;)
The Commentariat -- January 14, 2020
Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "Tuesday marks the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, as candidates look to shore up their ground game and their televised case for the nomination." The story has info on how to watch. The debate begins at 9 pm ET. Mrs. McC: CNN is a co-sponsor, and the network is so excited about it, there is not currently (@7:45 pm ET Monday) one mention of it on their main Webpage. This is actually one debate I will watch as I have to vote next month, and I'm torn.
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Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Stefan Becket & Olivia Gazis of CBS News: "House Democrats released a trove of documents from an indicted businessman [Lev Parnas] who helped Rudy Giuliani in his campaign to pressure Ukraine, including previously undisclosed handwritten notes and a letter Giuliani addressed to the Ukrainian president-elect requesting a meeting shortly before his inauguration.... Chairman Adam Schiff sent the material to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler on two flash drives, writing in a letter that the Intelligence Committee 'continues to receive and review potentially relevant evidence" in its investigation into President Trump's dealings with Ukraine.'"
Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "In a long-simmering rift between factions of the Murdoch family over climate change, Rupert's younger son, James, and his activist wife, Kathryn, are attacking the climate denialism promoted by News Corporation, the global media group, and also by the Fox News Channel overseen by James' older brother, Lachlan. 'Kathryn and James' views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,' a spokesperson for the couple exclusively told The Daily Beast as wildfires rage in Australia. 'They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.'"
Ivana Kottasová, et al., of CNN: "Several people have been arrested in Iran over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that those responsible would be punished. Gholamhossein Esmaili, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, was quoted by the semi-official FARS news agency Tuesday as saying that an investigation into the crash had started and several arrests had been made. He did not provide details on how many people had been arrested or what their roles in the incident may have been."
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House will vote on Wednesday to send the Senate impeachment charges against President Trump, allowing a long-awaited trial to begin, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats privately Tuesday, according to officials in the room.... In a closed-door gathering with Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday morning, Ms. Pelosi detailed her plan to move on Wednesday to appoint the team of lawmakers who will prosecute the case against Mr. Trump, known as the House managers in his impeachment trial. The officials who described her private remarks spoke on condition of anonymity. Unless things change, her timetable means that the House managers would ceremonially walk the articles of impeachment from the House chamber to the Senate well later in the day Wednesday, formally presenting them and prompting a trial to commence. The speaker said she was not yet ready to share the names of the lawmakers she would select as managers...." ~~~
~~~ Cristina Marcos, et al., of the Hill: "But the resolution slated to hit the House floor on Wednesday is expected to name the impeachment managers."
Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "As many as 10 Republican senators are considering bucking President Trump on a resolution that would limit his ability to take military action against Iran. The increasing number is the latest sign of growing GOP frustration over the Trump administration's justification for the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is circulating a bipartisan resolution that would direct Trump to remove U.S. forces from any hostilities against Iran within 30 days of its enactment.... It needs only a simple majority to pass."
Jeanne points to this post by Driftglass on Rick Wilson's analysis (and book!) on when the GOP went wrong (spoiler: 2010). Mrs. McC: What I didn't know about Wilson is that he made those despicable ads about Max Cleland & Jeremiah Wright. The Cleland ad, in particular, is unforgivable.
David Lynch of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday, Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are scheduled to sign a partial trade deal, calling a truce in a conflict that has shaken the global economy. Yet ... many of the trade war's casualties have been left on the battlefield. Even as the White House celebrates the president's negotiating accomplishment, the 'phase one' deal offers little relief for countless American businesses -- including chemical makers, apparel retailers and auto parts manufacturers -- that will still face the same punishing tariffs they have confronted for some time." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Lynch writes, "Wednesday's White House ceremony will mark a political triumph for the president as he prepares for a reelection fight." Really? That's only if the media make it out to be a "triumph." From what little I've read about the deal, it's about as impressive as Infrastructure Week. Let's hope the nightly news leads with shots of Pelosi's walking the Articles of Impeachment across the hall to Mitch -- or with whatever new catastrophe Trump launches tomorrow.
Eric Geller of Politico: "Apple on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department's claim that it has refused to help investigators unlock two iPhones that belonged to the shooter in the Pensacola, Fla., naval base attack. The iPhone maker said that Attorney General William Barr was wrong to claim Monday that the company 'has not given us any substantive assistance' in accessing phones associated with the December shooting. 'We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation,' Apple said in a statement to Politico. 'Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing.'"
Mrs. McCrabbie: Here is, what?, the 20th article I've seen and not linked about how regrettable it is that presidential candidates of color keep dropping out of the race and/or there will be no candidates of color on tonight's debate stage. Yeah, that is regrettable, but it is black voters who have flocked to Joe Biden and are keeping him on top of the heap. He's their choice, fine, but let's not complain about "the lack of diversity" among the top candidates when the largest group of "diversity" voters is voting for an old white guy.
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Assassination "Justification" of the Day. Today. Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr said Monday that killing Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was part of a larger strategy of deterrence, a shift from the Trump administration's previous rationale that the strike was carried out to prevent an 'imminent' attack. Barr's comments were particularly noteworthy as he attempted to push back on criticism over the administration's claim that Soleimani was planning attacks that posed an imminent threat, calling the concept 'something of a red herring.'... 'I think when you're dealing with a situation where you already have attacks underway, you know there is a campaign that involves repeated attacks on American targets, I don't think there's a requirement frankly for, you know, knowing the exact time and place of the next attack. And that certainly was the position of the Obama when it droned leaders of terrorist organizations,' Barr [said]. Pompeo, who has leaned heavily on the assertion that intelligence showed an imminent threat..., [said] Monday during a speech at the Stanford's Hoover Institute '... There's a bigger strategy to this.... President Trump and those of us in his national security team are re-establishing deterrence -- real deterrence ‒ against the Islamic Republic of Iran."
~~~ Yesterday. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday said it didn't matter if Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani posed an imminent threat to the United States because of his 'horrible past.' Trump also asserted that his national security team agreed on the imminent threat posed by Soleimani that led to the decision to kill him. He made this assertion despite remarks from Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday that undercut Trump's claim that the Iranian general was planning to target four American embassies before a U.S. drone strike killed him in Baghdad on Jan. 3.... 'The Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners are working hard to determine whether or not the future attack by terrorist Soleimani was "eminent" or not, & was my team in agreement,' Trump tweeted morning." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So this is an update to a discussion in yesterday's Comments on whether or not anyone had used "eminent" to mean "imminent" in discussing the fake reason for assassinating Soleimani. Thanks for this contribution, Donnie! On a more serious note, it "matters" because assassinating a foreign state leader -- in a third country, no less -- is certainly provocation for war, and Congress can declare war. In such situations, Congressional leaders, at the least, must be advised, consulted or asked for their permission to act. According to NBC News (story linked yesterday), this assassination plan had been an option since June; there's no excuse for not consulting the Gang of 8. Refusing to notify them -- and then lying about why the leaders were not notified-- is just one more example of Trump's false notion that Article II of the Constitution says, "I can do whatever I want as president*." (Paraphrase. WashPo link.) And it's a big "screw you" to Congress. ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. I think it's been totally consistent. -- Donald Trump, speaking about the administration's various stated rationales for killing Soleimani to reporters, Monday ~~~
~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post demonstrate how Trump, over a few days, blew up his lie about an "eminent attack" on the U.S.'s Baghdad embassy. It's also interesting to see how Pompeo has helped Trump along with his own string of lies. ~~~
~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "In the 10 days since it carried out the drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Trump administration has been struggling to draft an after-the-fact narrative to justify it. On Monday, President Trump put an end to that hash of explanations. 'It doesn't really matter,' he tweeted, 'because of his horrible past.' Until that message on Twitter, the administration had insisted in various ways that General Suleimani, Iran's most important military official, was planning myriad 'imminent' attacks. The unraveling of the explanations accelerated over the weekend after Mr. Trump said four embassies were under immediate threat, a charge that his own administration could not back.... The administration's explanations for the strike have been shifting from day to day...."
Dylan Stableford of Yahoo! News: "In a series of tweets and retweets riddled with typos and offensive images, President Trump lashed out Monday morning against criticism over the way he and his administration have handled the killing of a top Iranian general. Trump' message conflated doubts raised about the process that led to the controversial airstrike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani with 'trying to make terrorist Soleimani into a wonderful guy.'... One of the retweets by the president included a Photoshopped image of [Nancy] Pelosi and ... Chuck Schumer wearing hijabs. Another included the photo of a bloody dead body, presumably in Iran, hanging over barbed wire. 'Question: Who in America supports this mullahs' crime?' the tweet read. 'Answer: Nancy Pelosi.'" Thanks to safari for the lead. See also his commentary in yesterday's thread. Mrs. McC: Yo, mikey. Twentyfifth Amendment. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "After President Trump retweeted a doctored image of Democratic leaders dressed in Islamic garb, the White House offered a curious justification: Trump retweeted that image to send the message that Democrats are on the side of terrorists. This was apparently intended as a defense. Which would appear to mean the White House's official message is now that depictions of Democrats in Muslim garb denote Democratic support for terrorists.... In response to the ensuing blowback, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham defended Trump's actions on Fox News.... 'I think the president is making clear that the Democrats have been parroting Iranian talking points and almost taking the side of terrorists and those who were out to kill the Americans,' Grisham said.... Nowhere in the interview did Grisham send a broader message to Muslims that Trump didn't intend to equate Muslim garb with terrorism. If anything, she actively reinforced that equating of the two."
AFP: "Victims of an Iran-downed jetliner would still be alive were it not for a recent escalation of tensions partly triggered by the US, Justin Trudeau has said. 'I think if there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families,' the Canadian prime minister said in an interview with Global television."
Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "Protesters and riot police faced off in at least two cities in Iran on Monday, a third day of angry demonstrations at the country's leaders after the government acknowledged having shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing 176 people.... Videos from inside Iran shared on social media on Monday showed university students in Isfahan and the capital, Tehran, chanting against the country's clerical rulers while riot police deployed nearby. The extent of the protests and the amount of violence used to try to stop them were hard to assess because of tight restrictions on social media and the news media inside the country. Videos from previous days have shown protesters carrying off bleeding comrades while gunshots echoed in the background." (Also linked yesterday.)
** 2016 Hacking Redux. Nicole Perlroth & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "With President Trump facing an impeachment trial over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, Russian military hackers have been boring into the Ukrainian gas company at the center of the affair, according to security experts. The hacking attempts against Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served, began in early November, as talk of the Bidens, Ukraine and impeachment was dominating the news in the United States.... Experts say the timing and scale of the attacks suggest that the Russians could be searching for potentially embarrassing material on the Bidens -- the same kind of information that Mr. Trump wanted from Ukraine when he pressed for an investigation of the Bidens and Burisma, setting off a chain of events that led to his impeachment. The Russian tactics are strikingly similar to what American intelligence agencies say was Russia's hacking of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign." NBC News has a summary report here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is no coincidence. I suspect there's a you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours arrangement -- probably explicitly agreed-upon -- between Trump & Putin. Trump's mysterious affinity for Putin may not be all about Kompromat Putin has on Trump, but a manifestation of their agreement to assist each other's political goals.
CBS News: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling his Republican conference he expects the impeachment trial for President Trump to begin on Tuesday, January 21, and last potentially three to five weeks, two GOP senators told CBS News. The House is expected to send over the articles on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.... There aren't enough votes for an outright dismissal of the articles of impeachment, as Mr. Trump had hoped. The trial will run six days a week, including Saturdays, but not Sundays, sources said. McConnell wants to make this 'uncomfortable' for senators, a source added."
Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "The White House is urging Senate Republicans to preserve the option of moving to swiftly dismiss the charges against ... Donald Trump after opening arguments in his impeachment trial, as GOP leaders and Trump's team look for a quick end to the proceedings, according to sources familiar with the discussions.... Once the trial has begun, the Senate can vote on the merits of the articles of impeachment and choose to acquit Trump, something that can be done with only 34 votes because the Constitution requires 67 votes to convict the President and remove him from office. GOP proponents of this move argue Trump would have a stronger argument to say he was exonerated on the merits of the case...." ~~~
~~~ BUT. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Monday that the Senate Republican caucus doesn't have the votes to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Trump, who endorsed an 'outright dismissal' over the weekend. 'I think our members generally are not interested in a motion to dismiss.... Certainly there aren't 51 votes for a motion to dismiss,' Blunt, the No. 4 Senate Republican, told reporters after a closed-door leadership meeting." ~~~
~~~ Update. Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "Top Senate Republicans on Monday rejected President Trump's call for outright dismissal of the impeachment charges against him, but continued to grapple with the shape of the Senate trial that could begin as soon as this week." ~~~
~~~ Don't Get Your Hopes Up, But.... Ben Tracy & Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "The White House is preparing for some Republican senators to join Democrats in voting to call witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial.... Senior White House officials tell CBS News they increasingly believe that at least four Republicans, and likely more, will vote to call witnesses. In addition to Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, strong> Mitt Romney of Utah and possibly Cory Gardner of Colorado, the White House also views Rand Paul of Kentucky as a 'wild card' and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee as an 'institutionalist' who might vote to call witnesses, as one official put it." ~~~
~~~ Steve M. "... I'm skeptical[.]... When I read this, my first thought was that this group of Republicans would make a great show of wanting witnesses, but they'd find fault with Democrats' list of proposed witnesses and never agree on any motion that can get 51 votes. However, I see that (according to a Hill story from last Friday) Democrats are 'planning to offer multiple motions on specific witnesses, instead of one motion that covered their request writ large.' So this group of Republicans will have to find another way to dodge testimony from the witnesses the Democrats want, while still getting Brownie points for centrism (particularly Collins and Gardner, who are in tough reelection fights in bluish states)." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And, as Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) told Chris Hayes, there's a big difference between senators telling reporters they "would like to hear from witnesses" and actually stepping up & voting -- against Trump -- to hear witnesses.
Cornyn Fears Catching Jordan, Gaetz Cooties. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "With Speaker Nancy Pelosi poised transmit articles of impeachment against ... Donald Trump to the United States Senate, all eyes are on who each side will choose as impeachment managers for the Senate trial. Trump allies have considered selecting impeachment managers from among the combative members of the House Republican caucus who interrupted impeachment proceedings during the inquiry phase: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). But Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the former Republican Whip, urged against such a move, as reported by CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju. 'My advice to [Trump] would be: Let's not infect the Senate trial with the circus-like atmosphere of the House,' Cornyn counseled. 'And I think there would be an increased risk of doing that if you start inviting House members to come over to the Senate and try the case,' he explained."
Jeremy Diamond & Pamela Brown of CNN: "... Rudy Giuliani, whose dealings with Ukraine are a key facet of the impeachment case, has been lobbying the President to join his legal team on the Senate floor during his upcoming trial. Giuliani has pressed Trump to make him part of the team of lawyers who will argue the case against his removal from office on the Senate floor, a White House official and two sources close to the President told CNN. Giuliani has argued that he knows the case against the President inside-out. The White House declined to comment." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As a matter of course when reading the "news headlines," Anderson Cooper described Rudy as "Trump's teevee lawyer and alleged bagman."
Kara Scannell of CNN: "An attorney for Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, has turned over photos, dozens of text messages and thousands of pages of documents to House impeachment investigators in an effort to win his client an audience with lawmakers. Joseph A. Bondy, Parnas' New York attorney, traveled to Washington, DC, over the weekend to hand-deliver the contents of an iPhone 11 to Democratic staff on the House Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, according to a series of Bondy's tweets."
Brandi Buchman of Courthouse News: "An informal adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign who testified in the Mueller probe pleaded guilty Monday to charges of child sex trafficking and possessing child pornography. George Nader, 60, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia's Eastern District.... Nader was first charged in June 2019 with transporting and possessing pornographic images of children including some featuring toddler-age boys, baby goats and other farm animals. A month later in July, prosecutors added a sex-trafficking charge<, saying Nader had arranged the transport to his Washington home of a 14-year-old boy from the Czech Republic in February 2000. Nader allegedly held onto the child's passport after flying him through Dulles International Airport. Once at his residence, he assaulted him nightly and kept the child silent by threatening him and his mother with imprisonment should they ever attempt to report him, according to the indictment." The story reprises Nader's role in the Trump campaign, transition & early administration. The Washington Post report is here.
Joe Palazzolo & Michael Rothfeld of TPM have "an in-depth look at the events leading up to the FBI's pre-dawn raid on Michael Cohen's hotel, office and apartment in spring 2018." --s
Trump's Most Shameless Lie Yet. Aaron Rupar of Vox: "Trump -- who in 2017 pushed health care legislation [link fixed] that would've resulted in 23 million Americans losing coverage, and whose administration is currently fighting in federal court to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including its protections for people with preexisting conditions -- nonetheless claimed in a tweet attacking Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg on Monday that 'I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your Healthcare, you have it now.' Alluding to the aforementioned lawsuit, Trump went on to write that 'if Republicans win in court and take back the House of Represenatives [sic], your healthcare, that I have now brought to the best place in many years, will become the best ever, by far. I will always protect your Pre-Existing Conditions, the Dems will not!'" Rupar allows that "The possibility Trump knows so little about health care policy that he actually believes he saved protections for preexisting conditions can't be ruled out." Mrs. McC: Ignorance of his own actions is no excuse; this is a horrible lie Trump is trying to kill Americans, and those Americans he plans to kill come in every color & political persuasion. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Chait examines why Trump has to lie about pre-existing conditions: "The [Republican] party's formal legislative and legal stance remains wedded to overturning protections for people with preexisting conditions." Mrs. McC: The tacit deal Trump made with the GOP "establishment" is that he would follow their policies, no matter how little he cared about them or how blatantly he had to lie about them. So this is just another lie in the what's-good-for-me vein. Trump doesn't give a rat's ass whether or not you can afford good health insurance; he might even prefer you had adequate coverage. But he needs support from both the GOP & ordinary voters, so a bald-faced lie is in order here. No problem.
I Can Do Whatever I Want, Ctd. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "President Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget, according to internal planning figures obtained by The Washington Post. The Pentagon funds would be extracted, for the second year in a row, from military construction projects and counternarcotics funding.... A federal-district court in El Paso ruled last month that the White House broke the law when it commandeered funds for the border wall that had been authorized by Congress for another purpose. The court froze $3.6 billion the administration budgeted for new barriers. But ... last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, lifted the injunction, saying work could proceed while legal challenges to the government are pending. The president and his administration viewed that ruling as additional encouragement to take the money again this year, according to administration officials familiar with the plans."
Thomas Franck of CNBC: "The United States removed China from a list of countries considered currency manipulators just two days before top trade negotiators for Washington and Beijing sign a key 'phase one' trade deal, the Treasury Department announced Monday. The decision to strike China from the currency manipulator list comes more than five months after the Treasury Department formally made the designation.... Donald Trump and China Vice Premier Liu He are scheduled to sign a preliminary trade agreement in Washington on Wednesday. China is now on a 'monitoring list' for currency practices along with nine other countries, including Germany, Italy and Japan.... 'China is a currency manipulator -- that is a fact,' [Sen. Chuck] Schumer said in a statement. 'Unfortunately, President Trump would rather cave to President Xi than stay tough on China. When it comes to the president's stance on China, Americans are getting a lot of show and very little results.'"
Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr declared on Monday that a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was an act of terrorism, and he asked Apple in an unusually high-profile request to provide access to two phones used by the gunman. Mr. Barr's appeal was an escalation of an ongoing fight between the Justice Department and Apple pitting personal privacy against public safety.... The technology has frustrated law enforcement officials, who accuse Apple of providing a safe haven for criminals."
Adam Federman of the Guardian: "A group of US environmental activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting the oil industry have been listed in internal Department of Homeland Security documents as 'extremists' and some of its members listed alongside white nationalists and mass killers, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.... The document ... listed two of the group's members alongside violent white supremacists and other extremists who have engaged in mass killings, including the man [Dylann Roof] behind the racist 2015 slaying of 9 black church-goers in Charleston, South Carolina." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "An American imprisoned in Egypt for six years on what he insisted were false charges, and whose case had been championed by Vice President Mike Pence, died on Monday after a long hunger strike, the State Department said. Moustafa Kassem, 54, a dual Egyptian-American citizen from New York, was arrested in central Cairo in August 2013 during a bloody crackdown following the military takeover that brought to power Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, then an army general and now the president of Egypt. Mr. Kassem insisted he had no links to opposition politics and had been wrongfully detained by Egyptian soldiers who snatched his American passport and stomped it on the ground. After years in dire conditions at a high-security prison, where he said his diabetes and a heart ailment went largely untreated, he was sentenced to 15 years in September 2018.... Mr. Trump has regularly lavished praise on Mr. el-Sisi, hailing him for doing a 'fantastic job' and calling him 'my favorite dictator,' even as the Egyptian leader has overseen Egypt's harshest crackdown on freedom of speech and political opposition in decades." An NPR story is here.
Presidential Race
M.J. Lee of CNN: Elizabeth Warren & Bernie Sanders met for a one-on-one in her Washington apartment in December 2018 and agreed to a non-aggression pact for the presidential campaign. Then Sanders told her he did not believe a woman could win the presidency. "The description of that meeting is based on the accounts of four people: two people Warren spoke with directly soon after the encounter, and two people familiar with the meeting. Sanders denied the characterization of the meeting in a statement to CNN. '... Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016.'" ~~~
~~~ Update. Astead Herndon & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said on Monday night that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont told her in 2018 he did not think a woman could win the presidency.
Ali Vitali, et al., of NBC News: "Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., announced Monday he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential race." (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Michigan. Steve Neavling of the Detroit Metro Times: "An anti-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer group on Facebook devolved into a vile platform that promoted violence against Democrats and Muslims and churned out degrading comments about women. But on Friday afternoon, the group's creator deactivated the page in response to questions from Metro Times.... Metro Times identified dozens of recent posts promoting or threatening violence, primarily against Whitmer, U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Elissa Slotkin, American Muslims, and Dearborn. Hundreds of comments were posted each day, and many included vulgar insults against women, Muslims, Democrats, and LGTBQ+ communities.... Tlaib, who is a Muslim American from Detroit, was a common target of the vitriol. 'She needs a bullet between her eyes,' Spencer Hayward wrote. Carl Wilhelm Sr. posted, 'How many teeth you figure you could knock out with one swipe with a baseball bat.' Mike Nixon suggested, 'set that bitch on fire.'... The creator of the page, Charlie Gillett ... had done little, if anything, to stop the threats and posts promoting violence, and blamed the anger on Democrats." Warning: pretty shocking content. --s
Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "An Ozaukee County judge found the state Elections Commission and three of its members in contempt of court Monday, saying they had flouted his December order to remove thousands of people from Wisconsin's voter rolls. 'I can't be any clearer than this,' Judge Paul Malloy said. 'They need to follow my order.' Hours later, the state Supreme Court ruled it would not get involved in the case for now, leaving it to a Madison-based appeals court to handle. That decision gave liberals hope they could stop the voter purge. Malloy ruled the commission must pay $50 a day until it starts taking people off the rolls. In addition, he fined the three Democrats on the commission who have fought taking people off the rolls -- Ann Jacobs, Julie Glancey and Mark Thomsen -- $250 a day each."
Way Beyond
Libya. AFP: "Libya's eastern strongman Gen Khalifa Haftar has left Moscow without signing a ceasefire agreement to end nine months of fighting in the country, leaving the future of a fragile truce uncertain.... The commander's abrupt departure in the early hours of Tuesday was a setback for an international diplomatic push in recent days, though Moscow insisted it would continue mediation efforts. Haftar and his allies were in Moscow on Monday for talks with the UN-recognised government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj and based in Tripoli.... The two sides agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey that took effect at the weekend and were in Moscow to sign a long-term agreement." --s
U.K. Tim Shipman of the [U.K.] Times: "Britain must prepare to fight wars without America, the defencesecretary has warned, amid concerns that President Donald Trump will pursue an ever more isolationist foreign policy. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Ben Wallace admitted that the prospect of America withdrawing from the world 'keeps me awake at night'. He said the government needed to rethink military assumptions, in place since 2010, that the UK would always be fighting alongside the Americans -- and should use the upcoming defence review to buy new kit to ensure that the armed forces do not have to rely on US air cover and spy planes in future conflicts." [article firewalled] --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Queen Elizabeth II announced Monday that she and her royal family were' entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life' and that she had agreed to a 'period of transition' during which her grandson and his wife would split their time between Canada and Britain. In a statement, the queen wrote, 'Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.' The queen acknowledged that Harry and Meghan 'made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives,' but she did not describe their new duties or ventures. She cautioned there is more work to be done on the 'complex matters for the family to decide' and said she expects final decisions to be made in the coming days.' The announcement from the 93-year-old sovereign and leader of the House of Windsor followed a meeting at her Sandringham estate attended by princes Harry, William and Charles. It is believed that Meghan, who is in Canada, participated by phone." Here's an AP story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Guardian of course liveblogged developments & reactions. (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
NBC News: "A Delta flight injured more than 50 people after dumping fuel on a Los Angeles schoolyard and school buildings when it declared an emergency shortly after departing for China from the Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday. At least 20 children were were treated for minor injuries after being exposed to the jet fuel, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The department said it had a total of 44 patients from four schools...."
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Reader Comments (13)
If Democrats were smart, they should be in unison hammering #MoscowMitch and the whole Senate GOP for leaving our elections unprotected with the latest news of Russian's hacking presumably to support Drumpf and the GOP. If we could get every member of Congress to go out and speak on local/state/national media networks and pile on McConnell it wouldn't move Moscow Mitch at all, but it's a perfect moment to educate the public, over and over again, about the GOP's failure to secure our elections.
This is also a big test for the MSM, which will inevitably drop the ball and somehow both siderism a story with one clear, established narrative.
BTW, I believe if Drumpf is asked about this, he'll just rinse and repeat his 2016 message, saying "good we need those emails". In due time, there will be no light between the Russian Burisma hack and the GOP's acquiescence and latent support.
There is no daylight NOW between the repugnant deplorables and the OFFICIAL party of the repugnant deplorables. The White House press secy and the presidunce tweet nonsense that is suitable for being sued over, websites in Michigan incite people to violence, and everyone else in that party spouts pure crap to suit their Dear Leader. I believe there is no longer any reason to suppose that anyone in that party, especially the leadership, uses any parts of their brains that dictate how reasonable, empathetic, and nontreasonous they are. None of this is a mistake, but it's shocking how pervasive it is. It's like it's a horrible disease that has turned everyone into pod people. There is NO good news in today's column. Anyone putting hope into Collins et al has a screw loose. Pod people have no human characteristics and should be banished from the realm. I WISH...
This, through Crooks and Liars, by Driftglass:
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/01/rick-wilson-republican-party-went-hell
Thanks, Jeanne.
Yes, Driftglass does a fine job of documenting the spread of the racism, selfishness and mean-mindedness that has infected the Republican Party long before there were Never-Trumpers but I've always taken their protestations with a heavy dose of salty skepticism.
These pundits are bright men, and while I have often enjoyed their commentary--who could not take pleasure in their frequently amusing and well-spoken anti-Pretender sallies?--I have have never shaken memories of who they were and what they did and have therefore always doubted their sincerity. These were men, men mind you, not women, who made a good living working to extend the influence of a political party that has long represented the worst within us.
And that worst goes back a long way, not to 2010 but to the late 1800's, interrupted only by the brief eruption of the progressive elements of the Teddy Roosevelt era, which by the 1920's had pretty much disappeared and resurfaced only post-WWII, and then only to the degree that it did not turn its back entirely on what FDR and the Democrats of that era accomplished.
Aside from Nixon's establishment of the EPA and occasional support of succeeding conservation/preservation initiatives, the Republican Party has stood for anti-worker, anti-government, anti-women, pro-racist policies for over a century.
Granted, the inversion of the Democratic and Republican Party's geographic strongholds since the 1960's has made sorting out what which party has stood for over time a little difficult, but the broad outlines of what they represent has remained pretty clear for a long time.
Democrats: extend power to those who don't have a voice.
Republicans: limit it to the few and the already privileged. And though he (dim-bulb bullshitter that he is) may not know it, that's what Joe Scarborough--in the Driftglass piece-- means when he says "conservative."
"Sustaining progressive momentum for both Sanders and Warren is essential for preventing the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination from going to the likes of Biden or Buttigieg — a grim outcome that would certainly gratify the 44 billionaires and their spouses who’ve donated to Biden, the 40 billionaires and their spouses who’ve donated to Buttigieg, and the oligarchic interests they represent." Norman Solomon
Solomon who is a strong progressive denounced the hit job CNN did on the alleged Sanders-Warren kerfuffle. I, too, strongly support both Warren and Sanders because I desperately want our system of governance changed and these two are the only ones who will try and do it. Yes, I know, pie in the sky, but...
The story about George Nader made me furious! This sick Fuck was known back in the nineties to have this abhorrent sexual deviancy; sure enough, he was still in the game big time. He's another bloke that Trump will say he doesn't know––the corruption is rampant in this administration –-like the discovery of rats crawling around abandoned houses or as Jeanne put it, like Pod people.
Thanks, Ken. I grew up in an Adlai household, and the parents were always Democrats, so I never really thought about it until I was an adult. I agree-- I enjoy supposed respected members of the Other Party turning on their rancid king, but, like you, take it with a "pillar" of salt... Mrs. McC-- I did not know that Rick Wilson did those ads ruining Max either. Or the Obama ads...that isn't the thing that stands out on hit ads-- who did them. Generally they list some PAC name, and there are so many... My husband listens to Joe every morning and I don't like them, particularly since we know they gave the MAGAT-in chief a year of free publicity when he called in. Can't forget that. Just like I can't forget Nicolle Wallace's working with GWB, despite her "disappointment" in dumpster fire man.
Missed Nina T on NPR this morning-- but gathered it was about Bridget Kelly? and Crisp Crispie... Anyone enlightened?
@Jeanne: Kelly & Bill Baroni are arguing before the Supremes today that their corruption convictions should be overturned. Here's the story, via NJ.com. I presume that's what Totenberg's report was about.
Here's a piece on how Rick Wilson did his dirty work: You attack strengths, not weaknesses.
https://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-2397-the-nasty-realities-political-attack-ad-industry.html
Thanks, Bea and PD! I have some reading for tonight after work. I already push it by reading RC and weighing in on company time...
Don't hold out much hope the Supremes will rule against Kelly and Baroni. They've already set the bar so low any snake could jump over it. After all, their version of a "free country" is a country in which the privileged are free to do most anything. The rest of us not so much. That's what a "conservative" (see above) court means, each and every time.
That said, what has always bothered me most about Bridgegate is that the guy too fat to jump even a millimeter skated.
There is something pathetic about Kelly that almost invites sympathy, but when you choose to sup with the Devil and she did....
I'm tired of all the pearl clutchers going on about the "whiteness" of the Democratic Field. Look at the requirements to make the debates and two things stick out; number of individual campaign donations and support in the polls. IOW my 5$ donation to a candidate counts as much as Richie Rich's 1000$ and my support equals his as well.
You can't force blacks or whites to back anyone of either race. I was surprised to see Obama as the standard bearer but went with the flow. If it's a white man or woman this time, so be it.
Been reading that Rudy the Barking Mad is all wound up and ready to go git ‘em in the upcoming McTurtle show trial. He announced that he would “prosecute it like a racketeering trial”. Oh, goodie. So he has regained some semblance of consciousness (and a conscience), and recognizes that his boss, the Fat Man, has been operating under gangland rules and should be prosecuted as such.
That is, unless he’s forgotten that Fatty is the defendant here. Oops.
Must be something to be surrounded by criminals, sycophants, and peckerheads. But this is the realm that Trump hath wrought. Idiots leading the blind who explain what it all looks like to the lemmings and the lackeys.
Prosecute away, Rudy.
Another glimmer of sanity breaking though?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/opinion/seattle-citizens-united.html?
And, Bea, please let us know if you're still torn after tonight.