The Ledes

Thursday, October 10, 2024

CNBC: “The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021.”

The New York Times' live updates of Hurrucane Milton consequences Thursday are here: “Milton was still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of East and Central Florida, forecasters said early Thursday, even as the powerful storm roared away from the Atlantic coast and left deaths and widespread damage across the state. Cities along Florida’s east coast are now facing flash flooding, damaging winds and storm surges. Some had already been battered by powerful tornadoes spun out by the storm before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. In [St. Lucie] county [Fort Pierce], several people in a retirement community were killed by a tornado, the police said.... More than three million customers were without power in Florida as of early Thursday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the Weater Channel's live updates.

CNN: “The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her 'intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.' Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection. She later began writing longer prose works, most notably 'The Vegetarian,' one of her first books to be translated into English. The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman’s attempt to live a more 'plant-like' existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty. Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901.” The New York Times story is here.

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The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Washington Post: “Hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, a spate of unusually strong and long-lived tornadoes touched down across the state, flipping tractor-trailers and ripping off roofs. The twisters surprised anxious residents, even as the storm’s eye still loomed. Authorities said there had been 'multiple' deaths after the intense and destructive tornadoes.” MB: I'm still on Florida's emergency-call list, and I received several calls from Lee County, urging me to shelter in place.

The Washington Post's live updates of Hurricane Milton developments are here: “Hurricane Milton, which has strengthened to a 'catastrophic' Category 5 storm, is closing in on Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane, which could bring maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 mph with bigger gusts, poses a dire threat to the densely populated zone that includes Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. As well as 'damaging hurricane-force winds,' coastal communities face a 'life-threatening' storm surge, the center said.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here: “Milton carved a path of destruction after crashing ashore Wednesday evening on Florida’s Gulf Coast, making landfall near Sarasota as the second powerful hurricane to pound the region in less than two weeks. The storm battered the state for much of the day, with heavy winds, pelting rain and a spate of tornadoes.... By around midnight, the storm had destroyed more than 100 homes, killed several people in a retirement community and ripped the roof off Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.”

Washington Post: “The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to David Baker at the University of Washington and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind.... The prize was awarded to scientists who cracked the code of proteins. Hassabis and Jumper used artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins, one of the toughest problems in biology. Baker created computational tools to design novel proteins with shapes and functions that can be used in drugs, vaccines and sensors.”

Sorry, forgot this yesterday: ~~~

Reuters: “U.S. scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries and inventions in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. Heralded for its revolutionary potential in areas ranging from cutting-edge scientific discovery to more efficient admin, the emerging technology on which the duo worked has also raised fears humankind may soon be outsmarted and outcompeted by its own creation.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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The Commentariat -- December 16, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Burgess Everett, et al., of Politico: "Congressional negotiators are on the brink of a coronavirus rescue package that would include a second round of direct payments and boost unemployment benefits, but would leave out state and local funding and a liability shield.... The price tag of the emerging deal is roughly $900 billion, and a deal could be finalized on Wednesday, those sources said. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said the proposal would likely include direct checks to individuals of $600 to $700 and a weekly unemployment boost of $300 through March."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "The Trump administration is negotiating a deal to use its power to free up supplies of raw materials to help Pfizer produce tens of millions of additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for Americans in the first half of next year, people familiar with the situation said. Should an agreement be struck, it could at least partially remedy a looming shortage that the administration itself arguably helped create by not pre-ordering more doses of the vaccine Pfizer developed with its German partner, BioNTech." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "... a health-care worker in Alaska had a serious allergic reaction and was hospitalized after getting the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and is in stable condition, according to two people familiar with the situation. Authorities have not released further details about the incident, which echoes two similar cases in the United Kingdom last week...."

The New York Times' live Biden transition updates Wednesday are here: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday formally introduced Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary, a role that will be key to advancing Mr. Biden's ambitious agenda on rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and on climate change.... Mr. Biden appeared with Mr. Buttigieg at an event in Wilmington, Del., calling him 'a policy wonk with a big heart.' Vice President-elect Kamala Harris joined via video because of the winter storm on the East Coast. 'We selected Pete for transportation because the department is at the intersection of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better,' Mr. Biden said."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued in a new interview that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should no longer lead Democrats in Congress, and complained that the party had failed at grooming a 'next generation' of younger lawmakers to succeed them. 'I do think that we need new leadership in the Democratic Party,' Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told The Intercept in an interview published Wednesday.... But Ocasio-Cortez observed in the interview that even the party's more moderate members have found it difficult to produce 'viable alternatives' to challenge her leadership. 'I think one of the things that I have struggled with -- I think that a lot of people struggle with -- is [that] the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there's very little option for succession, if you will,' she said."

Dan Diamond of Politico: "A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a 'herd immunity' approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by a House watchdog and shared with Politico. 'There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD,' then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials. Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk ... so we use them to develop herd ... we want them infected...' Alexander added. '[I]t may be that it will be best if we open up and flood the zone and let the kids and young folk get infected' in order to get 'natural immunity ... natural exposure,' Alexander wrote on July 24 to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Caputo and eight other senior officials.... Officials told Politico that they believed that when Alexander made recommendations, he had the backing of the White House.... 'Herd immunity is not the strategy of the U.S. government with regard to coronavirus,' HHS Secretary Alex Azar testified in a hearing before the House coronavirus subcommittee on Oct. 2."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Jeff Stein & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Congressional leaders are near an agreement to add a new round of stimulus checks to a roughly $900 billion relief package as they rush to complete a deal before the end of the week, according to three people familiar with the talks...." The story has some of the details of the package, but it looks as if they remain a bit fluid. MB: What's there there at this point doesn't look as bad as a GOP-generated bill.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

William Wan of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that can be taken at home without prescription and that yields immediate results. The test could be a vital tool in the country's fight against the virus -- especially in the months before most Americans are vaccinated. Unlike previous home tests, this version does not require samples to be sent to a lab and can be taken without doctor's orders by anyone older than 2. The test, developed by Australian company Ellume, is just one of several positive developments for coronavirus testing. The newly approved home test will cost about $30, and the first batches will be shipped out the first week of January, according to Ellume. After months of failures, long lines and continued shortages, the country's testing capacity is finally expected to increase rapidly in the coming two to three months, reaching many times its current levels, experts said.... The FDA allowed the test under an emergency use authorization."

Noah Weiland, et al., of the New York Times: "Newly released data confirmed on Tuesday that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine is highly protective, setting the stage for its emergency authorization this week by federal regulators and the start of its distribution across the country. The Food and Drug Administration intends to authorize use of the vaccine on Friday, people familiar with the agency's plans said. The decision would give millions of Americans access to a second coronavirus vaccine beginning as early as Monday. The review by the F.D.A. confirms Moderna's earlier assessment that its vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1 percent in a trial of 30,000 people. Side effects, including fever, headache and fatigue, were unpleasant but not dangerous, the agency found. The success of Moderna's vaccine has become all the more crucial to fighting the pandemic as other vaccine efforts have faltered." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Insidious Grasp of Tiny Hands. Noah Weiland of the New York Times on how the White House political shop controlled the CDC. As one employee put it, "... like a hand grasping something, and it slowly closes, closes, closes, closes until you realize that ... it has a complete grasp on everything at the C.D.C."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congressional leaders scrambled on Tuesday to reach agreement on a stimulus bill and a catchall omnibus funding package to keep government funding flowing, meeting to try to hammer out critical spending deals ahead of a Friday deadline. Their talks broke up about 10 p.m. Tuesday, with lawmakers voicing some optimism as they left the Capitol. Stopping to speak to reporters after the meeting, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said, 'We're making significant progress.'"

Florida. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "The South Florida Sun Sentinel has noticed an extremely strange anomaly in the state's coronavirus-related death figures. On Oct. 24..., the state stopped including the backlog of unrecorded fatalities, leading to smaller death totals in the days when Floridians started heading to the polls for early voting. Officials only started including the number in the overall totals again on Nov. 17, weeks after the vote. It's not clear why the anomaly happened, and state officials refused to explain it to the newspaper. Read it at South Florida Sun Sentinel." MB: Gee, that's the same gang who fired data scientist Rebekah Jones for refusing to manipulate coronavirus data. Recently, law enforcement agents, at the behest of the same gang (state health department), raided Jones' home, pointing weapons at her & her children. The state's treatment of Jones & its manipulation of Covid-19 data warrant a criminal investigation.

More Real News

Rick Rojas & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday urged Georgia voters to cast ballots for two Democratic Senate candidates in a pair of critical runoffs early next month that he hopes will give his party control of the Senate and help Democrats advance the agenda he promised during his campaign. 'You all did something extraordinary in November,' Mr. Biden said to cheers and honks at a drive-in campaign rally intended to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. 'You voted in record numbers in order to improve the lives of every Georgian. And you voted as if your life depended on it. Well, guess what?' he added. 'Now you're going to have to do it again.'"

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden will nominate Jennifer M. Granholm, a former governor of Michigan and a longtime champion of renewable energy development, to be the next secretary of energy, according to four people close to the president-elect's transition team. If confirmed, Ms. Granholm, 61, will be the second woman, after Hazel R. O'Leary, who served under President Bill Clinton, to lead the vast department, which oversees the United States nuclear weapons complex as well as 17 national laboratories and a wide range of energy research and development initiatives." A Politico story is here.

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to pick Gina McCarthy, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama and the architect of some of his most far-reaching regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions, to serve as senior White House adviser on climate change, according to three people close to the Biden transition team. As White House adviser, Ms. McCarthy will coordinate domestic climate policies across the United States government, playing a central role in helping Mr. Biden make good on his campaign promise of putting the United States on track to reach carbon neutrality before 2050. Mr. Biden also intends to name Ali Zaidi, the deputy secretary for energy and environment for New York State, who helped write Mr. Biden's climate plan, as Ms. McCarthy's deputy.

Dan Merica of CNN: "President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, elevating the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to a top post in the federal government. Buttigieg would be the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ Cabinet secretary should his nomination make it through the chamber. The choice vaults a candidate Biden spoke glowingly of after the Democratic primary into a top job in the incoming administration and could earn Buttigieg what many Democrats believe is needed experience should he run for president again. The role of transportation secretary is expected to play a central role in Biden's push for a bipartisan infrastructure package." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Turtle Has Spoken. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Tuesday, marking the first time he has directly acknowledged their victory. 'The Electoral College has spoken, so today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He's devoted himself to public service for many years,' McConnell said." Update: A New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Breaking with President Trump's drive to overturn his election loss, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on his victory and began a campaign to keep fellow Republicans from joining a doomed last-ditch effort to reverse the outcome in Congress. Although Mr. McConnell waited until weeks after Mr. Biden was declared the winner to recognize the outcome, his actions were a clear bid by the majority leader, who is the most powerful Republican in Congress, to pu an end to his party's attempts to sow doubt about the election." ~~~

~~~ Maybe Moscow Mitch Was Waiting for Vlad's Okay. Mary Ilyushina of CNN: "Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the US presidential election Tuesday, six weeks after the vote and a day after the Electoral College officially affirmed Biden's win." The WashPo's item on Putin's congrats was posted at 6:52 am ET. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live Biden transition updates Tuesday are here.  (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: In his seventh acceptance speech Monday, President-elect Biden noted that he had won the same number of Electoral College votes as Trump did in 2016. While that's true, Biden actually received two more votes than Trump did in 2016, because of faithless electors. So if Trump's win was a "landslide" (it wasn't), then I guess Biden won a "huge landslide."

** Nathaniel Rakich & Elena Majia of 538: "Joe Biden may have won the White House, but down-ballot races were much better for Republicans. In fact, the GOP's victories in state-level elections could pay dividends long after Biden leaves office, thanks to their influence over next year's redistricting process.... [T]he end result was just about the best-case scenario for Republicans.... Republicans are set to control the redistricting of 188 congressional seats -- or 43 percent of the entire House of Representatives. By contrast, Democrats will control the redistricting of, at most, 73 seats, or 17 percent.... The GOP is in almost as good a position as it enjoyed in the last redistricting process, when Republicans controlled the drawing of 55 percent of congressional districts and Democrats controlled only 10 percent after 2010's GOP wave. As a result, the House map has been more biased toward Republicans this decade than at any point since the 1970s.... Democrats were able to win the House and several state legislatures in 2018 thanks to shifting vote patterns in the suburbs in particular, but Republicans in many states will now have the opportunity to draw new gerrymanders that account for this realignment.... That said..., at least 167 districts, or 38 percent of the House, will be drawn by independent commissions or by both parties sharing power. That’s up from 145 (33 percent) in 2011[.]" --s

Nicole Brodeur of The Seattle Times: "MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist, author and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced Tuesday that she has given away $4.1 billion in the past four months to 384 organizations, part of a giving pledge she announced last year.... In a Medium post that went live Tuesday morning, Scott explained the thinking behind her pandemic-era philanthropy. She wrote of the poet Emily Dickinson, whose isolation was voluntary and focused on death -- but also on hope. That is what Scott chose to focus on, she wrote, as winter approached and the pandemic dragged on. She described the coronavirus pandemic as 'a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,' and noted is has been worse for women, people of color and those living in poverty. 'Meanwhile,' she wrote, 'it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.'" --s

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Right up to Monday's Electoral College vote, President Trump held the false hope that Republican-controlled state legislatures would replace electors with allies who'd overturn Joe Biden's win, two people who discussed the matter with him told Axios.... Through the past week, the sources said, the president browbeat GOP legislators in multiple states, launched tirades against Republican Govs. Doug Ducey of Arizona and Brian Kemp of Georgia, vowed to make Fox News 'pay' for accurately calling the race, and tested ways to say he didn't win without acknowledging he had lost." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: I do think there's a good chance that the German-speaking von Trump (typo; that's von Trapp) family, appearing in the great hall of a lavish castle (note gold upholstery on chairs), could impress upon the Kailser that it's time to decamp to other digs. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link: ~~~

~~~ But Maybe Not to Palm Beach. Manuel Roig-Franzia & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump&'s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don't want you to be our neighbor. That message was formally delivered Tuesday morning in a demand letter delivered to the town of Palm Beach and also addressed to the U.S. Secret Service asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the early 1990s when he converted the storied estate from his private residence to a private club. The legal maneuver could, at long last, force Palm Beach to publicly address whether Trump can make Mar-a-Lago his legal residence and home, as he has been expected to do.... The contretemps sets up a potentially awkward scenario, unique in recent history, in which a former Oval Office occupant would find himself having to officially defend his choice of a place to live during his post-presidency. It also could create a legal headache for Trump because he changed his official domicile to Mar-a-Lago.... (Trump originally tried to register to vote in Florida using the White House in Washington as his address, which is not allowed under Florida law. He later changed the registration to the Mar-a-Lago address.)"

Michael Stratford of Politico: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged career employees at the Education Department on Tuesday to 'be the resistance' when the Biden administration comes into power next month, according to a recording of her remarks obtained by Politico. During a department-wide virtual meeting to discuss the shift to the new administration, DeVos acknowledged that most of the agency's thousands of career employees 'will be here through the coming transition and beyond.' 'Let me leave you with this plea: Resist,' DeVos said. 'Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what's right for students. In everything you do, please put students first -- always.'... The secretary's remarks come after nearly four years of frequently sparring with the career employees of her department." MB: Here are a few ways Betsy, uh, put students first.

Brett Wilkins of Common Dreams: "The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized a rule that wildlife advocates say will weaken the Endangered Species Act and severely limit the federal government's ability to protect habitat critical to the survival and recovery of imperiled species including grizzly bears and whooping cranes.... Under the new rule adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the definition of 'critical habitat' for an endangered species will be limited to places that could currently support such animals, not areas where they once lived and could be restored with the proper care and protections.... 'President [Donald] Trump has cemented his legacy as the most anti-wildlife president in history,' Stephanie Kurose, a senior policy specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement on Tuesday." --s

Roque Planas of the Huffington Post: "After being hit with a lawsuit in federal court, and after months of being pressed by Democratic lawmakers, the U.S. Postal Service finally released Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's calendar on Tuesday.... But the calendar released Tuesday is almost entirely redacted. From June 15 to Nov. 7, DeJoy held more than 450 meetings and conference calls, his electronic calendar says. But the agency's Freedom of Information Act office blacked out nearly every word[.]" --s ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What on earth is DeJoy doing that's so secret? Is his every clandestine activity corrupt? I think we should assume so. He's sure acting like a criminal.

Ho Ho Ho. John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Only a tiny fraction of the more than 900 guests invited to an indoor holiday party hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan showed up on Tuesday following an outcry from public health officials and U.S. lawmakers warning that the reception bore all the hallmarks of a superspreader event, said two U.S. officials familiar with the event. Pompeo, whose name was on the invitation and who was scheduled to speak at the event, canceled his speech and tapped a substitute speaker, said the two officials. The event was dedicated to the family members of diplomats serving overseas in dangerous postings that require them to leave their spouses and children behind, such as in Iraq or Afghanistan. The State Department did not respond to questions about why Pompeo canceled the speech and whether it was due to his own health concerns about holding a large indoor event. About 70 people RSVP'd for the event as of Monday night and even fewer showed up...." MB: All this went down precisely as contributor Patrick predicted a couple of weeks ago.

Mitch Threw Down the Gauntlet. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The position of the Senate GOP leader [Mitch McConnell] is now clear, pretty much negating any chance that Senate Republicans would participate in some kind of unlikely end-run not to accept the verdict of the electoral college.... McConnell is basically signaling he won't participate in such shenanigans.... Shortly after McConnell [congratulated Joe Biden & Kamala Harris], Trump made clear he's not giving up on his doomed crusade. 'Tremendous evidence pouring in on voter fraud,' Trump [tweeted] falsely. 'There has never been anything like this in our Country!' [Twitter flagged the tweet.]... Now is when we find out who is truly running this party from this point forward because its two top leaders' positions are completely irreconcilable." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Marianne Levine & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Republican senators Tuesday during a private caucus call not to object to the election results on Jan. 6, according to two sources familiar with the matter. McConnell told his caucus that challenging the results would force Republicans to take a 'terrible vote' because they would need to vote it down and appear against ... Donald Trump. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also echoed McConnell's remarks. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said that no one objected on the call to McConnell encouraging members to accept the election results..., though Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) hasn't ruled ... out a challenge." ~~~

     ~~~ AND Steve M. points out that soon-to-be Senator Tommy Tuberville (MB: who is challenging Ron Johnson for the title of Stupiest Senator) has been sending coup-y tweets. (It is clear from Tuberville's tweets, BTW, that he thinks of the Senate as a football field. Thanks, Alabama!) And still-King of the Stupid Johnson is another possible challenger. ~~~

~~~ Alayna Treene of Axios: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called White House chief of staff Mark Meadows Tuesday morning to say he planned on congratulating Joe Biden on winning the Electoral College and would officially address him as president-elect on the Senate floor, two sources familiar with the call tell Axios.... The Kentucky Republican ... did not speak directly with Trump.... McConnell's courtesy call to the White House didn't stop Trump from tweeting an article quoting Rep. Mo Brooks. The Alabama Republican asserted: 'Trump Won the Electoral College - I Can Be a Part of the "Surrender Caucus" or I Can Fight for Our Country,' just moments after McConnell spoke." ~~~

~~~ Keith Griffith of the Daily Mail & AP: "Donald Trump says people are 'angry' after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated President-elect Joe Biden, and the sitting president's most ardent loyalists vented their fury at the high-ranking Republican.... Early on Wednesday, Trump tweeted this DailyMail.com article, writing: 'Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!'... Recently pardoned former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn joined the outcry, retweeting a Twitter user who called on 'American patriots' to let 'McConnell know we aren't on board with his "President Elect Biden" mindset.' Flynn told Trump: 'millions & millions & millions of Patriots stand behind, alongside & in front of you during this crucible moment in US History where our very Republic is on the line. We won't fail or cower like some in the Republican Party have shown.'" ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Georgia Senate Race. Max Greenwood & Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Georgia's GOP senators [Perdue & Loeffler] are refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect a day after Electoral College voters met to cast their ballots and officially name him the winner over President Trump." ~~~

~~~ AND Ron Johnson Is Still "Investigating." Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The Wisconsin Republican [Ron Johnson], who says he has not yet decided whether to seek a third term in 2022, has used his perch as the chairman of the Senate's chief oversight body to investigate Trump's political foes -- from Hunter Biden to Hillary Clinton and the slew of Obama administration officials who launched the Russia probe -- and is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on alleged 'irregularities' in the election even as ... Trump's allegations of voter fraud continue to crumble.... It also comes two days after the Electoral College sealed Biden's victory.... 'I'm just doing everything I can because I think it's important, when people go into an election and say, "I'm going to vote for that guy," they ought to know he has all kinds of foreign financial entanglements, and he's lied to you bold-faced about them,' Johnson said about the Biden family." --s

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times asks, but does not answer, how dangerous Donald Trump was. MB: I come down on the side of very dangerous. As Goldberg points out, George W. Bush lied us into a disastrous war. But when the lies were exposed, the Bush administration, for the most part, did not insist they were true. Moreover, millions of people -- even those who supported the Iraq war -- did not accept the lies per se, as dogma. And while millions of right-wing Americans, including Donald Trump, never accepted Barack Obama as a real American, much less a real president, there was no attempted coup, a la Trump & Co., to prevent Obama's inauguration. Mitch McConnell and others did try to destroy Obama's presidency from within the government, but they did so, more or less, under "regular order," both in the Congress & in the courts.

Joyce Vance in an MSNBC opinion piece: "Recently-resigned Attorney General William Barr left the Justice Department just like he came in -- with a lie. His lack of honesty and steadfast refusal to understand his duty to serve justice and the people, not the president's personal and political agenda, will be the legacy of his time in office.... Barr's resignation letter is a genuflection to the president, not the expression of gratitude for the opportunity to serve that typifies departures from the Department of Justice.... Barr will go down in history as the worst attorney general of our lifetimes." ~~~

~~~ Charles Pierce will not miss Bill Barr. Again. And Pierce loved that resignation letter, too!

What Trump Hath Wrought. Alex Kaplan of Media Matters: "Multiple influencers supporting the false QAnon conspiracy theory have praised the appointment of new Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, claiming that he will carry out mass arrests of ... Donald Trump's political opponents and fulfill the conspiracy theory.... In response to the change in Justice Department leadership due to Attorney General William Barr resigning, multiple QAnon supporters with major followings on social media have suggested that Donoghue will carry out the conspiracy theory, pointing to a 'Q' post from 2018 mentioning him and citing the fact that he served as a military judge and was in the same Army division as former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn -- who is a QAnon supporter himself and widely admired among the QAnon community." ~~~

~~~ Kansas. Alexander Mitchell, et al., of NBC News: "A Republican mayor in western Kansas announced in a letter to city officials and on social media Tuesday that she is resigning, effective immediately, because of threats she has received after she publicly supported a mask mandate. Mayor Joyce Warshaw of Dodge City said she was concerned about her safety after being met with aggression, including threats via phone and email, after she was quoted in a USA Today article on Friday supporting the mandate, The Dodge City Globe reported. The city commission voted 4-1 on Nov. 16 to impose a mask mandate, with several exceptions." MB: While I'm sympathetic to the mayor's plight, I remind her & all Republicans who have received threats for exercising good judgment that those threats come from their own standard-bearer & his followers. ~~~

~~~ Texas. KTRX Houston: "A former Houston Police Department Captain was arrested and charged for running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove claims of a massive voter fraud scheme in Harris County, according to a news release from the Harris County's DA's office. Mark Anthony Aguirre, 63, was arrested by Houston police Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.... According to court documents, Aguirre told police that he was part of a group of private citizens called the 'Liberty Center,' who were conducting a civilian investigation into the alleged ballot scheme. According to Aguirre, he had been conducting surveillance for four days on a man who was allegedly the mastermind of a giant voter fraud scheme. Aguirre told authorities the man was hiding 750,000 fraudulent ballots in a truck he was driving. Instead, the victim turned out to be an innocent air conditioner repairman, court documents said. Aguirre ran his SUV into the back of the truck to get the technician to stop and get out, according to court documents. When the technician got out of the truck, Aguirre pointed a handgun at the technician, forced him to the ground and put his knee on the man's back until police came, the court document said. Aguirre allegedly directed police to a parking lot nearby where another suspect, who has not been identified, took the truck. According to court documents, there were no ballots in the truck." ~~~

     ~~~Aguirre's Attack on the A/C Man Was Not a One-off. Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune: "Mark Aguirre was working on behalf of a powerful Republican megadonor's group to investigate unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.... Prosecutors say Aguirre's election fraud claims were baseless and that he was paid $266,400 by the group Liberty Center for God and Country, whose CEO is prominent Texas right-wing activist Steven Hotze. Hotze was among a group of Republicans who unsuccessfully sued to have nearly 127,000 Harris County ballots tossed out this year. He was also among Republicans who tried -- and failed -- to stop Gov. Greg Abbott from extending early voting during the coronavirus pandemic...."

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Winter Storm Gail is spreading into the Northeast, where it will be a high-impact nor'easter packing heavy snow, strong winds and coastal flooding. Significant winter storm impacts are not only expected in the interior Northeast, but also near parts of the Interstate 95 corridor from New England to New York City and areas near or just west of Philadelphia. Snowfall from Gail is spreading from the Ohio Valley into Northeast. Freezing rain continues in parts of western Virginia and eastern West Virginia.... Among the cities in winter storm warnings are Boston, Hartford, Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Roanoke, Virginia." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments in the big storm.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (13)

Moscow Mitch may have finally acknowledged the fact that Joe Biden is the president-elect, but it was the most begrudging and recalcitrant acknowledgment you’re ever likely to hear. “Well shit. I wish he didn’t win cuz this sucks, but I guess Biden is gonna be president. Okay. I guess.” He then goes on to make the usual unconvincing noises about democracy, blah, blah, blah. This is a joke. Republicans singing the praises of democracy is like pyromaniacs thanking god for smoke detectors.

Today I was in a bookstore and heard a couple of loutish Trumpbots whining about masks and how horrible it is for “Democrat” governors to steal their freeeedums. Then they moved on to the election. “We don’t even know who’s president!” they squealed. I thought about saying something, but decided it didn’t matter. And in case you’re wondering, they weren’t there for the books. They were buying up cheap movie DVDs. (One guy was moving his lips while reading the titles, and I’m not making that up. I assumed they weren’t there looking for “War and Peace”.) I thought of suggesting “The Exorcist” since nothing short of supernatural intervention will straighten out immutable morons. But there are plenty of idiots out there just like these two. And that sniveling Turtle.

My sense is that McConnell decided that the sooner he admits that Biden won, the sooner he can start his many investigations to hamstring him. Look for these mincing rodents to call for investigations into anything Biden. Why did Biden not give up his seat on the train to a little old lady in 1975? The poor dear only wanted to sit down and read her Bible!

It’s gonna be bad.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Wait. Michelle Goldberg isn’t sure how dangerous Trump was (and still is)? Lead her to the poker table. She won’t know that a pair of deuces doesn’t beat a full house.

Seriously? I’m more than a little tired of pundits saying stuff like “Well, it’s okay. He didn’t win, so we’re fine.” No. We’re not. And by the way, just because he didn’t succeed in going full Hitler doesn’t mean he—and his entire party—didn’t want to. Last I looked, people still go to jail for attempted murder. It’s not like the nice judge says, “Well, he tried to shoot his wife, but he missed. No harm, no foul. Case dismissed.”

Jesus.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

If Fatty had been one of the von Trapp family kids, “The Sound of Music” would have had a much different ending. Instead of trying to escape the Nazis, Trump would join them then rat out the rest of the family. Maria and the kids would be singing “Edelweis” in a concentration camp while Trump was palling around with the SS (they’d keep him around like a pet). After the war, he’d escape to South America with Josef Mengele.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Mikey and Susie's noblesse oblige Christmas event (boxed meals? so industrial, but after all, they're for the hoi polloi) at State drew only 10% of invitees. Mikey didn't show, and sent one of his dog-robbers to rep him.

You can bet the caterer charged full per head for 900 attendees.

Managing the government like a business, you bet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/hundreds-of-invitees-skip-mike-pompeos-indoor-holiday-party-at-state-department/2020/12/15/6fe41bf0-3f19-11eb-a402-fba110db3b42_story.html

When he's back in Kansas, maybe they'll party then.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

I am glad President-elect Biden called out the seditionists, but I did not hear him say one of the most important things: When it came to presenting evidence, or even claiming fraud, in court the lawyers backed away because they knew there were harsh consequences to lying. I don't know how many of the 50+ lawsuits actively did not claim fraud. I think that would be a good top page story. Here Time goes through three of them.

https://time.com/5914377/donald-trump-no-evidence-fraud/

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@Ak: You are once again on a roll and boy do we need your sense of humor. The stories, like that former Houston police captain's crazy , dangerous antics, is one of many. What the hell do we do with those thousands of nut cases? Apparently they aren't ready to tow the Biden line and will continue to wreak havoc. Then we have the large groups of W.S. who are here to stay since they never, ever, went away. Within the congressional halls is another whole bag of beans but if we win back the senate the vitriol will be concentrated in the minority.

As far as the Family von Trapp: I met them, when I was a young girl, after a concert given by the Kohler's Women's Club (in Wisconsin) at a time when my mother was president. My memory of this is vague but Maria and the children looked nothing like the film stars. This was a family who had escaped the worst–-and it showed.

One of the songs I sang to my children every night before they fell asleep was "Edelweiss" ––-"sing it again, mommy."

and finally––"... while Trump was palling around with the SS (they’d keep him around like a pet)"–-you bet! The human Tasmanian Devil–-he of many colors that I wrote about yesterday. They could have used him–-on a leash, of course–- as a beacon of orange light on their night tours. Or maybe, like the Winter Palace neighbors in Florida, they just want him to disappear for good. Poof! Gone with the wind that will blow bits of bones and tufts of orange hair through the air and some lucky ducky will seize it and build a nifty nest. Rest in peace, you piece of..........................

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

The pardon list grows by the hour.

Trump’s ongoing, longstanding war on democracy and the American system was never meant to be a purely hypothetical exercise. From the start of his first run to slither into the White House, he has actively encouraged and condoned violence on his behalf. Since anyone who isn’t a Fatty acolyte can have no expectation of being treated like a human being, beatings, stabbings, shootings, assaults of all kinds on their rights and persons is a given.

This thug in Texas who assaulted—and threatened to shoot in the head—an air conditioning tech he suspected of hiding ballots, and his leash holder, a wealthy Trump supporter are the latest additions to the pardon list I suspect. Anyone who would threaten to murder someone for the glory of Trump deserves no less.

But. As usual, Trump only cares about himself. He might enjoy hearing about violent acts perpetrated in his service, by his horde of marching morons, but he will, as he always does, distance himself from the consequences of his own vicious exhortations, thuggery and treason.

A genuinely, thoroughly despicable person.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

A funny take on our holiday season: https://www.advocate.com/comedy/2020/12/15/randy-rainbow-destroys-rudy-leaky-lawyer-holiday-parody-song. It's not quite the Sound of Music, but entertaining none the less.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625

More madness reigning in and raining on the GOP:

https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-mitch-mcconnell-joe-biden-election-1555115

Looks like the GOP's supping spoon was not nearly long enough.

May not be true in all respects, but nonetheless a joy to read.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@MB: Any investigation into DeSantis and the handling of the C-19 data and reports will have to come from the federal level. Florida's totally Cult of Trump controlled legislature sure as hell isn't going to do anything.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Everyone Trump Touches Dies: The List
"A wise man once prophesied that everything Trump touches dies. And while this turns out not to be as reliable as a law of thermodynamics, it works just fine as a general rule of thumb.

Every presidential administration chews up and spits out one or two people. There are always guys who enter an administration looking like normal, upstanding citizens and exit having been revealed as hucksters, frauds, or criminals. G. Gordon Liddy. Pat Buchanan. Cap Weinberger. John Poindexter. Sometimes the people who get rendered by a president are good guys who catch a bad break, like Mike Espy.

But the sheer number of people who had their lives and/or careers destroyed over four years of swimming in Donald Trump’s slipstream is kind of staggering."

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

RAS,

Thanks for the list. Englightening and entertaining, tho' I wondered at the characterization of Flynn as respected. Maybe by "The Bulwark," but as I remember, not by the Obama who fired him...

For a truly head-spinning list, try this one from Wikipedia. It took me five minutes to scroll through it…

Of course, not all left in disgrace. Many had in their short tenure earned a badge of honor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

RAS,

I fully agree with your observation, but a good deal of the problem (why everyone coming in contact with Trump ends up in the shit pile) has to do with the essential criminality, douchiness, and astounding immorality of his choices. First, did anyone think, in their wildest hash dreams, that Fatty would ever pick a decent, ethical, qualified, stand up person for any role in his cabinet?

Of course not. So it’s like saying that it would be a great surprise that hiring an elementary school teacher who had no clue about the alphabet would be problematic.

December 16, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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