;)
The Commentariat -- February 5, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "When President Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to Congress -- his first under divided government -- the left wing of the ascendant House Democrats will have a rare opportunity to confront him.... The new Democrats -- many of them women, and many of them people of color -- are planning to send their own pointed messages to the president with their choices of guests and attire. Many women will wear white -- the color of the women's suffrage movement -- to spotlight issues like reproductive rights and equal pay. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic leader, will be handing out white lapel ribbons to the men.... Members of Congress each get one ticket to bring a guest to the State of the Union address; sometimes they invite family members, but more often they use their tickets to make a point. Addressing gun violence is high on the agendas of several Democrats.... Mr. Trump's immigration policy is also top of mind for Democrats this year. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democrat of New Jersey, is bringing Victorina Morales, an undocumented immigrant who spoke out about her work at Mr. Trump's golf resort in Bedminster, N.J." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, but it isn't exactly "left wing" to return to Eisenhower-era policies.
So Much for Bipartisanship. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) traded barbs on Tuesday ahead of the president's second State of the Union address. Trump knocked the Senate Democratic leader for criticizing his upcoming speech, which the president will deliver to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. 'I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn't seen it yet. He's just upset that he didn't win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would. Too bad we weren't given more credit for the Senate win by the media!' Trump said in a tweet. Trump's tweet came after Schumer used back-to-back floor speeches this week to knock the administration, saying it's mired in 'chaos.' Schumer, during a Senate floor speech on Tuesday, predicted Trump would use his prime time remarks to make policy promises that he won't keep."
John Cassidy of the New Yorker makes a compelling argument that Trump started out as a weak president*, & has only grown weaker. "The White House's victories, such as the passage of a tax-reform bill, 'usually involve Trump having adopted the position of the congressional Republicans, not the other way around,' [scholar Matthew] Glassman noted." ...
... Case in Point. Haley Byrd of CNN: "As ... Donald Trump prepares to once again make a bipartisan appeal in his State of the Union address Tuesday, members of Congress are linking arms on one of his favorite issues: trade. Yet they're working against the president, seeking to limit his authority to impose tariffs unilaterally on national security grounds, as he did last year on steel and aluminum, sparking a dispute with the European Union and alienating close partners such as Canada and Mexico. Multiple Republican lawmakers are working alongside Democrats to put forward legislation curtailing Trump's existing national security tariff powers."
"The Plan to Keep Trump's Taxes Hidden." Nancy Cook of Politico: "The new House Democratic majority is widely expected to test one of Donald Trump's ultimate red lines by demanding the president's personal tax returns -- and the Trump administration has been gearing up for months to fight back hard. Trump's Treasury Department is readying plans to drag the expected Democratic request for Trump's past tax filings, which he has closely guarded, into a quagmire of arcane legal arguments. At the same time, officials intend to publicly cast the request as a nakedly partisan exercise. The two-pronged scheme was developed by a handful of top political appointees and lawyers inside the department -- with the ultimate goal of keeping the president's past returns private.... But whatever the members or staffers find must remain private -- and that's where the request of Trump's returns becomes potentially tricky for Democrats. A related section within the Internal Revenue Code says any federal employee who leaks tax information is committing a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's ridiculous. The public has a right to know if (ha ha) Trump lied about his assets, liabilities & tax avoidance schemes. His taxes should be released, in full, to the public, so tax experts can go at them & help Congress and the public understand what's behind the numbers.
The Lie Heard 'Round the World. Azeen Ghorayshi, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "BuzzFeed News is today publishing a cache of internal Trump Organization documents that lay bare the secret negotiations [re: a Trump Moscow tower] that continued long after [Michael] Cohen claimed the deal had been abandoned. The documents, many of which have been exclusively obtained by BuzzFeed News, reveal that -- despite Trump's claim that the development was never more than a passing notion -- the effort to get the tower built was long-running, detail-oriented and directly entwined with the ups and downs of his campaign. As Trump went from rally to rally, vociferously denying any dealings in Russia, his representatives, Michael Cohen and his associate Felix Sater, worked with Trump Organization lawyers and even Ivanka Trump to push forward negotiations to build a 100-story edifice just miles from the Kremlin. The fixers believed they needed Putin's support to pull off the lucrative deal, and they planned to use Trump's public praise for him to help secure it. At the same time, they plotted to persuade Putin to openly declare his support for Trump's candidacy. 'If he says it we own this election,' Sater wrote to Cohen."
Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam remained in power Monday but is having a difficult time finding allies, begging his Cabinet members to give him the chance to prove he was not the person pictured in a racist photo that surfaced Friday. Northam oversaw a regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting Monday morning that a source inside the meeting described as 'solemn.' According to that source, the governor specifically said that if he resigns, he would be resigning as a 'racist for life,' and that the only way he can clear his name is to stay in office and convince people that he is not in that photo and that the photo does not represent who he is."
*****
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Facing growing political head winds, President Trump on Tuesday will try to convince the nation that his presidency remains strong and viable in a State of the Union address that aides described as a sincere appeal to broaden his governing coalition. But Trump is also expected to reaffirm his demand for Congress to support his hard-line immigration agenda and offer a robust defense of foreign policy initiatives that have engendered fierce criticism from Democrats who have asserted newfound power to try to blunt his agenda. The dynamic suggests that any attempt from the usually truculent president to proffer a nod to bipartisanship and cooperation during his prime-time remarks is almost certain to be short-lived and viewed as duplicitous by his critics." Mrs. McC: By his critics? One hardly needs to be a critic to notice Trump is duplicitous. ...
... OR, as the headline writer at New York's "Daily Intelligencer" put it, "The theme of Trump's State of the Union: Republicans and Democrats should come together ... to give me my wall." No link.
Matt Stevens & Mihir Zaveri of the New York Times report the list of Trump's guests for the SOTU. One is "Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Wilmington, Del., who ... has 'been bullied in school due to his last name,' the White House's announcement said. (He is not related to the president.)... Last year, Mrs. Trump -- who has said she is the 'most bullied person' in the world -- introduced her 'Be Best' public awareness campaign, which seeks to teach children to be kind." Mrs. McC: This is part of the "poor, pitiful (in this case, fake) billionaire" syndrome; see also poor, pitiful Howard Schultz, who has been subjected to "an assault" because he's thinking of running an independent presidential campaign that would very likely give Trump a second term. Story linked below. ...
... Sophie Weiner of Splinter: "... everyone is embarrassed by things about themselves when they're in sixth grade. It's normal and totally understandable. What's not normal? Going to the State of the Union as 'the kid bullied because he has the same last name as the president.' Joshua, here's some advice, from one person with an easily ridiculed name to another: in order to transcend it, you gotta own it. Getting invited to the State of the Union as 'that bullied kid' is NOT gonna make things easier for you with the kids at school. If your name wasn't already inextricably linked to the president's, it is now." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: A normal president would invite a kid to the SOTU who had been bullied because s/he was a member of a minority, say, a Muslim or a transgender kid. However, this President* gets a kick out of bullying these very same groups. But bullied because the kid is a Trump? Oh, the humanity! ...
... Amanda Arnold of New York: "... Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Monday that she was bringing Ana Maria Archila [to the SOTU], one of the women who famously confronted Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator during Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings."
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Maggie Haberman & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "President Trump's inaugural committee was ordered on Monday to turn over documents about its donors, finances and activities to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the investigation into the committee's activities. Prosecutors are seeking documents related to all of the committee's donors and event attendees; any benefits handed out, including tickets and photo opportunities with the president; federal disclosure filings; vendors; contracts; and more, one of the people said.... In the subpoena, investigators also showed interest in whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee, as well as whether committee staff knew that such donations were illegal, asking for documents laying out legal requirements for donations. Federal law prohibits foreign contributions to federal campaigns, political action committees and inaugural funds." ...
... Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "... prosecutors have shown interest in investigating whether wealthy donors gave money in exchange for access into and influence within the Trump administration. That news came out of the the Southern District of New York's investigation of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation was made possible in no small part because of materials seized during April 2018 raids on Cohen's home, office and hotel room[.]... It had already been reported as far back as April that Mueller was investigating whether 'wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration.' Sources said at the time claimed that Mueller had a theory that 'straw donors' (particularly Americans) acted as 'a vessel through which they could pump money into the campaign and inauguration fund.'"
... Marcy Wheeler: "My guess is that SDNY is only now getting around to digging into what is surely a vast swamp of corruption because Mueller asked them to wait until his inauguration related equities were done. Which may be consistent with reports that his investigation is coming to a head, perhaps pending just the Mystery Appellant, Andrew Miller, and William Barr's confirmation. Which may mean that after the results in Mueller's Russian investigation soften Trump up, this investigation will just be ripening, possibly even at a time where Trump can be indicted."
Emma Loop, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 received a series of suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter. Documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News show that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet military officer turned Washington lobbyist, deposited large, round-number amounts of cash in the months preceding and following the meeting, where a Russian lawyer offered senior Trump campaign officials dirt on Hillary Clinton."
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "A federal judge on Monday pushed back by a week Paul Manafort's sentencing date while she considers allegations that the former Trump campaign chairman lied to special counsel Robert Mueller's office and a grand jury in violation of the terms of his guilty plea.... Earlier Monday, [Judge Amy] Jackson held a closed-door hearing for 4½ hours with Manafort, his lawyers and Mueller's office, where she was set to go over the evidence that the special counsel has presented about Manafort's alleged violations of the guilty plea."
Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "The House intelligence committee is set to vote Wednesday to formally send the Justice Department transcripts of interviews from the panel's investigation into Russian election interference, a step that could help special counsel Robert Mueller charge some witnesses with lying to Congress.... A notice of a closed committee business meeting says the panel will 'take votes related to the transmission of certain committee transcripts' to the DOJ on Wednesday. The notice doesn't specify how many interviews that includes, but Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee's chairman, has said he wants to move as fast as possible to turn over to Mueller transcripts of the more than 50 witness interviews that the panel conducted during its investigation." Probably tops on the list are Donnie Junior & Jared Kushner, whom Democrats suspect lied to the committee.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post runs down a number of the contradictory remarks Trump made in his CBS interview, which aired Sunday. As Daniel Dale wrote (tweet below), interviewers would do well to slow down. Mrs. McC: That might help, but it might not. I've heard interviewers ask follow-up questions that highlight some contradiction, & Trump just completely changes the subject: "Why didn't you do your homework, Donnie?" "The dog ate it." "You don't have a dog." "I'm an underprivileged kid from Jamaica, Queens who doesn't even have a pet. You should be saying great things about me." An interviewer would have to go back & back to the initial question until Trump finally ripped the mike out of his lapel & trounced out in a huff. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: "In an interview with CBS News, the president said that he does not want his youngest son Barron to play youth football because 'I just don't like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football ― I mean, it's a dangerous sport....' [BUT]... As evidence of football's devastating effects on the human brain mounted -- and the NFL responded by implementing (demonstrably inadequate) rule changes to modestly reduce the risk of its athletes suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) -- the president argued that the game had grown insufficiently violent. 'Today, if you hit too hard, if they hit too hard, "15 yards, throw him out of the game,"' Trump groused in 2017. 'They had that last week, I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys, just really, beautiful tackle -- "Boom, 15 yards."... They're ruining the game ... they want to hit.' These remarks heavily implied that Trump sees the lives of (disproportionately African-American) NFL players as fundamentally less valuable than those of wealthy, white people like himself." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ahmed Aboulenein & John Davison of Reuters: "Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that ... Donald Trump did not ask Iraq's permission for U.S. troops stationed there to 'watch Iran.'... U.S. troops in Iraq are there as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of combating terrorism, Salih said, and that they should stick to that. Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran 'because Iran is a real problem,' according to a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday. 'Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues,' Salih said. 'The U.S. is a major power ... but do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michelle Goldberg: "The latest edition of 'Freedom in the World,' ... the pro-democracy nonprofit ... Freedom House's flagship report, has just been released. For the second year in a row, the United States had a score of 86, down from 94 in 2009.... America now falls below not just Canada and the Nordic countries, but also Greece, Latvia and Mauritius. 'The current overall U.S. score puts American democracy closer to struggling counterparts like Croatia than to traditional peers such as Germany or the United Kingdom,' the report said.... It usually takes more than two years for a democracy to collapse.... If Americans increasingly ignore Trump's words, foreign leaders don't. Authoritarianism is on the rise all over the globe -- according to the Freedom House report, this is the 13th consecutive year that global freedom has declined. Trump's presidency is a consequence of this trend, but it's also become an accelerant of it."
Victoria Guida: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met for dinner with ... Donald Trump on Monday evening, the first time the two men have spoken since Powell was sworn in as the central bank's chief last February. Powell, who has been the target of months of criticism from the president over the central bank's interest rate policy, stressed that the Fed's decisions on rates would remain nonpolitical, according to a statement from the Fed." ...
... Heather Long of the Washington Post: "After the central bank raised interest rates in December, Trump was so irate that he asked close advisers whether he could fire Powell. The Fed is supposed to be independent from politics, and it is hard to remove a Fed governor except for 'cause,' which has typically been interpreted by courts as egregious wrongdoing. Top White House officials have come out and said they do not believe the president has the authority to remove Powell, although the president never said he would not try to do it.... It is rare for a president to meet with the Fed chair, although not unprecedented. President Barack Obama met with then-Chair Janet L. Yellen in 2016, for example. But presidents are not supposed to dictate Fed policy.... Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker details his awkward encounter at the White House with President Ronald Reagan and his chief of staff Jim Baker.... Volcker recalls Baker saying, 'The president is ordering you not to raise interest rates before the election,' and Volcker 'walked out without saying a word.'... 'Paul Volcker is viewed as Moses of central banking for standing up to the president,' said Richard Fisher, the former head of the Dallas Fed."
All the Worst People. Victoria Guida & Ben White of Politico: "... Donald Trump is expected to tap Treasury Department official David Malpass as the U.S. pick to lead the World Bank, according to senior administration officials, a clear sign the administration wants to rein in the international financial institution. Malpass, Treasury's undersecretary for international affairs, has said global organizations like the World Bank 'have grown larger and more intrusive' and 'the challenge of refocusing them has become urgent and more difficult.' The institution aims to reduce global poverty by making loans, with a sizable portion flowing to China and India.... The U.S. has historically been allowed to choose the head of the World Bank, although that dynamic has more recently faced pushback from other nations. Nominating someone who has been so openly critical of the bank could intensify that resistance."
Andrew Kaczynski & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Donald Trump's pick to be United Nations ambassador once hosted a panel on unfounded conspiracy theories that Islamic fundamentalists are secretly trying to destroy America by changing the country's institutions and culture and imposing Sharia law. Heather Nauert, a former host for 'Fox and Friends' and the current spokeswoman for the State Department, pushed the theory in a 2009 Fox News hourlong special webcast titled 'Terror from Within' that is still available on the network's website. Nauert fielded input from anti-Muslim activists Frank Gaffney and Robert Spencer, as well as Canadian journalist Tarek Fatah, who is a prominent Muslim critic of aspects of Islam."
** Arming Our Enemies -- Thanks, Donald & Jared! Nima Elbagir, et al., in a CNN report: "Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States, a CNN investigation has found. The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of the country, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.... After CNN presented its findings, a US defense official confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.... Previous CNN investigations established that US-made weapons were used in a series of deadly Saudi coalition attacks that killed dozens of civilians, many of them children. The developments also come as Congress, outraged with Riyadh over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, considers whether to force an end to the Trump administration's support for the Saudi coalition, which relies on American weapons to conduct its war."
Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Many Senate Republicans are deeply opposed to ... Donald Trump declaring a national emergency to build his border wall, with enough resistance that the president might ultimately be forced to veto a measure intended to block him. Interviews with a dozen GOP senators on Monday revealed broad efforts to wave Trump from doing an end run around Congress, part of an effort to avoid a politically perilous floor vote that could place them at odds with the president."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Democrats blocked abortion-related legislation on Monday night in the wake of a political firestorm sparked by a Virginia abortion-rights bill last week. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) tried to pass legislation that penalizes doctors who fail to 'exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.' But Sasse was blocked by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who argued that U.S. laws already prohibit infanticide and warned that Republicans were misrepresenting the [Virginia] bill.... Sasse's attempted to pass the legislation comes after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) provoked outrage among anti-abortion groups, GOP lawmakers and the White House over his comments about a bill that would have made it easier for women to get third trimester abortions if their health was threatened by pregnancy."
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has agreed to testify before a key House panel after weeks of contentious negotiations with Democrats. Nielsen will appear before the House Homeland Security Committee on March 6.... The agreement comes after Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the committee, threatened last week to issue a subpoena to compel Nielsen to testify. Democrats said Nielsen was refusing to testify in front of the panel this month."
Presidential Race 2020
Mister Schultz's Etiquette Rule No. 1: [Howard Schultz] said the terms 'people of wealth' and 'people of means' are preferred to referring to people as 'billionaires.'
Like many a rube, I am so politically incorrect. Next some bumpkin will be calling a certain "person of wealth" an idiot. No, wait. Make that "total idiot." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
See also other suggestions: "wealth extractors," "money hoarders," "poverty profiteers." ...
... Shia Kapos of Politico: "Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Monday night said he will take three to four months before deciding whether he'll run for president in 2020 as an independent. 'I promise I would do nothing whatsoever to be a spoiler to re-elect Donald Trump. Nobody wants to see this president leave office more than me,' he said during a stop on his book tour in Chicago. He spoke during a Q&A with Chicago businesswoman and Starbucks Vice Chair Mellody Hobson, who compared the reports of the possibility of an independent run to 'dropping a bomb.'... Schultz said he expected push-back 'but not to the degree of an assault,' he told the crowd." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The story should be titled "What a Total Idiot Howard Schultz Is." That's apparent in just two comments cited above, tho there's more. First, there's the "everybody's picking on poor, pitiful, billionaire/'person-of-means' me." Then there's the empty assurance he won't be a spoiler. Really? How is that gonna work, Howard? Schultz gave no clue, no doubt because he has no clue. ...
... Schultz's Own Research Confirms He's a Spoiler. Jonathan Chait: "Change Research found Schultz's favorable rating among the public is 4 percent, with 40 percent viewing him unfavorably, and the rest not knowing who this person is.... Perhaps in an effort to push back against this [Mrs. McC: these] data, Schultz's team released very partial internal polling data. Somewhat suspiciously, the data did not show what information the respondents were given about Schultz, to possibly prompt them to support him. The bottom-line figures showed Schultz drawing a whopping 17 percent of the national vote in a three-way race with Trump and either Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. The same figures showed Trump beating both Democrats 33 to 32 percent. In other words, Schultz's own polling indicates he would lose badly, and would throw the race to Trump.... Fox News reports that Schultz 'told advisors that he was shocked by the stridency of the attacks made by Democrats,' a fact that, if true, would indicate an ignorance of the political system so proud it would be disqualifying." Mrs. McC: And we now know it's true because Schultz publicly expressed surprise at the "assault" on him. As Sen. Brown said....
... MEANWHILE. Ben White of Politico: "... polling suggests that when it comes to soaking the rich, the American public is increasingly on board. Surveys are showing overwhelming support for raising taxes on top earners, including a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released Monday that found 76 percent of registered voters believe the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. A recent Fox News survey showed that 70 percent of Americans favor raising taxes on those earning over $10 million -- including 54 percent of Republicans. The numbers suggest the political ground upon which the 2020 presidential campaign will be fought is shifting in dramatic ways, reflecting the rise in inequality in the United States and growing concerns in the electorate about the fairness of the American system." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Paul Krugman explains that "if there's a real opening for an independent, that candidate will look more like George Wallace than like Howard Schultz. Billionaires who despise the conventional parties should beware of what they wish for." That is, there is a viable call for racist, economic populist politicians, but there's little or no call for socially liberal, economic conservative politicians. ...
... Helaine Olen of the Washington Post: "There is increasing angst in the circles of the wealthy about more frequent calls from prominent Democratic politicians to raise taxes on the richest Americans.... Blame Donald Trump. Like no one else, Trump proves that the United States' 40-year infatuation with tax cuts and trickle-down economics was a sham. Instead of trusting the wealthiest that the money would flow down, the dollars, like heat in an apartment, always went to the top. Take the 2017 tax reform package. The wealthiest Americans were the recipients of almost all the large and permanent reductions, while the rest of us were left with mere scraps -- which will sunset at the end of 2025. The Trump administration promised the corporate tax cuts would trickle down in the form of salary increases.... No such luck.... In addition, Republicans weaponized the tax code, seeming to punish voters who disproportionately voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The ability to deduct state and local taxes on federal returns was capped at $10,000, something that impacted residents of high-cost metropolitan areas.... It's hard not to suspect future generations will look back at this period and wonder what took us so long to demand the Trumps of the world pay their fair share of the tax bill."
Beyond the Beltway
Jonathan Martin & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, abandoned by allies in the Democratic Party and besieged by demands that he resign, met with his cabinet Monday morning as state legislators returned to a Capitol thrown into chaos by the governor's insistence on staying in office despite revelations that a photograph showing people in blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes was displayed on his medical school yearbook page. But even after meeting Sunday night with a group of his African-American aides, most of whom told him the only way he could clear his name would be to quit, Mr. Northam was giving no indication that he intended to step down. As Mr. Northam dug in, his onetime allies in the state and national Democratic Party intensified their pleas that he quit, angry and embarrassed at the prospect of being saddled with a governor suddenly compromised by his past." .(Also linked yesterday.) ..
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Northam also must be "consulting" with Megyn Kelly. ...
... Oh, Great. Jonathan Martin: "Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia issued a statement Monday morning denying an unsubstantiated allegation of sexual assault that a right-wing media site published amid extraordinary political turmoil in the state that has raised the possibility of Mr. Fairfax becoming the next governor. In a statement issued at 2:55 a.m., aides to Mr. Fairfax -- a Democrat who has drawn national attention as Gov. Ralph Northam considers resigning over past racist behavior -- said the allegation was 'false' and that Mr. Fairfax had 'never assaulted anyone -- ever -- in any way, shape or form.' The aides said that Mr. Fairfax is considering 'appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Theresa Vargas of the Washington Post: "The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: 'UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.' The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it. In their response, Fairfax's staff members, pointed out that the woman first approached The Washington Post with the allegation shortly before he was inaugurated and The Post 'carefully investigated the claim for several months.' The woman approached The Post after Fairfax won election in November 2017 and before he was inaugurated in January 2018 inauguration, saying she felt like she had an obligation to speak out.... Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in [a] hotel room [in 2004] with no one else present. The Washington Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. The Post did not find 'significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations,' as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said.... The Washington Post did not run a story.&" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Alejandro de la Garza of Time: "In the midst of the ongoing controversy over a racist photograph on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page, a photograph of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) posing in front of a Confederate flag is making the rounds on social media.... The photograph of McConnell, which apparently shows the senator posing in front of a large Confederate flag, had previously surfaced in 2015, according to Snopes. The photo was allegedly taken at a Sons of Confederate Veterans event in the early '90s." Includes photo. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "In American politics, lawmakers can get a pass for almost anything short of open allegiance to racist ideologies or the explicit use of racist imagery. There is a logic to this dynamic, even as it produces absurd results, like forceful condemnations of racism from a Virginia Republican Party that fielded an unapologetic neo-Confederate for Senate just over three months ago or calls for Northam's resignation from a Republican National Committee that otherwise stands firmly behind President Trump.... If racism is principally a problem of power and resources -- of race hierarchy and the denial of life, liberty and opportunity to blacks and other nonwhites -- then our political culture ought to expand the offenses that earn the kinds of swift condemnation we've seen over the last few days. Voter suppression and the lawmakers who back it deserve the same contempt we save for open racial bigotry; officials behind policies rooted in prejudice, like the travel ban or child separation, ought to be forced from office.... We should care about racist imagery, but we should care even more about our still-segregated society."
New Jersey. Katherine Landergan of Politico: "Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday that will gradually raise New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 an hour for most workers by 2024, making it the fourth state to approve a policy that not long ago was considered a pipe dream in Democratic circles."
Way Beyond
Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "Seven European Union countries on Monday recognized Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, turning decisively against President Nicolás Maduro after he refused their demand to schedule a new presidential election. The countries -- Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden -- joined the United States, Canada, Australia and much of Latin America in withdrawing recognition of Mr. Maduro's government and acknowledging Mr. Guaidó, the opposition leader, as the interim president pending elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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I find to soooo heartening to continually read about how many Senate Republicans are just so hopping mad about the Baby King breaking precedent that they are just about to maybe really soon but for real this time break ranks and...do their job of checks and balances. You know, that thing that they haven't been able to muster enough gall to do for over two years now, as DD threw fits and kneecapped norms and openly denigrated everyone outside their Twilight Zone rabid base.
I'll believe it when I see it. They surely feel that unmerited pat on the back when journalists repeat ad naseum these flattering leaks of "rebellion" like any GOP representative hadn't already sold their spine to Drumpf's doctor for some limp-dick poison pills. As far as I'm concerned highlighting this pseudo-rebellion is actually just campaign contribution flak talk, so these assholes can go back home and stand behind Rump's "leadership" but pointing to all the articles about their supposed pushback that never managed to materialize.
WaPo's Nakamura modifies DiJiT with "truculent," which made my heart glad. I have not seen it applied to him before, and it is long overdue.
And there is such a long list of unused modifiers. I'm hoping that the next one out of the thesaurus is "froward," which is sadly underused these days.
'Something Wicked This Way Comes"–– Bradbury's novel title invaded my dreams last night and this morning couldn't shake it. A demented creature slithers his way into a town's culture, seduces the populace who place him in high authority. Once in that position he begins to destroy everything he had promised to improve.
Tonight we have the grand slam speech that belies that our state of the union is ship shape and cruising nicely over untroubled waters.
Yesterday one after another media voice–-political and otherwise–-called for Northam's resignation––many round table discussions on the despicable display of racism in the yearbook picture coupled with Northam's own bungling of a response. Listening to all this I felt a gnawing unease. It was as if the overt racism that is pervasive in this country had been reduced to a picture in a yearbook and a confession of a black=faced Moonwalk. It was as if suddenly it was on display in a way that shocked. I wondered, too, why there were so many silent voices when Donald Trump's pussy grabbing, McCain hero denouncing, scam operations, etc. were tolerated right at the beginning. This was the kind of person the Republicans wanted for their leader? Later when it was clear that Trump was indeed a racist–-something he would never admit to–he continued on as his sycophants sat still for all of it. But then this morning read what Jamelle Bouie had to say and he said exactly what I think:
" We should care about racist imagery, but we should care even more about our still-segregated society."
The Case of the Baffled Billionaire
Don't remember if that was a Hardy Boys mystery of maybe a Nancy Drew. I think Hardy Boys. I seem to recall it being right after the "The Strange Hair of Trumpty Dumpty". Oh, but wait, I read now that the subject of the Baffled Billionaire, he who wants to rule politics but is clueless about how it works, Howie Schultz, doesn't like that term billionaire. He likes "person of means". Or how about "mean person". Better?
Okay, okay. I'll be nice. Don't want to ASSAULT poor Howie. Those bill...I mean "mean persons" sure do have thin skin.
So how about Sultans of Scratch? Clam Collectors. Cabbage Coppers. Wizards of Wampum? Dukes of Ducats? Keepers of Many Multitudes of Dead Presidents?
Well, I guess I'll leave Joe and Frank and Nancy to figure out why Howie is so confused about something he's sure he needs to be in charge of.
I'll bet some significant simoleons they don't find out.
Last night PBS featured in their Independent Lens series a most interesting one on black memorabilia:
"So what DO we do with the racist imagery of the Good Old Days?
https://medium.com/@dhinckley/so-what-do-we-do-with-the-racist-imagery-of-the-good-old-days-72d50bdb4e9c
PD: Amen to that.
We will never be rid of our still-segregated society, though, until we also rid ourselves of the notion that only the targets of racism or bigotry should be offended by it. Racism should not offend only African Americans. Anti-Semitism should not offend only Jews. Hatred of Moslems should not offend only Moslems. These things should offend all of us in equal, extreme measure, and until they do we will keep electing Trumps and Kings to office and we will continue to have de facto segregation.
Northam, for instance, hangs on, I believe, because he thinks there's a sizable portion of the Virginia electorate that is not offended by his racism, who don't see it as disqualifying. He may be right, sad to say.
PD,
Something wicked has indeed come this way. If I recall the story, the evil carnival owner is finally defeated by love and happiness. Trump has banned both. Oh, unless you count the happiness of Christianist wingers giddy with the thought of their being able to force the rest of us to bow down to their rules. He's giving them a good time. But they'll get screwed too, just like everyone else who puts their trust in this carnival con man.
In the meantime, he's got his carny barkers running about pushing phony stories that reflect his wonderfulness (isn't there a bit about an evil house of mirrors in that story?).
This morning I heard the increasingly unctuous and repulsive Kellyanne Conway tear into an interview on NPR (talk about fast-talkers...sheesh!). Incredibly, she was trying to tout all of Trump's many bipartisan victories. The interviewer, astounded, asked which victories? "Well" sniffed Conway, "Democrats SHOULD have gone along and there'd be many".
When asked about the poor sixth grade Trump boy being used as a prop in a circus sideshow designed to direct the nation's attention to the horrible way Fatty has been abused and mistreated by those who don't feel compelled to strew rose petals in his path and fall down in grateful obeisance to his every lie, and when further queried about whether president* Fatty would, in fact, talk about his own bullying, Conway simply pretended not to hear the question, and instead brought up the fact that Trump has done the nation a service by using his platform to point out Democrat perfidy such as Richard Blumenthal's claim of serving in Vietnam, an incident that was put to bed well over a year ago. (Is this really all she's got? Bullshit from a year ago? That's what happens when your boss, for two whole years, spends six or seven hours of his eight hour workday jerking off.)
In fact, that episode is a perfect example of Trump using his Twitter perch to bully someone, and in this case, a person who actually did serve in uniform, unlike the Orange Monster. It not only involved bullying, but Fatty's trademark lying. Irony and fantasy mean nothing to these people. If they did, they'd pop out their own eyes with a runcible spoon.
The Wicked Thing will be up on his carnival podium tonight, weaving his lies and bellowing about how put upon he is and how much the country needs his wall to protect from brown criminals. There will be the usual promises of bipartisanship which will be stuffed under the mattress minutes after the bellowing ceases.
And the wickedness will go on.
For all you lovers of language: Meet the guardian of grammar who sees language the way an epicure sees food and wants to help you become a better writer. He, unfortunately, finds sloppiness everywhere he looks.
https://medium.com/@dhinckley/so-what-do-we-do-with-the-racist-imagery-of-the-good-old-days-72d50bdb4e9c
Patrick,
Unfortunately if "froward" were used to describe the Trump Monster, he'd take it as a compliment, thinking it a misspelling of "forward". Or perhaps he thinks that's how forward really is spelled.
More writers should consult Dr. Roget's work. One tires of "stupid" and "ignorant" as descriptions of Trump, however accurate. At least if we have to endure the Trumpian tirades, we might as well improve our vocabularies into the bargain.
Besides, as J.M. Barrie once opined, owning a thesaurus adds some mark of decency, noting that Peter Pan's nemesis, Captain Hook, was not "wholly evil" because he kept one in his cabin.
I'm guessing Trump does not.
Okay. Wholly evil, then.
Don't know how I should feel about Ralph and his disgusting photo. So many remarks have been made, of how, even if he did not participate and the photo is not him, he knew about the page in the yearbook. Still not sure what Michael Jackson had to do with it...and the fact that he remembered putting shoe polish on his cheeks... But I am coming down on the side of WAIT A MINUTE... Remember how Kirsten G dumped on Al Franken and everyone got self-righteous and said to throw the man out, and we did...? Steve King is still around. Trump is still around. Are they in any way lesser culprits than Gov. Ralph? Why are Democrats so willing to "do the right thing" that they kowtow to repignicans every time? Is it simply a coinkydink that the Lt. Gov. is getting heaped with slime by the same people who sat on the offending photo of blackface/KKK until they could pull off a one-two punch after the Gov. offended their delicate sensibilities about abortion? Even that was simply a misstatement-- NO ONE wants to kill babies after they are born, for whatever reason. A third trimester abortion is called a birth. I call it highly suspicious.
Also I am not convinced that the gov didn't know about the photo, and he certainly fabricated excuses-- remember we have a world-class liar in the Oval (sleeping or comatose) and his crap is excused every minute of every day, by repigs and the media. Ralph is simply less adept at it, awkward and scared now it has come to light, and as he was hardly a shining star to begin with, well...this is what we have.
Jeanne -- here's how I feel about Ralph:
- I like him (I live next door in MD)
- He's expendable
- VA is still purple but trending blue
- VA D's think that keeping Ralph gives VA GOP hypocrite leverage and endangers D opportunity to get a D legislature
- it is the VA D party's decision to make
- But the national D party also now sees him as a liability against the D brand
- He's expendable
- He is probably waiting for some dust to settle before leaving
- He's expendable
(ALSO - he is from Eastern Shore VA. If it is like the indigenous show counties across the bay and down to Norfolk, there are a lot of folks there, black and white, who have always impressed me as pretty plantation-y. But maybe that's just the manners.)
Let's see...it's about noon in DC. Is Egg-zecutive Time over yet?
Nah...
Still plenty of time to watch Faux and see what they want him to talk about tonight.
"Hold on...what did that cute blonde with the big tits say? 'Build.....the....' wait, wait....you're going too fast....build the....what? The ball? Oh, the wall. Yeah. Good idea. Lemme put that in the speech.
Okay, hold on, hold on....'Democrat Party lies'? Oh....that's a good one. Yeah...gotta put that one in. Wait. Lies about what? Shit. I missed it. Well, who cares. We'll put in 'Democrat......P....a....r...t....e....e lyes......about'........hmmm....Oh yeah, I know.....'TRUMP'!
Great! Well, that's my speech right there. Now, time for the Golf Channel, then five or six Quarter Pounders, then a nap, then see what's on Fox this afternoon. This is a hard job, bein' the king."
Patrick: I do understand that it is certainly up to the Ds in VA, and I have read that it does have a lot to do with trending blue in the lege (came closer--) and I have driven Eastern Shore VA many times in thirty years on our way to the Outer Banks from PA, and it IS certainly a different world from the power brokers' world west of there. But I am affronted by how easily we Dems do the "right thing" and then wonder why we are regarded as weak. Since that photo, he almost certainly has led a life that might be virtuous, and it's a shame, all of it. I'm sorry he is expendable. And I am not a POC, so my feelings are not to be paramount, but damn--
Well, well. No election fraud here, is there?
Seems that in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, home of a governor who thinks shielding kids from sub-zero temperatures is coddling the little losers, they had a recount of recent election results.
In that election, a Democrat, Jim Glenn, defeated a Republican, DJ Johnson, for a seat in the state house of representatives. The margin was one vote.
The Republican challenged the total and demanded a recount. The Republican controlled House thought this was a fine idea, Glenn being not just a Democrat, but black. Now if I had lost a race by one vote, I'd probably ask for a recount too. But then again, I'm a Democrat and I'd expect the recount to be fair. But that's not what happened here, because Republicans.
So a recount is done. Johnson and his lawyer, along with the Republican clerk overseeing the recount decided it would be a good idea to count previously rejected ballots in the recount, and surprise, surprise, it's now a tie.
One of the ballots had a questionable signature which is why it was rejected at first. The R clerk dismissed arguments that it be discounted again saying (with no supporting evidence) that that voter must have had "a bad day".
Isn't this exactly the sort of thing that R's scream about as election fraud? Aren't they always looking for ways to discount ballots cast for Democrats because of signature issues or other inconsistencies?
But IOKIYAR.
And even though Glenn's election was certified and he was sworn in and now sits on a number of committees, the Republican controlled house is going to make sure their guy gets another bite of the apple.
The hypocrisy never stops. The ratfucking never ends.
And kids should be forced to walk to school when it's 10 below zero. Sez the R governor who sits by the fire in his multi-million dollar mansion and has a nice warm limo to ferry him around.
Jeanne,
Regarding the Ralph Northam issue, I accept, as some are suggesting, that he doesn't have that same temperament he had as a young man. Okay, fine. But if so, then here's what he should have done.
He should have come out right away and admitted that yes, it was him (if it really is him in the picture, as it certainly seems) and then, after apologizing for such a stupid move, talked about the fact that (if true) he was a different person then and had learned a lot in the intervening years. People can change and he had done so. If he had specific examples to demonstrate this change, then would have been a good time to bring them to the fore.
Had he done that, he might not have survived, but at least he would have been able to take the mickey out of Republican attacks, and more importantly, wouldn't have looked like such a weasel.
But I think that Democrats need to do the right thing even if, or in spite of the fact that, Republicans almost never do. We have no moral leg to stand on in attacking such reprehensible thugs as Steve King or the Orange Monster for their racism, misogyny, and general bigotry, and their entire party that sides with them and backs them up, if we give a pass to our side. Yeah, the Al Franken thing was probably border line, it was kind of asshole of him and it didn't come across very well, but it in no way was comparable to things Trump and his dad have said and done or things Rape Boy Kavanaugh (allegedly) did (and you can delete the "allegedly" for my money).
Still and all, if we're going to be the good guys, which we are, for the most part, we have to walk the line. It's hard. That's why Republicans almost never do it, and when they do, it's because they've been forced to do it. Another reason Northam makes the party look bad if he has be forced, like just another scumbag Confederate loser, to do the right thing. They love nothing more than to be able to pull Democrats down into the same shithole they have occupied for decades.
@Akhilleus: I'm in complete agreement. I've always been uneasy about Al Franken's resignation, mostly because he was an outstanding senator: smart, articulate, & always did his homework. He was always going to have a tough row to hoe in the chamber of extraordinary gentlemen because of his background in off-color comedy, but it's sort of fair to ascribe the breast-grabbing (he didn't actually grab the woman's breasts) as part of the comedic "atmosphere" of a USO tour. Tasteful? Well, no, but I wouldn't have gone nuts over it had I been his "victim." (Like most women my age, I've experienced similar incidents & laughed them off, not because I had to but because I didn't take them as mean-spirited or exploitative.) As for the many tales of ass-grabbing, I won't be convinced he was "guilty" till Al says he was, and he's denied the stories. Al's fall makes me as wary of Kirsten Gillibrand as of Franken.
But if his comedy routines involved blackface in 1984, then lying about it, then lying about lying about it -- or at whatever point it is Northam was lying -- I'd draw the line. Everybody -- including Virginia's plantation-y guys -- knew in 1984 that blackface was disrespectful caricature, and they should have known it was hurtful.
There is a line, and it isn't well-defined. But daubing your face with Shinola -- even a little bit because it's hard to get off, according to Northam (how did he already know that shoe polish was hard to remove before he did his moonwalk?) -- and touting white supremacy (Steve King, this year!) clearly cross that fuzzy line.
I watched Northam's first mea culpa (before he decided the very next day he could never do such a thing), & it turned my stomach -- an old white guy with a Southern accent saying he was evah so sorry. We've seen that movie before. I don't care to see it again. And, as @Patrick writes, "he's expendable."
Virginia girl here. Northam has got to go. Maybe Fairfax too. Sorry guys, you’re just gonna have to eat this one. The stakes - both in VA, where we have our first real chance to get a Dem legislature in elections to be held this fall - and nationally are just too high. We don’t need to give the dickheads any excuse to vote for the other side.
Of course I won't be watching tonight but I still wonder how much snorting and sniffling will be going on. Perhaps someone will count.
Marie and Rockygirl,
Hear, hear.
The stakes ARE too high, especially in an atmosphere where a supposedly mainstream media outlet like the Times describes basic decency as "left-wing-ish" extremism. This, because they have been so easily manipulated by right-wing extremists and because they have developed a phobia of being labeled "LIBERAL", which to my mind means smart, decent, and supportive of the American Experiment and the Declaration's importuning of all Americans to honor the concept of equality.
Any movements in that direction are not just looked at askance by the right, but are considered downright evil.
And this brings us to the balancing point between moral fortitude and political pragmatism.
It is right and proper that we (Democrats, that is), uphold decency, ethical behavior, and morality (routinely ripped as "political correctness" by wingers and those in the media who fear their whips and scourges and blanch at the idea of countenancing behavior not supported by Confederates as worthy of their journalistic reputations), but we must also, because of the insidious and deleterious effects of winger influence, be politic about the way we present and support these actions.
Wingers don't have to be politic. They come at everything with a sledge hammer and a scythe and threaten everyone who refuses to bow to them with death and destruction.
They only win if we think they are capable of it.
They aren't. But we still need to be smart.
And morally upright.
We need to be decent Americans.
I'm a long time lover of editorial cartoons, or as I prefer to call them "graphic editorials". Once most large metro papers had a resident cartoonist on staff, but today they are an endangered species.
I'd hate to lose point on commentary like this:
https://www.gocomics.com/laloalcaraz/2019/01/29