;)
The Commentariat -- February 25, 2019
Afternoon Update:
CBS/AP: "Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the United States had asked Moscow's advice in dealing with North Korea ahead of a summit between ... Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.... The Trump administration has not confirmed any outreach to Moscow over the negotiations with the Kim regime. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not discussed the summit in Hanoi with Donald Trump directly."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said Monday that a U.S. citizen held captive in Yemen for more than a year has been reunited with his family. The president announced on Twitter that Danny Burch 'has been recovered and reunited with his wife and children.'"
Casey Michel of ThinkProgress: "In a Monday morning appearance on Fox News, Donald Trump, Jr., insisted that the president's 2016 campaign team has been unfairly targeted by a 'Stalinist' special counsel Robert Mueller -- and that crimes committed before the election shouldn't count as 'actual crimes.'... It was unclear what crimes Trump Jr. might have been alluding to...." Mrs. McC: Because, like the Old Man, Junior just makes up stuff. Now would be a good time for Special Counsel Stalin to indict Junior.
John Wagner & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "A lawyer for the Trump Organization has asked the House Judiciary Committee to cease any investigations related to it, claiming that the panel's work has been tainted by its hiring of an outside lawyer whose firm has represented Trump's company. In a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Trump Organization lawyer Alan S. Futerfas objected to the committee's hiring of Berry H. Berke on the grounds that his law firm, Kramer Levin, has represented the Trump Organization on an array of issues. Futerfas raised similar concerns in a letter last week to House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), saying that his panel works closely with Nadler's committee. In a statement, Kramer Levin called the Trump Organization's letter to Nadler 'baseless.'.... In its statement, Kramer Levin said Berke was working for the Judiciary Committee in his personal capacity and that the firm would not receive any compensation or provide legal support."
A Note from Your Racist President*. Alex Marsall of the New York Times: "On Sunday night, Spike Lee won his first competitive Oscar, then made an acceptance speech that gained a standing ovation. But the events did not please at least one person apparently watching: President Trump. On Monday, he called Lee's speech a 'racist hit on your President.' Lee opened his speech, after winning best adapted screenplay for 'BlacKkKlansman,' by discussing slavery and his family's experiences of it. 'I give praise to our ancestors, who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of the native people,' he said. 'The 2020 presidential election is around the corner,' Lee said. 'Let's all mobilize. Let's all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.' Lee did not mention the president in his speech, but that call to action seems to have angered him. 'Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President,' Trump said in a tweet in the early hours of Monday morning.' The president's policies had 'done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts, etc.) than almost any other Pres!' the president added." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yes, I too recall when Trump freed the slaves & jammed the Civil Rights Act through Congress.
Beth Reinhard & Alice Crites of the Washington Post: "A staffer on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign says he kissed her without her consent at a small gathering of supporters before a Florida rally, an interaction that she alleges in a new lawsuit still causes her anguish. In interviews with The Washington Post, and in the lawsuit, Alva Johnson said Trump grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips as he exited an RV outside the rally in Tampa on Aug. 24, 2016. Johnson said she turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth, which she called 'super-creepy and inappropriate.'... In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed Johnson's allegation as 'absurd on its face.'" Mrs. McC: One would think there would be photos or videos. ...
... Ronan Farrow of the New Yorker: "The most legally significant aspect of Johnson's suit may ultimately be something the complaint does not explicitly address: the pervasive use of nondisclosure agreements by Trump during his campaign and in his Administration. Johnson's suit is at least the sixth legal case in which Trump campaign or Administration employees have defied their nondisclosure agreements."
Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "The president made clear to his outside legal team, which includes Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, that he didn't want his lawyers going anywhere -- even after the Mueller probe ends. The conversations served as a private admission that federal investigations bedeviling his first term in office will be haunting him for possibly years to come. The president broached the topic of keeping his team together starting late last year ... by discussing other legal woes he might face after the Special Counsel's Office submits its report to the Department of Justice. Trump's focus at the time? The Southern District of New York."
CREW Press Release: "There is compelling evidence that President Trump may have personally committed up to eight criminal campaign finance and related offenses while running for president and during his first year in office, according to a report released today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). In a new report, A Campaign to Defraud, CREW combs through the facts behind these apparent crimes, based on admissions by two of President Trump's likely co-conspirators and news reports, detailing how criminal law can already be applied to publicly known facts. Most of President Trump's potential violations are related to illegal campaign contributions meant to cover up evidence of Trump&'s affairs with two women, preventing voters from learning the truth about his behavior ahead of the election, though at least one continued well into his first year in office.... Trump's conduct ... may trigger criminal penalties."
Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "In a meeting with regional leaders, Vice President Pence on Monday announced minor new U.S. sanctions against loyalists of President Nicolás Maduro and called on other nations to follow the Trump administration's lead in freezing the assets of Venezuela's state oil giant PDVSA -- a move meant to further cut Maduro's international cash flow. Following a weekend that saw the Venezuela military and pro-government militias violently put down an opposition attempt to break Maduro's blockade of humanitarian aid, Pence arrived in Bogota to reiterate that Washington will not back away from diplomatic confrontation. His trip comes as some in the Venezuelan opposition have begun openly calling for the use of 'force' to oust Maduro's socialists from power."
*****
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials will issue a statement Monday saying that 'there is no factual basis' for President Trump's proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The joint statement, whose signatories include former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former defense secretary Chuck Hagel, will come a day before the House is expected to vote on a resolution blocking Trump's Feb. 15 declaration. The former officials' statement, which will be entered into the Congressional Record, is intended to support lawsuits and other actions challenging the national emergency proclamation and to force the administration to set forth the legal and factual basis for it." ...
... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Nearly two dozen former Republican members of Congress have penned an open letter to GOP lawmakers, urging them to reject ... Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. In the letter, the former members wrote that the president's move undermines the constitutional authority given to Congress to make federal appropriations, and argue that the emergency declaration would set a precedent for future presidents that could one day come back to bite them.... The House is set to vote on a joint resolution to block Trump's emergency declaration on Tuesday, a measure that is expected to pass. The resolution would then have to be taken up by the Senate, where it would need just a simple majority for approval, setting up the prospect of Trump vetoing the measure."
Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: "... Donald Trump spent his Sunday morning in his own unique way, tweeting away about his admiration for the worst people in the world. This time it was North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom Trump is scheduled to meet in Vietnam to discuss, as Trump put it, 'Denuclearization?' Boasting of his 'great relationship' with Kim, Trump called the brutal dictator an asset to his country with a potential for great things[.]... Conducting diplomacy with dictators is sometimes just part of the job, but Trump is unique in his insistence that the brutal dictators he's conducting diplomacy with are, in fact, good people.... Trump's admiration, he explained, stemmed from Kim's ability to consolidate power at such a young age -- something Kim was able to do through a campaign of assassinations and terror." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Josh Smith & Hyonhee Shin of Reuters: "North Korea's state media criticized U.S. Democrats and American intelligence officials on Sunday for 'chilling the atmosphere' ahead of leader Kim Jong Un's second summit with ... Donald Trump this week.... In some parts, the article appeared to echo Trump's own recent talking points, which have blamed former President Barack Obama for taking the two countries to the brink of war.... One U.S. government Korea analyst ... said the commentary appeared aimed at softening Trump up ahead of the summit." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Connor O'Brien of Politico: "... Donald Trump is preparing to ask Congress for yet another increase in defense spending in the coming weeks. But his plan would evade federal budget limits by stashing nearly a quarter of that money in an off-the-books account -- and both Democrats and Republicans say it won't fly in Congress. The White House plans to stuff as much as $174 billion of its $750 billion request for national defense for the coming fiscal year into a special war fund, according to reports, allowing the administration to maintain its long-sought military buildup without violating a 2011 law aimed at reining in the deficit. The gimmick is especially striking given that Trump budget chief Mick Mulvaney once fought to limit the very same war account, known as the Overseas Contingency Operations fund." Mrs. McC: Guess we'll have to have a war against Mexico, so Trump can further fund wall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
"We Shall Fight on the Beaches...." Quint Forgey of Politico: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday threatened to call Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill and subpoena his investigative findings if Attorney General William Barr does not make public the special counsel's highly anticipated report. 'We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary,' Schiff told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC's 'This Week.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Zachary Warmbrodt of Politico: "House Democrats are planning to cross one of ... Donald Trump's red lines: investigating his personal finances.... Democrats are launching an investigation to discover why Deutsche Bank was willing to lend the Trump Organization money when other banks wouldn't and whether Russia was involved. The German bank, which has been under scrutiny for its role in Russian money laundering, lent Trump hundreds of millions of dollars over the years for his property development ventures. The House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees have been staffing up for their probes into the bank and Trump's Russia ties."
Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "Asked on Face the Nation about the possibility of criminal wrongdoing in Trump's business dealings and by his inaugural committee, the Missouri Republican [Sen. Roy Blunt, chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee] suggested that the Senate should steer clear of such matters because investigations should not be overly broad.... Blunt has not always felt this way. In 1998, then-Rep. Blunt voted for four articles of impeachment against then-President Bill Clinton (D) -- including two articles that did not even garner a majority in the Republican-controlled House. Each of the charges stemmed from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report on Clinton's extramarital affair with an intern, even though Starr had been appointed to investigate a completely unrelated Arkansas land deal called Whitewater." --s
"Eight Days in May." Jeff Toobin, in the New Yorker, writes a brief review of Andrew McCabe's book The Threat. "... anyone who has followed Trump will recognize the accuracy of the portrayal of him in 'The Threat.' And Trump's disrespect for the norms of American democracy extends well beyond his personal dishonesty and pettiness. It can be seen at the level of policy, too, and his transgressions in that realm are now threatening the constitutional order." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
As Cohen reportedly talks to investigators about insurance claims the Trump Org has filed over the years, it is worth revisiting this October 2016 story about a $17 million dollar claim for hurricane damage a[t] Mar-a-Lago that no one remembers happening[.] -- Susan Hennessey, in a tweet
Liz Stark & Kate Sullivan of CNN: "... Donald Trump announced on Sunday he will be delaying US tariffs on China and will be planning a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago to finalize the trade agreement. 'As a result of these ... very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!' Trump posted in two tweets. The President cited 'substantial progress' on trade talks with China, pointing to 'important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues.'"
Jonathan Swan of Axios claims that Trump's hawkishness on Venezuela was spurred by a chance Oval Office meeting with Lilian Tintori, the wife of Venezuelan political prisoner Leopoldo Lopez. Mrs. McC: I don't believe it; it's either Trump's dreams of stealing Venezuela's oil (most likely) or of overturning a socialist dictator. Of course, it probably helped that Tintori is quite beautiful; if Trump finds out Lopez is equally handsome, he could change his mind.
Julia Gavarrete & Heather Geis of The Intercept: "Sixteen-year-old Jorge Alexander Ruiz took off alone in the middle of the night from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to escape pressure to join a gang.... Jorge grew up in a neighborhood that has long served as a drug dealing hub.... Some 2,700 miles from home, Jorge was optimistic about his asylum case and relieved to have left both the gang threats in Honduras and the dangers of the migrant trail behind him.... A week after we spoke outside the shelter, Jorge's body was found with 37 stab wounds and strangle marks around his neck, dumped alongside a second victim, a 17-year-old from Honduras. A third Honduran teenager managed to escape alive.... The murders of the two teenagers in Tijuana cast into stark relief the dangers that migrants and refugees -- especially unaccompanied minors -- may face while stranded at the border." --s
Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "The Trump administration announced ... plans to kill a deal to provide $929 million for California's effort to build the country's first high-speed rail train. But while President Donald Trump now mocks high-speed rail on Twitter, calling it 'a "green" disaster...,' the president's move is pure hypocrisy. In a March 2016 presidential campaign rally, Trump explained that the U.S. needs to invest heavily in its train system to compete with the vastly superior infrastructure in Asia. 'You go to China, they have trains that go 300 miles an hour. We have trains that go "chug, chug, chug." And then they have to stop because the tracks split, right?' said Trump. '... They have trains, Japan, China, a lot of countries ... We are like third world.'" --s
Daniel Politi of Slate: President Trump announced Sunday morning that "his administration will be hosting 'one of the biggest gatherings' in the history of the nation's capital to celebrate the Fourth of July. HOLD THE DATE!' Trump wrote in a tweet. 'It will be called "A Salute To America" and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!'... Trump sure sounds like he wants to turn the Independence Day celebration into one of his typical rallies.... Several questions remained unanswered, including whether this would run in parallel to Washington's annually televised concert and fireworks near the Capitol.'" Mrs. McC: Trump still seems unaware that there is already a spectacular Independence Day celebration in Washington, D.C. Apparently the absence of He Trvmpvs makes the event less spectacular. Since the show always is televised, it's surprising Trump doesn't know about it; then again, it's televised nationally on PBS, & I'm guessing Trump doesn't have a PBS mug & shopping bag or a boxed set of Peter, Paul & Mary DVDs.
Today's Horror Story. Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "The Russian company that gave the world the iconic AK-47 assault rifle has unveiled a suicide drone that may similarly revolutionize war by making sophisticated drone warfare technology widely and cheaply available. The Kalashnikov Group put a model of its miniature exploding drone on display this week at a major defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, where the world's arms companies gather every two years to show off and market their latest wares.... The KUB is four feet wide, can fly for 30 minutes at a speed of 80 mph and carries six pounds of explosives, the news release says. That makes it roughly the size of a coffee table that can be guided to explode on a target 40 miles away -- the equivalent of a 'small, slow and presumably inexpensive cruise missile,' according to a report by the National Interest website."
Gregory Korte of USA Today: "A federal judge in Texas has declared that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional, ruling that 'the time has passed' for a debate on whether women belong in the military. The decision deals the biggest legal blow to the Selective Service System since the Supreme Court upheld the draft in 1981. In Rostker v. Goldberg, the court ruled that the male-only draft was 'fully justified' because women were ineligible for combat roles. But U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late Friday that while historical restrictions on women serving in combat 'may have justified past discrimination,' men and women are now equally able to fight. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted all restrictions for women in military service. The case was brought by the National Coalition For Men, a men's rights group, and two men who argued the all-male draft was unfair." Miller is a Bush II appointee. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Um, did this fairly right-wing organization accidentally strike a blow for women's rights?
They Really Don't Care. Do You? Emily Rueb of the New York Times: "The March issue of the National Rifle Association's monthly publication The American Rifleman features a photo of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona who was shot in the head during a constituent meeting in 2011. The photo, taken last month at an announcement about proposed legislation to expand background checks for firearms purchases, carried the headline in large letters: 'Target Practice.' The article, written by Chris W. Cox, the executive director of the N.R.A.'s lobbying arm, described Ms. Pelosi as an 'arch anti-gunner,' and said the proposal was being 'deceptively marketed to the public' and was 'a broadside against gun ownership in America.'... Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Fla..., said on Twitter the layout was an 'incitement of violence.' Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat of California, said on Twitter that the layout was 'a call for violence' and that the N.R.A. 'should face legal consequences.'"
** Derek Thompson of the Atlantic on the culture of "workism," which is making its adherents miserable. "In 1980, the highest-earning men actually worked fewer hours per week than middle-class and low-income men, according to a survey by the Minneapolis Fed. But that's changed. By 2005, the richest 10 percent of married men had the longest average workweek. In that same time, college-educated men reduced their leisure time more than any other group. Today, it is fair to say that elite American men have transformed themselves into the world's premier workaholics, toiling longer hours than both poorer men in the U.S. and rich men in similarly rich countries.... In the past century, the American conception of work has shifted from jobs to careers to callings -- from necessity to status to meaning."
Presidential Election. Sam Brasch of NPR: "An attempt at an Electoral College workaround is gaining momentum in the Mountain West. Democrats in Colorado and New Mexico are pushing ahead with legislation to pledge their 14 collective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote -- no matter who wins each state. The plan only goes into effect if the law passes in states representing an electoral majority. That threshold is 270 votes, which is the same number needed to win the presidency. Democrats have been stung by the fact that President Trump's victory marked the second time in five cycles that a Democrat lost the presidency while winning the popular vote. 2016 was the most egregious example, with Hillary Clinton winning 3 million more votes than Donald Trump, but losing the election. It was the largest margin ever for someone who won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College.... So far, 11 states -- including New York, California and New Jersey -- have joined the effort along with the District of Columbia, putting the effort 98 votes short of its goal."
Caitlin Flanagan of the Atlantic defends Dianne Feinstein, who told off a group of young people & children when they came to lobby her for the Green New Deal in a Sister-Mary-Elephant-meets-Cheech-&-Chong moment.
Jason Horowitz & Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "Pope Francis ended a landmark Vatican meeting on clerical sexual abuse with an appeal 'for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors,' which he compared to human sacrifice, but his speech did not offer concrete policy remedies demanded by many of the faithful.... Faithful Catholics -- especially those in the United States and other countries that have grappled with the problem for years -- had demanded more than homilies: They wanted action that would hold their leaders accountable, once and for all. They did not get it from the pope's speech. But church officials have hinted that concrete policy changes were on the horizon, especially on issues of transparency and bishop accountability that were discussed during the meeting."
Beyond the Beltway
Maryland. Danielle Mclean of ThinkProgress: "Baltimore was rocked this week by one of its most violent days in history, after a series of shootings that left the city searching for solutions to its deadly epidemic of gun violence. News reports said a total of 14 people were shot in one daylong stretch that was not even 24 hours long.... Homicides -- most of which are gun-related in Baltimore -- are reported to be up 10 percent year-over-year in the city.... Gun violence has become a national emergency in the US as over 350,000 people have been killed by firearms over the past decade. This includes nearly 40,000 people who were killed by guns in 2017 alone, CNN reported. That marked the deadliest year for gun violence in recorded history." --s
Virginia. Mihir Zaveri of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax of Virginia, who has been accused of sexual assault by two women and is facing calls to resign, compared himself to lynching victims in an unplanned speech before the State Senate on Sunday and said he was standing firm in the truth. Mr. Fairfax, who is black, spoke for about five minutes from the dais on the last day of the session, and referred to bills previously passed by state legislators that expressed regret over past lynchings in Virginia." ...
... "Come on, Dude." Sophie Weiner of Splinter: "It's pretty disgusting that Fairfax would imply these allegations are part of a racist plot to unseat him, and reference the history of lynchings, considering both of his accusers are women of color." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As I recall, at least two of the women who accused Clarence High-Tech-Lynching Thomas of harassment were women of color. But the old Senate white guys fell for Thomas's umbrage, & the country has been paying for it ever since. P.S. I never got the "high-tech" part of it. What's high-tech about testifying before a Congressional committee? Cameras in the committee room maybe?
Way Beyond
Israel. David Halbfinger of the New York Times: Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu, his future imperiled by prosecutors and political challengers alike, has enraged Jewish leaders in Israel and the United States by striking a bargain with a racist anti-Arab party whose ideology was likened by one influential rabbi to Nazism. Even pro-Israel groups in the United States that prefer to air their disagreements quietly have issued public condemnations. The furor has aggravated already fraught relations between Israel and Jews in the diaspora, undercutting American and European Jewry's efforts to fight anti-Semitism at a time when it is on the rise on both continents."
Brazil. Jaiana Cesar, et al. of The Intercept: "The repression of labor at Fiat Brazil [in the late 1970s] came thanks to coordination between the security apparatuses of the Brazilian government and a massive clandestine espionage network operated within the company itself.... Fiat's internal espionage division employed dozens of civilian and military spies who investigated the lives of workers and helped the abusive dictatorship put agitating workers behind bars.... While Fiat's network of spies operated far beyond the factory walls, closely tracking workers' activities, the company also invited government repression onto its premises.... Fiat's spying operation in Brazil had a parallel back home in Italy. Fiat engaged in the same pattern of espionage in Italy during the 'Years of Lead,' a time of Italian political and social turmoil in the that ran from the late 1960s through the late 1980s[.]" --s
Share Article
Reader Comments (11)
I was thirteen when my father handed me the little 20 gauge and said "don't shoot your dog I will be waiting in car." I am 90 and this is still one of the biggest days of my life. I have always liked guns but; there is no reason for or function of assault rifles that justifies their ownership. To defend your home with a weapon that will kill your neighbor nest door or your children in the next room is insane.
The AR-15 and its ilk are for killing, planning to kill or pretending to kill. Those who own these weapons of war can tell you anything but be assured that they are pretending to kill whoever they fantasize. Some kill commie invaders, some kill survivors of a dystopia, some kill those other people. Sometimes these pretend weapons get out of the hands of the little boy pretenders and into the hands of the seriously disturbed and we have again a tragedy.
There are millions of these weapons of pretend in the Country.
Freeze them in place with a huge fine and confiscation if found moving from home, shooting range, or business.
With so many news threads to try to cover these past weeks, I am still amazed at how little MSM is focusing on our presidunce*s next bromance visit with Dear Leader Kim.
The first summit consumed hours of news analysis, for good reason. Given the high stakes, it's incredible that this time around it's a page 6 event. After last event's meaningless "letter" that engaged no one to anything, everyone knows this time around will be more pomp and little very little circumstance. Agent Orange has finally, through his two years of playing president on Twitter, made himself fully transparent on the world stage: not even the clothes-less emperor, but an empty vessel to fill with fake praise and yank around at others' will.
And on another stage of plays other than the one Trump has trumped up in N.K. with his comrade in arms there was the Oscar ceremony which I found lackluster but with a bound and determined air to it. The fact that Glen Close did not receive a bloody Oscar––after ALL these years of stellar performances was simply shocking. Since I haven't seen "The Favorite" I had no idea who this actress was who DID receive the award and as good as she obviously was, to bypass Close once again made the whole award seem skewed.
The other award that was of interest to me was Best Picture going to Green Book. There has been some controversy around the portrayal of Don Shirley because the family of Shirley is upset by the bogus story and the actual portrayal of Don; yet none of this was mentioned last night. Here is a thorough and most interesting piece about it if anyone cares to read it. We do know that Spike Lee reacted quite negatively to the award. When you take on actual historical happenings along with the characters involved you best make it accurate.
https://shadowandact.com/the-real-donald-shirley-green-book-hollywood-swallowed-whole
This week is going to be a doozy with Cohen hearings and other hearings but I hope we don't take our eye off the two miserable miscreants, Bolton and Abrams, who are itching to invade Venezuela and continue to lie about what is going on there. Both these guys are dangerous and devious and it grieves me no end that they are in the positions they are in.
Here's my AR-15 analogy:
If selling a wedding cake to a same sex couple is participating
in the wedding,
Then why isn't selling guns to a mass murderer participating
in the murders?
@forrest morris: Sorry, but you're applying logic here, and making sense is not a component of right-wing ideology.
As one who grew up hunting with a double barrel shotgun (two rounds before reloading), I learned early on that if you miss with the first, the second is dicey and the third hopeless. I fail to see the logic of allowing anyone, including (or especially?) police officers, to have a semiautomatic firearm or a manual (bolt, pump, lever, or barrel break) loader with a capacity of more than three rounds for sport or six for law enforcement. I fail to understand how banning all semiautomatics or magazine loaders interferes with the right to keep and bear arms. Aren't bazookas and machine guns already banned?
Forrest: when I was in high school, the answer to your analogy question was:
"Because there are no bones in ice cream."
That may still be correct.
In the early 1990s I was walking late at night on the perimeter of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village when I saw Spike Lee walking toward me. I think he was teaching at NYU at the time, so like me, he might have been getting out of a late class. I knew who he was & was a bit surprised when he smiled & said "hello" since, as those who have lived in Manhattan know, strangers don't often greet each other on the street, as is common elsewhere. I smiled & said "hello" back as we passed.
I hate to break it to Donald Trump, but Spike Lee did not leave me with the impression he was a racist, especially since I am as white as the snow swirling outside my window right now. He just seemed like a very pleasant guy walking along the street & demonstrating the kindness of strangers. Pretty damned normal. There is only one racist in this story, and that would be Donald Trump.
In answer to Whyte Owen - My father said that you needed two bullets when hunting. One was to shoot the animal and the second if you missed or wounded the animal; you had better be accurate with the second shot if it was a bear; and finally, if you couldn't accomplish that with two shots you had no business hunting. I have to admit hunting was not my idea of pleasure but I loved hiking and traipsing around in the woods in the off season.
Re: guns. I have written about this previously but will once again: My father, a dentist, was an avid hunter and fisherman. He taught my brother and me how to shoot ( he also taught us how to box). We feasted on quail, rabbit, deer, moose, pheasant. northern pike and other kinds of fish. After I saw the film, Bambi, I pleaded with my father never to kill deer and perhaps that was when I viewed this kind of killing differently. Down in our cellar was a locked case with all his prized guns. My brother took up these sports; I never did, but these kinds of gun advocates are very different from those that want guns for the myriad other reasons–-many negative. The NRA is corrupt and has been instrumental in the problem we have have had in this country re: guns––we know this, we have known this, but we are still dithering about gun control.
Jon Stewart was on Capitol hill today once again pleading for a permanent compensation fund for 9/11 first responders. When he first took this up on his program years ago he had a table full of first responders discussing their plight. Then, years later he had only one at the table because all the others that had been there were either too sick to attend or were dead. Today he is back at it and is furious at the log jab and moral laxity of Congress to get this passed.