;)
The Commentariat -- February 21, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. officials have told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, according to people familiar with the matter. President Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also been informed about the Russian assistance to the Vermont senator, according to people familiar with the matter.... 'I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,' Sanders said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do. In 2016, Russia used Internet propaganda to sow division in our country, and my understanding is that they are doing it again in 2020. Some of the ugly stuff on the Internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters.'... At a Democratic candidates debate Wednesday in Las Vegas, Sanders indirectly blamed Russia, saying it was possible that malign actors were trying to manipulate social media to inflame divisions among Democrats.... After Sanders's remarks..., some social media analysts were skeptical of the notion that Russians already were masquerading as the candidate's supporters.... It now appears, however, that Sanders may have had a reason to suspect Russia...." Later, Sanders said he was briefed about Russian interference about a month ago. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It seems Bernie had no trouble condemnng Russia at the first opportunity. So why can't Donald do the same after years & years of pleas from reporters? Instead, Trump blames Democrats for spreading a "hoax," when the information is coming from U.S. intelligence agencies, not Democrats.
The Guardian has a liveblog of today's campaign events.
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Mike Bloomberg said Friday his company would release from nondisclosure agreements three women who complained about inappropriate comments they said he made, two days after he was pressed to do so by Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debate. 'Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release'" Bloomberg tweeted Friday."
Jeremy Diamond, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's new personnel chief told agency officials at a meeting on Thursday to expect staffing changes and movements across the government, people familiar with the meeting told CNN. A White House official said John McEntee, the President's former body man who was elevated to run the presidential personnel office, made it clear his office will be on the lookout for staffers across the bureaucracy who are seen as disloyal to Trump. Another official said McEntee indicated he plans to first focus his efforts on personnel at the State Department and Department of Defense. He also told the liaisons that promotions and significant staff changes should not occur without prior approval from the presidential personnel office." Mrs. McC: McEntee, who is 29 years old & had an illustrious career ordering burgers & fries for President Big MacDonald before John Kelly had him frog-marched out of the White House because of security issues, is now moving career officials around, nixing their promotions & whatever based upon his judgment of their "loyalty" to Trump. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Trump has empowered McEntee -- whom he considers an absolute loyalist -- to purge the 'bad people' and 'Deep State.'" According to Swan & Treene, McEntee will stifle only political appointees.
Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Former acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has formally resigned from US government service, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. The office of DNI officially announced the second-ranking official there, Andrew Hallman, stepped down Friday afternoon." The story is breaking at 3:35 pm ET Friday. ~~~
~~~ Ha Ha. According to Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC, Trump considered Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) to be Director of National Intelligence, but dropped him when a 2016 video resurfaced featuring Stewart calling Trump "Our Mussolini."
Eric Levenson, et al., of CNN: "Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's trial asked the judge Friday if they can be hung on some counts but unanimous on others....In response to Friday's note, the judge charged the jury to go back and continue deliberations.... Deliberations ended for the day at 3 p.m., and jurors are expected to return to court to continue deliberations Monday morning." The two charges the jurors appear to be hung on relate to predatory sexual assault.
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump said Friday that a disclosure by American intelligence officials that Russia was again meddling in a presidential election in his favor was merely another partisan campaign against him, dismissing the warning as a hoax cooked up by rivals. 'Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Hoax number 7!'... Mr. Trump has a long history of discarding assessments made by intelligence agencies that he has deemed unfair or unflattering.... Mr. Trump, with the assistance of his Justice Department, has moved to retaliate against the intelligence community rather than Mr. Putin...." The Hill has a report here.
Jeff Stein & Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "President Trump promised in an all-caps tweet Friday to provide additional bailout funding to American farmers if necessary, as questions arise over whether China's purchases of agricultural products will fall short of what it pledged in the recently signed trade deal. Trump said he may expand the nearly $30 billion bailout program until the administration’s recently struck trade deals with China, Canada, and Mexico 'kick in.' On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief economist, Robert Johansson, projected that agricultural exports to China would reach roughly $14 billion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, far short of what White House officials said would take place.... Trump also said in the tweet that the federal bailout funding will be 'PAID FOR OUT OF THE MASSIVE TARIFF MONEY COMING INTO THE USA!' But critics have noted tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices."
Stephen Collison of CNN: "America is blundering into a new Russia election-meddling hall of mirrors that's already doing Moscow's work: tearing fresh political divides and threatening to again tarnish democracy's most sacred moment, a national election.... Trump was informed that the House Intelligence Committee was told of the Russian intelligence operation last week by Rep. Devin Nunes..., a source told CNN.... Partisan uproar over the new claims, meanwhile, suggests that the alleged operation is again delivering for Russia on its intended goals: sowing distrust in the US system and turning Americans against themselves in a way that weakens national unity." --s
Florida/Turkmenistan. Eric Lavai & Scot Stedman of Forensic News: "Florida's official Republican Party Facebook page, along with nine other Florida Republican county Facebook pages, have a page manager located in Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia with no public affiliation to Florida Republicans or political social media consultants. All ten of the Facebook page managers from Turkmenistan disappeared after Forensic News contacted the Florida GOP page owner for comment.... Because Facebook does not require page managers to reveal their names, there is no way to know who is managing the pages from Turkmenistan. There was, however, a page owner, the person who runs the entire Florida GOP Facebook page, listed as longtime GOP social media strategist Jordan Gibson.... Further mystifying was the fact that Turkmenistan's government maintains total control over their Internet. All major social media sites, including Facebook, are banned." --s
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In Wednesday's New York Times story on Trump's appointment of U.S. ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell as the acting director of national intelligence, the reporters wrote, "... it has never been clear how Mr. Trump viewed Mr. Maguire...." WashPo reporters looked into that: ~~~
~~~ Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump erupted at his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office last week over what he perceived as disloyalty by Maguire's staff, which ruined Maguire's chances of becoming the permanent intelligence chief, according to people familiar with the matter.... Maguire had been considered a leading candidate to be nominated for the post of DNI.... But Trump's opinion shifted last week when he heard from a GOP ally that the intelligence official in charge of election security, who works for Maguire, gave a classified briefing last Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee on 2020 election security.... The president erroneously believed that ... the official, Shelby Pierson..., had given information exclusively to Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, and that the information would be helpful to Democrats if it were released publicly, the people familiar with the matter said.... The president was furious with Maguire and blamed him for the supposed transgression involving Pierson when the two met the next day. 'There was a dressing down' of Maguire, said one individual. 'That was the catalyst' that led to the sidelining of Maguire in favor of [Ric] Grenell, the person said. Maguire came away 'despondent,' said another individual.” An NBC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ OR, as Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime puts it, "... Donald Trump replaced Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire with the U.S. Ambassador to Germany and Trump International Hotel 'gold-level' member Richard Grenell based on an erroneous belief that a standard congressional briefing was somehow an act of disloyalty, the Washington Post reported Thursday"~~~
So the Grenell appointment is exactly what it looks like -- a bid to politicize intelligence and hide information from Congress in an election year where Russia is again helping Trump. -- Matthew Miller, in a tweet
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't have to tell you this is bat-shit crazy. The POTUS* hears a false rumor from some guy about an election security briefing, whereupon he has a hissyfit & makes a major personnel decision based on the gossip. There's a good chance found out later the rumor was untrue because he sent Maguire off with a glowing tweet: "I would like to thank Joe Maguire.... ....for the wonderful job he has done, and we look forward to working with him closely, perhaps in another capacity within the Administration!" Meanwhile, according to the WashPo report above, "On Thursday, Grenell said in a tweet that the president would nominate a permanent DNI 'soon' and that it would not be him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "... before anyone in Berlin celebrates Grenell's departure, this tidbit from a New York Times report stood out for me. 'Mr. Grenell is expected to keep his current ambassadorship as long as he is acting intelligence director, one administration official said.' Really? One unqualified person will oversee the U.S. intelligence community and remain the ambassador to Europe's largest country at the same time? What's more, let's also not forget that the White House tapped Grenell five months ago to serve as the U.S. envoy for Kosovo-Serbia diplomacy. I guess my question is, as of right now, exactly how many jobs does Ric Grenell have?" ~~~
~~~ Washington Post Editors: "PRESIDENT TRUMP'S campaign to purge the government of anyone not blindly loyal to him continued Wednesday with the appointment of Richard Grenell as acting director of national intelligence. Mr. Grenell, who currently serves as ambassador to Germany, is manifestly unqualified for the job, even in an acting capacity. He has no experience in intelligence or in managing large organizations -- like the 17 agencies that will now report to him. Mr. Grenell has nevertheless won the president's favor in a familiar way: by loudly praising him and his agenda on Fox News programs and social media.... In Berlin, he quickly made himself unwelcome with public attacks on German government policies and outspoken support for right-wing nationalist movements around Europe." ~~~
~~~ Update. Here's the New York Times' version of the story, which differs from the WashPo report:
~~~ Trump Is Furious Schiff Knows Putin Is Working on Trump Campaign Again. Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said, in a disclosure that angered Mr. Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him. The day after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, Mr. Trump berated Joseph Maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place, people familiar with the exchange said. Mr. Trump cited the presence in the briefing of Representative Adam BSchiff.... During the briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Trump's allies challenged the conclusions, arguing that Mr. Trump has been tough on Russia and strengthened European security.... Though some current and former officials speculated that the briefing may have played a role in the removal of Mr. Maguire, who had told people in recent days that he believed he would remain in the job, two administration officials said the timing was coincidental.... Though intelligence officials have previously informed lawmakers that Russia's interference campaign was ongoing, last week's briefing did contain what appeared to be new information, including that Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That is, not only is Trump accepting help from Russia, now that he's president*, he's manipulating what members of Congress learn about the foreign interference. As for Maguire's firing being "coincidental" to the Intel briefing, Kevin Drum sez "You betcha."~~~
~~~ Jim Acosta, et al., of CNN: "The intelligence community's top election security official delivered a briefing to lawmakers last week warning them that the intelligence community believes Russia is already taking steps to interfere in the 2020 election with the goal of helping ... Donald Trump win, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Last week's briefing, led by election security official Shelby Pierson and first reported by The New York Times, addressed the overall picture of Russia's efforts, including hacking, weaponizing social media and attacks on election infrastructure, one of the sources said." ~~~
By Daryl Cagle.
~~~ Spencer Ackerman, et al., of the Daily Beast: "According to a legislator who was present [at the Intel Committee meeting], the aide, Shelby Pierson, Maguire's election security chief, described a Russian elections-intrusion effort that never stopped from 2016.... 'The Republicans [on the committee] went nuts,' over Pierson's presentation, the member told The Daily Beast. A second source familiar with the briefing said that Republicans didn't understand why the Kremlin would try to boost Trump, since he had been so tough on Russia, in their view." ~~~
~~~ AND Another GOP Hack Moves Up the NSC Ladder. Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. It's not clear what exact role Patel is playing in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the U.S. intelligence community. He started at ODNI on Thursday, according to an administration official." The NSC is now officially useless at best, a serious national security risk at worst. ~~~
~~~ AND Another NSC Advisor Suspected of Disloyalty Is Moved Out. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates will be reassigned as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, the National Security Council said Thursday -- and a senior White House official said that the administration 'rejects' the rumors that she is 'Anonymous.'... Coates has battled claims that she is the still-unknown Trump administration official that penned a New York Times op-ed and book critical of President Trump." ~~~
~~~ AND. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "U.S. Rep. Doug Collins rejected the idea Friday of becoming the director of national intelligence after ... Donald Trump said he could tap the congressman to the post and spare fellow Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of a formidable challenge. The Gainesville Republican said it was 'humbling' that Trump floated his name Thursday for the coveted job, he is determined to continue his challenge against Loeffler, a wealthy business executive tapped to the position in December." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Notice how this 2020 Trump election scandal segues right into the vestiges of the 2016 Trump election scandal. ~~~
Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Roger J. Stone Jr., the Republican political consultant who for years portrayed himself as the dirty trickster of American politics, was sentenced Thursday to more than three years prison for obstructing a congressional inquiry in a bid to protect President Trump. The case against Mr. Stone, 67, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump's, had become a cause célèbre among the president's supporters. Mr. Trump has attacked the prosecutors, the jury forewoman and the federal judge overseeing the trial, casting his former campaign adviser as the victim of a vendetta by law enforcement.... Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that for months, Mr. Stone carried out a deliberate and calculated effort to hinder an important congressional inquiry by blatantly lying, hiding hundreds of documents and pressuring a fragile witness.... She added, 'He was not prosecuted to give anyone a political advantage. He was not prosecuted, as some have complained, for standing up for the president. He was prosecuted for covering up for the president.'... Judge Jackson said Mr. Stone's behavior inspired dismay and disgust.'" Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Dan Berman of CNN highlights some of Judge Amy Berman Jackson's remarks delivered during her sentencing of Roger Stone. Mrs. McC: I couldn't find a copy of the transcript online, but Rachel Maddow got hold of one: ~~~
~~~ Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said his former adviser Roger Stone has 'a very good chance of exoneration,' hours after the GOP operative was sentenced to 40 months behind bars for obstructing a congressional investigation of Russia's 2016 presidential election meddling. 'I'm following this very closely, and I want to see it play out to its fullest, because Roger has a very good chance of exoneration, in my opinion,' Trump said Thursday in a speech at a Hope for Prisoners event in Las Vegas, where he also blasted the jury forewoman in Stone's criminal trial. 'It's my strong opinion that the forewoman for the jury is totally tainted,' Trump said, calling the woman ... 'an anti-Trump person, totally. I don't know if this is a fact, but she had a horrible social media account, he told the crowd and television cameras. 'She's I guess from what I hear a very strong woman, a very dominant person, so she can get people to do whatever she wants,' he claimed. 'How can you have a jury pool tainted so badly? It's not fair,' Trump said." Mrs. McC: Unhappily for his audience of former prisoners, Trump did not pardon them all. ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: At the same event, "President Trump once again berated the 'dirty cops' of the law enforcement establishment on Thursday, accusing the Justice Department of going after his friends but not his enemies in an outburst that flouted Attorney General William P. Barr's pleas to stop publicly intervening in prosecutions where he had a personal interest.... Mr. Trump belittled the case [against Roger Stone] and hinted broadly that he would use his clemency power to spare Mr. Stone if a judge did not agree to a retrial sought by defense lawyers.... Mr. Trump's critics maintained that extending clemency to Mr. Stone would amount to self-dealing for a president who stood to benefit from the convicted adviser's lies about connections to WikiLeaks, which disseminated Democratic emails stolen by Russian agents to damage Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Megan Mineiro & Tim Ryan of Courthouse News: At the event, "... Trump also appeared to distance himself from [Roger Stone] by leveling an assertion the Justice Department disproved at Stone's trial with evidence and witness testimony. 'Roger was never involved in the Trump campaign for president, he wasn't involved,' Trump said. 'I think early on, long before I announced, he may have done a little consulting work or something. But he was not involved when I ran for president.'" ~~~
~~~ Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... it's all become the worst kept secret in Washington: Trump won't let Roger Stone go to prison. 'It's not a question of if,' said a former senior administration official who remains in contact with Trump and his senior advisers. 'It's when.'"
Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Federal prosecutors in Michigan have charged a man with making a death threat against one of the attorneys for a whistleblower who initiated the impeachment inquiry of ... Donald Trump, according to newly unsealed court records. The man, Brittan J. Atkinson, allegedly emailed the attorney in November, calling him a 'traitor' who 'must die a miserable death.' The attorney, Mark Zaid, confirmed to Politico that he received the email the day after Trump held up Zaid's photo and read some of Zaid's tweets during a rally. 'All traitors must die miserable deaths,' reads the email to Zaid that was sent on November 7. 'Those that represent traitors shall meet the same fate. We will hunt you down and bleed you out like the pigs you are. We have nothing but time, and you are running out of it. Keep looking over your shoulder. We know who you are, where you live, and who you associate with. We are all strangers in a crowd to you.'" Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I believe Trump is purposely inciting his crazy followers to harm the people he derides. Otherwise, why would he hold up a photo of Zaid? The purpose of the show-and-tell is to allow his violent followers to be able to identify the people Trump wants them to hurt. That photo Trump held up was a wanted poster.
Trump's Takeover of Justice Department, Ctd. Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House is moving to take more direct control over pardons and commutations, with President Trump aiming to limit the role of the Justice Department in the clemency process as he weighs a flurry of additional pardon announcements, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump ... has assembled a team of advisers to recommend and vet candidates for pardons, according to several people with knowledge of the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The group, essentially an informal task force of at least a half-dozen presidential allies, has been meeting since late last year to discuss a revamped pardon system in the White House. Jared Kushner Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, is taking a leading role in the new clemency initiative and has supported the idea of putting the White House more directly in control of the process that in past administrations has been housed in the Justice Department, officials said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Former California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher confirmed in a new interview that during a three-hour meeting at the Ecuadorian Embassy in August 2017, he told Julian Assange he would get President Trump to give him a pardon if he turned over information proving the Russians had not been the source of internal Democratic National Committee emails published by WikiLeaks. In a phone interview..., Rohrabacher said his goal during the meeting was to find proof for a widely debunked conspiracy theory: that WikiLeaks' real source for the DNC emails was not Russian intelligence agents, as U.S. officials have since concluded, but former DNC staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered on the streets of Washington in July 2016 in what police believe was a botched robbery. A lawyer for Assange in London on Wednesday cited the pardon offer from Rohrabacher during a court hearing on the U.S. government's request to extradite the WikiLeaks founder.... He [Rohrabacher] did not, however, ever speak to Trump about it, he said." Instead, he spoke to John Kelly, then Trump's chief-of-staff. Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: IOW, according to Rohrabacher, the pardon was all his idea, and Trump probably never heard about it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Trouble with Subtitles. Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "The movie studio behind the South Korean film 'Parasite' clapped back on Thursday after President Trump criticized the foreign language film for winning Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. 'Understandable, he can't read,' Neon tweeted from its official account with a link to Trump's comments."
Jessica Kwong of Newsweek: "Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's Washington, D.C., mansion landlord was granted lease renewals from the Trump administration Wednesday for a proposed copper-nickel mine that could turn a protected Minnesota wilderness area into a 'gigantic new potty,' [Richard Painter] a former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush warned.... Painter said he was not surprised at the approvals of the leases, which had been terminated by the Obama administration citing environmental risks." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said in a wide-ranging discussion on Wednesday night that he disagreed with President Trump 'every single day,' mocked a fellow administration adviser and accused Republicans of hypocrisy over the budget deficit. Mr. Mulvaney, addressing a crowd of several hundred during a question-and-answer session with the Oxford Union in England, spoke freely about the impeachment inquiry into President Trump and denounced the so-called deep state as well as his predecessor, John F. Kelly. And he described the White House as functional and improved, despite near-daily descriptions of a chaotic and often toxic atmosphere.... [Mulvaney] falsely claimed that Democrats had not sought a subpoena from Mr. Trump's personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, whom Mr. Mulvaney claimed could have disclosed many things that do not fall under attorney-client privilege.... Describing his time as chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mr. Mulvaney alternately praised and excoriated civil servants, saying the 'deep state' was real and claiming that he was besieged by people who were resisting what he described as Mr. Trump's agenda.... Mr. Mulvaney ... [said] that if they do not want to enact administration policy, they should quit or run for office themselves.... Without acknowledging the times the president or administration officials have relayed false information, Mr. Mulvaney suggested people should be leery of news accounts." ~~~
~~~ Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told a crowd at a private gathering in England on Wednesday night that the Trump administration 'needs more immigrants' for the U.S. economy to continue growing, according to an audio recording of his remarks obtained by The Washington Post. 'We are desperate -- desperate -- for more people,' Mulvaney said. 'We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we've had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.'... Mulvaney's remarks appear in contrast to the public position of several top figures in Trump's White House -- especially that of senior policy adviser Stephen Miller -- who have been working to slash legal and illegal immigration through a slew of policies that aim to close off the U.S. border to foreigners."
Presidential Race
** A Poor Billionaire ... Signifying Nothing. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Wednesday's Democratic debate was far more informative than previous debates. What we learned, in particular, was that as a presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg is a great businessman -- and that Elizabeth Warren remains a force to be reckoned with. Both lessons ran very much counter to the narrative that the news media has been telling in recent weeks.... Maybe the Warren-Bloomberg confrontation will help refocus discussion away from so-called Medicare for all -- which isn't going to be enacted, no matter who wins -- to an issue where it matters a lot which Democrat prevails. Namely, are we going to do anything to rein in the financialization of the U.S. economy?... There is no evidence that Wall Street's mega-expansion [which began in the 1980s] made the rest of the economy more efficient. On the contrary, growth in family incomes slowed down as finance rose -- although a few people became immensely rich. And the runaway growth of finance set the stage for the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It also made Michael Bloomberg a billionaire." Read on. Mrs. McC: And here's hoping one of the readers is Elizabeth Warren. If you work for her or any Democratic candidate who is not Mike Bloomberg, pass it on.
Osita Nwanevu of the New Republic: "Wednesday's debate was the first in which all of the candidates present were willing to embrace the idea that at least one other person on the stage was either personally or ideologically beyond the pale for reasons beyond electability. Even if voters don't have high expectations, the candidates themselves can no longer deny that the Democratic Party faces deeper questions than the matter of who might be best positioned to beat Trump in November.... [Little] time has been spent contemplating how the party arrived here in the first place, on the cusp of awarding the nomination to someone who rejects many of the premises that have guided Democrats for the last 30 years." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Like many other publications, the New Republic has now gone to a four-articles-a-month limit for nonsubscribers. It appears the limit cannot be overridden by opening articles in private windows, so that's pretty much the end of my linking to NR pieces.
David Siders of Politico: "Mike Bloomberg is privately lobbying Democratic Party officials and donors allied with his moderate opponents to flip their allegiance to him -- and block Bernie Sanders -- in the event of a brokered national convention. The effort, largely executed by Bloomberg's senior state-level advisers in recent weeks, attempts to prime Bloomberg for a second-ballot contest at the Democratic National Convention in July by poaching supporters of Joe Biden and other moderate Democrats, according to two Democratic strategists familiar with the talks and unaffiliated with Bloomberg." ~~~
~~~ Molly Reddin of the Huffington Post: Mike "Bloomberg's assertion [during the Nevada Democratic presidential debate] that men and women are paid equally at his company, the financial software giant Bloomberg LP, is false. That's according to the company's own disclosures. In the United Kingdom, where Bloomberg LP employs several thousand workers, women earn 21.9% less than men in terms of their median hourly wage. Women occupy only 1 in 5 of the top quarter of the highest-paying jobs; the representation of women is largest in the bottom quarter of jobs. And although an equal share of men and women earn bonuses, the median women's bonus is one-third lower than the median men's bonus. Those figures come from a mandatory gender pay gap report that Bloomberg LP filed in the United Kingdom in April 2018.... Bloomberg LP is not required to file an equivalent report in the United States." ~~~
~~~ Bloomberg Keeps Gag on Female Accusers. Lucien Bruggeman, et al., of ABC News: "Under pressure [from Elizabeth Warren during Wednesday's debate, Mike] Bloomberg reverted to a well-worn line of defense [of his verbal abuse of women], dismissing his past language as a 'joke.'... As Bloomberg has downplayed the nature of the allegations against him and his company, those who leveled allegations against him who are subject to a confidentiality agreements could face potentially significant financial exposure if they decided to speak.... Bloomberg and his company have so far resisted calls -- most notably from Sen. Warren -- to release those women from those agreements. On Wednesday, Bloomberg even implied that the women subject to the privacy agreements wanted to continue to abide by them. But ABC News has spoken with several women who expressed interest in telling their stories, but feared the prospect of retribution from the company, including significant financial losses for violating the terms of their confidentiality agreement by speaking out."
Justin Wise of the Hill: "The broadcast of the Democratic presidential primary debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday drew nearly 20 million viewers across NBC and MSNBC, making it the most-watched Democratic debate in television history, the network said.... The first GOP primary debate of the 2016 election cycle still holds the record for TV viewership of a debate regardless of party."
Zack Budryk of the Hill: "President Trump's reelection campaign has purchased the advertising space on YouTube's homepage for Election Day. The campaign purchased the website's masthead on Nov. 3 nationwide, a person familiar with the deal told Bloomberg.... Former President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign also bought the masthead for Election Day before Mitt Romney had clinched the Republican nomination, Teddy Goff, Obama's onetime digital director, told the publication. 'This gets to a structural problem inherent in having a contested primary against an incumbent,' he told Bloomberg." Mrs. McC: Buying up YouTube's main page is hardly the only "structural problem" in having this particular incumbent.
Plus all that stuff about Russian election interference, linked above.
Facebook Designed Its Policies to Help the Right Wing. Craig Timburg of the Washington Post: Facebook created 'Project P' -- for propaganda -- in the hectic weeks after the 2016 presidential election and quickly found dozens of pages that had peddled false news reports ahead of Donald Trump's surprise victory. Nearly all were based overseas, had financial motives and displayed a clear rightward bent. In a world of perfect neutrality..., the political tilt of the pages shouldn't have mattered. But in a videoconference between Facebook's Washington office and its Silicon Valley headquarters in December 2016, the company's most senior Republican, Joel Kaplan, voiced concerns that would become familiar to those within the company. 'We can't remove all of it because it will disproportionately affect conservatives,' said Kaplan, a former George W. Bush White House official and now the head of Facebook's Washington office.... [Thus,] a company led mainly by Democrats in the liberal bastion of Northern California repeatedly has tilted rightward to deliver policies, hiring decisions and public gestures sought by Republicans..., [ensuring] a platform that gives politicians license to lie and that remains awash in misinformation, vulnerable to a repeat of many of the problems that marred the 2016 presidential election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
Brad Reed of RawStory: "A man who killed nine people in a mass shooting in Germany published a racist manifesto in which he identified as an 'incel' and called for killing all non-whites in the country. Insider reports that 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen, whom police say went on a shooting rampage in the town of Hanhau on Wednesday night, published a 24-page manifesto on his personal website that outlined his racist beliefs.... [He] also accuses President Donald Trump of stealing his ideas." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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I'm bringing forward Akhilleus's comment from late yesterday because I'm so proud Akhilleus has nominated me to be conductor of the New York Phil. At least I think that's what he means. A-one and a-two:
By Akhilleus:
"It will be interesting to see if the MSM (not wanting to offend the Orange Menace and/or find their outlet subsequently cast into the trash by Fatty’s authoritarian storm troopers) inform the public that Richard Grennell, Fatty’s latest choice from the All You Can Sleaze Traitor buffet line, to serve as the national intelligence director, has exactly zero experience in intelligence. Zero. As in none.
"It’s like appointing a tone-deaf, rhythmically challenged, stunningly unmusical tweaker as music director and principle conductor of the New York Philharmonic. The difference being, if he fucks up Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, no one dies from a terrorist attack.
"He is, however, a classic Trump gangster who, as ambassador to Germany, began his stay there with a demand that that country do exactly as he told them, prompting Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy chairman of the Free Democratic Party, to call “...for Grenell to be expelled from Germany, stating, ‘Any U.S. diplomat who acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power must learn that our tolerance also knows its limits.’”
"Grennell is another in the loooong line of frighteningly unqualified Trumpy hacks placed in highly sensitive and vital national positions, whose single qualification for being there is his fealty to a criminally ignorant traitor."
Trump, so emboldened by his acquittal, proceeds to conduct the affairs (and perhaps other personal ones as well) of state exactly like the dictator he envisions he is; he even refers to himself at times in the third person. He's operating like a run-away train right now and learning of his antics which are deadly serious and extremely scary, we wonder who or what is going to stop this fool. But hold on! Just this morning came upon this gem:
Some Fox News people are defending Neil Cavuto from Fatty's attacks: Oh, stop my beating heart! Could it, would it, can we hope it will be the little Foxes who finally help bring down the boss man? that instead of all those tender grapes they start consuming a few sour ones to go along with their just deserts.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-cavuto-trump_n_5e4f5faac5b6a4525db8c5de
We wait in anticipation.
And while we wait I understand that you can now get tickets to the premier orchestral debut of one Marie Burns: The beautiful but tone-deaf, rhythmically challenged, stunningly unmusical tweaker. She is now the music director and principle conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Because of her limitations we are here to say, the difference between her possible fuck up of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, and you know who who sits in the oval office, IS–– no one dies from a terrorist attack. And may I add that this president, being tone deaf and loony can't begin in a million years to hold a candle or anything else up to Marie Burns––EVER!
Play on, Marie––play on!
Adam Serwer in The Atlantic: "The First Days of the Trump Regime"
"Similarly, many members of the Republican elite have transitioned seamlessly from attempting to restrain Trump’s authoritarian impulses to enabling them, all the while telling themselves they are acting in the best interests of democracy. This delusion is necessary, a version of the apocalyptic fantasy that conservative pundits have fed their audiences. In this self-justifying myth, only Trump stands between conservative Americans and a left-wing armageddon in which effete white liberals and the black and brown masses they control shut the right out of power forever."
These repugnant lemmings are terrified of losing that power. In addition to the all out corruption, cheating, suppression of votes, etc, the pure viciousness of their attacks on the rule of law, minorities, vulnerable groups and women shows their desperation. The question is are we more desperate to maintain a democracy or are they more desperate to retain power by any means necessary.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/trump-regime/606682/
PD,
Marie may not want to surrender the baton, despite unmusical tweaker credentials, until she gets through the Berlioz. And if Fatty happened to be in the audience, she may want to invite his treasonous ass up onstage for the fourth movement. Naturally, he'd think it was for him to receive the applause and adulation of the audience, with not the slightest inkling that this particular movement is the famous March to the Scaffold, in which a man sees himself being paraded to his death for his crimes. How perfect!
And, Marie, don't worry about lack of experience. Just do your best Leonard Bernstein impression: arms flailing frenetically, hippity-hopping on the podium, head shaking, facial expressions morphing from constipated concern to ecstatic, well, tweakerdom (check out this clip, at about 2:28, as the kettle drums go wild, he looks like he's in an aerobics class! Jeez, I miss Lenny...).
But it gets better (as they say on late-night infomercials). It appears that back during the impeachment proceedings of the previous R to undergo that constitutional trial, some wag at NBC used this movement as an accompaniment to news reports about Nixon's congressional agonies. Hahahaha. Apparently Rachel picked this up. That, of course, was back when network producers had balls (and a sense of humor). Too funny.
March to the scaffold, indeed. Maybe send this clip to douchebag Stone as he waits for his pardon. Another cheap crook. Fuckers.
So I see that the Trump Re-election Committee (aka the KGB) is already hard at work making sure their guy steals another election and subverts democracy.
Why, oh why, couldn't they have adopted the old Nixon name: Committee to Re-elect the President, pronounced CREEP?
How 'bout "Again, Stinking Shit Head Oaf Lifts Election": ASSHOLE.
Just a suggestion.
As @Anonymous lets on, I think we have to face a bitter and stark reality in this country: The GOP acquiescence isn't about "judges and taxes". Even knee-capping the entire intelligence community doesn't elicit a whisper, nary a whimper, from the "national security" party. Senator Burr, in all his supposed "respectability and professionalism" has officially shat in his legacy hat by withholding remarks by now.
After 3 years, I finally figured out the "Trump Derangement Syndrome" talking point. Took me long enough. Turns out it's just typical Trumpian projection, calling everyone else what he and all his cult are living beholden to. Say you are but what am I.
According to reporting (CNN), it was Devin "Moo" Nunes who sprinted to the White House to warn Dear Leader that the intelligence community was briefing the evil Democrats on their Russian reelection strategy. Nunes has sold his soul to the Trump crime family and seems to be aiming for a butler-ship or maybe a full-time shoe shiner in Trump Org. once voters toss his ass out of Congress and his fake cow farm fails. Nunes obsequiousness explains the return of Kash Patel to the DNI too. Idiocracy.
@safari: Yeah, to me the most mind-boggling sentence to emerge from today's news was from the Daily Beast's report on the Intel Committee hearing where the briefer told them Russians were messing with the 2020 election: "... Republicans didn’t understand why the Kremlin would try to boost Trump, since he had been so tough on Russia, in their view.” What? WHAT??? Where the fuck have they been? Didn't Fox "News" even mention that Trump believes Putin over his own intelligence agencies? Didn't they notice Trump wanted to veto sanctions on Russia, and in fact, Treasury has either neglected to impose some sanctions or been slo-o-o-ow to implement them? Didn't they know Trump has had a bunch of secret phone chats with Vlad? And, and and. Apparently, these dunderheads not only pretend Trump is "tough on Russia" but they have convinced themselves that it's actually true. This is a form of collective insanity.
Marie,
It's not insanity. It's just standard issue Republican lying. These assholes know that their Dear Leader's campaign chairman is Putin. They don't care. They're traitors. Anything to stay in power. It's not insanity.
Trump, the GOP, and the Big Bang
Marie made a point in a comment yesterday to the extent that things that would have been astonishing not very long ago, would have raised immediate red flags across the board, things like Trump inviting, accepting, then covering up help to get re-elected from a long-standing foe of the United States, or turning the Justice Department into his very own "collection agency" and hit squad, appointing startlingly unqualified hacks to run intelligence in this country, as long as he quashes any intelligence unhelpful to Trump, are now tossed off with a shrug, especially by Repubicans and their attack dogs in the right-wing media (and the pusillanimous both-siders in the MSM).
I've been thinking about the evolution of such a state for some time. Such an astounding turnaround is not without precedence. The history of ideas is full of examples of ways in which certain technological, social, or economic advances prompt a wholesale rethinking of how the world works and our place in it.
As clocks, and later watches, became more reliable, and innovations in time-keeping allowed for improved navigation, and with it, the explosive economic engine of trade, people began to see clockworks everywhere. The idea of a mechanistic universe governed by cogs and wheels and gears prevailed across a broad spectrum of society. It was a given. Later, the industrial revolution gave rise to the idea that those cogs were actually people.
This image lasted for a century or more after that revolution. Just think of Charlie Chaplin's LIttle Tramp trying to survive being swallowed up by giant gears in "Modern Times", or, not too long after, Lucille Ball's attempt to keep pace with the assembly line in a candy factory. No one had to explain the metaphor, everyone got it.
These images often take hold pretty quickly and soon can become widely known and almost universally accepted. The idea of the Big Bang had been around for several decades thanks to the work of cosmologist George Gamow (an immigrant from Ukraine--wonder if Trump would have had him investigated). But without hard evidence, it competed for attention with other theories such as the Steady State Universe.
Then, in 1965, that hard evidence appeared in the form of cosmic background radiation. Within a few years, all other theories were swept away. Even staunch believers in Steady State were on board.
By the time I was taking an astronomy class in college, less than ten years later, it was such a routine concept that I could make a joke to my roommate about sitting near the back of the Science Center auditorium so I could get out quickly in case of a big bang. I didn't have to explain it, not even to college sophomores. Not to anyone. So the idea that the universe had a beginning, something no one believed for the thousands of years humans had been considering such things, became a commonly accepted belief.
Just a few years ago (I think it was during the Bush Debacle), Paul Krugman posited the idea that the single biggest organizing principle behind Repubican shenanigans and electoral repression was that they were the only ones eligible to rule. Democrats were right out. This now seems completely obvious. But the evolution of that idea has gone from theoretical (the Powell Memo), through the Gingrich "Revolution", to the Bush-Cheney Debacle, and now the Trump-Barr-McConnell hardening and ripening of that theory.
In just a few years, Republicans and their allies in the media have gone from trying to pretend that their schemes were completely above board and in keeping with the rule of law to "Fuck that. I got a Article II sez I can do whatever the fuck I want". And the bobble heads now nod on cue. No one blanches. No one says "Umm...wait a minute. Aren't we supposed to at least pretend we give a shit?"
Nope. Theory has become verifiable fact. At least to the Party of Traitors. It's all out in the open now. They don't care who knows it. They believe we should all just accept the fact that, according to them, they are the only ones able to run things, and whatever they have to do, suborn perjury, accept help from foreign powers, flip justice on its head, appoint hacks to the federal courts, do whatever it takes to fill Donald Trump's pockets to keep him happy and them in power, it's all good. And we should all just shut up and take it.
But it's not all horrible (just mostly). Plenty of other ideas that were considered beyond the pale at one time are now accepted without a thought. One of the original theories behind the founding of the United States is the idea that "all men are created equal". That was purely theoretical for over 200 years (still is for many). But we don't have (actual) slaves anymore. We elected a black president. Granted there's an entire party hard at work every day to ensure that no one truly believes that equality for all is a good thing, but enough people have demonstrated their fealty to that idea for that to be a continuous uphill battle for the begrudgers.
So we can turn things around, but it won't be easy. Especially now that Trump and his minions have made racism, greed, hatred, and power-grubbing regular, public, and, to them, entirely acceptable spectacles. It didn't take more than a few years for Hitler to ram his ideas into place, and yes, I'm aware of the problems with comparing Trump to Hitler, but what I'm getting at is the way certain ideas can take off given the right conditions. Hitler relied heavily on lies and hatred. Republicans do as well. But Hitler lost.
Trump can too. And what a Big Bang that would be.
According some of the reporting one of the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee throwing a hissyfit at Pierson was the great responsible Republican, former CIA officer, Will Hurd.
Another scary thing about Grennell is that Parnas said Ric agreed to give Firtash's Fox News lawyers, Joe and Vic, a heads up if the DOJ finally got the OK to go pick up Firtash. Someone who is supposedly helping out Russian mobsters should not be in charge of US national intelligence.
Someone tweeted on Trump's account a genteel goodbye to Maguire. That's most likely because he participated in the coverup of the whistleblower's account. A nice attaboy, thanks for betraying your country with us. Maguire illegally withheld the complaint and he knows who else helped him try to bury it. But like all the rest of the accomplices he will probably say nothing publicly while trying to find some way to profit of his Trump connections.
Mea Maxima Culpa for recently suggesting despotus has not addressed the Coronavirus. Little known, Chief Chubby holds a PhD in Microbiology under Nobel Laureate Xi Jinping and predicts a ‘miraculous’ end to the epidemic once April’s warmer weather kicks-in. Members of the CDC, et. al. are not so certain. (Their “acting” replacements are being vetted by Drs. Javanka, Epidemiologists extraordinaire.)
“Trump Says Chinese President Xi Told Him That Heat Will Kill Coronavirus 'by April'” | Newsweek,
February 10, 2020
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-chinese-president-xi-told-him-coronavirus-will-killed-heat-april-1486571
“Trump Bashes Parasite, Brad Pitt, and the Oscars During Colorado Rally | Rolling Stone”
February 21, 2020
This address unnerved / disgusted / infuriated me to an unprecedented degree (perhaps just a cumulative effect?): his blatant and flippant racism and xenophobia cut extra deep. Although I had to “laugh” at his wistfulness re: Gone With The Wind. Oh, do bring back the days of Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen. Now *those* were colored girls who knew their roles, eh? As for dissing Pitt, he was humiliated by Brad’s acceptance speech and knows he never was - and never will be - as hot or as creative.
(an aside)
Terrance Malick’s 2011 “Tree of Life”. I know, I know: so many panned it. I immensely admire Malick’s vision. And Pitt’s traveled a long way from just-a-pretty-face to an actor with gravitas. Jessica Chastain is always compelling, stunning. The young boys are cinema-naturals. And if that don’t grab ya, Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography & Alexandre Desplat’s score just might.
(oh, right — that Rolling Stone piece):
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-bashes-academy-awards-parasite-brad-pitt-956257/