;)
Wednesday
Dec022020
The Commentariat -- December 2, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has no plans to remove Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director installed by President Trump if he is still in the job when the new administration comes in, according to a senior adviser to Mr. Biden with knowledge of the process. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Mr. Biden's team was 'not removing the F.B.I. director unless Trump fired him' -- signaling a return to pre-Trump norms of continuity at a core domestic law enforcement agency that is supposed to operate without political meddling." This is an item in the Times' transition updates Wednesday.
Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "Congress is moving forward on a must-pass defense policy bill without repealing a legal shield for social media companies, rejecting a last-minute veto threat from ... Donald Trump. The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act that will soon be considered by the House and Senate won't include Trump's long-sought repeal of the legal immunity for online companies, known as Section 230, according to lawmakers and aides.... Senate Armed Services Chair Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said that while he agrees with Trump on Section 230, the provision 'has nothing to do with the military.... You can't do it in this bill. That's not a part of the bill,' Inhofe said, adding that he has conveyed that belief to Trump.... The final defense bill does include a provision that would spur the Pentagon to remove the names [of Confederate leaders from ten Army bases] over a three-year period, according to an aide for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who authored the proposal." Trump also has said he would veto the bill if it included that provision. MB: I guess Congressional leaders think they have enough votes to override a veto by America's Biggest Loser.
Dan Mangan & Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump's spokeswoman refused to say Wednesday whether Trump still has faith in Attorney General William Barr, a day after Barr said the Justice Department has not found evidence that widespread ballot fraud led to President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Barr's statement badly undercut baseless allegations by Trump and his campaign legal team that the Republican president was swindled out of reelection by voting fraud." MB: And Bill Barr is smiling.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday is here: "The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Wednesday that the nation is facing a devastating winter, predicting that total deaths from Covid-19 could reach 'close to 450,000' by February unless a large percentage of Americans follow precautions like mask-wearing. 'The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times,' said Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the C.D.C., in an address to the Chamber of Commerce Foundation."
Kylie Atwood of CNN: "A senior US administration official said Israel was behind the assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist but declined to give details about whether the Trump administration knew about the attack before it was carried out or provided support. The official said that in the past, Israelis have shared information with the US about their targets and covert operations before carrying them out but would not say if they did so in this instance. The Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed Friday, had been a target for the Israelis for a long time, the official added."
I Like Being Senator Because ... the Correct Answer Is (a) Insider Trading Opportunities. Stephanie Saul, et al., of the New York Times: "An examination of [Sen. David] Perdue's [R-Ga.] stock trading during his six years in office reveals that he has been the Senate's most prolific stock trader by far, sometimes reporting 20 or more transactions in a single day.... Mr. Perdue's [2,596] transactions accounted for nearly a third of all Senate trades reported in the past six years.... The data also shows the breadth of trades Mr. Perdue made in companies that stood to benefit from policy and spending matters that came not just before the Senate as a whole, but before the committees and subcommittees on which he served.... ... Mr. Perdue's Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff, has seized on the trading as a campaign issue. In a news conference on Monday, he accused Mr. Perdue of 'using his office to enrich himself' through the stock trades."
Nahal Toosi, et al., of Politico: "Now that he's chosen a big chunk of his Cabinet nominees, President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is focusing increasingly on selecting candidates for government positions that do not require Senate confirmation. Concerned about Republicans slow-walking confirmation hearings for Cabinet appointees and hollowed-out federal agencies, Biden and his aides are eager to place mid- to lower-level officials across the federal government, particularly in national security roles, to ensure his administration can begin to enact his agenda immediately, according to three people familiar with the situation. By quickly selecting candidates for slots that don't require Senate confirmation, such as deputy assistant secretaries, the transition team also can try to ensure that many of those hired can obtain security clearances by the time Biden takes office. The shift in focus to filling positions that do not require confirmation reflects the urgency with which the Biden team sees its staffing conundrum.... It also signals Biden's anxiousness to replace Trump appointees and fill long-empty positions as soon as possible so he can enact his agenda."
Trump's Patriotic Friends. Peter Montgomery of Right Wing Watch: "Lin Wood, an Atlanta-based lawyer who says ... Donald Trump asked him to join the effort to challenge Joe Biden's election victory, is promoting a right-wing group's call for Trump to declare martial law and use the military to oversee a new election. Retired Gen. Michael Flynn also promoted the call for martial law [in a tweet] just a day after the Justice Department released the language of the extremely broad pardon Flynn received from Trump[.]" MB: Wingers get crazier by the day.
Susan Rice, in a New York Times op-ed: "While President Trump rages relentlessly about election 'fraud,' many Republican leaders continue to parrot false denials of the validity of President-elect Joe Biden's clear victory. Yet, so far, our democracy has withstood the greatest stress test of our lifetimes.... Still, the lesson we must learn is not a reassuring one: A determined autocrat in the White House poses a grave threat to our democratic institutions and can severely undermine faith in our elections, particularly when backed by partisans in Congress.... Bolstering our democracy depends in large part on the people of Georgia voting out their incumbent senators on Jan. 5. If the Senate flips to Democratic control, Congress will be able to apply the lessons of our democracy's near-death experience."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Brad Parscale, the former Trump campaign manager who was demoted in July, claimed in a Fox News interview on Tuesday night that President Trump would have handily won the election if he had expressed more empathy about the coronavirus pandemic.... Mr. Parscale also appeared to blame those who succeeded him in running Mr. Trump's campaign for failing to file lawsuits before Election Day. In fact, the campaign filed multiple lawsuits during the early voting period seeking to block mail-in ballot rule changes.... At other points in the interview, Mr. Parscale refused to concede that the president had lost the election, claiming that Mr. Trump was 'in a position that he might be able to pull this off." A Politico story is here. MB: Brad says he wants to go back to flipping houses. If you're thinking of purchasing a house in Southeast Florida, you might want to be careful whose flip you buy.
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Democrat Mark Kelly will be sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, marking the first time in more than 67 years that Arizona will have two Democratic senators. Kelly, 56, a former astronaut and the husband of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), defeated Sen. Martha McSally (R) in a special election last month. The seat was once held by longtime Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died in 2018. McSally was later appointed to the seat but came up short this year in her race against Kelly, who will be up for a full six-year term in 2022. Upon being sworn in, Kelly will join Arizona's senior senator, Kyrsten Sinema (D), a former congresswoman who won election to the Senate in 2018, also defeating McSally."
Fox 5 Atlanta: "The campaigns for [Sens. David] Perdue [R] and [Kelly] Loeffler [R] both issued statements Tuesday evening condemning violence but also criticizing election officials, according to news outlets. They previously called for [Georgia state election official Gabriel] Sterling's boss, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign over what they call a mismanagement of the statewide election.... [Democrat] Stacey Abrams released the following statement: 'Fair Fight and I condemn in the strongest terms possible all threats against election workers, contractors, and election officials.... Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who have echoed election conspiracies without evidence and contributed to the culture of intimidation and fear, should join us in condemning those who engage in these despicable attacks.'" The Rev. Raphael Warnock (D), who is challenging Loeffler, also issued a statement condemning the threats of violence against election officials. Jon Ossoff (D), who is running against Perdue, did not. See related stories linked below.
Stone Pegs Barr as a Deep-state Shill. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Remember in February when Attorney General Bill Barr trashed his department's reputation to override the recommended prison term for Roger Stone and push for a much shorter sentence? Because, apparently, Stone has forgotten -- and has gone on the attack against the AG.... Stone, one of Trump's longest standing allies, is particularly angry, even though Barr did him a huge favor.... In a video posted to Parler, Stone said he's not surprised that Barr has 'suddenly determined' there is no voter fraud, adding: 'Bill Barr's job is to block for the "deep state."' Stone, who had his prison sentence commuted by Trump in July, also complained of a 'two-tiered justice system.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Brakkton Booker of NPR: "... President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced the advisers who he hopes can guide the United States back to solid economic footing. The six-person economic team Biden has tapped -- which was revealed on Monday == is a who's who list of veterans from previous Democratic administrations and, if confirmed, includes a number of historic firsts. Speaking from Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday, the president-elect referred to the group as 'first rate' and well-equipped to meet the dual challenges the pandemic and the sputtering economy present.... The incoming administration's economic team is set to be led by Janet Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair whom Biden nominated for treasury secretary. Yellen would become the first woman to lead the department in its 231 years of existence."
The Last Days of the Kaiser
** Biggest Rat Abandons Sunk Ship. Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. His comments in an interview with The Associated Press come despite ... Donald Trump's repeated baseless claims that the election was stolen, Trump's effort to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election and his refusal to concede his loss to President-Elect Joe Biden. Barr said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they've received, but they've uncovered no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.... Before the election, he had repeatedly raised the notion that mail-in voter fraud could be especially vulnerable to fraud.... Shortly after Barr's statement was published, Trump tweeted out more baseless claims of voter fraud. And his attorney Rudy Giuliani and his campaign issued a scathing statement claiming that, 'with all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn't been any semblance' of an investigation." A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ As NiskyGuy noted at the end of yesterday's Comments thread, articles -- like this one in the WashPo -- allow Barr to imply that there was fraud, but not on such a scale that it would have flipped the presidential election outcome: "It strongly implies that there was plenty of fraud but not enough to overturn the election. But there wasn't. The recounts of the PAPER BALLOTS showed that there was NO FRAUD. The news media are still coddling the fascists." MB: I'd add that Barr's implication could be interpreted to mean that there was so much fraud that results in a particular state or states could have flipped, but not enough swing states were implicated to give Biden fewer than 270 Electoral College votes. Barr, even in his admission, is still delegitimizing the election. It's what Republican losers do. Also too, Barr will likely return to private practice, so it will probably help him drum up clients to demonstrate that he's not as crazy as Trump. ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "Barr is a slippery creature, so you can be fairly confident that 'no fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election' means 'no fraud of any sort, because if my inquisitors had found any I would be holding a nationally televised press conference about these extremely disturbing findings.'"
AND Mitch Has Such an Understated Way of Saying Good-Bye. Felicia Sonmez & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that there will be a new administration in January, going further than he previously has in acknowledging Trump's election loss. 'I think we all know that after the first of the year there's likely to be a discussion about additional -- some additional package of some size next year, depending upon what the new administration wants to pursue,' McConnell told reporters during remarks on coronavirus relief negotiations." This is part of the WashPo's free election updates Tuesday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ron Brownstein of CNN: "The silence of congressional Republican leaders as ... Donald Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud grow wilder and more venomous increasingly resembles the party's deference to Sen. Joe McCarthy during the worst excesses of his anti-Communist crusade in the early 1950s. In McCarthy's era, most of the GOP's leaders found excuses to avoid challenging conspiracy theories that they knew to be implausible, even as evidence of their costs to the nation steadily mounted. For years, despite their private doubts about his charges and methods alike, the top GOP leadership -- particularly Senate Republican leader Robert A. Taft, the Mitch McConnell of his day -- either passively abetted or actively supported McCarthy's scattershot claims of treason and Communist infiltration. A significant faction of Senate Republicans didn't join with Democrats to curb McCarthy's power until the senator immolated himself with his accusations, in highly publicized 1953 and 1954 hearings, that the Army was riddled with Communists during the presidency of fellow Republican Dwight Eisenhower.... The vast majority of congressional Republicans have supported Trump since his 2017 inauguration at almost every turn, brushing aside concerns about everything from openly racist language to his efforts to extort the government of Ukraine to manufacture dirt on ... Joe Biden." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Christopher Krebs, who was recently fired by ... Donald Trump as the head of the federal government's election cybersecurity efforts, suggested Tuesday that he might take legal action against one of Trump's lawyers who said that Krebs should be shot. In an interview on NBC's 'Today' show, host Savannah Guthrie asked Krebs how concerned he is about the comments made by Trump campaign lawyer Joe DiGenova in an interview Monday in which he said that Krebs 'is a class A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot.' 'It's certainly more dangerous language, more dangerous behavior,' Krebs responded. 'And the way I look at it is that we are a nation of laws, and I plan to take advantage of those laws. I've got an exceptional team of lawyers that win in court, and I think they're probably going to be busy.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Georgia. Basta! Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In one of the most striking rebukes to President Trump since he launched his baseless attacks on the American electoral process, a top-ranking Georgia election official lashed out at the president on Tuesday for failing to condemn threats of violence against people overseeing the voting system in his state. 'It has to stop,' Gabriel Sterling, a Republican and Georgia's voting system implementation manager, said at an afternoon news conference at the state Capitol, his voice shaking with emotion. 'Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language.'... Mr. Sterling's outburst of anger and frustration came amid a sustained assault on Georgia's election process by Mr. Trump.... He added that the president needed to 'step up' and say, 'Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed....' Mr. Sterling also called on the state's two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, to condemn the rhetoric that he said was getting dangerously out of hand. The two senators, both Trump loyalists, have called for [Georgia Secretary of State Brad] Raffensperger [R] to resign." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump's response, not surprisingly, was to further fuel the flames. He retweeted a video of Sterling's remarks attached to a tweet in which he falsely declared, "Rigged Election. Show signatures and envelopes. Expose the massive voter fraud in Georgia. What is Secretary of State and @BrianKempG afraid of. They know what we'll find!!!" Twitter flagged Trump's tweet.
Pennsylvania. Kevin McCoy & Richard Wolf of USA Today: "A long-shot effort to overturn the presidential election results in Pennsylvania made its way to the Supreme Court Tuesday. Conservative Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and others contend state officials had no right under the Pennsylvania Constitution to expand mail-in voting in 2019, and the state Supreme Court was wrong to uphold that statute. The group called it 'an unconstitutional, no-excuse absentee voting scheme.'... The group seeks an emergency injunction from the nation's highest court to block the completion of any remaining steps in the state's certification of Pennsylvania's 2020 election results, which took place last week. The petition was submitted to Associate Justice Samuel Alito."
Wisconsin. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "President Trump's campaign on Tuesday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to intervene in the state's presidential election by throwing out hundreds of thousands of ballots in the state's two most Democratic-leaning counties, a last-ditch bid to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state. Legal experts said the suit has little chance of prevailing, and an attorney for the Trump campaign even acknowledged that it was unlikely to change the outcome of the White House race." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Rachel Maddow noted that the pleading pegs Detroit as a city in Wisconsin and that the lead plaintiff named in the suit is a losing GOP candidate who had no clue about the case & wants out. But good job, folks. Should inspire more contributions to the Donald Forever PAC.
Georgia Senate Races. Mixed Messages. Dave Goldiner of the New York Daily News: "President Trump demanded Tuesday that Georgia 'call off' its upcoming runoff elections over his claims of fraud, giving Republicans a new headache in their fight to keep control of the Senate.Repeating his attacks about mail-in voting, Trump angrily urged Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to 'do something' about absentee votes that are expected to be cast predominantly by Democrats in the pair of make-or-break Senate contests. 'You allowed your state to be scammed,' Trump warned Kemp on Twitter, presumably referring to the presidential election. 'Call off election. It won't be needed. We will all WIN!' Trump tweeted.... Trump is planning a campaign rally on Saturday to support Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, neither of whom managed to clear 50% of the votes against Democratic challengers on Nov. 3." MB: Huh? You're campaigning for candidates running in an election that "won't be needed"? What does that mean?
Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "President Trump has discussed with advisers whether to grant pre-emptive pardons to his children, to his son-in-law and to his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, and talked with Mr. Giuliani about pardoning him as recently as last week, according to two people briefed on the matter. Mr. Trump has told others that he is concerned that a Biden Justice Department might seek retribution against the president by targeting the oldest three of his five children -- Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump -- as well as Ms. Trump's husband, Jared Kushner." This is an update of an item linked yesterday.
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times:"The Justice Department has been investigating whether intermediaries for a federal convict offered White House officials a bribe in exchange for a potential pardon or commutation from President Trump, according to court documents unsealed by a federal judge on Tuesday. The documents were heavily redacted, and it was unclear who may have been involved. Nothing directly tied Mr. Trump to the scheme, and the documents said no one had been charged.... Late Tuesday, Mr. Trump used Twitter to briefly address the disclosure of the investigation, calling it 'Fake News.'... Given Mr. Trump's undisciplined approach to pardons, the disclosure, coming amid a flurry of reports about how Mr. Trump has been discussing whether to pardon his children and close confidants in the final weeks of his presidency, raised fears that the pardon process may have been corrupted." ~~~
~~~ Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department in August investigated a potential 'bribery-for-pardon' scheme in which a large political contribution would be offered in exchange for a presidential pardon by the White House, according to court records unsealed Tuesday. The documents show that U.S. prosecutors were scrutinizing whether two individuals approached senior White House officials as unregistered lobbyists, and a related scheme in which cash would be funneled through intermediaries for a pardon or reprieve of a sentence for a defendant apparently in Federal Bureau of Prisons custody at some point. The status of the investigation is unclear.... [The record, heavily redacted,] does not indicate what senior White House officials did after allegedly being approached." A CNN story is here. An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos, in LG&$ peeks behind the curtain: "Bill Barr is really angling for that firing that will reestablish his integritude to all the haters."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr revealed on Tuesday that he had bestowed special counsel status on John H. Durham, the prosecutor he assigned to investigate the officials who conducted the Trump-Russia inquiry -- setting the stage to leave him in place after the Biden administration takes over. In a letter to Congress, Mr. Barr disclosed that he had secretly appointed Mr. Durham as a special counsel on Oct. 19, before the election. The action gives Mr. Durham the same independence and protections against being fired that had been enjoyed by Robert S. Mueller III, the former special counsel who eventually oversaw the Russia investigation.... The step appeared likely to create a headache for whoever Mr. Biden appoints as attorney general, who would take over supervision of Mr. Durham's continuing work.... Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, defended the legitimacy of the Russia investigation and condemned Mr. Barr's move as an abuse of the special counsel power 'to continue a politically motivated investigation long after Barr leaves office.'... Mr. Barr's memo was broadly written and vague. It did not identify any suspected crime that could serve as a predicate for a continuing criminal investigation, or any particular person whom Mr. Durham was to focus on." ~~~
~~~ Michael Balsamo & Eric Tucker of the AP: Barr "said Durham's investigation has been narrowing to focus more on the conduct of FBI agents who worked on the Russia investigation...." A Politico story is here. MB: Biden's AG could always assign Durham a windowless 8 x 10 room with no staff, computers, paper or pen. But a nice government-issue chair & desk and a "Special Counsel" title on the door. And a paycheck! Still, if this seems like a dirty GOP trick to you, remember that there is always another point-of-view: ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump and his allies are piling extreme pressure on Attorney General Bill Barr to release a report that Trump believes could hurt perceived Obama-era enemies -- and view Barr's designation of John Durham as special counsel as a stall tactic, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.... Trump has been ranting about the delay behind the scenes and mused privately about replacing Barr with somebody who will expedite the process.... Barr met with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and other officials in the West Wing Tuesday afternoon." Emphasis added.
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday threatened to veto an annual defense bill authorizing nearly $1 trillion in military spending unless Congress opens the door for Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to be held legally liable for the way they police their platforms. Trump delivered his ultimatum -- calling for the repeal of a federal law known as Section 230 -- in a pair of late-night tweets that transformed a critical national security debate into a political war over his unproved allegations that Silicon Valley's technology giants exhibit systemic bias against conservatives. 'Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to "Big Tech"(the only companies in America that have it -- corporate welfare!), is a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity,' Trump tweeted. Unless the 'very dangerous & unfair Section 230 is not completely terminated as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),' Trump continued, 'I will be forced to unequivocally VETO the Bill when sent to the very beautiful Resolute desk.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: How does someone with veto power "equivocally VETO" a bill?
Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of senators introduced a stimulus proposal worth about $908 billion on Tuesday, aiming to break a months-long partisan impasse over providing emergency federal relief to the U.S. economy.... With negotiations among congressional leaders at a standstill, senators in both parties have worked together for weeks on a proposal that could break the logjam. Several centrist lawmakers in the Senate -- including Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) -- held a news conference Tuesday morning to push their proposal as a template for legislation that could pass Congress as the economy faces increasing strain from a winter surge in coronavirus cases." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Could these two Politico stories possibly be related? ~~~
~~~ (1) At the Superspreader Party. Alex Isenstadt: "... Donald Trump hinted to supporters Tuesday evening at a White House Christmas party that he is looking to wage a 2024 comeback campaign, the most public comments he's made about seeking another term since losing the 2020 election. 'It's been an amazing four years. We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I'll see you in four years,' Trump told a crowd of mostly Republican National Committee members, who immediately erupted in cheers, according to video of the remarks viewed by Politico.... Many of the attendees at the Tuesday evening party appeared to be maskless, and coughs could be heard in the video." ~~~
~~~ (2) Big Money. Anita Kumar: "After he leaves the White House, Donald Trump is expected to do something no president before him has done: cut multimillion dollar deals with foreign governments and companies for his own private business. Trump's namesake company plans to resume foreign real estate projects, likely luxury hotels, as it grapples with a tarnished brand in the United States and the need to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, according to three people familiar with the plans, not to mention past public statements from Trump's children. Company officials have already vowed to look into more developments in India and will be expected to give a second look to projects they had considered in China, Turkey, Colombia and Brazil before Trump entered office. The arrangement is already being criticized as one that could be used to pay back Trump for his policies as president or to influence U.S. policy through a former president -- and possibly a future presidential candidate." MB: Seems to me foreign entities would be far more likely to give Trump remarkably good terms if they think he might get his old job back.
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "An independent panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Tuesday to recommend that residents and employees of nursing homes and similar facilities be the first people in the United States to receive coronavirus vaccines, along with health care workers who are especially at risk of being exposed to the virus. The panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 13 to 1 during an emergency meeting to make the recommendation. The director of the C.D.C., Dr. Robert R. Redfield, is expected to decide by Wednesday whether to accept it as the agency's formal guidance to states as they prepare to start giving people the shots as soon as two weeks from now." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.: "Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech announced Wednesday that their coronavirus vaccine had been granted emergency authorization in Britain, making it the first Western nation to approve a covid-19 vaccine." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Party Like It's 2019. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Invitations to at least 20 White House parties, the first one on Monday at 7 p.m., have been sent out so far, according to administration officials.... The red and gold party invitations make no mention of the coronavirus, nor do they acknowledge the holiday message that public health officials have been trying to emphasize to Americans: Stay home. Instead, the invitations are the latest example of how President Trump is spending his final weeks in office operating in an alternative universe, denying the realities of life during the pandemic.... The holiday party season, canceled across most of Washington, will be a rare time when the White House will feel busy." ~~~
~~~ And now I know why Rudy held his presser at the landscaping place, the crematorium across the street must have been having a sale on urns. -- RAS, in yesterday's Comments
Ohio. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "A group of four Republican state lawmakers filed a dozen articles of impeachment against [Ohio Gov. Mike] DeWine [R] on Monday, saying the governor violated state and federal laws by requiring masks in public and ordering some businesses to close.... But with the pandemic having killed more than 267,000 people across the country and at least 6,429 in Ohio, DeWine brushed off their efforts and urged the lawmakers to focus on those suffering from or fighting covid-19 on the front lines." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Serge Kovaleski, et al., of the New York Times: "The pop-up metal monolith that became the focus of international attention after it was spotted in a remote section of the Utah desert on Nov. 18 was dismantled just 10 days later. On Tuesday a local outdoorsman with a penchant for stunts claimed credit on social media for the sculpture's removal. The office of the San Juan County Sheriff at first announced that it was declining to investigate the case in the absence of complaints about missing property. To underscore that point, it uploaded a 'Most Wanted' poster on its website, or rather a jokey version of one in which the faces of suspects were replaced by nine big-eyed aliens. But by the end of Monday, the sheriff's office had reversed its position and announced that it was planning a joint investigation with the Bureau of Land Management, a federal agency. It was left to an adventure photographer, Ross Bernards, to disclose evidence on Instagram. Mr. Bernards, 34, of Edwards, Colo., was visiting the monolith on Friday night when, he said, four men arrived as if out of nowhere to dismantle the sculpture."
Way Beyond
Australia. Graham Readfearn of the Guardian: "A bushfire has burned across half the World Heritage-listed K'gari/Fraser Island -- the world's biggest sand island, off Australia's Queensland coast -- with potentially catastrophic consequences for its habitats and wildlife. The blaze, which has been alight for more than six weeks, is threatening major tourism and rainforest areas after burning much of the island's north. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services told the Guardian on Tuesday the fire was encroaching on the island's famous Valley of the Giants -- home to trees more than 1,000 years old.... The fire started in mid-October after an illegal campfire and has since burned across 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres)." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dalya Alberge of the Guardian: "One of the world's largest collections of prehistoric rock art has been discovered in the Amazonian rainforest. Hailed as 'the Sistine Chapel of the ancients', archaeologists have found tens of thousands of paintings of animals and humans created up to 12,500 years ago across cliff faces that stretch across nearly eight miles in Colombia." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the modern-minded conservative who became president of France in 1974 vowing to transform his tradition-bound, politically polarized country, only to be turned out of office seven years later after failing to accomplish his goals or to shed his imperious image, died on Wednesday at his family home in the Loir-et-Cher area of central France. He was 94. His foundation said the cause was complications of Covid-19."
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Reader Comments (21)
The Fat Lying Fascist refers to the “beautiful Resolute Desk” as if he had something to do with its construction. What a name for the most irresolute president* in American history. Look for this idiot to cause as much trouble as he can before the fumigators show up to eradicate as much orange filth as they can from the White House. Also look for him to continue yelping about his “yuuuge win” and to keep up the outrageous attempts to get the courts to hand him the victory he couldn’t muster on his own. Should he get a single vote overturned, it will resound throughout the Land of Mordor, and the crazies will demand an overthrow.
@Akhilleus: Your mention of fumigators reminds me of something you -- or another commentator -- mentioned some while back: that Biden had better get the place fumigated before he moves in. Assuming that Trump will refuse to leave before 12 noon Jan. 20 (or ever!), if I were the Bidens, I would not move in until the entire White House, from roof to subbasement, had been deep-cleaned by men & women in HazMat suits. And had the place swept by experts for bugs (of the listening-device kind) & stink bombs.
I'm not kidding.
A STERLING PERFORMANCE:
What a treat to watch Gabriel Sterling's fury at what has been going down with the idiot voices calling for shooting, hanging, slicing and dicing ––enough is enough! he says–-"This has to stop!" Did Doofus heed his call? Nein! Will this performance push others to speak out? We wait with anticipation. Somehow the moral fiber has thinned to just a skinny few that have the gumption to finally speak out. And it looks as though we have another Quid pro quo goodie in the making:
“The Justice Department has been investigating whether intermediaries for a federal convict offered White House officials a bribe in exchange for a potential pardon or commutation from President Trump..."
And won't that just seal the deal––oh, wait! Doofus says, "Fake News"–––Never mind.
Heaven help us!!!!!
Gesture of good will?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-considers-2024-campaign-kick-inauguration-day-n1249595
The Pretender is thinking he will not invite his successor to the White House or attend his inauguration?
Mindful of his past Covid carelessness, is it possible the Pretender will be employing a new-found respect for social distancing out of concern for Biden's health?
Or does he just want to kill only Republicans?
Whiny-baby confederate snowflakes are already crying because mean old Joe Biden hasn’t come to them on hands and knees asking their permission for his cabinet choices.
John Cornyn (R-Traitor), who is on record saying he will never vote to confirm anyone who might have any connection with foreign powers (too stoopid to even comment on), says his fee-fee is hurt because Biden hasn’t consulted with him on his plans.
All of these traitors, silent as the grave for four years while their Dear Leader pissed on the Constitution and laid waste to American power and influence, while looking for pats on the head from foreign dictators, are suddenly all aflame with this bullshit faux patriotic outrage.
Hmmm...let me see...how many times did Fatty “consult with” Democrats when he was picking his team of unqualified self-serving monkeys?
ZERO! Hey! But now Biden should go hat in hand to Cornyn and Cotton, and Li’l Randy and Moscow Mitch to beg their indulgence.
Also, traitors are OUTRAGED that Neera Tanden said mean things about their anti-American treason on Twitter. How dare she. Of course none of them complain when a Trump flunky goes on Twitter to demand that someone they hate be taken out and shot.
Get used to it. It’s gonna be a long four years.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/528286-republican-frustration-builds-over-cabinet-picks
Marie,
Excellent reminder that Fatty, and probably Herr Barr, and most definitely Stephen Miller, might try to hide bugs in the White House. These people are not only traitors, at the very bottom level, they’re liars and cheaters.
Also, they’ll need to check under the beds and in the closets for food wrappers, McDonald’s bags, and porn.
Akhilleus,
Don't. know what the fuss is about.
After all, we now know cabinet picks don't have to be confirmed.
All they have to do is ACT as if they were.
One other thing about confirmations. Moscow Mitch changed the rules for confirmations while the head traitor was nominating imbeciles and patsies so debate could be terminated after two hours (the better to hide disqualifying secrets). If he retains control of the Senate, look for him to change those rules again. The new rules will be 25 days of debate, followed by throwing the nominee into a pool of water. If she floats (there being waaaay too many women nominated for important man jobs), she’s a witch and must be burned.
Ken,
If Biden appointed a single acting cabinet head, the caterwauling from the right would make the screaming from medieval torture dungeons sound like Mr. Roberts on ludes.
Top comment today in today's WaPo piece on Bill Barr captures the rats sudden behavior.
"Barr reminds me of the White Star Line's managing director, J. Bruce Ismay, who was aboard the Titanic on its maiden voyage, and ordered Captain Smith to ignore reports of icebergs along the route, and to continue at flank speed so as to set a new world transatlantic record.
As the ship was going down, he disguised himself as a woman, and boarded a lifeboat with the other distinguished female passengers. History has not remembered him well, nor will it remember William Barr well".
@MAG: Thanks. Great comment. However, the image of Bill Barr in drag immediately came to mind. And it was disturbing.
Hum a little Pardon Me, Boys the headline in NYT online front page: Trump Has Discussed Pardons for 3 Children, Kushner and Giuliani
Seems to me people get pardons for crimes committed! Thus they are evidently guilty of lots of stuff! But, we knew that.
Jimmy Kimmel's new name for Trump: Uncle Scam is perfect.
Yes, Sterling asked that the rhetorical temperature be lowered, but he is only telling half the story.
Here's what I am waiting to hear him say: "Come on, guys! Stop directing your anger at us! We did our part. We purged over 300,000 people from the voter rolls in 2019, almost 200,000 who hadn't in fact moved or died, and yet, because T**** and Purdue and Loeffler are so damn bad at their jobs, they couldn't get themselves re-elected."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/politics/georgia-voter-rolls-report/index.html
Would the present SCOTUS really approve the ultimate get out of jail free card?
Wikipedia on preemptive pardons: "Pardons have been used for presumptive cases, such as when President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, who had not been charged with anything, over any possible crimes connected with the Watergate scandal, but the Supreme Court has never ruled on the legality of such pardons."
I dearly hope we find out how they'd deal with another fundamental question posed by our sloppily written Constitution.
Roberts must be quaking, hoping just as dearly that we don't.
All those other Pretender cases, the taxes and the various subpoenas alone, already has the poor guy's head spinning.
Love the Titanic analogy. And if we want to follow that thread a little further, Ismay (although cleared of all charges) was vilified in the American press. William Randolph Hearst’s papers ripped him to shreds. At one point Hearst published two lists, those who died, and those who were saved. In column one there were some 1,500 names. Column two, one name: J. Bruce Ismay.
I doubt we’ll see that sort of excoriation of Fatso Barr, but the idea is both meet and just, a phrase that never has, and never will describe Barr himself.
Pardoning the "kidz" for future crimes??? All it says to me is that they are already guilty of crimes. Or at least the crime boss thinks so...
This is going to be a long Christmas/post Christmas season...
Just thinking about the connection made in a CNN article (linked above) between how the Republican Party (aka Party of Traitors), gleefully sidled up to Joe McCarthy’s venomous lies and wild conspiracy theories back in the 50s and the way the current crop of slithering snakes and con artists have kowtowed to a fat fascist.
The immediate observation to be made is that, for all their talk of he-man, do it yourself, tough guy individualism, Republicans are a pack of sheep. Bleating, fearful, follow the leader sheep. They are the meekest of the meek, cowardly, craven, and despicably dishonest.
Just think of Big Man Ted Cruz, cooking bacon wrapped around his automatic rifle. Ooooh, very macho, Ted. But then along comes the schoolyard bully, kicks him in the balls, takes his lunch money and he asks “How much shall I bring for you tomorrow, sir? Would you like to crush my tiny testicles some more?”
All of these phony tough guys, now that Fatty is leaving, want to show how tough they’ll be against Joe Biden, by jing! Bring that Biden to me! I’ll kick his ass! But when they had a chance to stand up to the biggest danger this country has seen since the Civil War, they were, to a person, AWOL. The only one who dared to open his mouth was the spoiled rich guy from Utah, with the elevator in his garage.
Cowards. Sheep. Followers. They hid under the covers when they should have stood up to McCarthy and they’re doing the same thing today with Trump.
Baaaaah-baaaaah.
@Akhilleus: Excellent point. What's freedumb if you can't enjoy it? Drunk Cliff spouting conspiracy theories at the end of the bar has more freedom than the guys he voted for.
Akhilleus,
The other odd aspect about today's dastards you liken to sheep is that the Pretender poses only an internal threat to the country, not like Stalin's USSR, which many on the Right, like McCarthy, made it their business to exaggerate for their personal political gain.
But exaggerated or not, in that period we were still reeling from a world war and a bloody "police action" that gave force to another external threat, backed up the ever present vision of mushroom clouds.
Here the threat was entirely home made, our country under assault by its own leader, wielding a Twitter account.
Another difference. Many Republicans can't summon the courage to call him out because they agree with him. They don't like dark skins or democracy either.
Sterling just flushed all of his credibility down the toilet on NPR, in an interview with Ari Shapiro. Talking about Perdue and Loeffler, who he "denounced" in his rant, he said this: [my transcript from listening to the interview]
"I am a Republican, that's one of the things that makes this so frustrating. I will vote for them because some things are bigger than this."
I believe "this" refers to the death threats against election workers.
Yes, mr. sterling, you believe party is the most important thing. More important than the lives of your fellow election workers, more important than country. You are nothing more than a small, self-righteous enabler.
Baaaaaah.
Here is the NPR interview. A transcript may appear in the future.
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/02/941610840/georgia-election-official-discusses-his-remarks-on-threats-against-election-offi