;)
The Commentariat -- Ides of July 2016
Afternoon Update:
Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump named Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate on Friday, adding to the Republican ticket a traditional conservative who boasts strong credentials with the Christian right, and bringing an end to a vice-presidential selection process that seemed at risk of spinning out of control. Mr. Trump had said on Thursday night that he intended to delay the unveiling of his running mate out of respect for the attack in Nice, France.... On Friday, he proceeded with the announcement anyway. Instead of a showy rollout in a Manhattan hotel, as his campaign had planned, Mr. Trump named Mr. Pence to the Republican ticket by way of Twitter. He said they would hold their first joint event on Saturday morning." -- CW ...
... OR, as Gail Collins put it, "Veep by Tweet": "... this is an excellent vision of what America would be like with Donald in the White House. There's a terrible hurricane. Trump Cabinet members offer several conflicting proposals. President calls various cable TV stations making colorful yet somehow oblique assurances. Rumors abound. Everybody flies to New Orleans. Where they are informed the hurricane was in Florida. Emergency meeting and then Donald Trump tweets out the National Guard." CW: I dunno. I think Gail's a little optimistic. I'm still expecting Trump to go on Hannity & claim Hillary hacked his Twitter account & he's really still trying to decide between Newt & Ivanka. ...
... ** OR, as Philip Bump of the Washington Post put it, "Donald Trump just turned a key moment into a complete mess (once again).... The announcement of a vice-presidential choice is a guaranteed moment of media attention, and so campaigns do their best to manage how the announcement is made.... Trump badly fumbled one of the first moments during which he was tasked with making an important, high-profile decision in the eyes of the American public." Read the whole post for the play-by-play, which is humorous only if you're sure this guy will never get near the Oval. -- CW ...
... Here's a highlight: "Scoop: @realDonaldTrump was so unsure about @mike_pence that around midnight last night [i.e., Thursday night] he asked top aides if he could get out of it" -- Dana Bash of CNN, in a tweet
... Here's the new Trump-Pence logo, which got the Friday afternoon Twitter response it deserves. If you're in the mood for clever frat-boy snark, you'll get a kick out of this Eric Levitz collection. I snickered. -- CW
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Chris Christie's tour of Donald Trump-related indignities ends with one final snub." -- CW ...
... Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "... Hillary Clinton's campaign said Friday that the selection of Pence shows that Trump has 'doubled down on some of his most disturbing beliefs by choosing an incredibly divisive and unpopular running mate known for supporting discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families." In particular, the Clinton camp highlighted Pence's conservative record on abortion issues as well as his support last year for a religious freedom law that critics said allowed discrimination against LGBT individuals. (Pence later amended the law after a national outcry.)" -- CW
*****
Alissa Rubin, et al., of the New York Times: "A Bastille Day fireworks celebration was shattered by death and mayhem on Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice when a large truck barreled for more than a mile through an enormous crowd of spectators, crushing and maiming dozens in what the president called a terrorist assault.... Officials and witnesses in Nice said at least 80 people, including children, were killed by the driver of the rampaging truck, who mowed them down on the sidewalk. He was shot to death by the police as officers scrambled to respond on what is France's most important annual holiday.... Municipal officials and police officers described the truck as full of weapons and grenades." -- CW ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments here. ...
... Reuters: "The gunman who killed at least 80 people when he drove a heavy truck into a crowd in Nice was a 31 year-old Franco-Tunisian born in Tunisia, a police source close to the investigation said. The man was not on the watch list of French intelligence services, but was known to police in connection with common law crimes such as theft and violence, the source said." -- CW ...
... Griff Witte of the Washington Post: The newspaper "Nice-Matin identified him as a local man from the Abattoirs area of the city, and said his home was being raided by police Friday morning. Although Nice-Matin published the suspected assailant's name, The Washington Post has been unable to confirm the name or other details of the attacker's identity. French news agencies said the man had not been known to intelligence agencies, but had a record for petty crime. If those reports prove accurate, they would be in line with the profile of the killers in previous major terrorist attacks in France and Belgium over the past two years.... There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Thursday night attack from the Islamic State or other extremist groups. But Islamic State supporters were celebrating the attack on social media." -- CW ...
... President Obama's statement is here. ...
... Steve M.: No, wingers, saying "radical Islam" does not deter terrorists. French prime minister Manuel Valls used them. French president Francois Hollande used them when he visited the White House. CW: Insulting the world's most popular religion doesn't "make us safer" or "show strength," either.
An American Hero for the Ages. Tim Egan: "No matter what you think of Obama the executive branch, it's hard to argue that Obama the human being has been anything less than a model of class and dignity. If, as was often said about black pioneers in sports, you had to be twice as good to succeed, Obama's personal behavior has set a standard few presidents have ever reached.... Historical comparisons will be kind to him." -- CW
Carol Morello & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry, carrying a new U.S. proposal for coordinated U.S.-Russia counterterrorism operations in Syria, met with President Vladimir Putin [in Moscow] Thursday night in the latest Obama administration effort to salvage a failing cease-fire and revive suspended peace negotiations in the Syrian civil war." -- CW
David Herszenhorn & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Congress limped out of town Thursday for a seven-week recess, leaving behind a trail of partisan fights, a failed bill to help fight the Zika virus, a stalemate on gun safety and a few mundane accomplishments that members hoped to sell as awesome to voters in an unsparing mood. The fierce partisanship was evident as some House Republicans filed a resolution to impeach the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, John A. Koskinen, while Hillary Clinton, over lunch at the Capitol with Senate Democrats, stressed that their hopes of reclaiming the majority were bound up with her aspirations of winning the White House." -- CW
Emmarie Huetteman of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to tackle the nation's opioid crisis, sending to the president's desk the most sweeping drug legislation in years in a rare instance of consensus in Congress. The measure, which passed, 92 to 2, would strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery efforts, largely by empowering medical professionals and law enforcement officials with more tools to help drug addicts. It would also expand access to a drug that emergency medical workers could use to help reverse overdoses and improve treatment for the incarcerated. Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, voted against the measure. President Obama is expected to sign the bill." -- CW
Rick Rojas & Samantha Schmidt of the New York Times: "To some Latino advocates..., the killings of Latinos in encounters with the police do not generate the same level of scrutiny, outrage or discourse as the fatal shootings of blacks.... In recent years, multiple cases have roiled Hispanics in different parts of the country." -- CW
David Caplan of ABC News: "The country's largest organization representing LGBT conservatives has slammed the GOP for its draft platform, which remains opposed to same-sex marriage and bathroom choice for transgender people. 'There's no way to sugarcoat this: I'm mad as hell -- and I know you are too,' Gregory T. Angelo, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote in a fundraising email sent Tuesday evening. "Moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT platform in the party's 162-year history.' He continued, 'Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of 'pray the gay away' -- it's all in there.'" -- CW
Ms. Ginsburg Regrets. Nolan McCaskill: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday acknowledged her critical comments on Donald Trump's presidential campaign were 'ill-advised,' expressing her regret in a statement that fell short of an apology. 'On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them,' she said.... 'Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect.'" -- CW ...
... Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: Ginsburg's statement was "issued Thursday by the court's public information office.... She did not offer an apology to Trump, who had demanded one." Thanks to Patrick for the link. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Donald the Magnanimous. Ben Kamisar of the Hill: Donald "Trump said on 'The Herman Cain Show' ... that Ginsburg's statement wasn't a true apology. 'It wasn't really an apology, but we have to move on anyway. It's just something that should not have taken place.... It's just a very disappointing moment for me because the Supreme Court is above that kind of rhetoric, those words.... But she acknowledged she made a mistake, and I'll accept that.'" -- CW ...
... Ezra Klein: "... there's something in the uproar -- and particularly in the calls for [Justice Ginsburg] to recuse herself from any cases concerning Trump -- that lays bare how bizarre our fetishization with 'objectivity' can get.... If she had decided against granting any major interviews this year, she would have been exactly as biased.... Insofar as we think Ginsburg didn't need to recuse herself from Trump-related cases a month ago, nothing has changed today.... Ginsburg's rooting interest in the outcome of the election led to her remarks; it wasn't created by her remarks." -- CW ...
... Paul Waldman: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg shouldn't have criticized Donald Trump. But his response was far more disturbing.... Donald Trump ... tells a justice that she's losing her mind and ought to quit.... I'm not worried about whether Trump will blithely toss around white supremacist photo collages when he's president. I'm a lot more worried about how he'll treat issues like the separation of powers and the scope of presidential authority." -- CW
** Josh Marshall of TPM: International peace and political stability are not the "natural state of things." "The kind of menace [Donald Trump] represents is amplified by the rise of complacent instability and reckless behavior we see today in Europe, in the conflagration in the Middle East and the still distant but rising specter of great power confrontation on the borders of Russia and in East Asia. The belief that we can roll the dice with no consequences, that we can provoke and act out with no consequences is a dangerous illusion." Thanks to LT for the link. -- CW ...
... ** Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "What all forms of fascism have in common is the glorification of the nation, and the exaggeration of its humiliations, with violence promised to its enemies, at home and abroad; the worship of power wherever it appears and whoever holds it; contempt for the rule of law and for reason; unashamed employment of repeated lies as a rhetorical strategy; and a promise of vengeance for those who feel themselves disempowered by history.... Those who think that the underlying institutions of American government are immunized against it fail to understand history. In every historical situation where a leader of Trump's kind comes to power, normal safeguards collapse. Ours are older and therefore stronger? Watching the rapid collapse of the Republican Party is not an encouraging rehearsal. Donald Trump has a chance to seize power." -- CW
Paul Krugman: "... while record stock prices do put the lie to claims that the Obama administration has been anti-business, they're not evidence of a healthy economy. If anything, they're a sign of an economy with too few opportunities for productive investment and too much monopoly power. So when you read headlines about stock prices, remember: What's good for the Dow isn't necessarily good for America, or vice versa." -- CW
Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "... scientists have found that across a majority of the Earth's land surface -- including some of its most important types of terrain and its most populous regions -- the abundance or overall number of animals and plants of different species has fallen below a 'safe' level identified by biologists. The reason is not exactly a surprise -- from grasslands to tropical forests, humans are using more and more land for agriculture, to live on, to and build roads and infrastructure upon....This doesn't always cause extinctions, but it does reduce the abundance of species and what researchers call the 'intactness' of ecosystems -- and when biodiversity levels fall too low, it can mean that larger ecosystems lose their resilience or even, at the extreme, cease to function." -- CW
** Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post (July 13) on why Big Pharma doesn't want you smoking weed: "Ashley and W. David Bradford, a daughter-father pair of researchers at the University of Georgia..., found that, in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law. The drops were quite significant.... The typical physician in a medical-marijuana state prescribed 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers in a given year.... Lead author Ashley Bradford wrote, 'The results suggest people are really using marijuana as medicine and not just using it for recreational purposes.'" -- CW
Christopher Ingraham: "More American voters than ever say they are not religious, making the religiously unaffiliated the nation's biggest voting bloc by faith for the first time in a presidential election year. This marks a dramatic shift from just eight years ago, when the non-religious were roundly outnumbered by Catholics, white mainline Protestants and white evangelical Protestants." -- CW
Presidential Race
Amy Chozick & Dalia Sussman of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton has emerged from the F.B.I. investigation into her email practices as secretary of state a wounded candidate with a large and growing majority of voters saying she cannot be trusted, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.... Mrs. Clinton's six-percentage-point lead over ... Donald J. Trump, in a CBS News poll last month has evaporated. The two candidates are now tied in a general election matchup, the new poll indicates, with each receiving the support of 40 percent of voters" -- CW ...
... Greg Sargent: "But as even some conservatives (who oppose Trump )quickly pointed out on twitter, the real story here is that even if Clinton is sinking, Trump is not rising.... There is still no evidence that Trump can expand his appeal in the manner he needs to." -- CW ...
... Steve M.: "I understand that the James Comey press conference left a lot of fence-sitters believing that Hillary Clinton absolutely can't be trusted.... But hasn't enough been said about Trump's sleazy practices to keep him permanently ahead of her on untrustworthiness? And why ... is the King of Bankruptcy way ahead on handling the economy?... So, for a lot of people, it doesn't matter that Trump is far more dishonest than Clinton. It doesn't matter how little harm her email server did, in contrast to how many lives Trump ruined with his scams. What matters is how much better his untruths make these people feel.... Clinton will need to be a candidate of hope, like her husband or like Obama. She can do traditional political hope -- this year, regrettably, she just hasn't." -- CW
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Thursday derided Donald Trump as a candidate who will be remembered for two things: 'You're fired' and Trump U. In his potential vice presidential audition alongside Hillary Clinton in Annandale, Virginia on Thursday, Kaine posed three questions to the crowd of supporters: He asked whether they want a 'you're fired' or 'you're hired' president, a 'trash talker' or a 'bridge builder,' and a 'me first' president or a 'kids and family first' president." -- CW ...
... Paul Schwartzman of the Washington Post: "As he emerges as Clinton's potential running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine's [Va.] tenure in public office -- lauded by Republicans and Democrats alike -- is evidence that nice guys can finish first in American politics. But ... in the most hard-bitten, vitriolic presidential campaign in generations, it is far from certain that Kaine is ferocious enough to combat Donald Trump..., who tramples all manner of political decorum. Speculation about a Clinton-Kaine ticket gained momentum Thursday when the senator gave a bilingual [English & Spanish] welcome to Clinton at a rally in Annandale, in Northern Virginia rally." -- CW
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump staved off a potentially embarrassing effort to throw the Republican National Convention into disarray, with delegates voting late on Thursday to squash what remained of a fading rebellion.... A voice vote in the convention's rules committee that could have opened the door to candidates who wanted to challenge him was so overwhelmingly in his favor that the presiding officer did not need to call for an official count." -- CW ...
... Alex Isenstadt & Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Millions of dollars short and running out of time, organizers of the Republican National Convention have written an urgent request for $6 million to Las Vegas billionaire couple Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to cover the bills for next week's festivities. In a letter to the Adelsons, obtained by Politico, the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee revealed the names of more than two dozen prominent corporations and individuals who have reneged on a collective $8.1 million in pledged donations." -- CW ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer: "... more than a dozen [Republican] senators suddenly have scheduling conflicts for an event that has been on the political calendar for more than a year. Instead of being in Cleveland, for instance, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona says he will be 'mowing my lawn.' The state's senior senator, John McCain ... has a conflict, too: He is planning to trek the Grand Canyon.... Steve Daines of Montana will use the time to hone his 'fly fishing.'... Senator Rob Portman of Ohio ... plans to do volunteer work for Habit for Humanity and a Wounded Warriors kayaking event. Cleveland seems so far away." -- CW ...
... Jeremy Peters: Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, reality television star and former N.F.L. player who was supposed to be one of the biggest names to appear at the Republican National Convention, said Thursday that he would not speak after all. In a video he posted to Instagram, Mr. Tebow called reports that he would be a speaker 'a rumor.'... Like other sports stars whom Donald J. Trump said he would like to have appear at the convention -- Tom Brady and Serena Williams, for example -- Mr. Tebow is out." -- CW ...
... ** Paul Waldman: "... the Republican convention that starts on Monday is going to be the Trumpiest Show On Earth.... Equal parts entertaining and horrifying, the GOP gathering will probably get some of the highest TV ratings in history as Americans tune in to witness the political equivalent of a 747 crashing into a freight train full of toxic waste as it plunges off a cliff right onto a carnival freak show. It should be quite a sight." -- CW
Awwk-ward! Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The final hours of Donald Trump's vice presidential selection process have played out in ways familiar with his campaign -- messy, unpredictable and under the full glare of the media. Only this time the candidate lost control of the story.... Late Thursday, after a day in which he was invisible, Trump spoke twice with Fox News. But he did nothing that helped to clarify things. He praised Pence, Gingrich and Christie but insisted that no final decision had been made. Why Pence was in New York he would not say -- if Pence actually was in New York.... The postponement [of the announcement, which Trump attributed to the Nice attack] left all the finalists hanging.... Pence in particular was in difficult spot, facing a deadline about running for reelection for governor at noon on Friday, since he cannot run for both governor and vice president on the November ballot." -- CW ...
... Eric Levitz of New York has more in this vein. -- CW ...
... The Dingbat Candidate. Margaret Hartmann of New York: "Trump later explained that he just felt it was inappropriate to talk politics, 'out of respect for this horrific situation.' Then he promptly gave Fox News two highly political interviews, in which he blame Hillary Clinton and President Obama for creating ISIS, vowed to crack down on immigration from 'terrorist areas,' and said 'second generation' immigrants turn out to be 'very bad' as well.... When asked [by Fox 'News' host Greta Van Susteren] what he'd do as president to prevent future attacks, Trump rambled through a litany of anti-immigrant rhetoric.... Trump then appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, agreeing with the host's statement that 'we're in a world war scenario.' Trump said he would go to Congress and ask for a declaration of war against ISIS, apparently unaware that ... Congress hasn't declared war since World War II." -- CW ...
... Patricia Murphy of Roll Call: "Donald Trump is planning to announce that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is his choice for his vice presidential running mate, according to a Republican with direct knowledge of the decision." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Tony Cook, et al., of the Indianapolis Star: "Gov. Mike Pence is dropping his re-election bid in Indiana to become Donald Trump's running mate. IndyStar has confirmed that Trump plans to announce Pence as his selection for vice president, ending a weeks-long vice presidential casting call during which Trump vetted a handful of high-profile Republicans." -- CW ...
... Here's the New York Times story, by Maggie Haberman & others: "Donald J. Trump's campaign has signaled strongly to Republicans in Washington that he will pick Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, as his running mate, though Republicans caution the party's mercurial presidential candidate may still backtrack on his apparent choice." -- CW ...
... New Lede: "Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign signaled strongly on Thursday that he would name Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate, but abruptly postponed a long-planned unveiling of the Republican ticket after an attack that left dozens dead in France. Mr. Trump said on Twitter that he was delaying his announcement after the 'horrible attack' in Nice. He did not specify when the event would go forward."
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "A slew of news organizations, including The New York Times, reported that the pick was as good as done, but now it looks like a Pence pick is an informed intelligent wager, but nothing more.... NBC News's Katy Tur heard directly from Trump's son after 2 p.m. that Trump hadn't even decided and there were still three possibilities.... There aren't many ways to ratchet up the drama ahead of the finale and unveiling of a winner, but Trump, of course, is no apprentice. He is an expert." -- CW ...
... Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones summarizes Pence's "conservative record." CW: Conservative? How about just mean? ...
... ** Brian Beutler: "Because he is neither erratic nor corrupt -- because he doesn't amplify Trump's worst qualities -- Pence is being celebrated as a sober and steadying force for Trumpland. Someone who might even make it easier to treat the major party campaigns as equivalents. But this is the soft bigotry of low expectations." -- CW
... Joe Strupp of Media Matters: "Pence has had a 'divisive' tenure as governor thanks in part to his efforts to limit reproductive rights in his home state and his support for a controversial 'religious freedom' bill that could have given businesses license to discriminate against LGBT people.... In interviews with Media Matters in recent days, several Indiana journalists highlighted that Pence currently sports a low favorability rating for an incumbent Republican in the state. Most of his support problems stem from a handful of unpopular policies, the first being an attempt to create what amounted to a government-run news service in 2013 in which the state would have sought to collect and filter news for reporters." -- CW ...
... Caroline Simon of Business Insider: "... Indiana Gov. Mike Pence ... helped launch the federal fight against Planned Parenthood nearly a decade ago.... Planned Parenthood is prohibited from using federal money for abortions, but typically spends it on other women's healthcare services like STD tests and exams to provide contraception. Pence argued that taking away federal funding from health clinics would limit their ability to perform abortions." -- CW ...
... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "'Smoking Doesn't Kill' And Other Great Old Op-Eds From Mike Pence.... On climate change, Pence says CO2 from burning fuels can't be the cause of increased global temperatures because it 'is a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature...' not an unnatural one. He also mixes up India and Indonesia.... Pence says George Washington was a Republican: 'Republicans, from George Washington to George W. Bush just have better ideas.' Washington didn't belong to any political party and famously warned against them in his farewell address." -- CW ...
... Pema Levy of Mother Jones: In 1990, "Pence lost [a Congressional] race and came to regret the [negative] campaign he had run. (Pence had lost largely because he had used campaign dollars to pay his mortgage, car payments, credit card bills, and even golf fees. At the time, this was not illegal, but it was bad politics.)" After that, Pence determined not to run negative campaign again, which he said were wrong. He cited Scripture to make his point. Levy wonders how Pence will square his views as Trump's running mate inasmuch as Trump's campaign has "depended on invective and nastiness." -- CW ...
... MEANWHILE.... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "'Listen, no matter what phone call he [Trump] makes to me today, I will take a deep breath and prepare for tomorrow,' [Chris] Christie told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace in an interview from Mendham, New Jersey. 'I'm a competitive person, so I'm not gonna say it won't bother me if I'm not selected,' Christie continued. 'Of course it bothers you a little bit, because if you're a competitive person like I am and you're used to winning like I am, again, you don't like coming in second. Ever.'" CW: Uh, Gov. Chrisco, the word is that you came in third. Is that better? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... AND Then There's the Newt. ... Media Matters: Newt Gingrich, another veep hopeful, in chatting with his friend & benefactor Sean Hannity, said, "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported." CW: I'd like to know how that "test" might be conducted, Newt. Suppose a person said he didn't believe in Sharia law, but the interrogator suspected him of lying. ...
... Melissa Etehad in the Washington Post: "Gingrich's proposal, which made no distinction between U.S. citizens and non-citizens, would violate scores of First Amendment-based Supreme Court rulings as well as civil rights laws which together bar discrimination on the basis of religion, entanglement by the government in religion and restrictions on freedom of expression and belief.... The comments made by Gingrich are similar to ones made by Donald Trump in 2015, where he called for surveillance of mosques." -- CW
Esme Cribb: "Donald Trump defended Fox News chairman Roger Ailes against allegations of sexual harassment by former anchor Gretchen Carlson in a Thursday interview with the Washington Examiner. When asked what he thought about the accusations, Trump answered: 'I think they are unfounded, just based on what I've read. Totally unfounded based on what I've read.'" -- CW
Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "'We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation.' That's the top takeaway from nearly 150 officials from the tech industry and elsewhere who on Thursday published a broadside against the GOP presidential candidate, arguing that Trump represents a danger to jobs, exports and the social fabric of the country.... The letter takes aim at Trump's willingness to stoke racial anxieties and his lack of policy proposals. It highlights the risk that the candidate's rhetoric poses to immigration.... It takes on Trump's call to shut down parts of the Internet that are controlled by the Islamic State as evidence of 'poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works.'" -- CW
Charles Pierce has had enough: "Emboldened because ... other whopping untruths did not immediately sink his campaign, He, Trump now has taken his truthless palaver to another level entirely: 'The other night you had 11 cities potentially in a blow-up stage. Marches all over the United States -- and tough marches. Anger. Hatred. Hatred! Started by a maniac! And some people ask for a moment of silence for him. For the killer!'... He, Trump just made that shit up so his followers can stay afraid and angry at the people he wants them to fear and hate. This lie was a marching order and the Party of Lincoln is right in step with him, straight into the burning Reichstag of this man's mind. Welcome to the 2016 Republican convention: a four-day celebration of the ritual suicide of American democracy." -- CW
"Donald Is Very Thin-Skinned." Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "Over decades in business, through his well-publicized romantic entanglements, and now as a presidential candidate, Trump has demonstrated that those who rise up to criticize him do so at their own peril. He deploys an array of tactics to fight back -- countersuits, threats and personal insults, among others -- while using stringent confidentiality agreements to guard against insider accounts from employees, business partners, his former spouses and now his campaign staffers.... Legal experts suggest [Trump's strong-arm tactics, which he has said he also would employ as president,] could violate federal protections like the Freedom of Information Act." -- CW
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "In 2007, Donald Trump promised a donation to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a U.S.-based charity that provides aid to Israeli military personnel and the families of fallen Israeli soldiers. He didn't pay, a spokesman for the charity said Thursday. Instead, another person -- whom the charity did not name -- paid off Trump's promise.... A 2007 story in the Jerusalem Post gave an amount for Trump's pledge: $250,000." -- CW
AND Steve M.: "The party that never stops telling us how awful Obama is for playing golf is about to nominate a presidential candidate who not only owns golf courses, and who not only interrupted his campaign for an overseas golf course photo op, but who also plans to appear (apparently for a full hour) on the Golf Channel on Monday, the first night of the Republican convention.... It looks as if Trump spends a lot of time talking about golf. It's been a terrible, horrible thing for a president to talk about sports on television ever since, oh, January 20, 2009, but apparently those days are over." CW: Doesn't Steve know the rule IOKIYAR?
Beyond the Beltway
The Big Yellow Taxi in Reverse. Kristin Hohenadel in Slate: Oakland turns parking lot into a paradise for low-income, special-needs seniors. (You may remember this.) -- CW
Ted Sherman & Tim Darragh of NJ.com: "David Samson -- the embattled former chairman of the powerful Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to using his considerable clout to coerce one of the nation's largest airlines to accommodate his desire for a regularly scheduled, non-stop flight to a South Carolina summer home.... A close confidant of Gov. Chris Christie, Samson was chairman of the Port Authority when the [Bridgegate] scandal broke, but was not charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the lane closures. However, his name repeatedly came up as the story unfolded." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond
Michael Birnbarm & Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Britain's new top diplomat, Boris Johnson, swept into office Thursday on a cloud of acrimony, amid worldwide disbelief that the irreverent campaigner for a British break from the European Union will now be his nation's main voice abroad. From composing a dirty limerick about the Turkish president and a goat to comparing the E.U. to Hitler to calling Hillary Clinton a 'sadistic nurse,' the mop-haired Johnson spared few world leaders in his previous career as the devil-may-care mayor of London. On Thursday..., France's foreign minister declared that the 'leave' campaigner had 'lied a lot,' and Germany's top diplomat called him 'irresponsible.' The unusually sharp rhetoric from Johnson's new peers reflected the degree to which he has alienated Britain's global partners and the challenges he faces as he takes part in his nation's divorce from the E.U." -- CW
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Reader Comments (19)
I think we should do DNA analysis of the relationship of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.
On a more serious matter, it's time the world (UN) stood up to terrorism. A serious sustained international attack on ISIS and others.
The horrific attack in France yesterday leaves one wilted––hard to process that kind of devastation, hard to get on with the regular daily processes thinking about all those people whose lives have been ended by another evil terrorist –––ONE Guy in a truck! But hey, are we getting used to this barbarism? We should be––we've had a belly full of it for centuries. I remember seeing all those dead bodies in Rwanda and thinking then how humans are capable of that kind of slaughter––that human beings can be ruthless as that male lion who kills cubs that have not been sired by him.
But we do carry on because we have to and need to and so we turn our attention back to our daily lives and to our political crazy quilt. Consumed by Trumpism we wait with baited breath who will stand along side the man with the golden locks. Wouldn't it be a kicker if it turned out to be none of the three.
On a brighter, lighter note. Yesterday visited our friends from
Scotland whose 14 yr. old daughter wants to be a writer –-has won all sorts of literary awards in her school in Glasgow. So today sent her what I had written about the Queen's purse, and then Akhilleus's (hope you don't mind) response along with the pictures of the curtsy and the Queen's distain at the sandwiches.
These friends by the way, are so fed up by the politics of late they have succumbed to watching bad television––said "it clears the mind."
Trump tweeted, "In light of the horrible attack in Nice, France, I have postponed tomorrow's news conference concerning my Vice Presidential announcement."
Translation: It is horrible that what happened in Nice has cut into my media attention. I'll make my announcement when everyone can focus on me.
Also, I'm going to bet, if he picks Pence, he picked him because Pence looks like a tough white guy. I don't think he had any other criterion than that. "Who will look beside me coming down the elevator at Trump Tower?" Kind of like arm candy. Melania, only male.
PD,
"...human beings can be ruthless as that male lion who kills cubs that have not been sired by him."
More ruthless.
Alpha males in baboon troops do the same thing. But for those animals it's all about reproductive success, the instinct to ensure that within their own pride or troop, their genes survive. Killing the offspring of other males increases the chance that females in the group will be able to reproduce sooner.
Human animals, such as in the case of the Rwandan genocide, ISIS attacks, and the Orlando massacre kill out of hate. There is no reproductive component, no biological imperative prompting the carnage. In that respect, such killings in the wild (which in some respects seems a more civilized place) are "cleaner" if you will.
The truly dangerous thing for us, as Americans, and as a species, is that the same kind of hatred that impels genocidal atrocities and terrorist attacks can be found in the foul thoughts of Confederate extremists and their current champion, Donald Trump. It hasn't quite reached the level of murder, but once hatred of any kind allows one to stop seeing others as humans that jump isn't far off. And that's what makes Trump so dangerous. He's not only a demagogue, the sociopathic tendencies he exhibits makes his demagoguery, not to mention his frightening ignorance, all the more toxic.
A lion he ain't, and he may act like a baboon, but he lacks their integrity.
Nancy,
Your translation is spot on. "The deaths of innocent people abroad, however nominally tragic, are even more tragic as they draw the limelight away from my person, something I simply cannot countenance."
As for Mike Pence, Drumpf is likely thinking that Christie was just a useful cog, someone he could make fun of, someone who could provide some momentary utility, but someone people make fun of and I don't need that shit. Gingrich is too much of a loose cannon and my administration needs only one of those. Pence is shorter than me, looks older than me, so chicks don't dig him like they do me, but he can help out with the dirty work when I'm wanted for a photo op somewhere. Plus, those loopy Christian nutjobs love him. He'll do."
But then again, it doesn't seem to be a done deal yet. Who knows. Maybe he'll pick his daughter after all.
I'm in full agreement with Charlie Pierce's outrage that Trump's latest flagrant and disgraceful lie has not prompted more opprobrium. Just think of the universal wig flipping had Hillary Clinton shoveled out a whopper like this one.
Do all politicians lie? I dunno about all but I'd say most do. But in many cases (this doesn't include Republicans who lie almost as often as they breathe), the lies are things like campaign promises they know there is little chance of fulfilling, or Hillary's claims that her e-mail gaffes were no big deal.
Trump lies to promote hatred and instability. And because of that, his lies descend to the level of unbridled evil. And even worse than his lies is his sense of invulnerability surrounding the lying. He doesn't seem to care that his lies are easily disproved, easily seen through. He doesn't give a shit. He is a proponent and past master of the Big Lie and he's not about to give up on that. Just imagine him as president calling an emergency press conference to say that some Chinese muckymuck called him a name and threatened to nuke New York so we have to bomb Beijing right away.
Trump is such a reflexive and consistent liar, he could make inveterate prevaricators like Bush and Cheney look like Parson Weems' cherry tree vintage George Washington.
It is an absolute sin that more media outlets are not picking up on this outrageous, bald-faced lie and examining its startling implications. And saying that it's just Trump being Trump, so what's the big deal, is the same sort of excuse one would laugh at it were it used by a serial killer's defense attorney. If it were just Trump being Trump, I wouldn't care. But when it becomes Trump being presidential candidate, we're at an entirely new level of untruth and consequences.
"Human animals, such as in the case of the Rwandan genocide, ISIS attacks, and the Orlando massacre kill out of hate. There is no reproductive component, no biological imperative prompting the carnage. In that respect, such killings in the wild (which in some respects seems a more civilized place) are "cleaner" if you will."
@AK: Yes, of course––there's a kind of ethics in the jungle that is absent in the human's barbarism. Our species have these brains that can and have created great things; they have also destroyed much of what is good, what is great and what is necessary to maintain a semblance of liberty and freedom.
RE: THE QUEEN'S HANDBAG:
Could it be a simple thing like ballast?–-keeps the old dame from tipping over. Still––I'm partial to your baloney sandwich––much more satisfying.
Akhilleus,
An alternate, more psychological explanation, for the sociopathy?
Or am I entirely wrong this morning to think when a CBS/Times poll shows HRC and the Trumpster virtually tied and another fool with a weapon, in this case a truck in a crowd, kills dozens that there's an emerging relationship among the rising tide of poor white suicides in our own country, Trump's popularity among certain segments of the polity and the terrorist anywhere who thinks suicide is just fine as long he or she takes a clutch or six of unwitting victims along for the ride into paradise?
To me, all these bring to mind David Riesman's lonely crowd phrase. On a teeming planet of billions, for many reasons, sheer numbers and institutional size maybe the most prominent among them, the individual feels unimportant, entirely discounted, and desperate for some way to make a statement that he or his presence on the planet does or did matter.
I wonder if perhaps all these circumstances and events are cries of the heart?
We all know at Trump rallies we're not hearing cries of the brain.
The human species has one brain component that no other species has that makes murder easy. It is called religion. It provides the excuse.
PD,
Ha-ha! I love the ballast idea. I can hear her security people now. "QE listing to port. Have her switch handbag to starboard side, please..."
Ken,
I've always been a fan of Riesman's work. I think you're on to something there. It's a mistake (and I'm to blame in this regard at times) to paint Trump's supporters as violent, knuckledragging, bullet heads. They're people who are perplexed by their situation and look for answers. They're just looking in the wrong place.
I don't think it's a stretch, however, to suggest that many of them lack a facility for critical thought and Trump's simple solutions to difficult problems ("bomb the shit out of 'em") likely appeal to voters who feel themselves isolated and faced with intractable obstacles to success and social and financial stability.
Pointing fingers at someone, anyone, seems to help mitigate some of the frustration they have at what has become of their lives. Unfortunately, many don't seem to realize that a vast majority of their problems stem directly from the policies promulgated by the very party they cleave to and from which they beg assistance in trouncing those they've been told are to blame, ergo the rise of a tough-talking con man despite the obvious dearth of real solutions on offer.
Marvin,
It's not for nothing that Edward Gibbon, author of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" declared that Rome's fall could be attributed directly to the victory of barbarism...and religion.
So, Pence it is. And who is there right away to Trump-et his credentials as a world class governor and all around perfect guy? Faux, natch. I won't link it. It's all bullshit. He's a "policy wizard" (really, they say that...), Arthur Laffer loves him, blah, blah, blah. Trump is a gutsy guy for choosing Pence...la-la-la. Waaaay better than Hillary, who doesn't know shit...The usual wingnut tripe.
Anyway, at this point, all I can say is that Trump was apparently more pence-ive than we suspected, and anyone voting for this ticket is sure to get their come-trump-pence.
Sorry. Best I could do on short notice. Although I sense the possibility of a good Trump-Pence limerick in the near future...
Expect (any day now) the news media will adapt a similar monikor like Bennifer! How about:
TRUMPPENCE
derived from noun: British: tuppence
the sum of two pence, especially before decimalization (1971).
informal: a trivial sum.
Yep! That about sums up my interest in the GOP Veepstakes!
Akhilleus,
The problem is that for all of us, looking in the right place is disconcerting, painful and offers no, as you imply, easy path to effective solutions.
For the right places are all those that call into question the very fabric of the lives we know.
Marvin is right about religion, but how many are willing to recognize the reality of religion's (any superstition's) negative effects on our lives and conclude that because unsupported beliefs make so little sense and do so much harm we must immediately eschew them?
Or how about economic systems which have disproportionality and inequality built into their very bones? Hard to question or shrug away the most immediate and powerful force in most lives.
Or our very human but destructive impulses that array one tribe against another and squeeze our perspective to the immediate, whether it be our personal geography or history, thus making either empathy for others or a sense of how we came to the present moment equally rare occurrences.
If we are to survive, the human race needs more than a tune-up. It needs a major remodel, but before that can happen we need the courage to recognize the rot in ourselves and in the institutions we've created.
In the meantime, terrorists and Trump.
Sorry, the news sometimes gets to me.
Ken,
Your mention of the difficulty for many of eschewing unsupported belief systems aligns you with Gibbon who noted that even in the event that such a thing were possible, those addicted to superstition would simply find a new but similar system in which to place their trust:
"A state of scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which favoured the establishment of Polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition."
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter XV, Edward Gibbon.
Akhilleus,
As your promise often goes, this is the last for a day in a household of two grandchildren, both significantly under the age of reason.
Thanks, Gibbon is good, if undeserved, company.
And on a drive into town was thinking again of Socrates and his unexamined life injunction. Maybe, with the race's destructive potential magnified by many orders of magnitude, a modification for the modern age is in order:
The unexamined life will kill us all.
The Chris Mooney piece underscores an unease I've had with the climate change issue which, while grave, is but a part of a much graver problem we face as we consume our capital, i.e., the earth's resources, the only truly existential threat we face. The larger issue tends to be so overshadowed by climate change it is relegated to blogs and science-oriented media. A few of us might survive all-out nuclear war, but not a dead planet. For a clear analysis of how leveraged we are, "The Song of the Dodo" by David Quammen is a compelling, scientifically rigorous and accessible analysis.
And for Marvin:
With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg
TP? Okay, I couldn't think of a more appropriate logo for that pair of shit-stained asswipers.
Curly guessed today's winning number and the bookie, with some reluctance and trepidation paid off the bet. Moe is forced to capitalize on the spotlight and hope his 15 minutes of fame translates to $$$$$. Bloated and bewildered, Larry is left holding Trump's bag.......of McDonalds. Tuck Chodd and his ilk soldier on toward imagined legitimacy and higher ratings by defining a malignant narcissist, in full blossom, as a viable presidential candidate. Gosh, and the TP logo makes me blush. You could write a thesis on the subject.
Meanwhile, things are 'splodin in the world with a fierceness that is terrifying. Terror attacks, coup in Turkey, 28 pages of what appears as Saudi involvement in 9/11. Yet the stoopid prevails. Trump and Boris Johnson, brothers from a different mother I should think. Carry on and keep calm is getting more difficult.