;)
The Commentariat -- February 20, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Katelyn Polantz & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed a charge against a lawyer for lying to investigators about his interaction with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates in September 2016. The filing is further evidence of Mueller's investigation of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Gates and their work for Russian-allied clients. Alex Van Der Zwaan, who is expected to plead guilty Tuesday afternoon, is also accused of lying about the failure to turn over an email communication to the special counsel's office." ...
... The New York Times story, by Eileen Sullivan & Ken Vogel, is here. ...
... It's a Small, Small World. Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed: " Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a Russian bank owner who is suing BuzzFeed News over the publication of an unverified dossier of information concerning ... Donald Trump."
Trump's Preposterous Twisted History. Betsy Klein of CNN: "... Donald Trump is continuing to blame his predecessor for not doing enough to deter Russian interference in the 2016 election.... In one tweet, Trump quoted Obama saying toward the end of the 2016 race that there was no evidence America's elections were 'rigged,' suggesting the then-businessman should 'stop whining.' Obama, however, was referring to Trump's claims of a rigged election and calls at the time for supporters to monitor polling sites for potentially ineligible voters attempting to cast ballots. Tuesday's tweet came soon after 'Fox & Friends' highlighted the comment.... Trump also claimed on Tuesday he's 'been tougher on Russia than Obama.' The 44th president, however, personally warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against messing with the election, imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities, kicked out 35 Russian diplomats and closed two of the Kremlin's compounds in the United States. Trump, in comparison, still has not imposed sanctions designed to punish election meddling by Moscow." ...
... Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Wittingly or not..., Donald Trump spent the Presidents Day weekend doing the Kremlin's work. It may be months before Americans learn whether special counsel Robert Mueller will validate or reject allegations that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Moscow's election meddling operation.But Trump's three days of Twitter venting against the FBI, his political opponents and the Russia investigation from his Mar-a-Lago resort are likely to further incite mistrust in the institutions of democracy and government, which the Russian intervention was designed to foment." ...
... Nicholas Thompson of Wired: Facebook tries to deal with its ad exec Rob Goldman, whose tweets about Mueller's indictments last Friday were so stoopid that Donald Trump retweeted them. "On Sunday night, Joel Kaplan, the VP of Global Public Policy at Facebook, put out a statement saying 'Nothing we found contradicts the Special Counsel's indictments. Any suggestion otherwise is wrong.' Roughly translated, that meant, 'We asked Rob Goldman to throw his phone in a river.'" Later Goldman issued a sort-of internal apology to co-workers.
Melissa Ryan of Media Matters: "This week, even as the Parkland high school shooter was still at large, posters on 4chan and 8chan immediately went to work spreading false information about the shooter being a linked to a white supremacist militia, the most widely reported of the multiple hoaxes about the massacre found online. And in the aftermath of the tragedy, lies and hoaxes about the survivors who have been speaking out against school massacres have gained traction.... Parkland survivors are targets for fake news campaigns, conspiracy theories, harassment and doxxing. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has already suggested that the entire shooting is a false flag, which implies that all of the survivors are actors in an elaborate hoax. As survivors speak up, there are already attempts to attack and discredit them individually." Read on. ...
... Judd Legum of ThinkProgress: "Former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has joined a growing far-right smear campaign against the students who survived last week's massacre in a Parkland, Florida high school.... Kingston attacked the students as mere stooges for 'left-wing groups who have an agenda' during an appearance on CNN Tuesday morning. Kingston added he believed George Soros was actually orchestrating the students' activism.... Kingston's comments follow multiple articles smearing the students on Gateway Pundit, a Trump-supporting website that has White House press credentials. Gateway Pundit has attacked one of the students, David Hogg, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, because his father is a retired FBI agent." ...
... Legum has more on the smear campaign here.
Anything with Trump's Name on It Is Skanky. AP: "A North Carolina man with a felony conviction for indecent liberties with a child was one-half of the poster couple for a new 'Trump Dating' website. News outlets reported Monday that visitors to the dating site geared toward supporters of the president were greeted with the faces of Jodi and William Barrett Riddleberger, conservative activists involved in the Tea Party-inspired political action committee, Conservatives for Guilford County. The couple's exact role with the site is unclear. State records show [William] Riddleberger was convicted in 1995 on the charge stemming from filming sex with a 15-year-old girl. He was then 25." ...
... UPDATE. Avi Selk of the Washington Post has more on Trump Dating site, which Selk charitably describes as "odd." My favorite part (and there are more): "As of Tuesday, the Riddleberger's photo had undergone a retraction from Trump.dating's homepage. Instead, visitors are greeted by a stock photo of a middle-aged couple who can also be found advertising gum recession treatments." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you're feeling sad & lonely, I don't recommend Trump.dating as an antidote, but I would suggest reading Selk's article about it, because when you're feeling sad & lonely, a good laugh helps. Also too, the story gives you another confirmation that you're really, really superior to millions of Trump voters. You might be alone, but it's only because you are too fucking good for all those losers out there.
Mitt Throws Muslims, Mexicans & People with Disabilities under the Bus. Emily Stewart of Vox: "Mitt Romney happily accepted ... Donald Trump's endorsement of his run for a US Senate seat in Utah on Monday. Apparently, he's gotten past the president's comments about the KKK, Muslims, Mexicans, and people with disabilities from 2016 -- comments that two years ago he said would make him reject Trump's endorsements."
*****
Brandon Rottinghaus & Justin Vaughn, for a New York Times op-ed, asked "170 members of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section" to rank U.S. presidents from best to worst. If you're looking for Donald Trump, you'll have to read through the names of every other president first. Quite a distinction! ...
... Ed Kilgore of New York: "Anyone who doubts Donald Trump has totally conquered the Republican Party ... should look at the evidence (assembled by Perry Bacon Jr.) that his recent improvements in popularity are almost entirely attributable to rising GOP support.... But there's an even stronger, and perhaps even shocking, sign of the affection Republicans now bestow upon the 45th president.... [B]roken down by party ID, it turns out Trump is more popular among Republicans than W. or Poppy Bush, Gerald Ford, or even the beloved Ike. At 7.20, he trails only the Gipper (8.03) in the esteem of his fellow partisans." --safari ...
... "Living in a Kakistocracy." Paul Krugman: "... there's almost nobody left in the G.O.P. willing to take responsibility for, well, anything. And I don't think this is an accident. The sad content of modern Republican character is a symptom of the corruption and hypocrisy that has afflicted half of our body politic -- a sickness of the soul that manifests itself in personal behavior as well as policy.... Consider the behavior of John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff, whose record of slandering critics and refusing to admit error is starting to rival his boss's. Remember when Kelly made false accusations about Representative Frederica Wilson and refused to retract those accusations even after video showed they were false? More recently, Kelly insisted that he didn't know the full details about domestic abuse allegations against Rob Porter.... Oh, and by the way: Roy Moore still hasn't conceded.... The modern G.O.P. is, to an extent never before seen in American history, a party built around bad faith, around pretending that its concerns and goals are very different from what they really are." ...
... Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "... the problem isn't 'Washington.' It isn't 'Congress,' either. The problem is elected officials from a single political party: the GOP.... Republicans in the White House and Congress are the ones standing in the way of helping 'dreamers.' They are not merely obstructing gun reform but also rolling back existing gun-control measures." Republican politicians won't do what even a majority of their own constituents want to help Dreamers & enact mild gun-control laws.
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The White House indicated on Monday that President Trump was open to supporting a bipartisan congressional effort to revise federal background checks for prospective gun buyers. Mr. Trump spoke on Friday to Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, about legislation he helped introduce last fall to revamp background checks, according to the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.... But the White House stopped short of a full commitment to the bill." Mrs. McC: I'll believe it when I see the signing ceremony. ...
... White House Staff Grateful for Massacre "Reprieve." Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "While the White House mourned the loss of life in Parkland, Fla., some aides privately acknowledged that the tragedy offered a breather from the political storm.... 'For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve,' said the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal conversations. 'A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.'" The reporters also catalog quite a list of scandals (a/k/a SOP) that will likely resurface this week. ...
... Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post on how the Rob Porter story broke. "The story seemed to begin innocuously -- a tale of a White House romance [between Hope Hicks & Rob Porter], delivered in gossipy style, with the help of paparazzi who caught the attractive staffers canoodling around town. But it gave only a hint of a darker intrigue that was percolating -- as reporters for strikingly different publications chased a story about domestic abuse allegations against the male half of the couple, Rob Porter, whose job as the president's staff secretary involved handling highly sensitive documents."
This Russia Thing
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "... President Trump spent the week[end] in a frenzy, blaming the FBI and Democrats for the shooting in Parkland, Fla., and suggesting that if the authorities lay off investigating him, then more children won't die.... Aside from the blizzard of lies, one is struck by how frantic Trump sounds. The number and looniness of the tweets arguably exceed anything he has previously done. His conduct reaffirms the basic outline of an obstruction charge: Desperate to disable a Russia probe that would be personally embarrassing to him, he has tried in many ways to interfere with and end the investigation. In doing so, he, at the very least, has abused his office. In turning on his inquisitors rather than to the job of protecting America from Russian influence, he confirms his peculiar fidelity to Vladimir Putin and reminds us he continues to violate his oath of office. There is no doubt he has, based on what we already known, committed actions constituting an abuse of his office." ...
... MEANWHILE. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "More than 15 months after a general election that was stained by covert Russian interference, the chief election officials of some states say they are still not getting the information they need to safeguard the vote. They say the federal government is not sharing specifics about threats to registered voter databases, voting machines, communication networks and other systems that could be vulnerable to hacking and manipulation. In some cases, the election officials say they have no legal access to the information: After a year of effort, only 21 of them have received clearance to review classified federal information on election threats." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND it isn't as if elections aren't looming. I'm not sure when the first primaries are, but my recollection is that some are as early as April & some as late as August. The primaries matter everywhere, but extremists often have the advantage in primaries because turnout is low & extremist voters are more motivated than "ordinary" voters. You can bet Russian bots are only going to exacerbate this reality. In addition, in "one-party" states & regions, primaries are the elections. The primaries may be contested, but the general elections are usually shoo-ins for the majority-party candidates. ...
... Shimon Prokupecz, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the inquiry. This is the first indication that Mueller is exploring Kushner's discussions with potential non-Russian foreign investors, including in China." ...
... Jason Leopold, et al., of BuzzFeed: "Federal law enforcement officials have identified more than $40 million in 'suspicious' financial transactions to and from companies controlled by ... Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort -- a much larger sum than was cited in his October indictment on money laundering charges. The vast web of transactions was unraveled mainly in 2014 and 2015 during an FBI operation to fight international kleptocracy that ultimately fizzled.... It explains how the special counsel was able to swiftly bring charges against Manafort for complex financial crimes dating as far back as 2008.... In 2014, then -- attorney general Eric Holder announced an FBI team that would tackle international kleptocracy -- and its first target would be ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Manafort's longtime client and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.... As the task force heightened its scrutiny of Manafort, the US Treasury Department's financial crimes unit unearthed a mountain of evidence about him."
**Nicole Lafond of TPM: "While on an unofficial business trip to promote the Trump family's real estate projects in India this week, Donald Trump Jr. plans to give a speech on foreign policy at a summit attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.... Trump Jr. also plans to spend part of the trip meeting with investors and business leaders, as well as attending an advertised $38,000-per-ticket 'conversation and dinner' event with Trump Tower Delhi National Capital Region buyers.... Trump Jr. will also to travel to Mumbai to attend a presentation at the new Trump Tower there, a project that will be developed by a firm owned by a state legislator from Modi's political party.... Before inauguration, Trump pledged his company would make no new foreign investments and said he would donate any of his company's profits from foreign governments to the Treasury Department." --safari
Barak Ravid of Axios: "U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman told a closed door meeting yesterday [of the conference of presidents of the Jewish organizations in North America] in Jerusalem that a massive evacuation of Jewish settlements from the West Bank could lead to a civil war in Israel.... Friedman said that the approximately 400,000 settlers who live in the West Bank 'are not going anywhere ... and significant evacuation could result in a civil war. This is my opinion'.... In all previous negotiation rounds during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations there was a common understanding that in a future peace deal most of the Israeli settlements would be annexed to Israel and the rest will be evacuated." --safari
David Smith & Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Dozens of teenage students lay down on the pavement in front of the White House on Monday to demand presidential action on gun control after 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Florida. Parent and educators joined the gathering, where protesters held their arms crossed at their chests. Two activists covered themselves with an American flag while another held a sign asking: 'Am I next?'" --safari ...
... Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Fox News fans are sick and tired of seeing students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School call for stronger gun laws. In response to a Fox News tweet about students in Parkland, Florida rallying to demand change to gun laws in the United States, many pro-gun Fox fans lashed out at the students and said they didn't know what they were talking about when it comes to guns, despite the fact that a gunman last week murdered 17 of their classmates with an AR-15-style rifle. One of the most common themes among the Fox fans was that the students were being paid by a shadowy left-wing donor to speak out, while other commenters accused the students of swallowing too many Tide Pods." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you wonder why elected Republicans don't do what a majority of their base wants, it's because they do what the rabid Foxbots want: easy access to arsenels & no Dreamers, for instance.
... Alec MacGillis in ProRepublica: "[T]here's an equally predictable refrain on the center-left and in the media [on gun violence]: 'Once again, nothing will be done.'.... Yet this world-weary defeatism is self-fulfilling in its own way, and helps explain why Washington hasn't taken action to address the killing.... Most importantly, liberal fatalism on gun control overstates the strength of the opposition. The National Rifle Association's influence depends heavily on the perception of its power. By building up the gun lobby as an indomitable force, pessimists are playing directly into its hands." --safari ...
... Trump & Scott: American Cowards. Justin Baragona of Mediaite: "This coming Wednesday, CNN will hold a televised town hall event on the recent horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The live event, which will be held at BB&T Center [in Sunrise, Florida], will include classmates of the victims, parents, and members of the community. CNN also invited prominent Florida lawmakers and politicians to take part in the town hall. While Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have all confirmed that they will attend the forum, the state's Republican governor has told CNN he won't be there. 'With only two weeks left of our annual legislative session, Governor Rick Scott will be in Tallahassee meeting with state leaders to work on ways to keep Florida students safe, including school safety improvements and keeping guns away from individuals struggling with mental illness,' Gov. Rick Scott's office told CNN. According to CNN..., Donald Trump has also declined the network's invitation." ...
... CBS News: "The 19-year-old accused of killing 17 people on Valentine's Day at his former high school in Parkland, Florida, allegedly bought seven rifles in the last year, a federal law enforcement source has told CBS News." Here are five things that are more difficult to obtain in Florida than guns: cold medicine, a marriage license, fertilizer, anti-diarrhea meds & medical marijuana. ...
... Eliot McLaughlin & Madison Park of CNN: "A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN that Cruz had obtained at least 10 firearms, all of them rifles. Investigators are trying to track the purchases, which Cruz appears to have made in the past year or so, the source said."
Senate Race
Neutralizing Mitt. David Shepardson of Reuters: "... Donald Trump on Monday endorsed former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, despite Romney often being critical of Trump.... Trump said on Twitter that Romney 'will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!'" ...
... Margaret Hartmann: "... it took Romney less than 40 minutes to accept Trump’s endorsement." Hartmann recalls Mitt's self-serving ups & downs with the Donald. These two invertebrates surely deserve each other.
Nina Burleigh of Newsweek: "White nationalist provocateurs, a pair of fake news sites, an army of Twitter bots and other cyber tricks helped derail Democratic Senator Al Franken last year, new research shows.... The Franken takedown originated in -- and was propelled by -- a strategic online campaign with digital tentacles reaching to, of all places, Japan. Analysts have now mapped out how Hooters pinup girl and lad-mag model Leeann Tweeden's initial accusation against Franken became effective propaganda after right-wing black ops master Roger Stone first hinted at the allegation."
Sheera Frenkel & Daisuke Wakabayashi of the New York Times: "One hour after news broke about the school shooting in Florida last week, Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia released hundreds of posts taking up the gun control debate. The accounts addressed the news with the speed of a cable news network. Some adopted the hashtag #guncontrolnow. Others used #gunreformnow and #Parklandshooting. Earlier on Wednesday, before the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., many of those accounts had been focused on the investigation by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.... In testimony to Congress last year and in private meetings with lawmakers, social media companies promised that they will do better in 2018 than they did in 2016. But the Twitter campaign around the Parkland shooting is an example of how Russian operatives are still at it.... Any issue associated with extremist views is a ripe target." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I linked to a tech mag story on this last week, but I'm glad to see the NYT picking up the story & putting it at the top of the online front page this morning. I do want to congratulate Twitter for doing such a good job squelching these Russia-linked accounts.
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Apropos of a conversation in yesterday's Comments, Paul Waldman interviews Jessica Fishman, the author of a book on how U.S. news media censor photos of dead Americans. Fishman says, "... the news media have praised the picture's power to document and reveal, but when reporting on tragedy, the cameras are used to conceal death. In the U.S. news media, images of a corpse are exceedingly rare. Ironically, the news media are commonly criticized for exploiting and sensationalizing the dead, but the bodies are actually carefully hidden.... The vast majority of the postmortem pictures published document foreign victims.... When publishing a picture of a corpse, which almost inevitably shows a non-American victim, editors contend that it is important to lay bare the dire nature of the situation.... However, during domestic crises, the same editors feel it is important to show 'positive images' that capture hopeful scenes, where first responders rescue the injured, and ordinary citizens hug tight in supportive embraces."
Eliot Cohen of The Atlantic: "At events like the Munich Conference, it is no coincidence that the word 'networking' has largely replaced the word 'debate' among global elites.... Whathas happened here is the same phenomenon that explains so many of the ills of the last couple of decades: the algae-like bloom of elites and their simultaneous loss of substance.... This political entropy seems to be a near-universal phenomenon in the Western world.... But the nicely tailored generation represented in Munich this year seemed baffled by the re-entry into history of today's authoritarians and fanatics." --safari
Third World Nation. Karen McVeigh of the Guardian: "The risk of dying as a newborn in the US is only slightly lower than the risk for babies in Sri Lanka and Ukraine, according to Unicef. A report by the UN children's agency found that five newborn babies die around the world every minute, or about 2.6 million every year. The figure is described as 'alarmingly high', particularly as 80% of these deaths are from preventable causes." --safari
Beyond the Beltway
Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "Pennsylvania's Supreme Court has redrawn the map of the state's congressional districts, overturning a Republican gerrymander that's been used in the past three congressional elections. The new map more closely reflects the partisan composition of the state, all but ensuring that Democrats will pick up several new U.S. House seats in November. It's also more compact than Republicans' original map, and it splits fewer counties and municipal areas -- a key concern of the court as it sought to ensure voters' ability to participate in 'free and equal' elections.... Pennsylvania Republicans are almost certain to challenge the new map in court.... But [election law expert Rick] Hasen noted that Republicans' legal options for challenging the new maps are limited. The U.S. Supreme Court already rejected one challenge to the Pennsylvania court's ruling, and Republicans are on uncertain legal ground when it comes to any new challenge in federal court." ...
... NEW. UPDATE. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday encouraged Republicans in Pennsylvania to challenge the way that the state's supreme court redrew congressional districts to more closely reflect the partisan composition of the state, saying that the original districts drawn by Republicans were 'correct.'... 'Hope Republicans in the Great State of Pennsylvania challenge the new 'pushed' Congressional Map, all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary,' Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday morning. 'Your Original was correct! Don't let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!'" See also safari's comment in today's thread on headlines that topped the original redistricting stories.
Bob Brigham of RawStory: "A grand jury indictment unsealed Monday sheds more light up [sic] the arrest of Rhode Island state Senate Republican Whip Nicholas Kettle.... In addition to the counts of extortion against the male page, Kettle was also charged with a count of video voyeurism after his then-girlfriend discovered that he had allegedly sent a pornographic image of her without her consent.... A two-thirds vote is required to expel a member in Rhode Island." --safari
Way Beyond
** Juan Cole: "Australia's march to solar power is a reason for climate optimism because it is happening under adverse circumstances.... Australia has a horrible environmental record and is among the worst carbon polluters per capita. Australia is the biggest exporter of coal in the world, providing 33% of world exports of this commodity. Some three quarters of Australian coal mined is exported and the industry brings in on the order of US$126 bn a year.... At the same time, the Australian public desperately wants renewable energy (96%) and Australia is especially vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change.... And yet, Australia is in the midst of a solar revolution in which it could double its solar energy production in a single year." --safari
Share Article
Reader Comments (22)
One question I have about the Parkland shooter. Where did the 19-year old kid get the money to buy 7, or 10, rifles plus clips, ammo, etc.? (Working part time for minimum wage at McD's?)
@unwashed: Cruz worked at a Dollar Tree store & was going to school in an adult education program. He was living at home until his mother died, then another family took him in. I don't know that he was living room-&-board free, but it's fair to speculate he wasn't contributing much to either family. Working at or near minimum-wage still leaves a person with quite a bit of cash if he doesn't have to house & feed himself. Enough to buy an arsenal, I guess.
Frustration 415.
Today:
NYT: another Rob Porter story.
RC: Al Franken story.
WaPo: "Trump accuser keeps telling her story, hoping someone will finally listen"
I didn't keep track of the numbers but I am pretty sure the POTUS
is one of top in accuser numbers. Never mind two recent cases of adultery.
So how the hell do we manage to ignore the fact. The POTUS is an immoral scumbag.
I'm happy to see the courts are unravelling the Republican's deeply cynical gerrymandering of Pennsylvania, but I'm finding the coverage of it extremely disingenuous.
Nearly all the headlines are parroting some version of "New Pennsylvania map gives Democrats big boost in midterms " (Politico).
If the headline writers wanted to tell the truth, they should mention "Republican's lose illegally gerrymandered advantage", or at least, "New map brings both parties back to equal footing".
By claiming Democratic advantage, the MSM is only feeding the warped narrative of Modern Conservatives who will now claim evidence again that the system is always "rigged" against them, judges inherently boost liberal causes, "Deep State" treacheries, Democrats don't play fair, etc., ad nauseum.
Here's the gut of the Cornyn-Murphy gun bill (from the NYT article linked above):
" ... the new measure would require federal agencies and states to produce plans showing how they intend to comply with existing laws governing reporting to the background check system. It would reward states that comply with financial incentives by making it easier for them to get federal grants. And it would penalize federal agencies that fail to report to the system by barring bonus pay for political appointees."
In other words ... tell states and agencies to do what they have already been told to do, and threaten federal employees' pay if their agency screws up.
And ... the NRA supports the bill.
That ought to care care of the problem!!!!!!! Haven't they done enough now?
We'll never know, because feds (e.g. CDC) are barred from doing research on gun hazards, and (e.g. DOJ) keeping automated databases on registrations.
Also ... good bureaucrats know that having three verbs in one sentence is a BS flag. How many verb forms (including gerunds!) can you count:
"...(1) would require* federal agencies and states (2) to produce plans (3) showing how they (4) intend (5) to comply with existing laws (6)governing (7) reporting ..."
* extra BS points for subjective
The money quote from Nina Burleigh’s Newsweek article (linked above) about fake news sites and an army of Twitter bots that wrecked Democratic Senator Al Franken last year is buried, as they often are, at the very end of the article:
“But since the 2016 election, arguably lost due to the right's superior utilization of darker online strategies, the left is not known to have created or mobilized its own fake cyber army to amplify its viewpoint.
"’Agreed we need one,’ Democratic digital media strategist Jess McIntosh, who worked on Franken's campaign and for Hillary Clinton's bid for president, said in an email to Newsweek. ‘But it's harder to use these tactics when you can't rely on either lies OR hate to do it.’"
Today in Clunkweasel History: Where’s Your Checkbook?
48 hours and 42 miles removed from the Parkland shooting “Ryan’s spokesperson confirmed to the Herald that he attended the event, which had been planned months in advance.
Thorne said she found Ryan in the middle of the room — “I shook his hand and everything,” she said — and introduced herself as a teacher and Key Biscayner.
“’Nice,’ the Republican congressman replied.
“’Nice?’ Thorne said. ‘You’re here celebrating the death of 17 children.’
“At that, Thorne said, Ryan told her he ‘didn’t want to talk politics’ or argue. When Thorne tried to continue, security escorted her out. She chanted ‘No more guns!’ on her way out the door, she said.”
Didn't want to talk politics - at a political fundraiser?
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article200663374.html
To piggy back on safari's Australian story, here in the good ole U.S. the EPA is planning to deny a Connecticut petition to force federal action to halt pollution from an old, coal-burning fire power plant in Pennsylvania that is hurting CT's air quality. A federal judge recently ordered the EPA to conduct a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 23. Scott Pruitt maybe thinks all them peoples breathing in that nice coal dust is perfectly fine, but my governor, Dan Malloy says, "Once again the Trump administration is putting the lives of Ct. residents at risk." And that means ME––cough, cough.
Last night Rachel had one of her connect the dots stories: Back in 1984 President Reagan gave one of his Hollywood Best speeches where nearly at the end mentioned that his administration was going to do something-- something about domestic abuse. Charlotte Fedders,the ex wife of Reagan's Chief Enforcer at the SEC, John Fedders, was at home listening to that speech and when she heard the part about domestic abuse she took pen in hand and wrote a letter addressed to Reagan exposing her horrendous physical abuse by John Fedders. He was a fist beater, a throw you down the stairs beater, a punches in the gut even when you are pregnant beater––domestic abuse at its worst. But like Rob Porter, John was charismatic, charming, intelligent. handsome––everyone liked him. Charlotte outlined all this in the letter which was ignored. Months later Charlotte's sister sent a letter to Reagan–-that, too, was ignored. By 1985 the Wall Street Journal published the allegations and within a day John Fedders was gone but not without the usual accolades––what a bang up job he'd done–-one of the smartest...
Jump to 2017 and Trump has nominated Andrew Putzer for Labor Secretary. Mrs. (ex) Putzer says–-whoa Nelly! Let me inform you that Andy, here, is a wife beater from way back. "Prove it!" they said–-and she said there was a video from an Oprah show on domestic abuse where she, in disguise, lays out her allegations. But the video was either lost or destroyed –-couldn't be found so Andy was on his way UNTIL––enter Charlotte Fedders who just happened to have been on that same show and had a video of it. SNAP! Bye, bye Putzer–-don't let the door hit YOU in YOUR face.
I just love stories like this.
Yes, safari: yesterday's local paper included a headline which I forget, but included "...Will Help Democrats" which I thought was glorious. (s/) The three top repugs in the lege are working hard to deny deny deny, and there are two bottled-up bills that will not be brought to the floor, with regard to fixing the gerrymandering by a NONrepug group. Since the Supremes of PA made a new map, oh the grousing, since Dems prevail there. Also lawsuitage.
@Safari: Noted in your post near the top of today's pages was this: "...shocking, sign of the affection Republicans now bestow upon the 45th president.... [B]roken down by party ID, it turns out Trump is more popular among Republicans than W. or Poppy Bush, Gerald Ford, or even the beloved Ike. ..."
I tend to suspect such polls become skewed particularly when a 'younger' age group is involved and asked to rank their choice.
.. Seems to me that people respond to such queries by answering or reacting to names they recognize from their immediate lifetime. Not knowing the breakdown of how many old-timers vs. the youth were asked...might well factor into why it is that someone rates Trump higher over Ike! For instance, ask a twenty or thirty-something, who do you think is the most popular male singer? Frank Sinatra or what's his name who just walked away with the top Grammy awards? And the answer is: Bruno Mar. Ring-a-ding who?
Whereas I give more credibility to the 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section who ranked 'from best to worst.'
That said, I certainly know which ranking the GOP/Confederates will use to tout to their base.
Stories like the one about Democrats benefiting from the new electoral map in Pennsylvania are maddening. How about a headline that says "Court stops Republicans from stealing more elections?" since that was the actual purpose. The goal was not to "help Democrats" it was to keep the Party of Traitors from disenfranchising millions of voters and shoving their candidates into office through the back door, and shivving democracy into the bargain.
This is yet another example of how Confederate lies and bullying and threats have quietly adjusted the mindset of many reporters and editors over the decades. Rather than coming out with a headline like the one suggested above, knowing full well that the right will go after you hammer and tongs, better to be "discreet" and err on the side of fucking Democrats who never go after the media for such misleading or deceptive ledes. Better to make it look like Democrats will make out rather stating the truth, that Republicans are pissed because the court is making them play fair and stop stealing elections.
Marie answered Unwashed query about how Cruz was able to purchase all those guns and ammunition, but I have questions for the couple (given his age at the time he probably would become a ward of the state and unless an actual adoption was procured this couple would be getting money from the state to house him) that took him in after his mother died. This couple has said they are shocked and heartsick–-they had no idea this kid harbored such sickness. "This is not the boy we knew." REALLY? Wasn't there all sorts of episodes including being expelled from school? Wasn't he interviewed by the FBI at one point? And where in hell did this kid stash all those guns and ammo?
Asking these questions brings me back to the domestic abuse cases I wrote about earlier. Those kinds of individuals whose outward personas are ones of competence, intelligence, whose engaging warmth draws you to them all secretly harbor evil in their bosoms–-the stuff of some of our best literature. But in the case of Cruz he apparently displayed plenty of red flags–-not much hidden there. So I ask again––how could his surrogate parents not see a potential disaster when it was right there in the home.
RE the Pretender's reported rising popularity.
In addition to MAG's trenchant cautions, I would also keep this in mind. The emerging Republican Party is not the same party that Reagan and the two Bushes appealed to. In terms of values, the party has clearly devolved. The Pretender's rise has hastened that devolution, so that ignorance and hate in the forms of white supremacy, anti-immigrant feeling, a sense of powerlessness and its attendant resentments and elevation of the "uneducated" now provide the majority of the party's emotional mainsprings.
It's "intellectual" component is all about (as Krugman says repeatedly and correctly) the unrestrained greed or corporate capitalism.
That, not Reagan's party, (tho's the seeds were certainly there) is now the one being assessed.
The meaning of words can change over time, usually gradually; the meaning of Republican has changed in only a few decades.
It's a frightening transformation.
It's a sign of how distracted the little dictator is with treason and all his other crimes that he didn't find time to make Mittens fly to Washington and crawl on his belly for that endorsement.
The sad thing is? The Rat would have done it.
A man without a spine. His morals are as changeable as his home address.
He just can't stand the insignificance of private life. He just has to have some kind of title, and he'll get down on all fours and bark like a doggie if he has to (maybe Seamus can give him some tips).
No wonder the Party of Traitors is so full of small, weaselly men.
Ken,
I have a friend who, a few years ago, made the argument that the Catholic Church under Ratzinger, Pope Benedict, had become an all or nothing proposition and had decided to make Catholics who weren't all in goose-steppers feel decidedly unwelcome. So, if you were a divorced Catholic, but still felt a need for religion in your life, you could just fuck right off and not come back. If you weren't 100% against birth control (never mind abortion), you could leave with those divorced schmucks. If you were gay, and out? Well, just forget the whole thing. In other words, the Church became a members' only affair, and being a member meant being as extreme as was required by the head man and his band of bigots. The current guy is trying, it seems, to reverse that trend, but it's likely that those Catholics who were a bit on the fence, and made to feel like outcasts, have left for good and are never coming back.
The Party of Traitors has taken a similar direction. If you're not all in with the crazies, you can forget about it. Denunciations such as RINO are the kiss of death from Republican storm troopers to anyone they consider "not of the body".
The upshot is that all traces of moderation or thoughtful and respectful disagreement have been purged, along with any capacity for real leadership or ability to govern fairly and honestly. You're either with them or against them, and that means in your obeisance and reverence for the criminal ignoramus in the White House.
The party has become an organ for the wealthy and the haters and they have a large and well funded media arm to help keep the faithful in line and to attack the apostates, sometimes more fiercely than they would you or me.
They have the president they deserve, and he the party he needs.
The rest of us can just fuck right off.
Which is why they try so hard to dismantle democracy. It's the best way to short-circuit their dreams of control and greed, ergo Trump's virulent attacks on Pennsylvania's decision not to allow them to steal upcoming elections. "Fair" does not exist as a word or a concept in the winger lexicon. In the long run, they may have sealed their own fate, but until then, they'll fight for every scrap like the mangy dogs they are.
Please, someone, tell me how in the holy hell Junior is making a "speech on foreign policy"?
What is his title? Is he some undersecretary at State? No. Is he Grand Poobah for Furriner Types? No. He runs daddy's real estate and scam operations. He's a front man. And not a very smart one. During the campaign, he was called "Fredo" by the knuckleheads running Trump's clusterfuck. That means those idiots thought that he was a much bigger idiot than all of them. What in the elevated flying fuck does he know about foreign policy and why is he considered qualified to make a speech about it? In OUR name?
Granted, any of us could get up on a podium and spout off about American's foreign policy, and our opinions on same. But we're not related to the president* (thank heaven). But because Junior IS, that makes what he has to say important. And if the president*'s son is shooting off his mouth about official governmental policies related to foreign countries, while he's in a foreign country looking to MAKE MONEY from that connection, I ask again, how does this work? Is this even legal?
Where are all the Confederates who are always so uppity about foreign policy, the ones who were so fucking concerned about the State Department when Hillary was in charge?
Oh, never mind, it's just Junior and dad scamming money from some Indians, who cares?
There are so many outrages that some of the most important ones get overlooked.
Believe it or not, Esquire has other political writers beyond Charlie Pierce!
"Is Bannon Gambling with Mueller?" by Andrew Cohen over on Esquire shares several verrr-rry interesting theories: " Go Bobby, Go " that could explain why Bannon is talking to Mueller, but won’t cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee.
Cohen adds, "Count me among those who believe last week's indictment was limited to Russian nationals and companies for strategic and tactical reasons, and that the worst is yet to come (and sooner rather than later) for the president and his defenders.."
Mebbe like say Liddle Donnie, Jr.??????
P.S. If the Watch Next video pops up at the bottom of Cohen's article...just watch and listen if you can stomach the first one How U.S. President(s)Have Reacted to Gun Violence | Esquire starting off with your-know-who.
US media outlets report on the non-stop funerals for the victims of the latest NRA-Republican-Trump mass murder in Florida.
The Trump White House response?
"Whew. Lucky for us those kids were killed. We need a break."
Since when do responsible, decent, rational people describe a mass murder as a personal "reprieve"?
When they work for Trump is when.
Well, they can look forward to plenty more "reprieves". The next mass murder/school shooting should happen any day now, given the rate of school shootings in this, the second year of Trump.
@Akhilleus wrote, "Please, someone, tell me how in the holy hell Junior is making a 'speech on foreign policy'?"
As you know, the State Department is seriously understaffed. Junior -- who is qualified because he has been to other countries before -- is just pitching in. (Also, he has a private jet at his disposal.) Instead of being so skeptical, why don't you thank Donnie for his patriotic volunteer work?
Marie,
I'd be happy (well, okay, happy might be going a bit too far) to thank Junior if his visit to India could be characterized as either patriotic or volunteer work. I'm not sure a billion dollar payoff can be made to look like "volunteerism", unless you can make a case that he volunteered to be a wealthy con man. And you're right about the empty desks at Foggy Bottom. Hey, they're just savin' us hard workin' taxpayers money, right? Next thing you know, Little Dracula will be appointed "interim" (lots of interims in this administration, ain't there?) ambassador to all the countries that now lack one. That's about 30 in all. Granted a lot of those are shithole countries and other podunks that no speak-a the English, so Little Dracula will probably not go to those dumps very often. Prob'ly, like, never. But hey, at least they'll have one. An ambassador, that is. Not a Dracula. Well, I guess they'll have one-a them too.
Those Trump kids, they sure do work hard.
Mueller's charge of Van der Zwann for one count of lying looks like two things:
-- nailing VdZ's foot to the floor so he can't go anywhere and Mueller can milk his allocution for information and corroboration
-- the Chinese tactic of "Kill the chicken to scare the monkey," whereby virtually any other lawyer involved in possible conspiratorial activities will perceive a strong incentive to cooperate rather than be disbarred eventually.
The bad news ... Mueller's arms must be getting tired with all the rope-a-dope.
Patrick,
If we’re lucky, rope-a-dope will be replaced by some nice combinations, a few body blows, and a haymaker. I’ll even take a TKO.
A Pop Culture Truism (a sad truism at that)
So, an article proposing to rank the films in the MCU (Marvel Comics Universe), has this to say about a 2011 film in which the character of Captain America, who first appeared as a fighter of fascism in a 1941 Timely Comics book, takes on white supremacist Nazis:
"It's sad that the idea of Captain America punching a Nazi would probably be controversial if this movie were released today."
Just imagine the ferocious Trump (and Sean Hannity) tweets about how all those "good people" were being unfairly used as punching bags by a "horrible liberal" who doesn't appreciate all the great things white supremacists have done.
Can't wait for Trumpy's denunciations of "The Black Panther". The idea! A movie without a white hero!