into the findings by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As I read Senators' forced responses to reporters questions about the Mueller report, it dawned on me that one of Bill Barr's prime target audiences for his Operation Whitewash was the GOP Senate caucus. Barr's memos & remarks comprised, not a "roadmap to impeachment," as some have characterized the report, but a Roadmap to Talking Points. So instead of just following Trump's lead & screaming "NO COLLUSION!!! NO OBSTRUCTION!!!" Republican senators have followed Barr's lead. For instance, Thrush writes, "Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, perhaps the most vulnerable Republican up for re-election next year, told Politico, 'Look, it's clear there were no merit badges earned at the White House for behavior.' He added, 'You have to focus on the heart of this conclusion, which is there is no collusion, no cooperation....'" Merit badges!!!
Philip Bump & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein hit back hard against politicians and the press Thursday night.... Speaking at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein unleashed his sharpest critique yet of those who have attacked his handling of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigative report.... He also tried to joke off questions that emerged over his appearance last week at Barr's press conference ahead of the release of the Mueller report, in which he appeared ashen-faced. 'Last week, the big topic of discussion was: "What were you thinking when you stood behind Bill Barr at that press conference, with a deadpan expression?" The answer is: I was thinking, "My job is to stand here with a deadpan expression."'... The deputy attorney general recalled that at his confirmation hearing, he made promises about how the Russia investigation would be handled. 'I did pledge to do it right and take it to the appropriate conclusion. I did not promise to report all results to the public, because grand jury investigations are ex parte proceedings. It is not our job to render conclusive factual findings,' he said. 'We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That last remark is curious, inasmuch as during that period Rosenstein was standing behind Barr with a deadpan expression, Barr was in fact doing what Rosenstein said was not the DOJ's job: "render[ing] conclusive factual findings."
Caroline Zhang of CREW: "President Trump's hand-picked IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, earns as much as $1 million in rental income from the Trump-branded properties he co-owns while facing demands from Congress to release Trump's tax returns. The IRS has already missed more than one deadline set by the House Ways and Means Committee to turn over Trump's tax returns. (Rettig has stated that he will decide whether or not to release the tax returns, under the supervision of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.) When Trump nominated Rettig to lead the IRS in February 2018, Rettig initially failed to disclose that the Hawaii real estate he owned was at a Trump-branded property. He bought a 50 percent interest in two units at Trump International Waikiki in 2006 ahead of the building's completion in 2009. It is likely that Trump profited off of his future-IRS commissioner's purchase; although the Trump Organization does not own the Waikiki property, its branding deal gave it a 10 percent share of total pre-sales."
Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember that time Steve Mnuchin told Rep. Maxine Waters "to take the gravel [not a typo] and bang it" to close the House hearing at which he was testifying because he had an "important meeting" to attend? Now, you may agree with me that it's important to keep one's appointments, no matter who your date is, but Eleanor Clift just revealed on MSNBC that Mnuchin's "important meeting," which he apparently scheduled to conflict with the end of a Congressional hearing, was with the interior minister of Bangladesh.
Uh-Oh. Kyle Atwood & Nicole Gaouette of CNN: "... Donald Trump has his eyes on a new foreign policy prize: a grand nuclear deal with Russia and China, that he sees as a potential signature foreign policy achievement. However, some arms control experts are concerned the effort could backfire.... The White House is conducting intense interagency talks to develop options for the President to pursue such a deal, building off another nuclear pact, the New START Treaty, which expires in 2021, multiple White House officials told CNN.... But the scale of those ambitions, Trump's past criticism of New START as a 'bad deal' and the role of national security advisr John Bolton -- a longstanding critic of arms control agreements -- have some observers concerned that the administration's true goal might be find a way to exit a second nuclear pact it sees as constraining and outdated. 'The only reason you bring up China is if you have no intention of extending the New START Treaty,' said Alexandra Bell [of] ... the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if Trump has asked aides to slap together the ingredients of a Nobel Peace Prize.
Wesley Morgan of Politico: "A quarter of the Pentagon's most senior civilian posts remain filled by temporary personnel who are unconfirmed by the Senate -- a high number that has slowed decisions, handicapped the department in policy disputes and shifted more power to the White House, according to recently departed Pentagon officials. Including acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who has served in a temporary capacity for an unprecedented 115 days, nine of the Pentagon's 45 secretaries, deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, deputy undersecretaries, and assistant secretaries are serving in an acting capacity or fall into a related category of officials who are 'performing the duties of' the position...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wait, wait! How is this possible? Trump boasts to everyone including the Easter Bunny & random 5-year-olds that he is "completely rebuilding our military. It was very depleted, as you know. A lot of the military folks can tell you, and it is being rebuilt to a level that we have never seen before, all with great product."
Wesley Morgan of Politico: "Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan did not violate ethics agreements or promote his longtime employer, Boeing, the Defense Department inspector general has concluded in a probe that was viewed as the major obstacle preventing his nomination to be Pentagon chief." Mrs. McC: What? Ethical? The guy is totally doomed in Trumpworld. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marcus Gilmer of Mashable: "While [Sarah] Sanders was fine hosting a group of kids (mostly the children of the White House press corps) [at the annual Take Your Daughters & Sons to Work Day yesterday], she hasn't hosted an actual press briefing for actual reporters in 45 days which is a new record.... Perhaps unsurprisingly, this year's event was mostly 'off the record.'... [Zeke Miller of the AP reported in a tweet,] 'A bunch of the questions were "favorite color" and "favorite dinosaur," but Sanders was asked about child separation policy by one kid. She replied Trump wants to 'keep families together'."
Annie Fifield of the Washington Post: "North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017. The presentation of the invoice -- not previously disclosed by U.S. or North Korean officials -- was extraordinarily brazen even for a regime known for its aggressive tactics. But the main U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from President Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation.... The bill went to the Treasury Department, where it remained -- unpaid -- throughout 2017, the people said. However, it is unclear whether the Trump administration later paid the bill, or whether it came up during preparations for Trump's two summits with Kim Jong Un.... Trump, as recently as Sept. 30, asserted that his administration paid 'nothing' to get American 'hostages' out of North Korea.... Fred Warmbier, Otto's father, said he was never told about the hospital bill. He said it sounded like a 'ransom' for his son." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Since North Korea doesn't issue hospital bills. at least to its own citizens, the $2MM is -- as Fred Warmbier speculated -- essentially a ransom.
E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the agency has abruptly paused its controversial plans to open virtually all U.S. waters to offshore drilling, a stunning reversal following more than a year of bipartisan uproar from coastal communities.... In an interview Thursday with the Wall Street Journal, Bernhardt said the administration's long-anticipated five-year leasing plan targeting the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) has been sidelined following a federal court decision in Alaska earlier this month." --s ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nah, can't be. Bernhardt must have something else up his sleeve. ...
E. A. Crunden: "From the day he was confirmed earlier this month..., [head of the Interior Department (DOI) David] Bernhardt has faced a wave of scandals.... Earlier this week, the department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) confirmed an investigation into potential ethics violations by six senior DOI officials...Senior political appointees are largely limited in the interactions they are allowed with former employers under an ethics pledge imposed by President Donald Trump... Bernhardt is similarly accused of breaching that ethics pledge. The Interior secretary, known for carrying around a card listing all of his conflicts of interest, is under investigation in relation to at least seven different complaints, according to an OIG letter sent April 15 to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)." --s
Presidential Race 2020
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former President Barack Obama offered some warm words for Joe Biden on Thursday after his vice president officially jumped into the 2020 race, but notably did not endorse him. 'President Obama has long said that selecting Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made,' Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill said. 'He relied on the vice president's knowledge, insight and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today.' The cryptic message signals that Obama is likely to follow the precedent he set in 2016, when he did not endorse any candidate during the primary despite his former secretary of State's presence in the race." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Sheryl Stolberg & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Anita Hill earlier this month to express his regret over' what she endured' testifying against Justice Clarence Thomas at the 1991 Supreme Court hearings that put a spotlight on sexual harassment of women, according to a spokeswoman for Mr. Biden. But Ms. Hill, in an interview Wednesday, said she left the conversation feeling deeply unsatisfied and declined to characterize his words to her as an apology. She said she is not convinced that Mr. Biden truly accepts the harm he caused her and other women who suffered sexual harassment and gender violence." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The Washington Free Beacon is a right-wing Website, but this headline did make me laugh: "Joe Biden Secures Coveted Michael Avenatti Endorsement." Also, it's accurate; well, except for the "coveted" part.
Amanda Gomez of ThinkProgress: "A federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked the Trump administration's overhaul of the nation's only federal family planning program. The Trump administration's rule barred abortion providers from participating in the program, which is currently relied upon by four million people. U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian, an Obama appointee, issued a nationwide injunction from the bench on Thursday.... The decision comes just two days after a federal judge in Oregon said he would block the domestic gag rule.... If the rule was fully implemented, federal officials would bar abortion providers like Planned Parenthood (which serves 40% of Title X patients) from receiving Title X funds. The rule also prevents any Title X provider from even mentioning abortion during pregnancy counseling, which is why critics liken it to a gag. Currently, no federal dollars pay for abortions; providers looking to participate in the grant program use Title X funds to subsidize services like breast cancer screenings for low-income patients." --s
Michael Wines of the New York Times: "A panel of three federal judges ruled on Thursday that 34 congressional and state legislative districts in Michigan are partisan gerrymanders and unconstitutional. The judges ordered state lawmakers to redraw maps in time for the 2020 elections. Th panel wrote that it was joining 'the growing chorus of federal courts' that have held that drawing districts to unfairly favor the party in power is unconstitutional. The judges said the maps violated Democratic voters' constitutional rights.... This is a breaking news development. Check back for updates."
Arsalan Bukhari of CAIR in Informed Comment: "The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today welcomed [Thursday] afternoon's landmark victory in CAIR's First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of Bahia Amawi, the Texas speech language pathologist who lost her job because she refused to sign a 'No Boycott of Israel' clause.... Judge [Robert] Pitman of the Western District of Texas issued a 56-page opinion striking down H.B. 89, the Texas Anti-BDS Act, as facially unconstitutional.... Every single 'No Boycott of Israel' clause in every single state contract in Texas has today been stricken as unconstitutional." --s Mrs. McC: Pitman is an Obama appointee.
What??? David Shortell & Kate Sullivan of CNN: "A federal judge in Maryland said Thursday that Christopher Hasson, a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of plotting a domestic terror attack, will be released from detention. Hasson had been indicted on weapons and drug charges, but did not face any charges related to terrorism or attempted murder -- a point his public defender.... He pleaded not guilty last month on the weapons and drug charges. Judge Charles Day agreed that the government had not met a standard for continued detention but said he still had 'grave concerns' about Hasson's alleged actions, which included amassing an arsenal of guns and tactical gear and searching online for the home addresses of two Supreme Court justices. Hasson's defense attorney will propose options for supervised release at a future hearing. 'He's got to have a whole lot of supervision,' Day said.... Prosecutors say Hasson is a white supremacist who had a hit list that included prominent Democratic politicians as well as several journalists from CNN and MSNBC. Hasson conducted an internet search for 'are Supreme Court justices protected' before searching for the home addresses of two unnamed justices...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: According to Wikipedia, Day is a federal magistrate judge. President Obama nominated him for a District Court seat but withdrew his nomination after Republicans raised objections about something (not specified) that arose in his background check.
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey phoned Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday and stood by the company's decision to permit a tweet from President Trump that later resulted in a flood of death threats targeting the congresswoman. The previously unreported call focused on an incendiary video that Trump shared on April 12, which depicts Omar discussing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks interspersed with footage of the Twin Towers burning. The clip did not include the full context of Omar's remarks, which were taken from a public event on the broader issue of Islamophobia. Omar pressed Dorsey to explain why Twitter didn't remove Trump's tweet outright, according to a person familiar with the conversation.... Dorsey said that the president's tweet didn't violate the company's rules, a second person from Twitter confirmed. Dorsey also pointed to the fact that the tweet and video already had been viewed and shared far beyond the site, one of the sources said. But the Twitter executive did tell Omar that the tech giant needed to do a better job generally in removing hate and harassment from the site...." ...
... Joseph Cox & Jason Koebler of Vice: "At a Twitter all-hands meeting on March 22, an employee asked...: Twitter has largely eradicated Islamic State propaganda off its platform. Why can't it do the same for white supremacist content?.... Twitter won't say that it can't treat white supremacy in the same way as it treated ISIS. But external experts Motherboard spoke to said that the measures taken against ISIS were so extreme that, if applied to white supremacy, there would certainly be backlash, because algorithms would obviously flag content that has been tweeted by prominent Republicans -- or, at the very least, their supporters." --s Mrs. McC: See more on Twitter's algorithms near the top of today's Comments.
Nice Timing. Michael Burke of the Hill: "Hundreds of families opposed to vaccinations piled into the California Capitol on Wednesday to protest a bill that would give the state control over which children are exempt from mandatory vaccinations, the Sacramento Bee reported. According to the paper, the families called the legislation 'draconian,' with one protester claiming that lawmakers supporting the bill are 'brainwashed.'... The protests came during a hearing on the bill in the Senate Committee on Health.... The protests came the same day federal health officials declared that measles cases in the U.S. have reached an all-time high since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000." Related story re: measles outbreaks linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tom Englehardt of Tom Dispatch: "When it comes to climate change ... as the smoke began to appear and, in our own moment, the first flames began to leap..., no firemen arrived (just children)...Yes, there was the Paris climate accord but it was largely an agreement in principle without enforcement power of any genuine sort. In fact..., those who appeared weren't firefighters at all, but fire feeders who will likely prove to be the ultimate arsonists of human history.... Leaders who vied for, or actually gained, power not only refused to recognize the existence of climate change but were quite literally eager to aid and abet the phenomenon.... Understand this: Trump, [Brazil's Jair] Bolsonaro, [Poland's Andrzej] Duda, [Vladimir] Putin, and the others are just part of human history. Sooner or later, they will be gone. [The effects of] climate change, however.., could ... last for almost unimaginable periods of time.... Consider global warming a story for the ages, one that should put Notre Dame's near-destruction after almost nine centuries in grim perspective." --s
Zack Beauchamp of Vox did a year-long study on the "incel", or "involuntary celibacy" movement: "What I've found is more than just a community twisted into a grotesque parody of its original shape. I've found a story of how the deepest prejudices in a society can take purchase in new settings due to technology -- transforming not only online spaces but real lives and potentially even the trajectory of our politics.... [T]he focus on incels as potential killers risks missing a more subtle threat: that they will commit acts of everyday violence ranging from harassment to violent assault, or simply make the women in their lives miserable. Yet incels are not merely an isolated subculture, disconnected from the outside world. They are a dark reflection of a set of social values about women that is common, if not dominant, in broader Western society. The intersection between this age-old misogyny and new information technologies is reshaping our politics and culture in a way we may only dimly understand -- and may not be prepared to confront." --s
Beyond the Beltway
Ian Duncan & Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Sun: "Federal law enforcement agents fanned out Thursday across Baltimore, raiding City Hall, the home of embattled Mayor Catherine Pugh and several other locations as the investigation into the mayor's business dealings widened.... Shortly after the raids began, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan called on Pugh, who has taken a leave of absence as mayor, to resign.... Two sources told The Baltimore Sun that the investigation that led to Thursday's raids began more than a year ago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the economy, rose at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said Friday. (Friday's figures are preliminary and will be revised at least twice in the months ahead.) Most economists expect a downshift as the year progresses. Hardly any independent economists expect that President Trump will be able to deliver the 3 percent growth he has promised this year. Still, after a rough winter, the economy appears to have entered the spring fundamentally intact."
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Reader Comments (18)
Duh, who would blow trump? Oh, I forgot, there are millions
of trumpbots and congress critters just waiting in line.
@forrest.morris: I have so many responses, but they're all sickening.
Who to believe? McGahn or the Pretender?
The guy who "couldn't remember" thirty times in his written responses to Mueller's question--or the real lawyer who takes notes?
That's another tough one.
They just keep comin'.
Re: The story about Twitter's CEO Dorsey doing nothing about Cheatolini's incendiary tweet concern Ilhan Omar. Here's a story about another post - this one on Facebook - that caused the author to be banned for several days, see if you can tell which one is worse.
http://www.stonekettle.com/2019/04/objectionable-content.html
@Maxwells Demon: Thank you. Assuming the blogwriter Jim Wright is correct, I cannot see anything remotely objectionable about the line he cited. One can certainly disagree with the sentiment expressed by the film character -- that may have been a point the scriptwriter meant to make -- but people sympathetic to the church hierarchy would agree that the church & God are pretty much one; i.e., that the church speaks for God.
Moreover, I don't see any words or phrases in the citation that might trigger the Algorithm Censor. Weird.
And so begins the assault on Joe Biden who will be held accountable for everything he has ever said and done even as the traitor in the Oval Office skates on everything he has ever said and done.
But it won't only be Fox supporters of treason who demand that Biden be roasted for something he said 40 years ago, it will be Democrats as well.
The circus is exhausting, and it's only barely begun.
Still and all, it's grimly laughable to read the ledes in right-wing media stories that react in horror to "Creepy Joe" while giving a pass to the obstructor-liar-traitor-pussy grabber in chief.
Trump has decided to go with "Sleepy Joe" since he had such success with schoolyard bully name-calling during the last go-round, especially his "low energy" taunts directed at Jeb Bush. This from the guy who couldn't walk a hundred yards without having to haul his fat, lazy ass into a golf cart and who works barely five hours a day, if there isn't a special on Fox which would require him to extend Egg-Zecutive Time past the usual four hours.
So let me get this straight. Twitter has all but completely outlawed extremist, dangerous commentary by radical Islamic groups (because, well, Islam) but refuses to do the same to extremist, dangerous commentary by white supremacists (because, well, Republicans).
Yeah. That's what I thought.
I guess it also explains why extremist, dangerous comments from the Tweety-bird-in chief that put a target on the back of a congresswoman (who happens to be Muslim) are A-OK.
Social media, in many ways, is the real enemy of the people.
Trump (on Hannity) is correct. There has been an attempted coup and an attempted overthrow of the government. But not by Democrats. By him and his party of treasonous, unconstitutional schemers.
Trump said 'If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn’t need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself." I would love to see Trump forced to confront Mueller in person. Trump would be running away so fast in his golf cart.
Bridget Anne Kelly was on Rachel last night. Here we have a woman, divorced, with four children who claims she is certainly not responsible for Bridgegate and if complicit, it was only out of ignorance––she honestly thought the closing was legit. I certainly agree with her not being responsible, but the complicity thing and her not knowing is iffy at best. She presents as sincere, scared, and furious–-furious that she's getting 18 months in jail and Christi, whom she claims knew all about it and gave a hi-ho to the whole thing, gets off scot free. And what kind of judge gives this young woman with four children 18 months in jail for something that hasn't been, as she claims, been proven.
Which brings me back to Christi who baffles Rachel as much as he has baffled me. Here he was–-big man about state–-even running for President, but then became Trump's right hand man who was in charge of the transition campaign. I wrote about this some time ago–-how Trump fired him after he had put months of work into that transition. The Trumpies just threw all the stuff in the dumpster and kissed Chris bye,bye.
So Chris comes up with a book and for awhile we listen to him hawking it on all the stations but nary a peep about how badly he was treated by Trump––which is strange because Christi is known for his vitriol ––"What kind of stupid question is that? Get the hell out––now!" he once barked at a reporter. Now that Bridgegate is back in the news and Kelly is telling us Christie was complicit ( which many of us thought so at the time) one has to figure that there's something fishy here. Does Trump have something over Chris? What's it all about Alfie?
The words out of the mouth of Napolitano were so shocking I had to clean out my ears and rub my eyes. Will Tucker, Laura, and the half wit Hannity present those very words on their programs?
And here I sit still pondering Ken's question: McGahn or the Pretender–-I've thought and thought till my thinker is sore and like the Cat in the Hat I can't take it any more. Hard choices–-makee me silly.
Rosenstein said "I did pledge to do it right and take it to the appropriate conclusion."
"Do it right"? Last week he stood behind Barr and said and did nothing as he heard Barr lie and mislead the American people. And "appropriate conclusion"? Mueller laid out the case for obstruction of justice and said the Congress should decide. I think there was a reason that Trump was singing Rosenstein's praises after their trip together on Air Force One last october.
RAS,
Trump's claim that he would have fired Mueller himself if he so chose is a knee-slapper. Trump doesn't have the guts to fire anyone in person, "himself", unless maybe it's some flunky. But firing a special counsel? A former general? Anyone above the rank of low-level boot licker? Nope. Look at how obsequious he is in person to world leaders. It's only when they're thousands of miles away (and not even then if they happen to be murderous tyrants) does he dare to open his mouth and say something insulting.
Like most bullies, he's a coward. He has delivery boys take messages to his other flunkies telling them to do the ordering around and the firing. He also probably likes being able to hide later, as he's trying to do now, trying to say that he never said this or did that.
A liar, a bully, and a coward. Oh yeah, and a traitor.
Good job, Republicans. Way to go.
I heard the Liar in Chief's mumbled denial that he paid North Korea $2 million for Otto Warmbier's "medical bills". He couldn't even remember the guy's name (right after a reporter asked him about OTTO WARMBIER). He stumbled over his answer and finally mumbled something like "....the great....um...um...Otto yeah,...he was great. And no we didn't pay anything."
What a fucking embarrassment.
I'm not sure he actually did pay it (he never pays any bills, at least with his own money), but at least he could answer the question with a little more dignity and lexical ability than he is usually able to muster. There's that great brain in action again. Clown.
This morning on NPR, there was a report from Beijing about the ongoing efforts of China to expand their influence across the globe, lending money and technical support to projects in many different countries with the ultimate goal of filling the vacuum being left by president big brain. Russia, too, is in on this.
So while Trump sits in his room and watches Fox for hours and hours every day, munching Doritos, playing with himself, and scribbling new names onto his ever-growing enemies list, our biggest adversaries are out working hard to expand their economic and ideological influence around the planet, something this country used to do, but under the Trump Family of Grifters, Con Artists, and Traitors, no more.
Such a plan requires vision. Hard to accomplish something when your vision quotient is on a par with a Pez dispenser.
I didn't hear any reporters ask Trump how many Russians he planned on meeting at the NRA this year.
A little credibility might be nice when you are telling the American people that you did not pay $2 million for the torture of an American citizen.
"I'm a student of history!" sez the guy who thinks Andrew Jackson (died 1845) could have stopped the Civil War. Also the guy who wondered why there was a Civil War in the first place. And don't forget, Prez Student of History thinks Frederick Douglass is still alive. He also believes Canada burned down the White House.
Student of history? Sure. And I'm Emperor Ming of the planet Mongo.
Just heard Jane Mayer on NPR talking about Biden's handling of the Anita Hill-Clarence (Pubic Hair on the Coke Can) Thomas hearings.
She admits that Biden didn't do right by Hill, but mostly because he was trying to be a good guy and let the other side have their say as well. As she puts it, Biden was abiding by Marquess of Queensberry rules (in other words, trying to play fair) while Republicans were going for the the throat, in a no-holds-barred death match.
Republicans won. And they've been winning ever since because the only rule they accede to is "We Win, No Matter What". Because of that horrible hearing, we have Clarence Thomas and now Neil Gorsuch, and the insufferably unqualified misogynistic liar, Bart O'Kavanaugh, who will all (along with Sam (the Hit Man) Alito, and Little Johnny Roberts), rubber stamp Trump's every illegal, unethical, immoral, unconstitutional desire as long as R's can chalk up another win.
We cannot have anymore of that. During the Bork hearings, Ted Kennedy dared to apply some of the same bare knuckled approaches (but nowhere near as vicious) that R's always employ and because they got a tiny taste of their own medicine, they have since screamed "UNFAIR" about every attempt by Democrats to make them abide by the rules.
Time to knock that shit off. We are in a death match with a treasonous liar supported by a whole party of treasonous liars. Time to go to the mattresses.
They are the ones who declared fairness off limits, and it's now time to make them pay.
Just heard Jane Mayer on NPR talking about Biden's handling of the Anita Hill-Clarence (Pubic Hair on the Coke Can) Thomas hearings.
She admits that Biden didn't do right by Hill, but mostly because he was trying to be a good guy and let the other side have their say as well. As she puts it, Biden was abiding by Marquess of Queensberry rules (in other words, trying to play fair) while Republicans were going for the the throat, in a no-holds-barred death match.
Republicans won. And they've been winning ever since because the only rule they accede to is "We Win, No Matter What". Because of that horrible hearing, we have Clarence Thomas and now Neil Gorsuch, and the insufferably unqualified misogynistic liar, Bart O'Kavanaugh, who will all (along with Sam (the Hit Man) Alito, and Little Johnny Roberts), rubber stamp Trump's every illegal, unethical, immoral, unconstitutional desire as long as R's can chalk up another win.
We cannot have anymore of that. During the Bork hearings, Ted Kennedy dared to apply some of the same bare knuckled approaches (but nowhere near as vicious) that R's always employ and because they got a tiny taste of their own medicine, they have since screamed "UNFAIR" about every attempt by Democrats to make them abide by the rules.
Time to knock that shit off. We are in a death match with a treasonous liar supported by a whole party of treasonous liars. Time to go to the mattresses.
They are the ones who declared fairness off limits, and it's now time to make them pay.