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 8, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Lauran Neergaard & Matthew Perrone of the AP: "U.S. regulators Tuesday released their first scientific evaluation of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and confirmed it offers strong protection, setting the stage for the government to green-light the biggest vaccination effort in the nation's history. The analysis by Food and Drug Administration scientists comes ahead of a Thursday meeting where the FDA's independent advisers will debate if the evidence is strong enough to recommend vaccinating millions of Americans. A final FDA decision and the first shots could follow within just days. They are among a whirlwind of developments that are expected to make multiple vaccines available by early next year, in the U.S. and beyond."

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Christopher Krebs, the nation's former top election security official, tells 'Axios on HBO' that President Trump is spreading disinformation, which he described as a form of domestic 'threat' that he swore an oath to defend against in his job. 'The caller was inside the house,' Krebs told me. 'The president is a big part of the disinformation that's coming out there about the rigged election, but there are absolutely others.'... Despite receiving death threats from Trump supporters, Krebs is continuing to speak out against Trump's campaign to falsely claim the election was stolen from him. And Krebs is calling on Republican leaders to join him. 'Republican leadership needs to stand up and say that, "This is not, this is just not what we need to be telling the American people right now,'" Krebs said." ~~~

~~~ Spencer Hsu & Dan Morse of the Washington Post: "The former top U.S. cybersecurity official responsible for securing November's presidential election sued the Trump campaign and one of its lawyers for defamation Tuesday, asserting that they conspired to falsely claim the election was stolen, attack dissenting Republicans and fraudulently reap political donations. Christopher Krebs ... singled out comments made almost two weeks later by attorney Joseph diGenova, who said..., 'He should be drawn and quartered.... Taken out at dawn and shot.'... The lawsuit accused diGenova and the Trump campaign of defamation and 'intentional infliction of emotional distress.' It labeled Newsmax [-- which aired diGenova's remarks --] an aider and abettor."

Marie: Tony Fauci just stood up to Trump, too. He made brief remarks at an event announcing Joe Biden's healthcare team, of which Fauci is a part. Hope Fauci made Trump hopping mad.

Mike Memoli, et al., of NBC News: "Alabama Sen. Doug Jones is the leading contender to be nominated for attorney general by President-elect Joe Biden, three sources familiar with the discussions tell NBC News. Biden is also considering Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, who was denied a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016 by a Republican-led Senate, and Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general, sources said." MB: IOW, Biden is considering white moderates for the job, according to the scuttlebutt.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "A Trump appointee with a short but controversial record of overseeing Voice of America and other federally funded news agencies has declined to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden's representatives as they seek access to records and personnel. Michael Pack, who has headed the U.S. Agency for Global Media since June, has defied requests from Biden's transition team to make officials from his agency available to answer questions about the agencies' operations.... Among other things, Pack has instructed associates not to discuss his agency's operations, budget and personnel with Biden's transition team, as transition officials have requested, these people said.... Biden's aides have indicated that he would replace Pack, who has ordered a series of sweeping changes that have shaken up VOA and sister agencies, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office for Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Free Asia."

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Texas announced on Tuesday that it would be filing a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against four battleground states in an effort to halt presidential electors from finalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Texas argued that electors from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin should not be allowed to cast their votes in part because those states unconstitutionally changed their voting procedures during the coronavirus pandemic to allow for increased mail-in ballots. Biden won all four states.... [Texas AG Ken] Paxton's 154-page complaint echoes the legal arguments made by President Trump and his allies in courts across the country seeking to overturn election results in key states Biden won." ~~~

     ~~~ Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, called Paxton's motion 'a publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading.'... Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul [D] said, 'I feel sorry for Texans that their tax dollars are being wasted on such a genuinely embarrassing lawsuit.'... Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs [R] said the allegation in Paxton's suit are 'false and irresponsible.'"

Judge to Flynn: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire." Spencer Hsu & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "A federal judge dismissed Michael Flynn's prosecution Tuesday after President Trump's pardon, but said the act of clemency does not mean the former national security adviser is innocent of lying to FBI agents about his talks with the Russian government before Trump took office. In formally ending Flynn's three-year legal saga, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he probably would have denied the Justice Department's controversial effort this year to drop the case, which Democrats and many legal experts said appeared to be an attempt by Attorney General William P. Barr to bend the rule of law to help a Trump ally. Sullivan expressed deep skepticism about the Justice Department's stated reasons for abandoning the case, criticizing it for applying a different set of rules to Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russia's ambassador during special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe of 2016 election interference."

Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The Army on Tuesday said it had fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and ordered policy changes to address chronic leadership failures at the base that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence including murder, sexual assaults and harassment. Two general officers were among those being removed from their jobs, as top Army leaders announced the findings of an independent panel's investigation into problems at the Texas base. The actions, taken by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, come in the aftermath of a year that saw 25 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood die due to suicide, homicide or accidents, including the bludgeoning death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen.... The firings and suspensions include Army Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who was left in charge of the base earlier this year when Guillen was killed, as well as Maj. Gen. Jeffery Broadwater, commander of the 1st Cavalry Divisions. The administrative actions are expected to trigger investigations that could lead to a wide range of punishments. Those punishments could go from a simple letter of reprimand to a military discharge."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "The United States has recorded its most coronavirus-related deaths over a weeklong period.... The nation is averaging nearly 200,000 cases per day, an increase of 15 percent from the average two weeks earlier, and has recorded over 15 million total cases.... The latest wave to hit the United States has hospitalized record numbers. Each day since Dec. 2, more than 100,000 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals. That far surpasses the number of people hospitalized during the peaks spring and summer, which at their worst had nearly 60,000 Americans in the hospital daily."

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "The United States will not be able to buy more doses of coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, until late June or July, sources said, after other countries bought most of the supply.... The news came shortly before Britain announced it had begun administering the same Pfizer vaccine."

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Operation Warped Minds. Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter. Now Pfizer may not be able to provide more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of its commitments to other countries, they said. As the administration scrambles to try to purchase more doses of the vaccine, President Trump plans on Tuesday to sign an executive order 'to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,' according to a draft statement and a White House official, though it was not immediately clear what force the president's executive order would carry." Update: The AP's story is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Un-fucking-believable. The vaccine was the only part of the Covid response Trump ever expressed any interest in -- and they passed on getting vaccinations for Americans??? Evidently, turning down an offer to purchase vaccinations was a minor detail Trump correctly calculated would not become public before the election. (In fact, Trump boasted Saturday night about all the vaccinations he would be getting to Americans right away. "Nobody's ever seen anything like it," blah blah.) At least this NYT story helps explain the reason for the next story, linked earlier: ~~~

~~~ Lee Facher of STAT: "Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House 'Vaccine Summit' on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the event's planning.... The vaccine manufacturers' absences will be conspicuous at a 'Vaccine Summit,' an event that drug industry figures and one Trump administration official largely viewed as a public relations stunt when STAT first reported the event last week. The event appeared to be an effort for the administration to claim credit for the rapid development of a Covid-19 vaccine and to pressure the Food and Drug Administration to move quickly on an authorization." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I heard on the teevee that among those not invited to the so-called summit: anyone from Joe Biden's Covid-19 team. So, yeah, to no one's surprise, this is a Me-Me-Me-Me affair & not a means to help Americans find out what's going on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ ** Update. Quint Forgey of Politico: "The chief scientist of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed was unable to explain ... Donald Trump's latest executive order Tuesday, which aims to prioritize shipment of the coronavirus vaccine to Americans over other countries. Moncef Slaoui, who Trump tapped in May to head up the administration's efforts to hasten vaccine development, appeared puzzled when asked to clarify the president's order during an interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'Frankly, I don't know, and frankly, I'm staying out of this. I can't comment,' Slaoui said. 'I literally don't know.'... 'But you're the chief science adviser for Operation Warp Speed,' [host George] Stephanopoulos pressed [to no avail]." MB: Clearly, the chaotic, disorganized Trump administration never would have been able to carry off a relatively smooth, coordinated distribution system consisting of many, many parts & players. This was always going to be a disaster of Trumpian proportions mismanaged by a gang of incompetent toadies who can't even coordinate their own "daily message."

The Stupidest Senator Takes Center-Stage. Catie Edmondson & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "In choosing a slate of doctors to testify about coronavirus treatments before his committee on Tuesday, Senator Ron Johnson has assembled a cast of witnesses who question much of the public health consensus about the virus. There is a prominent vaccine skeptic, an outspoken critic of masking and social distancing, and at least two doctors who have promoted the use of an anti-parasitic drug that government scientists have recommended against using to treat the coronavirus. It is the latest example of how Mr. Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has used his powerful investigative panel to amplify groundless accusations pushed by President Trump, has now embraced the role of the Senate's leading Covid contrarian.... Mr. Johnson has suggested that the dangers of the coronavirus have been overblown and excessively regulated. And twice in the past three weeks, Mr. Johnson has used his gavel on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to elevate voices who public health experts say represent fringe beliefs."

Every single person ... in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential "drive-by" just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity. -- Dr. James Phillips, Oct. 4, in a since-deleted tweet ~~~

~~~ No Good Observation Goes Unpunished: Doctor Kicked Out of Walter Reed. Nancy Cordes of CBS News: "Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who publicly criticized President Trump's decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October, has been removed from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's schedule starting in January, according to sources familiar with the situation. Phillips is chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University and works as an attending physician on a contract basis for Walter Reed.... Walter Reed officials deny they made the decision to remove him.... That suggests that it was Phillips' contractor, GW Medical Faculty Associates, that removed him from the schedule.... Colleagues of Dr. Phillips were surprised that a disaster medicine specialist would be eliminated from the schedule at a busy military hospital at a time when Maryland is nearing a record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations."

Florida. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Armed State Police Terrorize Children. Jeffrey Schweers of the Tallahassee Democrat: "State police brandishing firearms Monday raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health data scientist who built the state's much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to 'manipulate data.' 'They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids,' Jones tweeted shortly before 5 p.m. Jones -- who launched her own COVID-19 dashboard after she was fired, and used crowdsourcing to raise money to support it -- said the agents knocked on her door around 8:30 a.m. that morning, took all her 'hardware and tech' after showing her a warrant based on a complaint filed by the Florida Department of Health." A short video shows an officer pointing a gun up the stairs, where Jones said her husband and two children were. MB: Jones is 31 years old & has worked on several advanced degrees, so I would guess her children are no older than grade-school age.

Alabama. Dying Declaration. Wilson Wong of NBC News: Former Alabama state senator Larry Dixon (R) "who was also a former executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, died Friday [of Covid-19], the board said in a statement. Dr. David Thrasher, a pulmonologist in Montgomery who was a close friend of Dixon's, said Dixon's wife, Gaynell Dixon, told him that her husband's last words to her were a prescient warning to the people of Alabama. 'We messed up. We let our guard down,' Dixon said, according to Thrasher. 'Please tell everybody to be careful. This is real, and if you get diagnosed, get help immediately.' Thrasher said Dixon was exposed to the virus at a social gathering 'with a couple of guys' that was hosted outside about two weeks ago."

Real Political News

Lara Seligman, et al., of Politico: "President-elect Joe Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon. In picking Austin, Biden has chosen a barrier-breaking former four-star officer who was the first Black general to command an Army division in combat and the first to oversee an entire theater of operations. Austin's announcement could come as soon as Tuesday morning, people familiar with the plans said Monday. Austin, who also ran U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2016, emerged as a top-tier candidate in recent days after initially being viewed as a longshot for the job." The Washington Post's story is here. The New York Times' story is here.

Bryan Bender of Politico: "The Democrats' 2020 platform was unambiguous: Donald Trump had damaged the civil-military balance and Joe Biden would repair it. But the president-elect has quietly slotted his own coterie of former military officials into key transition positions and is now ready to tap a retired general to run the Pentagon.... Already, Biden's transition team has appointed at least four retired generals or admirals and a former top enlisted Marine.... 'I think it's one more example of the pernicious trend of civilians taking shelter behind the legitimacy of uniforms,' said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.... 'The civilians on his defense team deserve more confidence from him than this portrays.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This also is part of Democrats' rolling concession that Democrats are "weak on defense." As a result, Democratic presidents often choose Republicans for secretaries of defense: to wit, Chuck Hagel (Obama), Robert Gates (Obama), William Cohen (Clinton). (Similarly, Democratic presidents are okay with Republican FBI directors; e.g., Bob Mueller, Jim Comey (Obama), and now, according to Biden, Chris Wray.

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

A Witching Hour Approaches. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Donald Trump's effort to snatch a second term through a series of state and federal court challenges has been flaming out for weeks. Now, the calendar has all but extinguished it. Dec. 8 is the so-called 'safe harbor' date for the presidential election, a milestone established in federal law for states to conclude any disputes over the results. Trump's failure to gain traction in litigation, with his lawyers and allies failing to block crucial states from declaring Joe Biden the winner, means the safe harbor deadline stands as another potentially insurmountable reason for the courts to decline to intervene. Trump's legal team publicly says the safe harbor deadline is meaningless.... Set by a 140-year-old statute, the date isn't enshrined in the Constitution, they say. But the campaign's legal filings tell another story, as Trump's lawyers pressed courts for urgent action ahead of the deadline midnight on Tuesday.... The last time a presidential election was resolved at the Supreme Court, the safe harbor deadline proved pivotal.... During the 2000 dispute between George W. Bush and Al Gore, as the court's majority essentially awarded the presidency to Bush, the justices cited the looming deadline as a reason Florida could not initiate a new, manual recount.... And several legal actions seem to be hurtling toward a potential resolution on Tuesday -- including a Pennsylvania dispute where Justice Samuel Alito initially asked for responses by Wednesday but decided to expedite further to Tuesday amid speculation about the safe harbor deadline."

Our Criminal President*. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make an extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the state, reflecting a broadening pressure campaign by the president and his allies to try to subvert the 2020 election result. The calls, confirmed by House Speaker Bryan Cutler's office, make Pennsylvania the third state where Trump has directly attempted to overturn a result since he lost the election to former vice president Joe Biden. He previously reached out to Republicans in Michigan, and on Saturday he pressured Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in a call to try to replace that state's electors.... Cutler told the president that the legislature had no power to overturn the state's chosen slate of electors, Straub said. But late last week, the House speaker was among about 60 Republican state lawmakers who sent a letter to Pennsylvania's congressional representatives urging them to object to the state's electoral slate on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to formally accept the results." MB: Sounds criminal to me.

Wisconsin. Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "The outgoing White House's desperate efforts to steal a second term in office reached new heights with a new lawsuit on Monday against President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris, seeking to disenfranchise Wisconsin's most diverse areas. Lame-duck ... Donald Trump and his soon-to-be ex-vice president Mike Pence both signed onto lawsuits filed in Milwaukee Circuit Court pestering judges to overturn the Badger State's election -- but only for Milwaukee and Dane Counties, where most of the voters of color live. It was a request that, in a separate lawsuit, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) denounced as a 'shocking and outrageous assault on our democracy'; Democratic Party attorneys, echoing civil rights groups in other states, called out Trump's focus on counties where Black voters live as racist.... The complaints do not explain what roles President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris could possibly have in election administration in two Wisconsin counties."

Michigan. Armed Trumpbots Terrorize 4-Year-Old. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had just finished wrapping string lights around her home's portico on Saturday evening and was about to watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' with her 4-year-old son when a crowd of protesters marched up carrying American flags and guns. About two dozen protesters chanted 'Stop the Steal' and accused Benson, a Democrat and Michigan's chief election officer, of ignoring widespread voter fraud -- an echo of President Trump's continued unfounded claims as he seeks to overturn the results of the election that President-elect Joe Biden won. Although the group dispersed with no arrests when police responded just before 10 p.m. Saturday, Michigan state officials accused the group of 'terrorizing' Benson's family. '... at least one individual could be heard shouting "you're murderers" within earshot of her child's bedroom," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy (D) said in a joint statement on Sunday.... Vitriolic rhetoric has led bipartisan leaders to warn that Trump's baseless attacks on the election are endangering election officials' lives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's wrong with this picture? Benson is a state official. She has received threats before. Armed, rowdy, abusive men & women are surrounding her home. And the cops arrested nobody???

~~~ Miss Sidney Regrets She's Been Laughed Out of Court Today. Pete Williams of NBC News: "A federal judge in Michigan on Monday denied a Republican effort to undo the certification of President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election in the state and rejected every aspect of the case, one of the lawsuits filed by ... Donald Trump supporter Sidney Powell. The allegations of fraud were based on 'nothing but speculation and conjecture,' U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker said.... The claims amounted to 'an amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation that such alterations were possible,' she said. Parker was also harshly critical of the plaintiffs -- Trump presidential electors -- for waiting so long to file their lawsuit." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Georgia. Ditto. Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "Hours after failing in a similar lawsuit in Michigan, pro-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood lost their effort to decertify Georgia's election before a federal judge who called their bid the most audacious he had ever seen. 'The relief that the plaintiffs seek, this court cannot grant,' U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten ruled from the bench after a roughly hourlong hearing, where he called 'the most extraordinary relief ever sought' for an election in a court. Judge Batten, a conservative judge appointed by George W. Bush, noted that allowing the case to stand would amount to 'judicial activism,' as it requested relief far beyond his power." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Richard Fausset & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Georgia election officials on Monday recertified the results of the state's presidential race after another recount reaffirmed Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory over President Trump, the third time that results showed that Mr. Trump had lost the state.... 'We have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and the results remain unchanged,' Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said at a news conference.... Mr. Raffensperger on Monday chastised both Mr. Trump and Stacey Abrams, who acknowledged her loss in the race for governor in the state in 2018 but who claimed that her race was rendered fundamentally unfair because of Republican-designed policies that Democrats have described as voter suppression efforts. Ms. Abrams has said that the 2018 election was 'stolen from the voters.'... He also said that he would support legislation offering 'a major reform of our election processes' in the coming state legislative session." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'd wager Abrams does, too, Raffensperger, legislators & other sundry state Republicans plan to use Trump's fake challenges as an excuse to further curb access to the ballot. We must never kid ourselves that there are Republicans "heroes" who "do the right thing," because even when they seem to do so, it's (a) usually for their own benefit in some way, and (b) will be followed by an act or acts in bad faith.

Marie: As a reminder, in case the pile-up of individual acts of treasons have numbed you to the big picture, we are living through the greatest Constitutional crisis of the republic since the Civil War. Trump is merely the instigator & "leader." His Republican enablers -- from McConnell & McCarthy to the craziest, loudest backbenchers -- have, with knowledge aforethought, engineered the real crisis. Every single one of them has disqualified himself from remaining in public office. ~~~

~~~ Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "... Donald Trump's staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill are urging him not to concede even after President-elect Joe Biden wins the Electoral College vote next week, calling on their party's leader to battle it out all the way to the House floor in January as he makes unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud.... They said that Congress should engage in a full-throated debate over the results in key states because of their allegations of fraud, which have yet to be borne out in court.... Asked if Trump should concede next Monday, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said bluntly: 'No. No way, no way, no way.'... Even if Trump loses a bevy of GOP support for his unprecedented quest after next week['s Electoral College vote], the backing of his staunchest supporters is likely to only encourage the mercurial President to continue his barrage of attacks against the integrity of the elections." ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... you really shouldn't be surprised by this willingness to indulge malicious, democracy-endangering lies. After all, when was the last time Republicans accepted a politically inconvenient fact? It has been clear for years that the modern G.O.P. is a party that can't handle the truth.... Republican rejection of reality didn't start ... with the Trump era. Climate change denial -- including claims that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by an international cabal of scientists -- has been a badge of partisan identity for many years. Crazy conspiracy theories about the Clintons were mainstream on the right through much of the 1990s."


Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump isn't just accepting pardon requests but blindly discussing them 'like Christmas gifts' to people who haven't even asked, sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Axios.... Trump recently told one adviser he was going to pardon 'every person who ever talked to me,' suggesting an even larger pardon blitz to come." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This brings to mind a story Chuck Rosenberg told on MSNBC the other day. I looked it up. Scott Shane of the New York Times (Dec. 2006): "... for many years after leaving office in 1977, [President Gerald Ford (R)] carried in his wallet a scrap of a 1915 Supreme Court ruling [Burdick v. U.S]. A pardon, the excerpt said, 'carries an imputation of guilt,' and acceptance of a pardon is 'a confession of it.' Mr. Ford's decision to pardon Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he might have been charged with because of Watergate is seen by many historians as the central event of his 896-day presidency."

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Monday declined to tighten controls on industrial soot emissions, disregarding an emerging scientific link between dirty air and Covid-19 death rates. In one of the final policy moves of an administration that has spent the past four years weakening or rolling back more than 100 environmental regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency completed a regulation that keeps in place, rather than tightening, rules on tiny, lung-damaging industrial particles, known as PM 2.5, even though the agency's own scientists have warned of the links between the pollutants and respiratory illness." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

What Would the Mafia Do? Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Two whistle-blowers have accused contractors building President Trump's border wall of smuggling armed Mexican security teams into the United States to guard construction sites, even building an illegal dirt road to speed the operation, according to court documents unsealed by a federal judge on Friday.... An unnamed supervisor at the Army Corps of Engineers approved the operation [to build the new border-crossing road], according to a complaint filed in February and released on Friday.... The allegations came to light as data obtained by The New York Times showed that a border wall that Mr. Trump once advertised as 'impenetrable' has continued to prove very penetrable." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: To have a concrete subcontractor employing illegal workers & facilitating that employment by creating an avenue that belies the very purpose of the project is cliched mob activity. Trump is accustomed to such practices.

The Lost Island of Atlantis? Sarah Nathan & Emily Smith of the New York Post's Page Six: "Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have splashed out on a $30 million-plus dollar lot of land on Miami's uber-swanky and high-security Indian Creek Island -- known as the 'Billionaire's Bunker'.... Ahead of President Trump's exit from the White House, the couple is busy making plans for life after D.C.... The private, guarded and gated Indian Creek Island is also one of the most secure places in Florida, as it boasts a 13-man police force for just 29 residences. It is believed the couple purchased Lot 4, which was owned by Julio Iglesias, to build a bayfront estate. The sale closes on December 17...." MB: Sadly, thanks in part to Daddy's anti-environmental policies, that $30MM lot will soon sink into the sea.

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Monday that the Senate will take up and pass a mammoth defense bill despite a looming veto showdown with President Trump. McConnell mentioned the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as he outlined the items left on Congress's year-end to-do list as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington for the year as soon as next week.... The House is poised to vote on the bill on Tuesday, paving the way for the Senate to pass it as soon as this week.... McConnell did not address Trump's veto threat during his floor remarks. The House and Senate both passed their initial bills with a veto-proof majority."


A New York Times obituary for former Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Chuck Yeager, the most famous test pilot of his generation who was the first to break the sound barrier, and, thanks to [writer] Tom Wolfe, came to personify the death-defying aviator who possessed the elusive yet unmistakable 'right stuff,' died on Monday at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 97."

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Reader Comments (13)

“Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House 'Vaccine Summit' on Tuesday"

I bet Trump calls up the FDA now to yell and cry and to try to force the FDA to reject authorization to these drugs. Either he gets credit for the drugs or he will try to blow everything up.

December 7, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/politics/border-wall-mexico.html

Now, don't that take the cake? Well...one of them anyway.

Too many corrupted cakes to count.

December 7, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

With Rudy out with covid, Trump will now turn to "O.J." to help him find the truth behind the Deep State Election Steal.
They will be meeting at Mar-A-Largo to discuss strategy over a round of golf.

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterDan Lowery

Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling, the small, self-righteous one, was very clear that a certain amount of election stealing is perfectly fine. It only goes [his words] "too far" when death threats are made against him and his friends. And still, he will vote for Loeffler and Purdue.

Sterling and Raffensperger are working to restrict voting even more, so their gawd-awful Senate candidates can have a chance of stealing an election away from the Democrats. Yes, both T**** and Stacy Abrams are complaining about elections being stolen, but Ms. Abrams has evidence with almost 200,000 people purged from the voter rolls even though they were still alive and at the same addresses.

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

I rewrote the New York Post's headline about the $30MM
lot on Indian Creek:
"Slum landlord Jared Kushner and wife, fashion ripoff made in China designer, Ivanka Trump plan to purchase a lot on Indian Creek Island. It's no coincidence that the island's residents are 99% white caucasian."
I'm wondering about that other 1% but that was the statistic according to Wickipedia.
The lot doesn't appear to be large enough to build a replica of the White House but I'm sure they'll come up with something charming (or garrish).

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

@NiskyGuy: Thanks for pointing out Abrams' evidence, which the Fausset-Corasaniti NYT story, linked above, failed to do.

December 8, 2020 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Watching the news last night re: the Pfizer situation I turned to the mister and yelled: IS THERE ANYTHING ––ANYTHING AT ALL THIS MAN HAS DONE THAT ISN'T DESTRUCTIVE?? Marie's "un-fucking believable" slaps it right on the table. Following that tidbit we got the video of crowds outside Michigan's Sec. of State Benson's home––some with guns shouting obscenities –-"off with her head" and police, when they did finally arrive, never arrested anyone?

I found it amusing that Benson's four year old was watching "When the Grinch Stole Christmas." Surely apt for today, I'd say.

And by the way, I watched the Loeffler/Warnock debate which in reality was not; we had a robot on the Republican side, a Kelly girl with two long, blond, horse manes hanging from her head who, when opening her mouth, recited a litany of lies and repeated weasel speak. The Reverend tried his best but it's doggone hard to engage when there's no one home.

This is all such a far cry from the Lincoln/ Douglas debates that have been brought up lately in contrast to what we don't have now. We are told how Lincoln's boldest comments came in the final encounter, when he made a stark distinction between "one class that looks upon the institution of slavery as a wrong and another class that does not look upon it as a wrong." Framing that issue in clear moral terms, je said:

"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles––right and wrong––throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time."

We may not be facing a Civil War but the rumbles of it continue to be heard. Once political leaders lose trust in each other the public is doomed to follow. In Lincoln's day, that public, unable to to turn to the government for resolution, the North and South turned on one another."

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

The “executive order” from T**** can be summarized: “I want! I want!!! I want!!!!!” Kicking and screaming omitted for clarity.

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

Torn this morning.

Save it for Sunday's Sermon--or post it now, lest someone think I cribbed from last night's Krugman.

Guess consideration of my already tattered reputation will prevail.

"The Trump presidency brought something to the American table besides children in cages, unparalleled corruption (republicreport.org), massive national debt and tens of thousands of unnecessary Covid deaths.

Not known for his mastery of language, Trump nonetheless left an indelible mark on it. Before Trumpspeak, words like “hoax,” “scam,” and “fake” did not mean “true,” “honest,” and “real,’” but for millions they do now, and our politics will never be the same.

Some may wonder how a man who lied more than 23,000 times in four years could be embraced by a major political party, but it was really no surprise. By the time Trump arrived on the political scene, Republicans had long been schooled to live in a world of upside-down logic, where fact was in disrepute and truth and fiction indistinguishable.

Mistaken beliefs were embedded in Republican rhetoric for years: Obama was a Muslim mole. Climate effects of fossil fuel use were a “hoax.” Voter fraud was rampant. Tax cuts pay for themselves. De-regulating the financial industry will improve the economy. Universal gun ownership makes us safer. We have the best healthcare system in the world.

Entire generations of Republicans who embraced these fantasies liked them so much they decided to live in that comfortable world where tested truths were denied admittance. To earn their support, all Trump had to do was confirm and reinforce their delusions.

Accomplished mountebank that he is, he was just the man for the job.

While his presidency crumbles and the pandemic he ignored rages, Trump still is, collecting more than 200 million dollars from his Let’s Pretend Party adherents (washingtonpost.com) to help him “prove” his massive loss was somehow “rigged,” when it was clearly not.

Trump taught more than new meanings for old words. He proved that not all successful bandits wear masks."

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-attack-on-the-ndaa-is-ridiculous--and-dangerous/2020/12/07/28fff00e-38bd-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html

As most commenters point out, if the Pretender got his wish, Twitter might be held liable for the Pretender's own tweets.

More proof that this demented stable genius can't connect any dots whatsoever, because after four years preteding to be president he truly believes he is so privileged, so special, he is uniquely immune from all laws and all logic.

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Ted Cruz "If #SCOTUS grants cert in the PA election case, I have told the petitioners I will stand ready to present the oral argument."

Ted should know some thing about Trump's election fraud allegations

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I guess there is one secret that Trump has been able to keep, so far.
Former Head Of Israel’s Space Program Says "There's an agreement between the US government and the aliens. They signed a contract with us to do experiments here. They, too, are researching and trying to understand the whole fabric of the universe, and they want us as helpers."
"The UFOs have asked not to publish that they are here, humanity is not ready yet. Trump was on the verge of revealing, but the aliens in the Galactic Federation are saying: Wait, let people calm down first. They don't want to start mass hysteria. They want to first make us sane and understanding."

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

RAS: I'm thinking Canada Cruz should know a thing or two about doing oral for T****: he's been doing it for years.

December 8, 2020 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625
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