;)
The Commentariat -- January 16, 2021
Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that it is conducting risk assessments on hundreds of people ahead of expected protests at the presidential inauguration next week, trying to determine whether they need to be subject to enhanced screening or barred from flying entirely. But an agency spokesman declined to say whether the assessments had led to anyone being stopped from flying. The agency has faced calls from a major flight attendants union and lawmakers to use the no-fly list to stop people tied to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 from returning to Washington next week. Airline crews operating out of the region have had to deal with disruptive groups of passengers, with several incidents captured in viral videos."
A Florida Man Arrested for "Call to Arms." Bruce Ritchie of Politico: "The FBI on Friday arrested a Florida Army veteran on charges of plotting to violently disrupt protests at the state Capitol leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. Daniel Baker, 33, wanted to encircle protesters at the state Capitol and confine them with guns, U. S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe and the FBI said. Baker, a former U.S. Army Airborne infrantryman who was kicked out of the service in 2007, had issued 'a call to arms' seeking others to join the him on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Armed protests in opposition to the election results are planned for all 50 state capitals this weekend."
Matthew Choi of Politico: "The White House will restart the release of its visitor logs once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, Biden transition spokesperson Jen Psaki announced Friday. The move is a shift from ... Donald Trump's White House, which kept visitor logs to core offices of the White House, including the West Wing, private. The Trump administration faced legal challenges to its position and settled a lawsuit in 2018 to allow monthly publication of visitor logs for some White House offices, including the Office of Management and Budget and the drug czar's office. The Trump-era policy was criticized as a degradation of transparency from the previous administration. Under President Barack Obama, the White House regularly archived and released visitor logs for its core offices."
The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser
There is a perfect symmetry in the Trump presidency* petering out with the same level of absurdity with which it began: Sean Spicer's insistence that Trump attracted a larger crowd to his inauguration than President Obama had to his first inauguration, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. ~~~
~~~ Asawin Suebsaeng & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "In the final week of his presidency, Donald Trump met in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and a personal friend of the president's, who presented Trump with six pages of documents, loaded with unproven conspiracy theories, that he told him proved that China and other countries helped steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden. Lindell says that after a 'five-to-ten minute meeting' in the Oval, Trump asked someone to take the MyPillow inventor to a different room to show his documents to 'the lawyers,' and then asked for staff to bring Lindell back afterwards. Following a roughly two hour wait, according to Lindell, he finally met with White House attorneys who dismissed his claims but said they would 'look into it.' He was then not allowed to see the president again on Friday. The Daily Beast could not confirm with other sources if the people Lindell met with were attorneys or other White House staff." ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump, isolated and watching the clock count down on his time in the White House, spent a few minutes of it on Friday with the C.E.O. of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, who brought some notes with him. White House officials said nothing came of the roughly five-to-ten-minute meeting between Mr. Lindell and Mr. Trump, which Mr. Lindell said came after he'd been asking to get on the president's calendar for days.... In photographs captured by Jabin Botsford, a photographer for The Washington Post, Mr. Lindell held notes in his hand as he stood outside the doorway to the West Wing lobby mid-afternoon on Friday. The notes included a mention of Sidney Powell, the lawyer and conspiracy theorist whom Mr. Trump at one point wanted to offer a job in the White House. They were only partially visible, but there was also a suggestion about invoking the Insurrection Act, by which a president can deploy active military troops into the streets, and 'martial law if necessary.' One line appeared to suggest moving Kash Patel, currently the Department of Defense chief of staff and a Trump loyalist, as 'C.I.A. Acting,' which seemed to indicate the top job.... Mr. Lindell maintained that the notes he had did not contain the words 'martial law,' although the photograph showed it to be the case." ~~~
~~~ Speaking of Patel & the CIA ... Jonathan Swan of Axios: "CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.... The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences -- and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone -- stopped it." The story describes the "series of coincidences."
Dr. Seuss would be horrified by Maher's meter ("pack up and go" would have worked better), but it was nice of Bill & his writers & artists to go to so much trouble for the kiddies. Thanks to periscope for the link:
Jonathan Martin & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence telephoned Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Thursday to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance -- filling a leadership role all but abdicated by President Trump, who is planning to fly out of the capital shortly before Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in next week. The Pence-Harris conversation, relayed by two officials briefed on the call, was described as gracious and pleasant.... Mr. Trump has refused to call ... Biden.... While the plans remain in flux, Mr. Trump hopes to depart to the blare of a military band, with a red carpet and military honors, those briefed on the planning said." A CNN story is here.
Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 came perilously close to Vice President Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber for about 14 minutes after the Capitol Police reported an initial attempted breach of the complex -- enough time for the marauders to rush inside the building and approach his location, according to law enforcement officials and video footage from that day. Secret Service officers eventually spirited Pence to a room off the Senate floor with his wife and daughter after rioters began to pour into the Capitol, many loudly denouncing the vice president as a traitor as they marched through the first floor below the Senate chamber. About one minute after Pence was hustled out of the chamber, a group charged up the stairs to a second-floor landing in the Senate, chasing a Capitol Police officer who drew them away from the Senate.... If the pro-Trump mob had arrived seconds earlier, the attackers would have been in eyesight of the vice president.... Pence was ultimately evacuated from his office off the Senate floor to a more secure location elsewhere in the Capitol complex.... The proximity of the Jan. 6 mob to the vice president and the delay in evacuating him from the chamber -- which have not been previously reported — raise questions about why the Secret Service did not move him earlier and underscore the jeopardy that top government leaders faced during the siege." MB: And Trump thought this was great teevee. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's worth remembering this this extremely close call occurred minutes after an Army lieutenant general told the Capitol police chief, who was begging for assistance, "I don't like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background." The general refused to recommend sending in reinforcements. (The link is to a WashPo story.)
Devlin Barrett & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Internal investigators for the departments of Justice, Defense, Interior, and Homeland Security will investigate how security officials prepared for and responded to the pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6 that descended into a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials announced Friday. The inspectors general for all of those agencies will review what people knew and how they prepared for that day, along with their actions during the riot, according to news releases." (Also linked yesterday.)
Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Three days before thousands of rioters converged on the U.S. Capitol, an internal Capitol Police intelligence report warned of a violent scenario in which 'Congress itself' could be the target of angry supporters of President Trump on Jan. 6, laying out a stark alert that deepens questions about the security failures that day. In a 12-page report on Jan. 3, the intelligence unit of the congressional police force described how thousands of enraged protesters, egged on by Trump and flanked by white supremacists and extreme militia groups, were likely to stream into Washington armed for battle. This time, the focus of their ire would be members of Congress.... The report said organizers were urging Trump supporters to come armed with guns and to bring specialized combat gear -- including gas masks and military-style bulletproof vests called 'plate carriers' -- to Washington on Jan. 6.... The memo concluded that Jan. 6 was shaping up to potentially be a perfect storm of danger because of the size of the expected crowds, the urgency of the group's mission, the call for demonstrators to bring lethal weapons, the location of the two largest protests in proximity to the Capitol grounds and the fact that 'both have been promoted by President Trump himself.'"
Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "In the days leading up to the mob attack on the Capitol, congressional security officials never let House and Senate leaders know that the Capitol Police had warned they might need National Guard backup.... The police request, made to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, was prompted by intelligence that showed Trump supporters planned to target the Capitol itself as Congress certified the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, according to a congressional official.... The sergeants-at-arms, Michael C. Stenger of the Senate and Paul Irving of the House, rejected the request [for National Guard backup] without raising the issue with either the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, or Speaker Nancy Pelosi.... Mr. Stenger and Mr. Irving, who have resigned amid the fallout from the violence, would most likely have had to ask the leaders whether to approve the requests for such a serious measure, according to former sergeants-at-arms. The sergeants-at-arms and the chief of the Capitol Police were also among officials who briefed lawmakers the day before the riot and reassured them that they were prepared for the events that day, going so far as to say the National Guard was on standby, though only a modest contingent was on duty to provide traffic control."
We were battling 15,000 people. It looked like a medieval battle scene. -- D.C. Police Officer Michael Falcone, describing what police were up against during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection ~~~
~~~ ** Peter Hermann of the Washington Post on "the first public account from D.C. police officers who fought to protect the Capitol during last week's siege.... There were people caught up in the moment, [Cmdr. Robert Glover] said, doing things they would not ordinarily do. But many appeared to be on a mission, and they launched what he and the police chief described as a coordinated assault. 'Everything they did was in a military fashion,' Glover said, saying he witnessed rioters apparently using hand signs and waving flags to signal positions, and using what he described as 'military formations.' They took high positions and talked over wireless communications. Authorities would later learn that some former members of the military and off-duty police officers from across the country were in the pro-Trump crowd." (Also linked yesterday.)
Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Justice Department prosecutors have formally walked back their assertion in a court filing that said Capitol rioters sought to 'capture and assassinate elected officials.' A federal prosecutor in Arizona asked a magistrate judge in a hearing on Friday to strike the line in a recent court filing about defendant Jacob Anthony Chansley, a man who is alleged to have led some in the crowd in the first wave into the Capitol with a bullhorn while carrying a spear and wearing a fur headdress. The entire line the prosecutors want to omit from their court filing is: 'Strong evidence, including Chansley's own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government.' The stunning move comes a few hours after the Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, said at a press conference there was 'no direct evidence of kill and capture teams' at this time in the siege of the Capitol building. See, for context, this Reuters story, also linked yesterday, altho the Reuters story has been updated to reflect the DOJ's "never-mind."
John Kruzel & Scott Wong of the Hill: "A growing number of Democrats are raising concerns about pro-Trump groups spotted inside the Capitol complex in the days before a mob invaded the building last week in what was a stunning failure of intelligence and police planning. Many Democrats were shocked that people in the mob were able to find offices of top Democratic leaders, including an unmarked, third-floor office used by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in Congress.... A few Democrats have said there may have been 'co-conspirators' within the Capitol building helping those involved in the mob.... 'If it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime,' a somber [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi said, 'there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress, in terms of prosecution for that.'... Democrats making the charge have offered no evidence that any lawmakers helped coordinate the attack.... On Dec. 30, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) spoke on the phone with a Capitol Police captain, warning that the online and social media chatter she was seeing was so violent that she feared Trump supporters would try to storm the Capitol and 'kill half of Congress' along with Vice President Pence. She urged police to harden security around the building, as did Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in a phone call a day later with then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund. Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) ... said that on Jan. 5 she saw two groups of Trump supporters in the Rayburn building. That legislative office building, located next to the Capitol, houses nearly 170 members of the U.S. House of Representatives."
... everybody knew that Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and Lin Wood were conducting law in bad faith. They were doing everything they could online to make it seem as if they had legitimate court cases and that if not for the 'horrible' courts and judges, we would have had a different outcome in the election. The repetition shows me there was a plan and that it was coordinated. -- Joan Donovan, in a Politico Magazine interview ~~~
~~~ "The Internet Is a Crime Scene." Zack Stanton of Politico: "'The internet is a crime scene.' says Joan Donovan, research director at Harvard's Shorenstein Center.... 'We're collectively witnessing the aftermath of probably one of the biggest lies ever told in terms of the amount of people it reached and the effects that it had...: : the claims about election fraud, which then led to the event at the Capitol.'... The internet makes radicalization easy, and in the insurrection, Donovan sees a textbook case of how a conspiracy theory -- fueled by an unending buffet of disinformation served up by algorithms -- can grow online and spawn a community that commits the kind of real-world violence that took place at the Capitol on January 6. But the seeds of insurrection were planted much earlier." The article includes the text of the interview.
Thoughts of an Insurrectionist. I have a lot of faith in God and I was just praising him and praying and I was just knowing God would take care of me in this situation.... I just want people to know I'm a normal person. That I listen to my president who told me to go to the Capitol. That I was displaying my patriotism while I was there and I was just protesting and I wasn't trying to do anything violent and I didn't realize there was actually violence.... I think we all deserve a pardon. I'm facing a prison sentence. I think I do not deserve that.... I don't feel a sense of shame or guilty from my heart. I feel like I was basically following my president. I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there. So I was doing what he asked us to do.... I do feel a little wronged in this situation because I'm a real estate agent and this has taken my company. This has taken my business. I am being slandered all over the internet, all over the world and all over the news and I'm just like a normal person. -- Jenna Ryan, Texas Realtor, in an interview conducted after her arrest. ~~~
~~~ Pardon Me. CBS Dallas-Fort Worth: "North Texas realtor Jenna Ryan, who was seen in photos and video at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, arrived home Friday, Jan. 15 after turning herself in to authorities earlier in the day.... Ryan posted a picture of her posing outside of the building in front of a broken window with a caption that read, 'Window at the capital (sic). And if the news doesn't stop lying about us we're going to come after their studios next.'... Ryan, who took a private plane to Washington D.C. on the day of the riot, faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds." ~~~
~~~ Darragh Roche of Newsweek: Jenna "Ryan allegedly took photos of herself during the riot and posted them to social media.... An FBI statement ... alleges that Ryan recorded a now-deleted Facebook video, later posted to YouTube, where she can be heard saying 'we are going to f---ing go in here. Life or death, it doesn't matter. Here we go.' Later in the video Ryan allegedly says 'y'all know who to hire for your realtor. Jenna Ryan for your realtor.' Her face is also visible during some of the recording, according to the FBI." MB: Wait, in one pic (CBS report) she's standing in front of a broken window; in another (Newsweek), she's in a crowd pushing through a door into the building. And who knows where else she was during the ad campaign she conducted in the breached Capitol? Yet she had no idea there was any violence going on. I wouldn't buy a used house from this woman. Also, too, Trump could grant a blanketpardon to her & every other seditionist.
Kudlow Suddenly Very Disappointed in Trump. Shawna Chen of Axios: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow criticized President Trump's response to last week's U.S. Capitol siege and his treatment of Vice President Mike Pence in the aftermath of the 2020 election, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday.... 'I was hoping that he would come out quickly and make statements calling everybody back and stopping the violence,' he said.... Kudlow was also 'very disappointed' with Trump's public criticism of Pence. The president turned on his VP after Pence said he would certify Biden's win. '[V]irtually, except for a few extremists, the entire legal profession agreed with Pence,' Kudlow said."
Will Steakin, et al., of ABC News: "Three of the key advisers who helped engineer Donald Trump's' rise to the presidency in 2016, and who fell from grace under the weight of federal criminal charges, resurfaced during Trump's final days in office to help engineer his ill-fated attempt to cling to power. Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn all participated in efforts to promote the Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' event that ultimately devolved into a riotous and deadly melee at the United States Capitol...." ~~~
~~~ Trump has pardoned two of those guys -- Stone & Flynn -- so ~~~
~~~ Anita Kumar, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump is considering granting a pardon to Steve Bannon, his former White House chief strategist and top campaign aide, who was charged with swindling donors to a private crowdsourcing effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The potential pardon would follow a wave of reprieves the president has recently granted to political allies who have been convicted, charged or reportedly under federal investigation. Two additional batches of pardons are expected -- one on Friday night and one Wednesday morning before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, according to one of the people."
Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Georgia appear increasingly likely to open a criminal investigation of President Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the state's 2020 election, an inquiry into offenses that would be beyond his federal pardon power. The new Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, is already weighing whether to proceed, and among the options she is considering is the hiring of a special assistant from outside to oversee the investigation, according to people familiar with her office's deliberations. At the same time, David Worley, the lone Democrat on Georgia's five-member election board, said this week that he would ask the board to make a referral to the Fulton County district attorney by next month. Among the matters he will ask prosecutors to investigate is a phone call Mr. Trump made in which he pressured Georgia's secretary of state to overturn the state's election results.... 'If you ... look at the conduct of the call, it tracks the communication you might see in any drug case or organized crime case,' said Michael J. Moore, the former United States attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. 'It's full of threatening undertone and strong-arm tactics.'"
Kara Scannell of CNN: "The Manhattan district attorney's office has expanded its criminal investigation into the Trump Organization's finances to include the family's compound in Westchester County, according to lawyers and people familiar with the investigation. Prosecutors' interest in the 212-acre property called Seven Springs is a significant widening of an investigation that began more than a year ago. It also draws closer to ... Donald Trump's son Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who was directly involved in discussions about the property now under scrutiny, according to court filings. Prosecutors sent grand jury subpoenas within the past two months to town officials seeking documents and communications that officials had with the Trump Organization relating to development plans it considered for the sprawling family property.... The President personally signed [MB: a dodgy] conservation easement in his thick Sharpie marker.... By making a donation [of conservation land], it allows the donor to take a tax deduction based on the appraised value of the property. If it were improperly inflated, the donor could take a larger tax deduction than is allowed."
Scotland May Check for "McMafia" Loan. Martyn McLaughlin of the Scotsman: "One of Scotland's leading QCs has directly contradicted First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's claims that the Scottish Government is not responsible for the decision on whether to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order, amid renewed calls for ministers to investigate how Donald Trump financed the multimillion pound acquisition of his flagship international property [the Turnberry golf resort]. Aidan O'Neill QC, one of the country's most experienced advocates, said that ministers alone are responsible for deciding to apply for one of the so called 'McMafia' orders.... His opinion, echoed by another leading advocate, directly contradicts claims made by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who has argued that any application for such an order is a decision for the Crown Office.... The legislative mechanism is designed to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through the UK. If the subject of an order, or their family, is unable to show a legitimate source for their wealth, authorities can apply to a court to seize their properties." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So fleeing to Mar-a-Lago won't work well because Donald signed an agreement not to live there for more than 21 days a year. Fleeing to Seven Springs -- where he has an estate house -- won't work well because he could lose the property for fraudulently-obtained tax breaks. Now fleeing the country to Scotland might not work out well because he could lose his home base on account of corrupt financing. He is also deeply in debt for loans coming due on other properties. And Congress could deprive him of his government pension & other goodies. Trump's post-presidency* luxury-living options are looking a bit dim. On the other hand, he might find a home in the Fulton County jail. Oh, and pardon my schadenfreude.
Oren Lieberman of CNN: "Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who will leave office in less than a week. stated that he 'cannot wait to leave this job,' according to a transcript released by the Department of Defense. The admission, during a press gaggle Thursday on his way back from a trip to Nebraska, Tennessee and Colorado, was one of a number of stunning statements from the man ... Donald Trump picked to take over the position just over two months ago.... He ... went on to disparage the latest American fighter jet, a program that cost more than $1 trillion.... Miller was also asked what he had learned about Russian activity below the threshold of war. 'Good on them' was his surprising response." MB: My guess is Miller was drunk or high when he spoke to the press. Probably not the best look for a Defense Secretary, even an acting one.
Federal Killing Spree Ends Today. Michael Karm & Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden -- an opponent of the federal death penalty. Dustin Higgs, convicted of ordering the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.... Donald Trump's Justice Department resumed federal executions last year following a 17-year hiatus. No president in more than 120 years had overseen as many federal executions."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
Berkeley Lovelace & Noah Higgins-Dunn of CNBC: "President-elect Joe Biden plans to use FEMA and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccine clinics across the United States, according to new details of his Covid-19 vaccination plan released by his transition team on Friday. The Biden administration will also 'quickly jumpstart' efforts to make the vaccines available at local pharmacies across the U.S., which should ensure that Americans have access to doses at facilities only miles from their home, according to the plan." ~~~
~~~ Peter Wade of Rolling Stone: "Trump's vaccine distribution program, which he dubbed Operation Warp Speed, has gone so poorly that the incoming Biden administration announced Friday that the program will be reimagined and renamed, due to an 'urgent need to address the failures of the Trump team approach to vaccine distribution,' incoming White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Friday."
Laurie McGinley & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "President-elect Joe Biden has selected David Kessler, a close adviser on the coronavirus crisis, to help lead the incoming administration's efforts to accelerate the manufacturing, distribution and administration of coronavirus vaccines, the Biden transition team announced Friday morning. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment -- as the president-elect has begun spelling out plans to speed up the Trump administration's sluggish effort on vaccinations to protect against covid-19...."
Apoorva Mandavilli & Caryn Rabin of the New York Times: "Federal health officials warned on Friday that a far more contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain could become the dominant source of infection in the United States by March, and would likely lead to a wrenching surge in cases and deaths that would further burden overwhelmed hospitals. This dire forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made plain what has been suspected for weeks now: The nation is in an urgent race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before the variant spreads across the country. Public health officials emphasized that protective measures already in place should work against the new variant, and urged Americans to redouble their vigilance in wearing face masks, in maintaining physical distance outside their households, washing hands frequently and limiting social interactions and indoor gatherings."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Azar's Ruse. Isaac Stanley-Becker & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line. Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding eligibility for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark." MB: Easy to see that the reason HHS officials would not cooperate with Biden's team: they were covering up this -- and probably other sleights-of-hand. (Also linked yesterday.) Update: CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ So Then. Maggie Fox of CNN: "President Trump's 'actions and rhetoric' have tarnished the administration's legacy, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a resignation letter submitted this week. Azar submitted the standard resignation letter for a Cabinet secretary to offer an outgoing president, dated January 12 and obtained by CNN Friday.... Azar said he plans to stay in his role until Jan. 20, when the president-elect Joe Biden's team takes over."
Mary Louise Kelly of NPR: "... even as the pandemic enters its deadliest stage yet, [CDC Director Robert] Redfield told NPR on Friday that the country is 'about to be in the worst' months of the crisis. As his tenure winds down, the CDC director said in an interview with All Things Considered that he stands by his federal health agency's response to the pandemic despite what he characterized as an early 'learning curve' and conflicting public health guidance from President Trump.... When asked if the White House interfered with the CDC's work, Redfield said no." An interview of Redfield follows.
NRA Attempts Sneaky Retreat. Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Seeking an end-run around an investigation by the New York attorney general, the National Rifle Association said Friday that it was declaring bankruptcy and would reincorporate in Texas. The gun group was set up in New York after the Civil War. The plan raised immediate questions from Letitia James, the New York attorney general and a Democrat, who is seeking to use her regulatory authority to dissolve the N.R.A. She has been conducting an investigation into corruption at the gun group since 2019 that has led to infighting and discontent, as well as some departures from the group's board. 'The N.R.A.'s claimed financial status has finally met its moral status: bankrupt,' Ms. James said in a statement Friday. 'While we review this filing, we will not allow the N.R.A. to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability and my office's oversight.'"
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Reader Comments (23)
Don't think Milbank had to strain to come up with this summary, but it's a good one, gainsaying my guess his fine advice to Republican "elites" runs against their nature.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/15/its-time-republican-elites-shut-up-listen-people/
Crazier by the hour...
Faux News maintains that Nancy Pelosi must have bribed the Republicans who voted for impeaching the Fat Traitor with thirty pieces of silver.
So now they’re equating Trump with Jesus Christ.
I can’t even begin to go anywhere with this. Trump is now Jesus? I guess when truth and facts don’t work, play the deity card.
Unholy shit!
@Akhilleus: Seems like the best way to test this particular theological premise is to crucify Trump. Just the Stations of the Cross procession would be fun (it so happens I have some very heavy hand-hewn beams that would make a great cross, & I am happy to donate them).
@MB. Bill Maher has written a children's book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_BBg-7T5g8
@Marie: The crucify on a cross sounds like great sport, but I checked with Amazon and loin cloths don't come in
XXXX-Large size, so he would just be wearing that long red tie, hopefully a wide one.
Forrest,
Tiny Donald wouldn’t need a wide tie. Maybe one of those skinny pencil ties from the early 60s.
@Forrest Morris: I'm sure I have a JoAnn's discount coupon good for 25% off on unbleached, rough-textured, scratchy white wool that should "cover" the issue.
This Jenna Ryan person, one of the many Trumpist criminals who broke into the Capitol (not capital) building, sounds like an idiot. I know, big surprise, right?
So here’s how she explains that she did nothing wrong: it’s my house. I can do what I want. This lady sells real estate? Soooo...here ya go folks, a beautiful house for sale. Once you move in, you can do what I do in “my” house. Shatter windows, climb over the balcony, shoot off weapons, crap on the floor...scare the shit out of the neighbors. Hey, Jesus will love it.
Then (even better), in response to the very true reports of how violent she and her fellow Trump brownshirts were, she tries to disprove those reports by threatening to attack anyone who says different. Great defense, Jenna. “I ain’t violent! Anyone who says so, I’ll fucking cut their heads off!”
A true Trump supporter. Smart, too. Jesus must be proud.
And speaking of Jesus: Yesterday I wrote about my experience with the kind of disturbed and angry kids that grow up to be disturbed and angry adults if some kind of positive intervention doesn't take place. Here is a piece about how Christian textbook messages and skewed history foments white nationalism and junk science and clouds men's minds as the Shadow once said he could do. But looks like Jesus does a pretty darn good job doing just that.
This article ends with a Chicago high school teacher discussing the harsh realities of the insurrection with her students–-all are black.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christian-textbooks-trump-capitol-riot_n_6000bce3c5b62c0057bb711f
Akhilleus,
Ms. Jenna is another perfect example of how our culture often rewards so many of what we would properly call the wrong (in the sense of destructive) behaviors.
I heard on MSNBC last night that this idiot flew to D. C. in a private jet, which would suggest she's sold a ton of high end houses and been well-rewarded for her "work," which one would assume (and evidence suggests) required no self-reflection or critical thinking whatsoever.
In. other words, in this great country of ours, you can get and be very rich and be very stupid at the same time.
Just another "stable genius."
@Ken Winkes: I kind of question that private jet thing. Several reports have noted that Miss Jenna "flew to Washington in a private jet," but that doesn't necessarily mean she chartered it herself. Jenna describes herself as a real estate agent, as opposed to a broker, but she also says she lost her business, which could -- but doesn't necessarily -- mean she's a broker. She might be an independent agent who "rents" a desk. She isn't necessarily rich. I've known a number of fairly high-producing realtors who aren't what we would call rich. I don't know any, I hope, who were virtually handing out business cards during a violent siege of a government facility & threatening the lives of U.S. leaders.
Anyway, until I hear or read otherwise, I'll give that poor, sweet, persecuted Texas lady the benefit of the doubt & leave open the possibility that she rode -- probably with others -- in a private jet owned or chartered by some Texas Trumpist multimillionaire of her acquaintance.
Quite an interesting segment on yesterday’s edition of Science Friday on NPR. The estimable Ira Flatow interviews a researcher who uses an understanding of folklore structure and computational science to deconstruct and unravel conspiracy theories.
They examine Chris Christie’s Bridgegate, which wingers have claimed Is a complete lie invented by Democrats, and the infamous Pizzagate CT.
The short of it is, by deleting certain elements in each story, they either fall apart or still hold up. You can guess which does which. Nonetheless, a fascinating look at how easily, using the right methodology, right wing conspiracy theories, such as Fatty’s stolen election canard, can be detonated. Of course there is always our own internal bullshit meter, but it’s helpful to have a well constructed scientific method with which to beat back the thugs and the idiots, especially the idiotic thug still in the White House.
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/detecting-conspiracy-theory/
Marie,
You are so kind .....and likely correct about Ms Jenna. I was displaying an unforgivable rush to judgement.
Yeah, the huckstering didn't fit.
But even if she's just stupid, not rich, I'll stick by my main point.
"... I do feel a little wronged in this situation because I’m a real estate agent and this has taken my company. ... "
Non-Euclidean in her logic, how could anyone argue that to be a real estate agent is to be wronged? I mean, really.
Nothing matters until the cell doors clink.
@Akhilleus, I think they mean the Jesus from the prosperity gospel. The one where poor people give him lots of their money and get nothing in return.
@Marie, there is a picture the media has shown of Jenna Ryan with a bunch of others people on her plane ride over. So a good chance that she didn't pay for the trip or shared the cost. Some articles also claim Ryan is also a life coach, money well spent obviously, and that her self help book that was coming out soon got dropped by her publisher.
My friend Ken W has a great deal more experience correcting the writings of children than I do. But in my own limited experience I've often asked a pupil to rewrite an assignment without using any first person references, to the extent possible. The italicized statement by Ms. Jenna Ryan (insurrectionist) may deserve some kind of prize for the most frequent repetition of I, me, mine, our, and we in a short excerpt. With any luck her punishment, in addition to a prison term, will include practical exercises in concentrating on something other than herself.
@RAS: Thanks. The Heavy article is very informative. Sad about the self-help book. I'll bet we helpless people could have learned a lot from Jenna's life-coaching & all. There might have been a whole chapter on how if you're going to try to overthrow the government & commit other acts of sedition, you should take pictures of yourself in the act & post them to social media. (If not, it's something she could work on while she's in jail.)
@Keith Howard: Excellent point. Maybe she'll also have time in jail to edit those me, myself & I's out of her self-help book. I'm sure you'd be proud if she gave you credit in the acknowledgments. (Hmm, but maybe a self-help book, by definition, can't include acknowledgments.)
And now the dipshit realtor thinks she should get a pardon because the president invited her and all the seditionists there.
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/01/capitol-hill-rioter-begs-trump-pardon
Regarding King Orange of the Losers post white house accommodations: I wouldn't count on him becoming financially strapped to preclude buying himself a few Scottish lawyers or politicians to maintain his luxury resort. As any televangelist will confirm (with truth serum), selling a lie is a lucrative business. There are suckers born every minute who are willing to part with their hard earned money to support religious and moral ideals, and gain inclusion and acceptance in their special group. The prospect of spiritual transformation is always in high demand. I expect to see a resurrection of Drumpf university in the not too distant future.
Now we are on pardon watch once again
I read an article about pastors and their obedience to their king...not Jesus, but trump-- I never have understood that. They must not know how to read, or reason, or make decisions at all. As a Unitarian Universalist, I have not had contact with these so-called ministers' trains of thought, but if they really think Donald Trump is godly, why? How? He has not changed in his years of bullying his way around NYC and the rest of the world. In fact, he has been a "thing" for many years; two novels I have read recently had mentions of Donald Trump and Trump behavior as descriptive items...The one I finished this morning was written and published in 2003, by Jane Smiley... But if these creepy pastors adhere to trumpism in general, that should disqualify them as mentors or witnesses or counselors. The white nationalism title needs to add Christian to it-- they are entwined in some mysterious way. Maybe through prosperity gospel? It's all about racism and money.
I am interested in how Jenna thinks she is owed a pardon-- it continually amazes me that these morons from all over think Dump cares about them. The stupid, she burns... She got on a private jet to answer the call from His Magnificence, she jumped at the chance to wreck windows and doors of a historic building, wanted to confront legislators and now she wants him to help her not go to jail. A-MAZ-ing!!
"Trump's been a well known crook for decades..."
Mad Magazine also knew what a failure Trump was back in 1992.