;)
The Commentariat -- January 16, 2019
Morning/Afternoon Update:
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected a Democratic-led effort to block President Trump from lifting sanctions against three Russian businesses. Senators voted 57-42 to end debate on the resolution, falling short of the 60 votes needed. With all Democrats supporting the measure, they needed to win over 13 GOP senators."
Here's a screenshot of a New York mag "Daily Intelligencer" "report" on Mueller's redacted court filing supporting prosecutors' claims that Paul Manafort lied to investigators (related story linked below):
The Trump-Tyson Plan: No Plan. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "When a frustrated adviser once tried to convince President Trump to consider a strategic plan, the president launched into a story about his friend Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight boxing champion.... 'Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,' Trump said, echoing a famous Tyson quote. I had asked the adviser whether Trump ever expressed frustration that his West Wing lacked enough of a plan for the crises ahead. 'He gets frustrated when there is a plan,' the adviser said. 'He's not a guy who likes a plan. ... There's an animosity towards planning, and there's a desire to pick fights that have nothing to do with us.' 'We can plan all this stuff out but it'll change,' the president continued. 'So let's just not go through the effort.' The adviser said that Trump's 'main view was that all this stuff wasn't predictable, ... which is unfortunately not accurate. ... It absolutely is predictable.' Trump used the Tyson quote as evidence that detailed strategic plans are pointless and said, in the adviser's recollection, 'We've just gotta fight every day and that"s how we win.'"
Eric Schmitt & Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "American troops were among 15 people killed on Wednesday in a suicide bombing in northern Syria that was claimed by the Islamic State, just weeks after President Trump ordered the withdrawal of United States forces with what he declared the extremist group's defeat. The attack targeted a restaurant in the northern city of Manbij where American soldiers would sometimes stop to eat during their patrols of the area, residents said. After the blast, a number of Americans were evacuated by helicopter, they said. It was not immediately clear how many had been in the area at the time of the blast." ...
... Pence Says What He's Told to Say, No Matter the Facts on the Ground. Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "On the same day that an ISIS-claimed attack killed US service members in Syria, Vice President Mike Pence declared that 'the caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.' Pence's remark to the Global Chiefs of Mission conference at the US State Department came about an hour after the US-led coalition confirmed that American troops had been killed in an explosion in Manbij. 'U.S. service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today. We are still gathering information and will share additional details at a later time,' the tweet from Operation Inherent Resolve said. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which the ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency said was carried out by a suicide bomber with an explosive vest."
Heather Caygle & Rachel Bade of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday asked ... Donald Trump to reschedule his State of the Union address -- or deliver it in writing -- as long as the government remains shut down. Pelosi said the partial shutdown has hamstrung both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, potentially harming the security planning that precedes the primetime address." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I look forward to the first SOTU written in crayon.
Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The partial government shutdown is inflicting far greater damage on the United States economy than previously estimated, the White House acknowledged on Tuesday, as President Trump's economists doubled projections of how much economic growth is being lost each week the standoff with Democrats continues. The revised estimates from the Council of Economic Advisers show that the shutdown, now in its fourth week, is beginning to have real economic consequences. The analysis, and other projections from outside the White House, suggests that the shutdown has already weighed significantly on growth and could ultimately push the United States economy into a contraction.... Mr. Trump, who has hitched his political success to the economy, also faces other economic headwinds, including slowing global growth, a trade war with China and the waning effects of a $1.5 trillion tax cut."
Hachette Job. Axios: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie settles scores in 'Let Me Finish,' a memoir out Jan. 29 from Hachette Books, writing that President Trump 'trusts people he shouldn't, including some of the people who are closest to him.'... Christie asserts that Trump has a 'revolving door of deeply flawed individuals -- amateurs, grifters, weaklings, convicted and unconvicted felons -- who were hustled into jobs they were never suited for, sometimes seemingly without so much as a background check via Google or Wikipedia.'" ...
... Ed Pilkington & Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Chris Christie, who was ousted as chairman of Donald Trump's White House transition team in 2016, has written a blistering attack on Jared Kushner, whom he accuses of having carried out a political 'hit job' on him as an act of revenge for prosecuting his father, Charles Kushner, a decade ago.... Even for a White House that has generated an extraordinary cornucopia of hypercritical kiss-and-tell books, Christie's is exceptional for its excoriating description of events at which he was present."
*****
Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Attorney general nominee William P. Barr suggested Tuesday that any report written by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III might not be made public, signaling the possibility of future battles within the government over his findings. The remarks by Barr, who is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, highlight the uncertainty surrounding how he will grapple with what many expect will be the final steps of Mueller's investigation into President Trump, his advisers and Russian interference in the 2016 election.... In a sign of potential fights to come, Barr said any report from Mueller would probably be treated like internal Justice Department prosecution memos that are kept secret. In a chippy back-and-forth with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Barr cast doubt on the notion that Mueller's report might be made public.... Barr said he ... would not commit to following the recommendation of ethics officials if they saw a reason for him to recuse from overseeing the Russia investigation." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Barr has set up a perfect Catch-22 here. On the one hand, he wrote in his infamous 19-page memo that a president "can't be prosecuted for obstruction of justice on a basis of acts that don't strictly involve impairment of evidence." In addition, there are DOJ memos, which Mueller is expected to follow, opining that a president or a president* cannot be indicted for any crimes while s/he remains in office. On the other hand, Barr said in Senate testimony yesterday, "If you're not going to indict someone, you don't stand up there and unload negative information about the person. That's not the way the department does business." (This came in response to questions about Jim Comey's remarkable Hillary-Clinton-was-extremely-careless presser.) Since (1) Trump can't be charged & (2) Barr won't "unload negative information" about He Who Cannot Be Charged, there is no way Barr will divulge what the Mueller team has found out about Trump's bad behavior. The "report" the public receives may contain damning information about Trump's underlings, but it will be silent about Trump. Unless the House can remedy Barr's likely decision through some (probably protracted) legal action, Barr will render Mueller's report essentially useless for present-day purposes. It will be 25 years or more before Mueller's report is declassified.
New York Times reporters live-updated William Barr's Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... The Washington Post's live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Marianne Levine & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Attorney General nominee William Barr ... told Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that he did not think Mueller 'would be involved in a witch hunt,' a term Trump has used repeatedly to deride the investigation. Barr also told the Judiciary Committee that he agreed with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation -- the primary reason Trump soured on Sessions." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Graham Adorns Tin Foil Hat. Jackie Kucinich & Spencer Ackerman of The Daily Beast: "Newly minted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wasted no time in bringing in right-wing conspiracy theories about FBI and Justice Department misconduct into the confirmation hearing of President Trump's attorney general nominee William Barr, asking him to 'clean up this place' should he be installed as the nation's top cop." --s ...
... Barr Thought the Mueller Probe Was Unwarranted. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: In 2017, William P. Barr' ... appeared to advocate more investigations of the Clintons. But Barr's attempt to explain away those comments didn't make a whole lot of sense. And in sum, they suggest he didn't think much of Mueller's collusion investigation, either. Barr was confronted with a New York Times report in which he had said there was more to substantiate an investigation of Hillary Clinton for the Uranium One deal than the probe into potential Trump campaign collusion with Russia.... This was especially significant because the Uranium One claims have largely been dismissed as conspiracy theories, including by The Washington Post's Fact Checker.... Shortly after [the Senate confirmation] exchange, Times reporter Peter Baker released the whole email Barr sent him at the time[, which included this opinion: '... the ultimate question is whether the matter warrants investigation, and I have long believed that the predicate for investigating the uranium deal, as well as the foundation, is far stronger than any basis for investigating so-called "collusion."']... Asked to account for the full email later in the hearing, Barr explained that he wasn't particularly keen on a criminal investigation into the Clinton Foundation, either.... Okay, but even if you accept the idea that Barr wasn't so gung-ho about investigating the Clintons -- which is perhaps plausible -- the email makes it abundantly evident that he thought there was even less to prompt the Russian collusion probe than those investigations." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: You would be excused for suspecting Barr was a political hack & not as devoted to "the rule of law" he claimed to be during the hearing. Incidentally, Dick Durbin did ask Barr (as I suggested yesterday) why the hell he would take a job working for an ass like Trump, & his answer was "blah-blah rule of law blah-blah I'm an old guy." (slight paraphrase)
... Trumpian Qualifications. Scott Bixby of The Daily Beast: "Decades before President Donald Trump nominated William Barr to retake the reins at the Department of Justice, Barr used the post to indefinitely detain hundreds of HIV-positive asylum-seekers at a Guantanamo Bay detention center, deemed an 'HIV prison camp' by a federal judge who ruled the quarantine to be in gross violation of the U.S. Constitution. That policy, part of a program that at its peak held more than 12,000 Haitian refugees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, helped lay the legal groundwork for the indefinite incarceration of 'enemy combatants' in the War on Terror -- and institutionalized the detention system that President Trump has made a cornerstone of his immigration policy." --s
The Trump Shutdown, Ctd.
Theater of the Absurd. Julie Davis & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would summon tens of thousands of federal employees back to work without pay to get the government running amid a partial shutdown well into its third week, as the White House and increasingly agitated lawmakers on Capitol Hill cast about for a way to end the stalemate. On a day of inertia and theatrics in Washington, the partisan disconnect fueling the deadlock was on full -- sometimes absurd -- display. House Democrats spurned an invitation by President Trump to a bipartisan lunch at the White House, drawing howls of outrage from Mr. Trump's team, while Democrats dismissed the steak-and-potatoes meal as little more than a photo opportunity. A group of House Democratic freshmen marched across the Capitol -- with reporters in tow &-- to publicly confront Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, with demands to end the impasse. But Mr. McConnell was not in his office, so they left a note. In between the choreographed scenes of non-negotiation, Republicans and Democrats toiled privately to find a solution that Mr. Trump would accept. The talks were expected to continue Wednesday, after the president issued yet another invitation to a group of centrists from both parties, the Problem Solvers Caucus, who were scheduled to attend a meeting with him in the Situation Room." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This entire farce, of course, swirls around a mad king whom all the other actors are devising schemes to appease or to trick into reopening the realm. I'm waiting for the scene where we find Nancy or Chuck hiding in a White House closet. Sadly, many in the audience are not able to laugh till some character foils the mad king.
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration on Tuesday said it has called back tens of thousands of federal workers to fulfill key government tasks, including disbursing tax refunds, overseeing flight safety and inspecting the nation's food and drug supply, as it seeks to blunt the impact of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The nearly 50,000 furloughed federal employees are being brought back to work without pay -- part of a group of about 800,000 federal workers who are not receiving paychecks during the shutdown, which is affecting dozens of federal agencies large and small. A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by unions representing air traffic controllers and other federal workers to force the government to pay them if they are required to work."
Nice Try, Senators. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Republicans blocked a House-passed package to the federal government for a second time in as many weeks on Tuesday. Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) asked for consent to take up a package of bills that would reopen the federal government. One bill would fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 8, while the other would fund the rest of the impacted departments and agencies through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. Under Senate rules, any senator can ask for consent to vote on or pass a bill, but any senator can object. [Mitch] McConnell blocked the two bills, saying the Senate wouldn't 'participate in something that doesn't lead to an outcome.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Nice Try, Trump. Jordan Fabian & Scott Wong of the Hill: "No Democrats will attend a lunch on Tuesday with President Trump designed to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown and fund a border wall, the White House said. Trump had invited several moderate House Democrats to the White House in an effort to undermine Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has refused to grant Trump his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding. But the group turned down the invitation.... In a private meeting Monday night, Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told fellow leaders they were fine with rank-and-file members meeting with Trump, according to a source in the meeting. Pelosi joked to Hoyer: 'They can see what we've been dealing with. And they'll want to make a citizen&'s arrest.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration is bringing thousands of furloughed inspectors and engineers back to work as the partial government shutdown drags on, the agency said on Tuesday. The agency'’s announcement came after unions representing aviation safety inspectors and air traffic controllers raised concerns that the lengthy shutdown was eroding the safety of the nation's air travel system. It is one of the largest changes made by a government agency since the shutdown last month to address the need to maintain an essential service." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
All five of the presidents whom I worked for, Republicans and Democrats, wanted a word-for word set of notes, if only to protect the integrity of the American side of the conversation against later manipulation by the Soviets or the Russians. -- Victoria Nuland, career diplomat ...
... ** Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The first time [Trump & Putin] met was in Germany. President Trump took his interpreter's notes afterward and ordered him not to disclose what he heard to anyone. Later that night, at a dinner, Mr. Trump pulled up a seat next to President Vladimir V. Putin to talk without any American witnesses at all. Their third encounter was in Vietnam when Mr. Trump seemed to take Mr. Putin's word that he had not interfered in American elections. A formal summit meeting followed in Helsinki, Finland, where the two leaders kicked out everyone but the interpreters. Most recently, they chatted in Buenos Aires after Mr. Trump said they would not meet because of Russian aggression. Mr. Trump has adamantly insisted there was 'no collusion' with Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign. But each of the five times he has met with Mr. Putin since taking office, he has fueled suspicions about their relationship. The unusually secretive way he has handled these meetings has left many in his own administration guessing what happened and piqued the interest of investigators.... The mystery surrounding the meetings seems to have drawn attention from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining ties between the president and Russia. And it has generated a furor in Congress, where Democrats are pushing to subpoena the notes of the president's interpreters or perhaps the interpreters themselves."
** David Corn of Mother Jones: "Trump has never fully confronted a fundamental fact of the Trump-Russia scandal: He was a legitimate counterintelligence concern for US intelligence as soon as he became the Republican nominee for president.... So here's a question that should be posed to Trump: Why did you repeatedly assert that Russia was not attacking the United States after you were told by US intelligence experts it was?... [T]he American citizenry does not need any report to know that Trump repeatedly acted as if he were a Moscow asset. And the fact that this has not caused a greater uproar is perhaps one of the most disconcerting and absurd elements of the entire scandal." --s
Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "A group of 11 Republican senators broke ranks with their leadership and the administration on Tuesday to side with Democrats in a showdown over sanctions on Russia, underscoring the political sensitivity of the issue amid questions about President Trump's relationship with Moscow. The Republicans voted with Democrats seeking to keep sanctions in place on companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch with connections to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The 11 Republican votes allowed Senate Democrats to advance a measure that would reverse a decision last month by the Treasury Department to lift sanctions that it imposed last year on companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, including the aluminum giant Rusal. The Treasury Department's decision would leave in place personal sanctions on Mr. Deripaska and require him to give up control over Rusal and two linked companies, EN+ and JSC EuroSibEnergo."
Liar, Liar. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have intensively scrutinized Paul Manafort's activities after President Trump's election -- including after Manafort was criminally charged -- and indicated they have extensive details not yet made public about Manafort's interactions with former Russian aide Konstantin Kilimnik and others, a Tuesday court filing showed. Although heavily redacted, the documents state that Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, claimed he was trying to get people appointed in the new presidential administration. The filing also states that in another Justice Department investigation, Manafort provided information that appears related to an event while he was with the campaign in August 2016. Prosecutors also showed keen interest in a $125,000 payment made in June 2017 that Manafort characterized in three ways that were contradicted, the filing says, by his tax filings and exchanges with his tax preparer. Prosecutors filed a 31-page affidavit from an FBI agent, plus another 406 nearly fully blacked-out exhibits, after a federal judge last week ordered them to lay out the 'factual and evidentiary basis' for their claims that Manafort lied repeatedly after his plea deal and has breached his cooperation agreement."
PBS News: "Rick Gates, a former senior campaign aide to ... Donald Trump, will have to wait at least another two months for his sentencing date in the Russia investigation, prosecutors said Tuesday. In a new court filing, special counsel Robert Mueller's team said they're not ready for Gates' sentencing because he is continuing to cooperate with 'several' ongoing investigations. It's unclear if the delay is an indication of the timeline of Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference or a reflection of the status of the other investigations."
Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "When Michael Cohen appears before the House Oversight Committee next month, his public testimony will be severely limited thanks to his ongoing cooperation with multiple federal investigations. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Cohen will be prevented from discussing matters he divulged to both special counsel Robert Mueller and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office. That means the public may learn less than they hoped about matters involving Cohen's contacts with Russia, hush-money payments Cohen made to women on Trump's behalf, and the Trump Organization's finances. But the Feb. 7 open hearing is still highly anticipated given Cohen's dramatic public break with President Trump over the past year after nearly a decade in Trump's service."
MEANWHILE. Rachel Bade of Politico: "Embattled acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will testify before Congress on Feb. 8, setting up dual blockbuster hearings that week as House Democrats launch their much-awaited oversight into Donald Trump's presidency. The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that Whitaker will appear one day after Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testifies before the House Oversight Committee. The two hearings, both made-for-TV moments, will almost certainly create a headache for the president as special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into his 2016 presidential campaign enters its 20th month."
Great being with the National Champion Clemson Tigers last night at the White House. Because of the Shutdown I served them massive amounts of Fast Food (I paid), over 1000 hamberders etc. Within one hour, it was all gone. Great guys and big eaters! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Tuesday ...
... How Many Hamberders Would a Hamberdler Buy if a Hamberdler Would Be Trump? Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... an amusing tweet ... Donald Trump posted Tuesday morning illustrates just how easily he exaggerates and contradicts himself.... Speaking to reporters just before players showed up, Trump proudly displayed the spread of 'great American food,' and said, 'we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries -- all of our favorite foods.' Three hundred hamburgers is a lot of burgers, even for a football team. But it apparently wasn't enough for Trump. Within a matter of minutes, the number grew exponentially. Addressing the players, Trump claimed to have purchased 1,000 hamburgers.... On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted that the number of burgers he purchased had grown again to 'over 1000 hamberders [sic] etc.' (He later reposted the tweet without the typo.)" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Rupar writes, "Photos of the event suggest something along the lines of the lower number is accurate." Yeah but the pix don't show the 700 Big Macs Trump ordered be sent directly to the residence.
karen pence has finished embroidering Jesus sayings on her Oval Office curtains & has obtained other artsy employment:
... Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The school where Vice President Pence's wife, Karen, has accepted a part-time job teaching art requires potential employees to affirm certain religious beliefs that seek to exclude homosexual and transgender applicants, including that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. Immanuel Christian School, a private K-8 school in Springfield, Va., outside of Washington, sets forth the position in its employment application for teachers and support staff in a section that requires applicants to initial a set of standards that begins with a promise that they are born-again Christians. One of the items is a pledge to 'live a personal life of moral purity.'... Another section [of the school's job application] asks prospective teachers to explain their view of the debate about creation and evolution." ...
... Rebecca Klein of the Huffington Post has more. Mrs. McC: I would be thinking karen's idea of teaching art was sitting the kids down with paint-by-number kits of the Last Supper, but I'm not sure a picture of men wearing dresses & partying together sets the "right tone."
Michael Wines of the New York Times: "A federal judge blocked the Commerce Department on Tuesday from adding a question on American citizenship to the 2020 census, handing a legal victory to critics who accused the Trump administration of trying to turn the census into a tool to advance Republican political fortunes. The ruling marks the opening round in a legal battle with potentially profound ramifications for federal policy and for politics at all levels, one that seems certain to reach the Supreme Court before the printing of census forms begins this summer. I a lengthy and stinging ruling, Judge Jesse M. Furman of the United States District Court in Manhattan said that Wilbur L. Ross Jr., the commerce secretary, committed 'a veritable smorgasbord' of violations of federal procedural law when he ordered the citizenship question added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Where Are They Now?, Ctd. Kyla Mandel of ThinkProgress: "Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has quickly found new work as a senior vice president for the blockchain investment firm Artillery One. Zinke, who in the past has touted his bachelor's degree in geology, will be making his first appearance for the firm at a cryptocurrency conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland.... Blockchain is a decentralized, public ledger that forms the technological backbone of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The new role marks a clear shift away from Zinke's political career towards a focus on technology and finance. It is unclear what Zinke's background in the military, government, or his Montana-based business ventures brings to the table, other than his high-level government connections." --s
Des Moines Register Editors: "Congressman Steve King should resign. He has lost even the potential to effectively represent his Iowa constituents because of his abhorrent comments about white nationalism and white supremacy. The move by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to strip King of his committee assignments leaves Iowa without a seat on the vital House Agriculture Committee, as well as judiciary. It also leaves King with far less opportunity to work for his constituents on critically important rural development issues. Not that King has seemed particularly interested in working for his district in recent years. Instead of holding town-hall meetings with his constituents, King spent many congressional breaks globe-trotting to Europe and hobnobbing with hard-right, nationalist leaders.... King has often made Iowa a laughing stock on the national stage with his offensive and absurd remarks about undocumented immigrants, comparing them to dogs or disparaging them as drug mules with calves the size of cantaloupes." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Lordy, that's harsh. Someone who's likely to be as upset as the Register's editors by the Fall of Steve is his good friend and fellow white nationalist Donald J. Trump. Iowans may need a rep on the ag committee, but Trump needs Racist Steve on the House Judiciary Committee if & when that committee takes up impeachment proceedings. ...
... Sioux City (Iowa) Journal Editors: "It's time for Steve King to go. He should resign his seat in the U.S. House. A new election should be held for voters in Iowa's 4th Congressional District to choose a replacement. After near-universal condemnation from both sides of the political aisle, a vote by House Republicans o Monday to strip him of all committee assignments, approval by the full House on Tuesday of a resolution (King voted for the resolution) rejecting 'white nationalism' and 'white supremacy' meant to, according to Roll Call, rebuke him and introduction in the House this week of two measures to censure him following his 'white supremacy' comment in a Jan. 10 New York Times story, whatever measure of influence or effectiveness King possessed in the House is, in our view, gone. He is today, it appears to us, largely an outcast within the body in which he serves." ...
... Lissandra Villa of BuzzFeed News: "The House voted almost unanimously on a resolution to reprimand Rep. Steve King for his most recent racist comments, with only one member dissenting -- but it wasn't King. The resolution, a formal rebuke of the Iowa lawmaker, mentions King only once and focuses instead on renouncing white supremacy and white nationalism. King himself said before the vote that he'd enthusiastically support it. The only member to oppose the bill was Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, who says his party's resolution didn't go far enough. Scott sponsored legislation to censure King, a more serious rebuke, which he plans to continue pursuing. Rush said that King's own vote for the resolution 'tells you that this resolution is not worth the paper it's written on.'" ...
I want to see someone who is going to make our country great again, which is basically the same thing as Steve. He is a special guy, a smart person, with really the right views on almost everything.... [We're so in sync], we don't have to compare notes. -- Donald Trump, on Steve King, at a fundraiser for King, October 2014 ...
... What About Trump? Washington Post Editors: "Republican leaders in Congress are shocked, shocked that their fellow GOP colleague Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), whose racist remarks have been his political signature for more than a decade, turns out to be . . . a racist.... Having lost 40 House seats in the November midterms, the GOP's congressional capos, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), seem to be calculating that it may diminish the party's brand for elected Republicans to demonize, mock, disparage and demean minorities. With one exception, of course: President Trump.... The president's résumé of racially loaded, coded and hateful commentary is so well known that it often earns no notice from his party's bigwigs on Capitol Hill; it is a feature, not a bug, of his political persona.... For the most part..., Mr. Trump's bigoted statements are ignored and minimized by Republicans, lest they incur the wrath of the president or his supporters. A small fish such as Mr. King is a different matter: His most recent racist eruption is a vehicle for latent Republican anxiety that the nation's long-term demographic trends spell trouble for a party whose appeal has narrowed overwhelmingly to whites."
Mark Stern of Slate: "On Tuesday, the Supreme Court handed a victory to American workers, ruling unanimously that independent contractors who work in transportation may not be forced into mandatory arbitration. (Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the bench after argument, did not participate.) The decision is a remarkable win for labor rights from a court that typically favors corporate interests over working people. And it will allow hundreds of thousands of contractors to vindicate their rights in court, collectively, rather than in costly and unjust arbitration. Tuesday's case, New Prime v. Oliveira, involves a dispute between a trucking company (New Prime) and one of its drivers, Dominic Oliveira." Read the whole thing, as much for the decision as for the way New Prime treated Oiveira. Funny thing, the author of the opinion is Neil Gorsuch, who has hardly been a friend to truckers.
Presidential Race 2020.
... Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, an outspoken advocate for women's causes and electing more women to office, is herself entering the 2020 race for the White House, becoming the latest candidate to join what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary to take on President Trump. In an appearance Tuesday on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,' Ms. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, said she was forming an exploratory committee to raise money and travel the country for her run. She is scheduled to start campaigning within days, with plans to spend the weekend in Iowa."
Beyond the Beltway
New York. Ari Berman of Mother Jones: "Despite its progressive reputation, New York has long had some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. That will soon change. The Democratic-controlled state Legislature passed a sweeping election reform package on Monday ... which must be approved by voters at a later date. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pledged to sign the bills." --s
Way Beyond
Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Theresa May has sustained the heaviest parliamentary defeat of any British prime minister in the democratic era after MPs rejected her Brexit deal by a resounding majority of 230. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, immediately moved to sieze the initiative, tabling a vote of no confidence in the government.... Brexit-supporting Conservatives joined with opposition parties and the Democratic Unionist party to trounce the government in the 'meaningful vote', which the prime minister delayed before Christmas in the vain hope of winning over waverers. Following the defeat, May immediately invited a formal vote of no confidence in her own government, which she said would be voted on as soon as Wednesday." ...
... Brian Williams of MSNBC (surprisingly) introduced the Brexit vote news by noting that the Brexit campaign was Putin's first big foray into destabilizing Europe. What he didn't mention was Trump's vociferous support for Brexit & his collaboration/collusion with its advocates like Nigel Farage.
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Reader Comments (22)
Looks like the federal workers being ordered back to work (with no pay) are in positions where their absence has caused Trump to take heat. Count on Trump to take care of Trump.
I need help on this, because the more I think about it the less I can picture what's happening, with this calling back unpaid workers.
What right does any employer have to require someone to work without pay? Can the called back worker just say NO and be protected from retaliation? What is written into some? all? government employee contracts? Is there a feature of those contracts that allows the government, at will, to impress people into some kind of quasi-military arrangement? Do those contracts set different expectations for management personnel than they do for rank and file workers?
I just don't get it.
And....will employees are finally repaid, will they receive interest on the money they have essentially loaned the government?
Anyone know?
Adios MoFo!–-always liked that little trio in Texas that sang this song that Marie put on R.C. a couple of times––now its tune has Steve King's signature all over it. Poor Stevie–-the scapegoat of his own party that suddenly took it upon themselves late in the game to call him out after years of racist comments. "Don't you know me"? he asked. Well, sure nough, partner, they sure as hell know exactly what you are ––bad timing for you, sir, your party people needed to show them Mericans how upstanding they are cuz they be squirming a bit in their Republican suits.
And speaking of the nest of vipers: History will not be kind to Mitch McConnell–-the gravedigger of American democracy. He stoked the hyper-polarization of American politics to make the Obama presidency as dysfunctional and paralyzed as he possibly could. He is responsible for the gridlock at this time by refusing to bring anything to the floor. He is deliberately preventing any kind of resolution to the shutdown. His diminished respect for democratic norms as we saw by his refusal to address Merrick Garland is just one example. Akhilleus wrote about ole Mitch yesterday so I won't continue with this, but suffice it to say with everything else that's coming down the pike this pathetic leader of the senate needs to have his clock cleaned–-something my father used to say in leu of "fucked."
The other snake in the swampy waters of Congress is our favorite Southern Mint Julep–-Lindsay Graham: As chairman, to open an A/G confirmation hearing by bad mouthing our judicial system the way he did was shocking as well as despicable. There is something terribly wrong with Lindsey––I think Trump is making him crazier than usual.
So––I watched a good portion of the Barr hearing. He will be confirmed I'm sure. Kamala Harris had to school him on migration facts and Booker had to get him up to date on prison stats and school him on what it's really like in black neighborhoods. Maisie wasn't buying much of how he answered her questions and it was during that back and forth that Barr's wife's expression changed from a serene smile to a "Wow! that woman is giving him a one-two!" and I may be mistaken but I detected something like admiration.
P.S. Rose: thanks for the Randy Rainbow–-did indeed ease the pain.
The resilience and resolve of the Democrats in this shutdown -- refusal to budge on not one damn cent for the wall -- makes me proud.
@Ken Winkes: Russell Berman of the Atlantic has a fairly good explanation. Think Taft-Hartley.
Also, I meant to link this or a similar story, and I forgot: "Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be required to continue to work without pay during the government shutdown, a Washington federal judge ruled Tuesday, denying an emergency request that said the Trump administration was violating federal law by forcing employees into 'involuntary servitude.'” This isn't the end of the case; there's a hearing for a preliminary injunction Jan. 31, but I doubt the courts will ever let federal employees just not show up without consequences, even tho we, their employers, are not paying them.
Making America Grate Again
In addition to the Barr Catch 22, as Marie correctly puts it, I had a distant alarm bell go off yesterday while listening to a self-righteous William Barr pontificate on his credentials as a legal something or other. He averred that he would not (harumph, harumph) do anything "I don't think is right".
Hmmmm.....he never said "I won't do anything that isn't right, or isn't in accordance with legal principles and longstanding guidelines, standard practices, or the laws of the United States of America", he said that he wouldn't do anything he "didn't agree with".
For all we know he could think slavery is perfectly fine. He could think child labor was peachy keen. He might have no problem agreeing with sticking HIV victims in a prison camp, locking the door, and throwing away the key. Oh wait. He already did that. Well, never mind. He might be in complete agreement with arranging for pardons for a raft of criminals involved in the biggest conspiracy to defraud the American public until...well, until Trump. Oh. Hold on. He did that one too.
You see where this is going? So later, when he deep sixes the Mueller report and sets up a pardon assembly line for everyone from Junior to Ivanka's pet poodle, he can say "Well, at my confirmation, I told y'all I wouldn't do anything I didn't agree with. I agree with this. So there."
I don't trust this guy any more than I trust Trump. He may be the most significant piece of this raggedy puzzle going forward.
And another thing, just because there might not be an indictment in the offing for Fatty (the sitting presidents can't be indicted bullshit), doesn't mean his every dirty deed should be stuffed in a box and thrown overboard bound for Davy Jones' locker. It could be that Fatty's crew of crooks and criminals planned things that didn't quite pan out. And if they knew about the Russian plans and stood by while Putin ratfucked Hillary Clinton and American democracy, that might not be something Barr would look at as actionable, but it is most definitely something the American public has a right to know.
He isn't even confirmed yet and this already stinks to high heaven. That novel length memo (which was also sent to Federalist Society big wigs) and now his caveats about what he will or will not do, as he sees fit (or as he agrees to), have the look and feel of a steel trap. Well, we're talking Trump here, so maybe a tin trap. A tin trap to spring a tin pot dictator.
Any way you look at it, it's bad for America. We're in for it, folks. Trump may have found himself the anti-Mueller.
It's completely outrageous, but pure Trump, that Fatty is dragooning workers he himself kicked off the job, forcing them to work for nothing in order to take the heat off his own fat ass.
It's nothing less than saying "Well, I need to look tough so Rush Limbaugh won't make me cry saying mean things about me, so you all have to skeedaddle, until I say so." Then "Okay, you all have to come back to make me look good, but you don't get any money. So hop to it. The king can't wait all day."
He's like the King of Bongo Bong...
"Well, here am I and it's plain to see,
that all this jive belongs to me,
cuz I'm the King of Bongo Bong.
I make the laws, I break 'em too,
makes no difference what I do."
Just IMAGINE what R's would be saying if Obama had tried this stunt. There'd be an uprising. Foxbots' heads would explode all over the country. Lindsay Graham would call for excommunication. Steve King would call for a noose.
But Fatty does it? They all bend over and say "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"
Sycophantic fucking traitors and hypocrites, the lot of 'em.
Thanks, Bea. I might have thought of Taft-Hartley, if I'd had the wit to remember it.
Another morning imponderable, for me anyway.
What in the world is Rupert Murdoch up to? What does he see in the Pretender that he thinks supportable? What's in all the Pretender- and Bannon-induced chaos for him?
We have the news of the Pretender's threats to withdraw from NATO, another Putin wet dream and just tried to read this piece of dimwitted praise for the original Brexit vote presented with the Fox imprimatur:
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/steve-hilton-original-intent-of-brexit-restoring-freedom-and-sovereignty-buried-by-inept-bureaucrats.
No mention of the distinct racial component in the original vote. Freedom and sovereignty, my ass. Who is paying these guys this dreck and why?
Is the goal as simple as white supremacy? Or more likely to my mind to break functioning states and alliances into smaller and smaller fiefdoms, so each can be more easily controlled by unregulated vulture capitalists, our latter-day nobility?
Or is Fox just filling a news niche for those who prefer to be uninformed, and with no thought to consequence, just raking in the cash?
Like too many other things, couldn't figure it out.
Donaldavich Trumpskyev work for Kremlin? Nyet. You crazy?
"Top Russian officials on Wednesday ridiculed allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump could have worked for Moscow’s interests, dismissing them as 'absurd' and 'stupid.'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference that U.S. media reports claiming that Trump might have been a Russian agent reflect a dramatic plunge in standards of journalism."
Sure. Because the standards of journalism in Russia are tip-top. "Talk bad about Putin? Gulag!" Yeah. I'm all broken up about what Sergey Lavrov has to say about standards of journalism in America.
But I am sooooo relieved to hear from Lavrov that Trumpskyev is not working for Russian interests. Leave us not forget that this is the same Sergey Lavrov who, in an Oval Office meeting with Fatty and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, was handed top secret information by Mr. Not Working For Russia.
Well, I guess technically, that may be true. You work for someone, you get paid (unless you work for Fatty). Trump handed them this information on the house.
Also, one of Putin's talkie-yelly persons, a foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov (and no, I'm pretty sure this doesn't mean he arranges hookers for Putin when he's abroad, Although it could mean he arranged hookers for Trump when he was in Moscow...but that's all beside the point...), was equally shocked. SHOCKED!
"'What kind of nonsense are you asking about?' Ushakov snapped when asked if Trump was a Russian agent. 'How can one comment on such a stupid thing? It has reached such a scale that it’s awkward to even talk about it.'"
Oh yeah. That's convincing. It sounds like a guy bagged by his wife after coming home from a hook up with his girlfriend. "What do you mean? That's nonsense. Absurd! Me with another woman? Oh, that stain? That's not lipstick. That's um....that's ahh....motor oil. Yeah. They make it red now. C'mon honey, this is really awkward..."
Ken,
The Trump-Murdoch arrangement is just that. At least for Murdoch, I believe. Neither is particularly ideological. They both worship money and power. The big difference is that Trump pretends to be fabulously wealthy. He isn't. But Murdoch is. He's worth, according to some estimates, almost $20 billion. And he has been as successful at his business ventures as Trump has been a failure at his. Murdoch has never had to go to banks, hat in hand, asking for a few mill to finish off some shady project only to be rejected, then having to run off to even shadier Russians and gangsters. He's never had a string of bankruptcies brought on by poor business instincts and overwhelming narcissism. He's never had to try to hawk his name to others to make ends meet. He's everything Trump pretends to be.
But Murdoch is also into power. And now Trump has it. Murdoch has never been on a president's or prime minister's speed dial. Never had the ear of someone at the top of pyramid who could be bent and manipulated. And Murdoch has been burned by governments before. Now he has someone in hand who knows nothing about governments or governing, and someone who will never come after him for anything.
And they have one other thing in common. Resentment. Even though Murdoch has reportedly referred to Trump as a "fucking idiot", they both trade in resentment like New York street vendors in fake luxury watches (Feikos, in the trade). Both came into money from their dads and have always envied those whom they felt were treated better. They crave respect and loyalty.
Murdoch has made billions by creating an alternate wingnut world, stoking fear, hatred and resentment, peppered with leggy blondes and shouting ideologues to keep the yokels angry, entertained, and permanently worked up. Trump got to the White House using the same formula, along with help from Russia and an unconscionably irresponsible press.
So, theirs is a marriage of convenience. But both are equally mercurial. There could come a time when the convenience is outweighed by some personal slight, real or imagined. But for now, Fatty needs Murdoch, and Murdoch makes a bundle off Trump, besides being able to call him up and say "Donald, I don't like your choice for such and such a job. Try this guy."
Just a couple of privileged assholes carving up the world to suit their needs.
I see where Fatso Former New Jersey Guv Christie has written a poison pen memoir released, appropriately, by Hatchet Publishing.
What's that? It's Hachette?
Never mind.
Christie seems to think his list of "...deeply flawed individuals — amateurs, grifters, weaklings, convicted and unconvicted felons..." doesn't include him.
Lemme tell ya. If you're reduced to writing this kind of stuff to pay the bills (or even worse, back stab your enemies), you're not exactly Albert Schweitzer material yourself.
The litany of bad actors, con artists, cheap hucksters, and self-serving machers is never-ending on the right.
"We’ve just gotta fight every day and that’s how we win."
Unless the other guy is doing rope-a-dope.
Mike Tyson was also a famous ear biter. Should Mueller wear earmuffs when he's in the same room with Trump lest he go for his ear lobes in frustration? (Oh yeah, Tyson lost that fight. Disqualification. He was kicked out of boxing. He was also imprisoned for rape. Great role model there, donnie.)
@Mrs McC: Please, that SOTU will be PRINTED in crayon on those sheets we used back in first grade. The ones with the lines for lower case letters as well as his beloved Caps.
Bobby Lee: You just triggered fond memories of the "Big Chief" tablet, with pulp paper that seemed to have wood chips flattened into it. c. 1954.
But ... you don't really expect Donnie to print on the lines, do you?
Let's see...everyone thinks (even R's but they don't give a shit) that I'm in bed with the Russians and working as Putin's poodle. So what should I do? Should I allow sanctions to stand on businesses run by Russian gangsters and Putin's cronies?
Why, of COURSE NOT!
What better way to prove I'm not a Russian asset (shouldn't that be asshole?) than by stopping Democrats from maintaining sanctions against Russian pals of Putin!
There ya go. Proof positive.
He really does have a big brain. Big, but empty.
Looks like little donnie DOES use lined paper when "writing" his speeches.
On today's Senate sanctions vote:
Nothing like the Republican Senate--now that the R House is no more--to send one scurrying to the thesaurus to find new, not yet exhausted, ways to say "hypocrite" and "supine." I'd hope this vote will be remembered and made good use of by the Dems in 2020.
And, Akhilleus, I thought so, too. The Murdoch-Pretender thing is most likely a marriage of convenience, but I still wonder if any of these dimwits, with or without money, ever thinks of what the world will look like a generation or so hence because of them.
The utter absence of that kind of thinking is something I don't begin to understand.
Ken,
I don't either. But that might be because we have core moral beliefs that supersede personal ascendancy and monetary and political advancement.
The latest grunt from the bowels of the Deep State:
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685977471/federal-watchdog-finds-government-ignored-emoluments-clause-with-trump-hotel
As for the SOTU, kudos to Pelosi for her bullet between Fatty's bloodshot, squinty eyes, but he will never forgo the chance to strut around like the king and tell invented stories about those he considers his enemies, especially when sycophantic ideological sybarites like Lindsay Graham will be there to throw their heads back and howl with toadying deference in support of his every lie.
HE's not to blame for the things he's done. Doesn't everyone get that by now? He's not to blame for ANYTHING. A standard belief in R circles. No matter what they do, it's right and just. And if something they put forward or support is a horrible, terrible, no good bit of hypocrisy and treason, well, then, it must be the fault of Evil Democrats. Because R's would never do such a thing.
@Patrick: We're talking the same time frame but the ones we got were Blue Horse. Like yours they were about the quality of a gas station hand towel.