;)
The Commentariat -- August 29, 2017
Afternoon Update:
Greg Sargent: Hopes that his Hurricane Harvey response will allow Trump to "reset" his presidency have been greatly exaggerated. "Just yesterday, Trump reaffirmed his pardon of Joe Arpaio.... Trump effusively praised Arpaio.... This is an implicit endorsement of the very conduct for which Arpaio was held in criminal contempt of court (defying a judge's command that he remain constrained by the Constitution from violating the rights of Latino immigrants)..... Incredibly, Trump also defended the pardon by recalling that the crowd at his rally in Arizona 'went absolutely crazy' when he spoke up for Arpaio. Trump has now essentially confirmed that he pardoned Arpaio, at least in part, because he agreed with the goals of Arpaio's abuses and flouting of the Constitution and because his base cheered him over it.... Whatever Trump achieves in the way of a reset, it will soon come under immense strain from the same old megalomaniacal and racially divisive impulses that have rotted away at his presidency all along." ...
... David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Even before the devastation from Harvey, southeastern Texas was enduring a year unlike any before. The daily surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico last winter never dropped below 73 degrees.... How many previous times that had happened: Zero. This sort of heat has a specific effect on storms: Warmer weather causes heavier rainfall.... When the seas warm, more moisture evaporates into the air, and when the air warms -- which has also been happening in Texas -- it can carry more moisture. The severity of Harvey, in other words, is almost certainly related to climate change.... In Houston's particular case, a lack of zoning laws has led to an explosion of building, which further worsens flooding. The city added 24 percent more pavement between 1996 and 2011.... Add up the evidence, and it overwhelmingly suggests that human activity has helped create the ferocity of Harvey."
Rene Marsh of CNN: "The EPA's Office of Inspector General announced Monday it is beginning a 'preliminary investigation' into Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel after a hotline complaint and congressional requests which 'expressed concerns' about frequent travel to Oklahoma -- his home state -- 'at taxpayer expense.'... In late July, the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project said travel records from a Freedom of Information Act request show that Pruitt spent 48 of 92 days in March, April and May traveling -- including 43 days on trips that included stops in his home state of Oklahoma."
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Matt Apuzzo & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency. The associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin. He predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Mr. Trump's savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy.... The emails show that, from the earliest months of Mr. Trump's campaign, some of his associates viewed close ties with Moscow as a political advantage.... Mr. Sater, a Russian immigrant, said he had lined up financing for the Trump Tower deal with VTB Bank, a Russian bank that was under American sanctions for involvement in Moscow's efforts to undermine democracy in Ukraine.... "Mr. Trump, however signed a nonbinding 'letter of intent' for the project in 2015. Mr. Cohen said he discussed the project with Mr. Trump three times.... Mr. Sater was a broker for the Trump Organization for several years, paid to deliver real estate deals." ...
... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A top executive from Donald Trump's real estate company emailed Vladimir Putin's personal spokesman during the U.S. presidential campaign last year to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress Monday. Michael Cohen, a Trump attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization, sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's top press aide.... Cohen's email marks the most direct interaction yet documented of a top Trump aide and a similarly senior member of Putin's government. The email shows the Trump business official directly seeking Kremlin assistance in advancing Trump's business interests, in the same months when Trump was distinguishing himself on the campaign trail with his warm rhetoric about Putin.... Cohen has been one of Trump's closest aides for more than a decade. He did not take a formal role in the campaign however sometimes spoke to reporters on Trump's behalf and appeared on television as a surrogate while Trump was running.... [Cohen] said he abandoned the project because he lost confidence the Moscow developer would be able to obtain land, financing and government approvals to complete the project." ...
... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... let's just try to remember why Trump denied having business deals in Russia. He denied it because he demonstrated an abnormal tendency to praise Vladimir Putin that was hard to understand absent some financial incentive for doing so. That he either had Russian deals that were vulnerable or wished to pursue Russian deals and didn't want to jeopardize them was such an obvious inference that it didn't need to be explained to anyone. He was asked if these were the explanations for his behavior and he said the whole idea was made up and ludicrous. But people's suspicions were 100 percent accurate. He was lying the entire time." ...
... Charles Pierce: "Oh, Felix Sater. Summon for us all The Volga Bagmen.... He's spent his entire career in the shadowy netherworld of politics and money, with an occasional sidetrip into the shadowy netherworld of the international intelligence trade. Trump continued to have a relationship with this guy, and ... here's where you may have to sit down again, the story indicates that the president* may not be an entirely honest fellow.... So much of what the president* has said about his relationship with this guy has been a lie because everything the president* has said about his business dealings in Russia has been a lie. There's so much of it now, and we're only seeing the drip-drip-drip details that are leaking out piecemeal. This is where I become almost convinced that the key to this presidency* is that nobody, including the president* himself, ever thought he'd win. He could continue to do business with shady characters because, after November, who really would care? Now, he knows what's out there and he's really stuck." ...
... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Tuesday said President Trump never expected to win the White House. 'Donald Trump never thought he was going to win the presidency,' Scarborough said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' 'This was all a money-making scam. He thought Jeb Bush was going to beat him.' Scarborough said Trump was going to 'take the money and run.' 'So let me [Trump] use the position I'm in right now and try to get that tower in Moscow, Scarborough said." Mrs. McC: Scarborough actually knows Trump, so Pierce's assumption looks correct. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "... we have a series of denials by a wide array of figures in Trump's orbit about their connections to Russia. The denials keep crumbling, one by one. There is no reason to assume the pattern will stop any time soon." ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post has a useful timeline of what is known publicly about Trump's dealings with Russia. Mrs. McC: Quite a few commentators have accused Trump of lying about his dealings with Russia. They are likely right, but mostly because of stuff we don't know. But based on Bump's timeline & other reporting, I'm not sure Trump was lying in July & October of 2016 when he said, using the present tense, that he had no business dealings in Russia. Other than renewing some Russian trademarks on election day 2016, I haven't seen any evidence that Trump still has business in Russia or that he had at the times he said he hadn't. (Often the reason for preserving trademarks is so others can't use them & doesn't necessarily imply you're planning to use them yourself.) ...
... Julia Ainsley & Tom Winter of NBC News: "Federal investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller are keenly focused on ... Donald Trump's role in crafting a response to a published article about a meeting between Russians and his son Donald Jr., three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The sources told NBC News that prosecutors want to know what Trump knew about the meeting and whether he sought to conceal its purpose.... At the time, the White House confirmed that Trump had 'weighed in' as the response to the Times report [of Junior's meeting] was drafted aboard Air Force One on July 8 as the president returned to the U.S. from the G20 meeting in Germany. The Washington Post reported that Trump had 'dictated' the response.... A person familiar with Mueller's strategy said that whether or not Trump made a 'knowingly false statement' is now of interest to prosecutors. 'Even if Trump is not charged with a crime as a result of the statement, it could be useful to Mueller's team to show Trump's conduct to a jury that may be considering other charges.'" ...
... Austin Wright of Politico: "Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is pushing an amendment to severely curtail special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. DeSantis has put forward a provision that would halt funding for Mueller's probe six months after the amendment's passage. It also would prohibit Mueller from investigating matters that occurred before June 2015, when Trump launched his presidential campaign.... Several House Democrats are pushing amendments to protect the Mueller probe." ...
... Robert Bauer in a Washington Post op-ed: "Since January, examples have piled up of a pattern of recklessness, impropriety and perhaps outright obstruction in President Trump's oversight of federal law enforcement. And now, with the pardoning of Joe Arpaio, we have the first exercise of that power in a different context, perhaps serving for Trump as a test run for shutting down the investigation into ties between his campaign and Russia.... The instances of Trump's warped approach to the law are legion.... Trump's record on 'rule of law' issues, now including this pardon, weakens his defenses in the Mueller probe -- and in any future debate over impeachment.... There is a line that distinguishes a pardon from direct interference with the administration of justice. Trump has crossed it.... Trump seems to believe that the pardon power is so 'complete' that it is his ace in the hole, his ultimate protection. But it will be of no use to him if the time comes ... that Congress must consider impeaching him.... At that time, the Arpaio pardon is sure to be part of the story of this presidency and, very conceivably, of how it came to an end." ...
So I stand by my pardon of Sheriff Joe and I think the people of Arizona who really know him best would agree with me. -- Donald Trump, at a press conference Monday
The people who "really know" Sheriff Joe are lawless racists, too, because no decent person would have anything to do with him. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump defended his controversial pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio on Monday, saying his decision to announce it during Hurricane Harvey likely earned it 'far higher' ratings. Speaking at a joint news conference with the president of Finland, Trump made his first comments on Arpaio since his decision to pardon the Arizona lawman Friday.... 'He's done a great job for the people of Arizona, he's very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration, he is loved in Arizona,' Trump said. 'I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him, right before the election voting started.'... The president concluded that Arpaio, whom Trump described as 'a great veteran of the military' and a 'great law enforcement person,' still had his support." ...
... David Smith of the Guardian: "Trump said he had anticipated Monday’s question and proceeded to read, from some pre-prepared notes, a list controversial pardons and commutations by previous presidents. It included Bill Clinton's pardon of commodities trader and fugitive Marc Rich, who was wanted for tax evasion and whose ex-wife donated to the Clintons, and 'dangerous criminals' such as Weather Underground bomber Susan Rosenberg. He continued: 'You've heard the word leaker. President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who leaked countless sensitive and classified documents to WikiLeaks, perhaps and others. But horrible, horrible thing that he did, commuted the sentence and perhaps pardoned.'... Trump also continued to insist that Mexico will pay for his long-promised border wall. 'One way or the other Mexico will pay for the wall,' he said, arguing that, while the project may initially be funded by US taxpayers, 'ultimately' Mexico will pay through reimbursement.... Yet again he seemed reluctant to criticise Russia, which borders Finland. Asked if Russia poses a security threat, he replied: 'I consider many countries as a security threat.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: President Clinton did not pardon Rosenberg; he commuted her sentence after she had served 16 years of a 58-year sentence. And President Obama did not "possibly pardon" Manning; he commuted her sentence, ending her seven years in jail this past May. But facts, schmacks, who cares? ...
... ** Andrew Cohen in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "Even if we stipulate that a president's pardon power is absolute, the justifications offered by the White House are risible. That Arpaio devoted his life to 'protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration' surely comes as news to those Maricopa County residents who were the victims of sex crimes that weren't adequately investigated by Arpaio's deputies. And it comes as news to those victimized by the intentional racial discrimination Arpaio orchestrated against Latino residents. The truth is that 'America's toughest sheriff,' as Arpaio liked to call himself, was an incompetent buffoon, a sour mash of cruelty and inattention that cost his county hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, fees and legal settlements. The only thing he accomplished in his decades in power was to become, first, a national symbol of brutality toward jail inmates and, later, a poster child for anti-immigrant racism." Cohen explais of the huge differences between Trump's pardon of Arpaio & President Obama's commutations of many decades-long sentences. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: In fairness to Trump, he is way too stupid to understand these differences. ...
... Esme Cribb of TPM: "... Donald Trump on Monday pledged that Texas will get recovery funding in the wake of massive flooding and destruction after Hurricane Harvey, despite his conflicts with Republican leaders in Congress and his threat to shut down the government to secure funding for his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border." ...
... Jeff Stein of Vox: "... despite being asked twice, Trump wouldn't back away from his threat to shut down the government -- a decision that would enormously complicate federal agencies' ability to help Texas's besieged cities." ...
... Blonde Chicks All Look Alike. Madeleine Aggeler of New York: "One week after President Trump laughed in the face of science and defiantly turned his naked eyes toward the sun, his eclipse blindness seems to be setting in. During a press conference with Finnish president Sauli Niinistö on Monday, Trump confused two blonde, female Finnish journalists who were sitting next to each other. As the press conference was wrapping up, Niinistö took a last question from one of the journalists. 'Again? You're going to give her the same one?' Trump asked. 'No, she is not the same lady,' Niinistö answered. 'They are sitting side by side.' 'We have a lot of blonde women in Finland,' the journalist added as she took the mic."
Rebecca Savransky: "President Trump said early Tuesday that all options are 'on the table' after North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's airspace. Trump said in a statement the world has received North Korea's latest message 'loud and clear.' 'This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior,' Trump said.... His comments come after the Pentagon confirmed late Monday that North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's airspace.... The White House early Tuesday said Trump discussed the missile during a call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday." ...
... Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Tuesday that soared over Japan, the South Korean military said. It was the second time in four days that the North Korean authorities, defying an escalation in international sanctions and warnings from President Trump, had launched a missile. Three short-range missiles were launched on Saturday.... The Japanese government sent a text alert to citizens about the launch and advised them to take protective cover. A short time later, Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, called the launch 'an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to ou nation. The missile flew over Hokkaido island in northern Japan, South Korean and Japanese officials said. It was the first time a North Korean projectile had crossed over Japan since North Korea launched rockets over Japan in 1998, and again in 2009. . At the times, the North claimed that both rockets were carrying a satellite payload.... In a statement, [Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe said the launch was 'an unprecedented, serious, grave threat' and that his government 'was prepared to take all the measures to protect people's lives.'" ...
** NEW. Will CIA Director Mike Pompeo Say "Slam, Dunk!"? Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US intelligence officials are under pressure from the White House to produce a justification to declare Iran in violation of a 2015 nuclear agreement, in an echo of the politicisation of intelligence that led up to the Iraq invasion, according to former officials and analysts. The collapse of the 2015 deal between Tehran, the US and five other countries -- by which Iran has significantly curbed its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief -- would trigger a new crisis over nuclear proliferation at a time when the US is in a tense standoff with North Korea."
Le Petit, Petty, Petty Prince. Jennifer Jacobs & Kevin Cirilli of Bloomberg: When Trump first arrived at the Phoenix Convention Center last week, the crowd was still sparse, but it filled in before Trump came out to speak. The empty seats, which were visible on TV feeds, steamed Trump, so he "later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform [long-time aide George] Gigicos[, who organized the event,] that he'd never manage a Trump rally again, according to three people familiar with the matter." Mrs. McC: Here again, Trump didn't have the guts to fire Gigicos directly, but sent a henchman to do it. And do notice Trump's high regard for his followers. Not only do they have to stand in line for hours -- this time in the stifling Phoenix heat -- which is necessary for any large public event, but they must be cheering in the stands for a good hour preceding the Teeny, Tiny Prince's appearance. If not, at least one head will roll. No wonder Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio; both are good with meting out cruel & unusual punishment to masses of innocent people.
Peter Kramer & Sally Satel, in a New York Times op-ed: "If the time comes that Congress finds Mr. Trump unable to discharge his duties, its members should appoint a bipartisan commission dominated by respected statesmen to set the removal process in motion. Obviously, if a president's health deteriorates drastically, medical consultants should be called in. But when the problem is longstanding personality traits, a doctor-dominated commission simply provides cover for Congress -- allowing legislators, presumably including those in the majority, to arrange for the replacement of the president while minimizing their responsibility for doing so." Thanks to Marvin S. for the lead. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Kramer & Patel, both psychiatrists, are right. To a great extent, Trump won votes because he is crazy. Millions of voters preferred his grotesque personality disorders to Clinton's steady hand. As much as I despise the guy & as much as I think he should be removed from office posthaste, his mental unfitness for any job in which he has to interact with others should not be cause for his removal from elected office. Rather, his bad acts, or even threats of bad acts, which of course are products of his mental instability, should be the rationale. I have been trying to think of a job for which Trump is fit, and it might be mail sorter in the basement of Manhattan's Trump Tower, though we can no longer be sure his sun-staring eyes can read the names of the addressees.
Sheila Kaplan & Denise Grady of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration announced a crackdown on dangerous stem cell clinics on Monday, while at the same time pledging to ease the path to approval for companies and doctors with legitimate treatments in the growing field. The agency reported actions against two large stem cell clinics and a biotech company, saying that it was critical to shut down 'unscrupulous actors' in regenerative medicine, a broad umbrella that includes stem cell and gene therapies and immunotherapies.... Public health advocates praised the F.D.A. for moving against the companies, but said it should have happened sooner, given the widespread knowledge of public harm."
Abby Phillip & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump's senior aides are increasingly airing their private disagreements publicly, exposing a widening rift between the president and key members of his administration over his handling of racial divisions exposed by white supremacist violence in Charlottesville.... Over the weekend, [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson suggested that Trump 'speaks for himself' rather than for the country's values in his reaction to Charlottesville. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also counseled U.S. troops to 'hold the line until our country gets back to respecting each other' and is able to 'get the power of inspiration back.' And [top economic advisor Gary] Cohn sharply criticized the president's handling of the situation in an interview with the Financial Times last week." ...
... Aide Further Distances Tillerson from Trump. Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Rather than walk back eyebrow-raising comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, an aide told CNN Monday that ... Donald Trump speaks for himself when it comes to American values 'because the Constitution speaks for the country.' The Tillerson aide said the secretary of state was not criticizing Trump in the remarks. 'The secretary and President have expressed different points of view. He isn't being critical, but more so re-establishing without confusion what are known American values,' the aide said. 'The values start from the Constitution. The President's job is to uphold those values. Did he do the best job ever responding to Charlottesville? Nope. But that doesn't mean America changes.' The aide added, 'That is why the President speaks for himself because the Constitution speaks for the country.'" ...
... Josh Dawsey, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump is not happy with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, for publicly criticizing his response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. But it appears there is little he is planning to do about it, according to people who have spoken to him." ...
... Over at the political gossip site Axios, Mike Allen & Jonathan Swan are predicting Tillerson's exit.
Carolyn Holmes, in the Washington Post, on how South Africa dealt with "beautiful statues" of apartheid leaders: "Right after apartheid fell and was replaced by multiracial democracy, during the early 1990s, the South African government removed many statues of apartheid-era leaders from city parks and government buildings, giving them to private heritage organizations. Some are now on display in private museums or in private sculpture gardens. From the mid-1990s onward, the African National Congress-run government has used a different strategy: construct new monuments alongside the old ones. For instance, Pretoria's Voortrekker monument celebrates the Afrikaner pioneers of the mid-1800s. About a mile away, the government built Freedom Park, a monument to the anti-apartheid struggle. While this strategy has met with mixed reactions, the idea was that the new South Africa would have monuments for everyone. Rather than destroying the past, it would be peacefully transformed into a multiracial present.... Two factors appear to have been critical: 1) how close a relationship the figure in the monument had to the apartheid and colonial governments; 2) who supported the statues. Depictions of apartheid-era leaders, especially those associated with the most repressive periods of apartheid, were quickly removed -- but statues of leaders before apartheid were often left standing."
Federal Aid for Me but Not for Thee. Ashley DeJean of Mother Jones: "Before Hurricane Harvey hit this weekend, Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn sent a letter to the president urging him to sign the major disaster declaration that had been requested by Gov. Greg Abbott, so the state could access key federal resources as swiftly as possible.... The irony of this request was not lost on lawmakers from states that had been devastated by hurricane Sandy in 2012. At that time, Texas lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against recovery assistance for New York and New Jersey. When asked about that hypocrisy today on MSNBC, Cruz dodged the question. 'There's time for political sniping later,' he said. 'I think our focus needs to be on this crisis and this disaster.'"
The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), interview with NBC's Katy Tur, August 28
Every time Ted Cruz pulls his sneering snout out of the trough, it seems he does so in order to display his highly developed ability, an especially notable tendency in the species politicianus republicanus, for forming the most unctuous, pharisaical flights of self-serving flimflam. His latest painful casuistry, why those with 'New York' attitudes don't deserve any assistance after a natural disaster, while those who cook bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of a machine gun should be doled out billions is a pristine example of this talent. If the guy ever once exhibited a sliver of artless decency, mountains would split asunder and birds drop out of the sky. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments
Cruz is repeating a number of myths about the funding for Sandy disaster relief. The vast majority of the spending was for Hurricane Sandy, including elements (such as Smithsonian repairs) that some lawmakers incorrectly believed were unrelated to the storm. The slow rate of projected spending that Cruz had criticized at the time was actually based on how quickly the government had spent funds after previous major storms. As we noted, we suspect Cruz misspoke about the 'two-thirds.' Still, it is wildly incorrect to claim that the bill was 'filled with unrelated pork.' The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
Some Would Be Heroes. Emily Wax-Thibodeuex of the Washington Post: "... the 'Cajun Navy,' a volunteer online grass-roots effort..., along with the 'Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team,' roared into Pasadena, Tex., on Sunday. They came in high-clearance pickup trucks with bass boats and pirogues like the Cajun Cavalry, ready to help search and rescue efforts alongside first responders who were inundated with thousands of calls across the region.... [These volunteers are] part of an armada of private boats that have descended on the Houston area after authorities asked for help from those who could potentially navigate the treacherous floodwaters across a massive swath of southeast Texas in search of residents. Many boaters from east Texas and west Louisiana streamed to the outskirts of the disaster until they could drive no more, switching over to boats to go door to door seeking out the stranded."
Senate Races
Steve M.: "The Washington Examiner reports that Joe Arpaio might run for Jeff Flake's Senate seat.... [Flake] already has a challenger who's beating him by double digits in an early poll: state senator Kelli Ward, who has the support of the pro-Trump Great America PAC. It seems very likely that Flake would lose a one-on-one primary against Ward. But against Ward and Arpaio? Flake could easily win a plurality. And if I understand correctly, that would be sufficient to send him to the general election under Arizona rules. Hey, Arizona GOP, go ahead and turn this race into a three-way brawl, with the likely result being a bruised, weakened, cash-strapped nominee." ...
... Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "In early October, Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward will be headlining a dinner at the annual convention of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons in Tucson. Despite its dull name, AAPS isn't some stodgy medical organization. It's actually a fringe doctors' group whose medical journal over the years has featured a host of discredited theories, including arguments that abortion causes breast cancer, HIV doesn't cause AIDS, vaccines cause autism, and illegal immigrants caused a leprosy outbreak in the United States. AAPS was the key source of internet rumors that Hillary Clinton was suffering from a major illness during last year's presidential campaign. Years ago, it went to the US Supreme Court to demand the release of postmortem photos of former Clinton Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, who committed suicide in 1993. The group claimed it needed the photos to ensure Foster hadn't been murdered, a classic anti-Clinton conspiracy theory. Ward, a former Arizona state senator, knows a thing or two about conspiracy theories. She's perhaps most famous for holding a town hall meeting on chemtrails, those long plumes of condensation that appear behind jet planes, but which conspiratorially minded Arizonans believe are a government tool for spreading mind-control chemicals.... Ward isn't the only politician to associate with AAPS. Its members have included former Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), now Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R)." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So Jeff Flake, who is mighty conservative himself, may have two challengers, one who is a lawless, sadistic racist & the other who is batshit crazy. Thanks, Arizona!
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Steve Bannon is breaking from ... Donald Trump in the closely watched Alabama Senate special election. During a closed-door meeting with powerful conservatives in Washington last week, Bannon declared that he's supporting former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore over Trump-endorsed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, according to two people who were present. Bannon ... said that he is looking to activate the conservative base to Moore's cause."
Beyond the Beltway
Pitiful White Guy Makes up Black Attack. Sam Levin of the Guardian: "A Colorado man who claimed that someone had stabbed him because he looked like a 'neo-Nazi' fabricated the story after he accidentally cut his hand with a knife, according to police. Joshua Witt, who has been arrested on false reporting charges, admitted to law enforcement in Sheridan, Colorado, that he lied to officers when he alleged that a black man had attacked him for having a haircut associated with white supremacists, police officials said Monday.... As Witt's mugshot reveals, at the time of the alleged attack, he did not have a haircut resembling the side fade that has recently become associated with neo-Nazis. In his Facebook profile photo, however, his hair was styled that way.... Witt's original allegations went viral on social media this month, garnering press coverage across the globe, particularly from conservative newspapers that cited the stabbing as an example of violent leftwing activists attacking white people." Mrs. McC: What do you do if you're a careless, racist twit, you buy a new knife, & you're so incompetent you cut yourself trying to get it out of the package? Why, blame a black guy for attacking you, of course, then Facebook the fake attack.
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "The death toll from Harvey climbed to at least 29 Wednesday, just as officials in Houston said they planned to get various city operations back up and running. In Harris County, officials confirmed there had been at least four new deaths. The victims included a man who stepped on a live electrical wire in floodwaters and an evacuee who was discovered unresponsive on a charter bus, the Associated Press reports. Houston's bus service and light rail system are set to resume on a limited basis Thursday, according to AP. Trash collection services resumed Wednesday with heavy trash pickup. Regular trash pickup is scheduled to begin Thursday. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he wanted to ensure trash removal resumed as soon as possible because 'there will be a lot of debris.' Operations at both Houston's Hobby Airport and the George Bush International Airport had been closed for days, but Wednesday officials at both terminals announced they would be resuming flights, ABC13.com reports. The airports announced via Facebook that limited domestic airline passenger service has been resumed and they expect to have full service by the weekend.... Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that 'the worst is not yet over' for the southeastern part of the state, where widespread flooding continues. The Federal Emergency Management Administration says nearly one million people have registered for assistance, while the Texas Department of Public Safety says more than 48,700 homes have been affected by flooding and other damage since Friday." ...
... Washington Post: "The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath eastward on Wednesday, submerging coastal Texas towns in a deluge of rain, ravaging rural Louisiana and pushing a chemical plant to the brink of explosion. As Houstonians saw signs of relief in the blue sky and slowly draining waters, the flood was rising 100 miles east in the town of Orange as the tropical storm made a second landfall at daybreak." ...
... The New York Times' main story is here.
New York Times: "Jeannie de Clarens, an amateur spy who passed a wealth of information to the British about the development of the V-1 and V-2 rockets during World War II and survived stays in three concentration camps for her activities, died on Aug. 23 in Montaigu, southeast of Nantes, France. She was 98.... Getting wind of a secret weapons project, she made it her mission to be on hand when the topic was discussed by the Germans, coaxing information through charm and guile."
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Reader Comments (21)
Saw this article over the weekend.
http://shareblue.com/trump-obliterated-obamas-flood -protection-standards-days-before-hurricane-harvey- took-off/
It talks about how Trump continues to troll Obama by ripping up his executive orders. One EO dealt with "preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change. The order included directions for the federal government to work with state and local governments to look at infrastructure projects to help prepare for changes brought about by climate change, such as more powerful hurricanes." Another EO ripped up by Trump two weeks ago "required all federal investments involving floodplains to meet higher flood risk management standards, to help ensure that infrastructure in those areas would be more resilient, less precarious, and less costly in both human and economic terms."
It is astounding how this loser can do so much harm in such a short amount of time.
Every time Ted Cruz pulls his sneering snout out of the trough, it seems he does so in order to display his highly developed ability, an especially notable tendency in the species politicianus republicanus, for forming the most unctuous, pharisaical flights of self-serving flimflam.
His latest painful casuistry, why those with "New York" attitudes don't deserve any assistance after a natural disaster, while those who cook bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of a machine gun should be doled out billions is a pristine example of this talent.
If the guy ever once exhibited a sliver of artless decency, mountains would split asunder and birds drop out of the sky.
RAS: That is amazing to me, also. Is our democracy so flimsy that such a horrible human being can be so powerful? He fits right in there with any third-world dictator. And he never disappoints: he pardoned the nasty sheriff during the storm so as to get the ultimate ratings. He actually said that. Deluded, dangerous, despicable, destructive donaldo. And A. is every bit as atrocious-- the list of crimes against humanity he has committed is long. It all simply overrides mere assholery.
@RAS & @Jeanne: See also related posts by Harriet Sinclair of Newsweek & Ryan Cooper of the Week, linked yesterday.
NYT article: Who Decides Whether Trump Is Unfit to Govern?
It’s better if that’s a political verdict, not a clinical judgment.
One of many articles on the subject. So the fact that we are repeatedly discussing Trumps mental fitness provides serious proof he is unfit.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
In our fairy tale world of make-believe when everything seems upside down, when one lie after another comes from the man who would be King, when biblical floods continue to destroy our lands and lives, then one needs to ask when is it time––putting things off for tomorrow is only going to make things worse. Denial of incompetence breeds more bad seeds and we see this in the flood denialism writ large:
https://newrepublic.com/article/144594/flood-denialism-looks-like
Trump's repealing an Obama-era executive order requiring that federal infrastructure projects take flood maps into account, besides sticking it once again to Obama, is pretending we can magically return to a time before climate change, pretending that temperatures will stop getting warmer, that sea levels cease to rise, that somehow a schmuck like "Sheriff Joe" be turned into some kind of hero.
I just saw a film last weekend, "The Sense of an Ending" based on a short story by Julian Barnes––consequently we need now that same sense of an ending.
Oh–-please make it soon.
For those out there with astrological interest, Donald and Sheriff Joe share a birthday...Flag Day.
Aaaargh
Good news: AOL news-
"Poll: Trump approval ratings slump amid Texas trip"
@Marie. I saw Masha Gessen on MSNBC last night and she also cautioned against making too much of the Moscow Trump Tower. She said if Cohen really had connections, he would not have contacted Peskov. It was likened to wanting something from Obama and contacting Josh Ernst. The larger point was that he's a dangerous authoritarian on his own. Look at his actions and policies, most of which have nothing to do with Russia. I admire Gessen very much, even more after reading her book. I'm convinced she is a voice that needs to be heard every single day. She is intimately familiar with authorianism and how it takes over a country.
NJC,
That is some astrological god screwing with us.
Thanks, Marie, or Mrs. McCrabbie-- I did read those two links, went back and read them again, and it is almost impossible to believe that one guy hates another guy so much that he is systematically erasing the first guy's accomplishments, and in the process, making the worst possible of idiotic decisions. If he is, which I doubt. He doesn't have the brain power to find these executive orders and earmark them for destruction. All he knows is his hatred and jealousy of President Obama. Someone(s) is(are) enabling him. We'll know for sure if it slows down post Bannon-- meanwhile, who needs flood prevention or safety regs, anyhow? s/
There's an interesting sounding program on climate change
Thursday the 31st on Discovery channel. "Rancher, Farmer,
Fisherman", about everyday citizens trying to save the earth, since
it appears the government isn't interested in saving anything other
than their asses (and the ass in chief).
No Room at the Inn
Multimillionaire and Christianist con-man Joel Osteen has a megachurch in Houston, where people are wandering the streets, knee deep in water, carrying their meager belongings in plastic bags. Their homes have been washed away. They have nothing and nowhere to go. So they come knocking at the church doors.
But, OOPS. They're closed. "Sorry. No room at the Inn. Try the stables" says Pastor Joel, from his gigantic mega mansion.
After being ripped for not allowing the now homeless Houstonians to find temporary shelter from the storm in his gigantic church (formerly the Compaq Center, home of the Houston Rockets, capacity 16,800), Osteen, whose estimated net worth is over $40 million (which makes him only the fifth richest pastor in the US!), whined that he had a little water in the basement and in the parking garage, so he couldn't possibly! Oh, well, why didn't you say so? I guess I won't be driving to your church then, Joel, since the FUCKING ROADWAYS ARE UNDERWATER, in case you hadn't noticed, you hypocritical asshole.
But that leaves the stadium sized interior of the "church" (ie, money-making scam) intact and dry. Why couldn't people be allowed in there? Oh, well, then ol' Joel might be on the hook for feeding and clothing and caring for those who don't have a 17,500 sq. ft. mansion, the pool house of which is bigger than any house I've ever been in.
Hmmm....and who was it that said we should be clothing the naked and feeding the hungry? I dunno. Some loser schmoe probably. Definitely not some obscenely wealthy, privileged con-man pastor.
So now he announces that "if needed" he may be able to let in a few people. Now that the worst is over.
You know, kids, it's not bad enough that these holier than thou Confederate douchebags have, for decades, stalled any and all attempts to stave off the kind of atmospheric conditions, caused by humans, that help create monster storms like Harvey, they then have the balls to tell people whose lives are torn apart by the results of their inaction to fuck off and not bother them, especially if they're writing a sermon on how it was all part of god's plan, oh and please make that check out to CASH, thank you very much.
Confederate ideology is not just bad, it's evil.
And these are disgraceful excuses for human beings.
...and speaking of disgraceful excuses for human beings...
Regarding the ease with which King Trumpy has set about torching democratic institutions, laws, and traditions, I don't think it's as much the flimsiness of that democracy--there are plenty of rules and laws in place to counter such attacks--as it is whether or not the gatekeepers are willing to employ the necessary safeguards.
In this case, the gatekeepers are all wearing gray uniforms and white hoods. They carry a copy of the Bible and the Constitution, neither of which they have ever opened (or believed in). Plus, they have less courage than the cowardly lion, who at least brought himself to question the Wizard. These weasels may issue Official Declarations of Disagreement, but will brook no brakes on the Royal Ripper Upper of the Constitution if it means a hair of their hide might be mussed.
And that, dear friends, is why the king has been able, thus far, to have his salacious way with democracy. Artists for centuries have depicted the Roman atrocity, the Rape of the Sabine Women. In years to come, we'll have an orange headed baboon front and center in representations of the Rape of the Supine Weasels.
As Marie (sorry, Mrs. McCrabbie) mentioned yesterday, congress could put a stop to this increased militarization of local police forces, something the King demands for his militias, but they won't. It would piss off the king and he, in turn, would sic the pitchforks and the peasants on the pissants, and that, they just could not abide. After all, standing up for one's country is something that happens in Happy Movies where the hero goes off to war or stomps on some dark skinned people trying to stick it to the White Rulers. It isn't what you do if your cushiony career in congress is imperiled.
Thus, a dangerous, retarded baby is allowed to run amok.
No stronghold is safe if the ones guarding it leave the front door open and the porch light on with a sign that says "Alarms Disabled. No One Home. Do Your Worst!"
I know hurricanes are usually visited on sinners. I've heard it from the highest and most credible sources, Pat Robertson among them, and have found little reason to doubt it.
If I had, Harvey is the clincher. Houston, a city built on fossil fuels, is being devastated by a storm tied directly to the exploitation and use of those same fossil fuels.
The relationship between homosexuality and the wrath of God always seemed a little tenuous, but there's no denying the obvious connection of cause and effect this time around, is there?
Even the dimmest would have to see it.
Reverend Ken
They're all nuts.
Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are, my mum always said, by way of warning me off acquaintances who were less than stellar. Did it always work? No, but then none of the kids I chose to hang out with, even the hard guy street fighters who got high, were crazy-ass loonies.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for high ranking Confederate "doctors" who hang around with the absolute kooks in that nutso Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (see story linked above). Abortion causes breast cancer? Obama secretly hypnotized Americans? Vaccines cause autism? This is the sort of stuff you'd get from this kind of doctor. Or this one. Or maybe this one.
The fact that sleazebag, insider trading Tom Price, King Trumpy's paid ACA assassin is a member in good standing of the AAPS makes complete sense, Trump's a nut, so is he; nor is it a big surprise that Li'l Randy was a member for twenty years. He shoves sharp objects into peoples' eyes and does it without board certification. He certifies himself! Sure, because that's such a great idea. Next time my drivers license expires I'm gonna certify myself as a driver in good standing. No problem. I'm sure those nice state police officers will understand if they snag me for speeding.
But were you to sit down in a new doctor's office and look up on the wall to see pictures of aliens handing out pills to unsuspecting humans, or a medieval chart outlining the body's humours (and not there as a historical curiosity either), you'd bug out of there before Dr. Demento had a chance to check start messing around with his AAPS, Rand Paul autographed eye poker, correct?
How is it any different to the welfare of the body politic that dangerous loons like this are running the government and influencing public policy?
There's no way a screwball like Rand Paul can explain away connections with lunatic fringe groups like this. It's no different than trying to suggest that just because you were marching with Nazis and white supremacists, you were just there for the statues and a few laughs. Sorry. You hang with the whackos, you don't get to wipe off the drool and pretend you're a good guy who just has a few odd buddies.
The more you get to know these people, the weirder, and more unstable they seem. They're all nuts.
Reverend Ken,
Thou hast seen the light.
And it ain't fueled by renewable energy neither.
I'm disappointed with your pics, Akhilleus:
I thought I was going to see Drs. Curly, Moe, and Larry.
Trump will take all the credit for the vast improvements that have been made in disaster (floods) preparedness since Katrina. Even after rolling back Obama's standards for flood infrastructure. There have been improvements under Bush (well you would hope so!) and more under Obama. The article in Fast Company talks about social media improvements and coordination with agencies. The 2nd is the FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2015. The 2015 Act is authorized through 2018. The wording of the Act looks to me like it is funded (947M) without a separate budget appropriation.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40459641/from-katrina-to-harvey-how-disaster-relief-is-evolving-with-technology
https://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fema_reform_act_2015.pdf
Victoria,
Awfully sorry. My choices were Doctor Black Death, Doctor Trump Hair Replacement, and Doctor Aqua Buddha.
This trio makes Moe, Larry, and Curly look like Newton, Kepler, and Einstein.
Kim Konks Kook
Today's missile launch from North Korea over Hokkaido got Little Donnie's dander up. "He can't do that to ME!" Shouted the small fingered vulgarian.
But here's what I've decided about this game of nuclear chicken between two mentally dysfunctional narcissists.
First, King Trumpy needs, above all else, to look tough and manly. That accounts for the bluster of "All things are on the table, Dude!" type talk.
Trumpy knows next to nothing about Korea, north or south, or the Korean peninsula, never mind what or where Hokkaido is. He knows next to nothing about nuclear armaments or nuclear policy. He's an idiot.
But he is preternaturally sensitive to anything he might interpret as a slight (such as moving his trash can three inches to the left in front of Trump Castle). So one might think that a giant middle finger from the Korean Tyrant to the American Tyrant might cause a swell of enthusiasm for nuclear endgame, but that scenario leaves out an important point:
Trump is a coward. In Tina Fey's words, he's a pussy.
He loves to strut around and brag and bully and bluster, but he's a weakling.
That, however, won't stay the possibility that he wakes up at three in the morning and feels like the chubby little guy with the funny haircut has been punking him and try to launch a strike on Pyongyang.
Trump is ignorant, he's a liar, he's a cheat, he's a bigot, and he's a pussy. But he's also thin-skinned enough to start a war because someone called him a smelly sock.
So, if he thinks Kim is hitting him on the konk, he might decide, in true schoolyard bully mode, that it's time to hit back, but not proportionally, but in chest thumping monkey style.
And that, no matter how much of a coward he is, would make him feel tough again, despite the possibility of a world wide war.
Because, at the end, what's more important? How King Trumpy feels about himself, or a world at war?
You know the answer to that one.