;)
The Commentariat -- January 28, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates are here. Michael Shear: "John F. Kelly, the former chief of staff to President Trump, told an audience in Florida on Monday night that he believed the revelations in an upcoming book by John R. Bolton, the president's former national security adviser, and thought the Senate should call witnesses in the impeachment trial." Mrs. McC: It's sorta like the captain tossed the rats off his sinking ship, and the rats were waving & laughing from the shore as they watched the ship go down. ~~~
~~~ The Guardian is liveblogging impeachment developments and other stuff. Lindsey Graham says he supports allowing senators to read the Bolton ms. in a classified setting, raising the question as to why a book scheduled to be published in March must be read in secret room. ~~~
~~~ Chris Casteel of the Oklahoman: "U.S. Sen. James Lankford [R-Okla.] said Monday that senators should be given access to a manuscript written by former national security advisor John Bolton that reportedly bolsters the argument that ... Donald Trump withheld aid to Ukraine to force an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden." Mrs. McC: Say, Jim, you know who can get you a copy of that manuscript right now? The Impeached Guy.
Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "... in the weeks and months that followed [Volodymyr Zelensky's election to the Ukraine presidency], efforts to construct a partnership between the Zelensky and Trump administrations, one focused on fighting corruption, crumbled. It crumbled in part because the Zelensky team was pulled into an American domestic political fight spurred by Trump's push to have Ukraine investigate his rival Joe Biden, Biden's son Hunter, and supposed interference in the 2016 election. That's according to Oleksandr Danylyuk, the former chairman of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, who said the requests 'rattled' Zelensky's team.... Danylyuk left the Zelensky administration in September, citing multiple 'triggers' that pushed him to quit, including the ongoing struggles with the Trump administration.... Looking back almost four months after his resignation, Danylyuk says there's one person in the Trump administration he trusted to help secure a new pathway forward for the U.S. and Ukraine: former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton. Bolton departed the Trump administration in September, just two weeks before Danylyuk left his post."
Ann Marimow, et al., of the Washington Post: "As President Trump faces mounting legal bills from his impeachment trial, he is drawing on national party coffers flush with donations from energized supporters -- unlike the last president to be impeached who left the White House 'dead broke.' The Republican National Committee is picking up the tab for at least two of Trump's private attorneys in the ongoing trial, an arrangement that differs from the legal fund then-president Bill Clinton set up, only to see it fail to raise enough to cover his millions of dollars in bills before he left office.... Because Trump is on trial as a result of his status as an officeholder or candidate, election law allows him to dip into campaign or party funds for his legal bills.... Donors to the RNC and Trump's reelection campaign have already covered millions of dollars in attorney fees stemming from the president's other legal travails: former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, court battles over the president's tax returns, and a now-withdrawn defamation lawsuit filed by a former campaign staffer."
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Looking from the perspective of now -- one week into the impeachment trial -- it's striking to see how, without knowledge of political parties or partisan factionalism, [the antifederalists of yore] captured the exact dynamic that will keep a corrupt president in office.... The antifederalists looked to impeachment as a prime example of everything that was wrong with the Senate.... The antifederalists did not think the Senate would ever remove the president.... The trial against our corrupt chief executive is clearly slanted in his favor. If the antifederalist opponents of the Constitution could see us struggling now, they might just say, 'We told you so.'"
This Should Work! Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan with a flourish on Tuesday, outlining a proposal that would give Israel most of what it has sought over decades of conflict while creating what he called a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty. Mr. Trump's plan would guarantee that Israel would control a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot any of the settlements in the West Bank that have provoked Palestinian outrage and alienated much of the outside world. He promised to provide $50 billion in international investment to build the new Palestinian entity and open an embassy in its new state.... Rather than a serious blueprint for peace, analysts called it a political document by a president in the middle of an impeachment trial working in tandem with a prime minister under criminal indictment and about to face his third election in the span of a year." A USA Today story is here.
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump took a moment from presenting his plan for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday to praise his secretary of state -- for blasting an NPR reporter. 'That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you yesterday. I think you did a good job on her, actually,' Trump told a chuckling Mike Pompeo during his speech at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." Mrs. McC: I would like to see a report from the White House doctor into whether Trump & Pompeo were separated at birth or were joined at the hip later in life. What a disgusting pair of lying, bullying pricks.
BBC News: "Israel's attorney general has filed a formal indictment in court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It came after Mr Netanyahu withdrew a request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in connection with three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. The Israeli parliament had been due to open a debate on the immunity request on Tuesday. But Mr Netanyahu said he would not have got a fair hearing. He also criticised opponents for going ahead with the debate when ... Donald Trump was due to unveil his long-awaited Middle East peace plan."
Jonathan Chait: "... the totality of the evidence suggests [Bernie] Sanders is an extremely, perhaps uniquely, risky nominee. His vulnerabilities are enormous and untested. No party nomination, with the possible exception of Barry Goldwater in 1964, has put forth a presidential nominee with the level of downside risk exposure as a Sanders-led ticket would bring. To nominate Sanders would be insane."
Senate Race. Greg Blustein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "U.S. Rep. Doug Collins will soon announce a challenge to U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, setting up a bitter Republican showdown in November that pits one of ... Donald Trump's most vocal defenders against a wealthy former executive backed by Gov. Brian Kemp." ~~~
~~~ Mark Niesse of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "A bill that would force U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler into a Republican primary election against U.S. Rep. Doug Collins passed a committee Tuesday, clearing a path for a full vote in the Georgia House of Representatives. The House Governmental Affairs Committee approved the legislation that would replace a planned free-for-all special election in November with a partisan primary election in May. Then the Republican and Democratic nominees would compete head-to-head in a November election. The Republican-led committee and its Democratic minority joined forces in support of the proposal, with only one no vote from a Republican representative."
The New York Times is live-updating developments in the growing coronavirus epidemic. "The outbreak of the mysterious new coronavirus is rapidly spreading, the Chinese authorities said on Tuesday, as the official account of known cases jumped nearly 60 percent overnight and the death toll exceeded 100 for the first time. China said on Tuesday that 106 people had died from the virus, which is believed to have originated in the central city of Wuhan and is spreading across the country. The previous death toll, on Monday, was 81. The number of confirmed cases increased to 4,515 on Tuesday, from 2,835 on Monday, according to the National Health Commission."
~~~~~~~~~~
Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power, or an impeachable offense. -- Alan Dershowitz, Trump's prime-time defender, Monday ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The White House and Senate Republican leaders struggled on Monday to salvage their plans for a quick acquittal of President Trump after a new account by his former national security adviser John R. Bolton corroborated a central piece of the impeachment case against him. The newly disclosed revelations by Mr. Bolton, whose forthcoming book details how Mr. Trump conditioned military aid for Ukraine on the country's willingness to furnish information on his political rivals, angered key Republicans and reinvigorated a bid to call witnesses. Such a move would prolong the trial and pose new dangers for the president.... The White House team is doubling down on a defense that is directly contradicted by the account in Mr. Bolton's book.... As evening set in, [Alan] Dershowitz made the legal team's only reference to Mr. Bolton, telling senators that the description of Mr. Trump's actions in his manuscript 'would not constitute an impeachable offense.... Hosting Israeli leaders, the president told reporters that he had not seen the manuscript of the former adviser's book but disputed its claims as 'false.'... Mr. Trump later complained to associates that the presentations from his defense team were boring." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Senate Republicans' attempts to continue their cover-up would be hilarious if the matters weren't so serious. From the report above, "'The best I can tell from what's reported in The New York Times, it is nothing different from what we have already heard,' Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on Fox News." This, after Trump's lawyers argued vigorously that House managers had presented no first-hand accounts that Trump had traded dollars for dirt, neverminding Gordon Sondland's testimony that he had heard this first-hand from the Perfect Caller.
Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), an influential conservative in the Senate, has spoken with several colleagues in recent days about possibly summoning just two witnesses to President Trump's impeachment trial, with one called by Republicans and one by Democrats, according to three Republican officials."
The Guardian's liveblog for Monday's impeachment proceedings is here. @10:19 am ET: "Mitt Romney, one of the Republican senators that has already expressed openness to calling new witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial, said it was 'increasingly likely' other Senate Republicans would support the request." BUT @10:55 am: "Republican senator Susan Collins declined to commit to supporting a subpoena for John Bolton after one of her colleagues, Mitt Romney, predicted more Senate Republicans would soon join Democrats in requesting new witness testimony." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' liveblog for Monday's proceedings is here. ~~~
~~~ "President Trump's defense lawyers are arguing about the basis of the House's impeachment inquiry and the president's rights of due process and executive privilege. So far, they have offered an alternative rationale for why he froze security aid for Ukraine, ignoring revelations from the president's former national security adviser that directly contradict their case. The defense began its promised assault on former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter, on Monday, describing what they said was significant evidence of corruption that made Mr. Trump's interest in the case proper."
~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Catie Edmondson: Mitch "McConnell was among those venting angrily to the White House in private on Monday about the leak of the former national security adviser's manuscript, in which he wrote that Mr. Trump was conditioning the release of military aid to Ukraine upon the country furnishing investigative information about his political opponents. That contradicts the defense that the president's lawyer's have offered the Senate.
~~~ Maggie Haberman: "By Monday morning, several Republican senators had angrily called the White House trying to determine who at the administration knew about Mr. Bolton's manuscript, which aides there have had for several weeks, and what was in it. They told the White House they felt blindsided, according to people briefed on the calls who insisted on anonymity to describe private discussions.... John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, issued a carefully worded statement on Monday morning, 16 hours after the Times story was published. 'Ambassador Bolton's manuscript was submitted to the N.S.C. for pre-publication review and has been under initial review by the N.S.C.,' he said. 'No White House personnel outside N.S.C. have reviewed the manuscript.'" Mrs. McC: Trump's private attorney Jay Seculow, for instance, is not one of the "White House personnel." Neither are most other lawyers on Trump's defense team. (Also linked yesterday.)
You Impeached the Wrong Guy! Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "... Donald Trump turned the Senate floor Monday into an alternate-reality impeachment of his political rivals: Joe Biden and Barack Obama.... For about two hours on Monday, Trump's attorneys Pam Bondi and Eric Herschmann argued that it was Biden and Obama who should be investigated for corruption or abuse of power, laying out a case thick with political innuendo that has been sharply refuted by sworn witnesses during the House's impeachment inquiry late last year.... Democratic senators routinely scoffed at the president's lawyers when they argued that Obama had abused his power in his relationship with Russia and engaged in a quid pro quo with then-President Dmitriy Medvedev -- identical accusations to the House's impeachment charges against Trump." Mrs. McC: In fairness to Trump's other defense lawyers, Ken Starr kinda sort argued for the impeachment of ... you guessed it ... Bill Clinton. I was disappointed none of them asked the House managers to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Jimmy Carter.
Their Master's Voice. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Donald Trump's impeachment trial defense is a perfect mirror for his presidency. It's sometimes loose with facts, it recycles conservative media conspiracies, it praises Trump's 2016 victory, it criticizes the Obama administration and it's geared almost entirely toward his political base. It asserts brazen presidential power and insists that far from being corrupt, Trump's behavior is, as he might say, 'perfect.' Like a chip off the old block, the President's lawyers are accusing his rivals of the exact conduct for which he was impeached -- an attempt to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. They skirted over the profound implications raised by former national security adviser John Bolton in a fresh round of revelations. And his team used its second day of arguments Monday to perform the very task that got the President in trouble: roughing up Joe Biden, his potential Democratic foe in November."
Monday's Most Significant Unbelievable Lie of the Day -- And Other Lies. Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump on Monday pushed back on a firsthand account from his former national security adviser, John R. Bolton, about tying military aid for a foreign ally to his own personal agenda, as senators consider the president's future in the Oval Office. 'I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,' Mr. Trump wrote just after midnight, referring to a widely debunked theory that the president had pursued about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter.... Hours after his midnight posts, Mr. Trump falsely stated that the Democrats never asked Mr. Bolton to testify during the House impeachment inquiry last year.... Mr. Trump also falsely claimed that his White House released the critical military aid to Ukraine ahead of schedule.... 'There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the president's defense,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said in a joint statement on Sunday...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A CNBC report is here. ~~~
~~~ Oops! Barbara McQuade in a Washington Post op-ed: Donald Trump "may have been hoping to push wavering Senate Republicans away from agreeing to call Bolton to testify in the impeachment trial. But in the process, Trump probably waived any executive privilege that he could have claimed to keep Bolton quiet if that gambit fails.... Trump's tweets directly denying the substance of Bolton's reported allegations waive any privilege that might have protected them from public disclosure. Privilege is meant to keep a president's secrets confidential. If the president reveals those secrets or publicly discusses the conversations himself, there is no longer any need to protect them from disclosure. Now that Trump has accused Bolton of lying about their communications, the time has come to put Bolton under oath and see what he has to say."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "At first glance, at least, John R. Bolton's account of President Trump's private remarks sounds like an echo of the so-called smoking gun tape that proved that President Richard M. Nixon really had orchestrated the Watergate cover-up and ultimately forced him from office. But this is Mr. Trump's era and Mr. Trump's Washington, and the old rules do not always apply.... The pressure on the handful of Republican senators who had been wavering on calling witnesses will now increase exponentially and the president's defense has suddenly been thrown into disarray. When Mr. Trump's lawyers address the Senate Monday afternoon, they will face the challenge of explaining how his own former top aide says the president did exactly what they say he did not do -- or trying to ignore it altogether.... In their trial brief submitted earlier last week, the president's lawyers made that one of their key points. 'Not a single witness with actual knowledge ever testified that the president suggested any connection between announcing investigations and security assistance,' the lawyers wrote. What's perhaps even more shocking is that the White House knew what Mr. Bolton had to say at least as far back as Dec. 30, when he sent his manuscript to the National Security Council for standard pre-publication review to ensure that no classified information would be released, yet continued to promote a completely opposite narrative." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Steve M.: "... Senate Republicans will blame phony offenses by Democrats for their decision to end the trial quickly.... [They] will use the outrage off-ramp to dismiss the case for Bolton's testimony. And if they don't think that will work, maybe a few of them will concede that testimony from Bolton would be a good idea -- but then the question of his testimony will get mixed up in the fight for Republican witnesses[.]... I think Democrats would swap a Biden for Bolton. But an aggressive Republican move to subpoena a Trump wish list of witnesses will lead to a protracted fight, after which Republicans -- who are much better than Democrats at message discipline -- will say that no agreement could be reached because Democrats are afraid to hear witnesses. End of witness fight; end of trial." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Bolton's Book Brings News from the Autocrats' Club. Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William P. Barr last year that he had concerns that President Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. Mr. Barr responded by pointing to a pair of Justice Department investigations of companies in those countries and said he was worried that Mr. Trump had created the appearance that he had undue influence over what would typically be independent inquiries, according to the manuscript. Backing up his point, Mr. Barr mentioned conversations Mr. Trump had with the leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Xi Jinping of China. Mr. Bolton's account underscores the fact that the unease about Mr. Trump's seeming embrace of authoritarian leaders, long expressed by experts and his opponents, also existed among some of the senior cabinet officers entrusted by the president to carry out his foreign policy and national security agendas." The Hill's summary report is here.
Time Wounds All Heels. Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "The Republican strategy for getting ... Donald Trump off the hook in the Senate's impeachment trial has largely been rooted in the denial of the existence of a little something we, in the reality-based community, call time. The Republicans would like to pretend that the past doesn't exist, and also that the future won't exist, because doing so allows them to confine the mountains of damning evidence against the president to a minimalist public display that consists of in-the-moment rantings about 'no quid pro quo' and Adam Schiff and House Democrats' impeachment strategy.... That the future of this grotesquely corrupt for-profit presidency will rise and fall on the timing and dollar value of a book advance and a pub date is disturbing.... Until this week, GOP senators could at least plausibly have claimed that they had no idea what would come out in the future if they rushed this trial to its swift kangaroo conclusion. Today, any such argument is belied by the fact that the future happened yesterday."
Fox "News" Is Busy Discrediting Its Former Contributor. Aaron Rupar of Vox: "Faced with the news that President Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new book includes an account that undercuts one of Trump's central impeachment defenses, Fox News and the Trump-supporting Republicans who regularly appear on it went all-in on smearing him as a greedy and disgruntled former aide who only wants sell more copies. Take host Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who joined Monday's edition of Fox & Friends and said, 'The timing is a little interesting, isn't it?'... [Host] Maria Bartiromo ... accus[ed] Bolton ... of trying 'to sell a book.'... Sen. John Hawley (R-MO) went on Fox & Friends ... and incorrectly described Bolton's account as 'a bunch of hearsay.' White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham ... demeaned Bolton's publisher as 'the same publisher that [former FBI Director James] Comey used,' adding, 'the timing is very suspect.' (Grisham's claim is incorrect -- Comey's book was published by Macmillan while Bolton's is being published by Simon & Schuster.)... Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who serves on Trump's impeachment defense team and went as far as to smear Bolton -- a Republican who worked for multiple Republican presidents -- as a Democrat. 'Coming out at this late hour is a kinda typical move from the Democrats,' he said.... It is the White House, not Bolton, that appears to be responsible for the timing of news of Bolton's book draft.... The Times reports the White House was first sent a copy of the draft last month, weeks after Trump told reporters he'd 'love' for his top aides to testify during his Senate trial. Bolton's lawyer blamed the White House for leaking about it."
Matt Ford of the New Republic: "Whatever the outcome, [the Bolton bombshell is] a poetic turn of events. The president's greatest threat may not be from high-minded civic idealists, but a grifter whose shamelessness may exceed his own."
Juliegrace Brufke of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said he believes Senate Republicans who break with President Trump on impeachment will likely face political backlash.... His comments come as centrist GOP lawmakers in the upper chamber face mounting pressure to vote to bring in additional witnesses for the trial in the wake of [the] bombshell New York Times report" on John Bolton 's unpublished book. Mrs. McC: Gee, Mark, they might end up with their heads on pikes.
Pompeo Triples Down on Punishing Girl Reporters. Darturnorro Clark of NBC News: "The State Department on Monday removed an NPR reporter from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming trip abroad after a dayslong spat with a different NPR reporter, who said Pompeo berated her and cursed after an interview. The State Department Correspondents' Association confirmed the decision to remove NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo's plane on his upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia, calling the move 'retaliation' after Pompeo's public attack on NPR's Mary Louise Kelly." Mrs. McC: Pompeo is scheduled to travel to five countries, including Ukraine. Hope he lectures them all on "American values" like freedom of the press.
John Roberts Has Not Spent All His Time Hanging Out at the Senate. Ariane de Vogue & Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to make it more difficult for low-income immigrants seeking to come to or trying to remain legally in the United States. The so-called public charge rule, unveiled in August, impacts people who rely on public assistance, including most forms of Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.... Monday's vote split along ideological lines, with the five conservative justices in the majority."
Tara Law of Time: "...Donald Trump's personal pastor, the televangelist Paula White, is facing criticism after praying for the miscarriage of 'all Satanic pregnancies' during a sermon earlier this month.... White took on a role as advisor to the White House's Office of Public Liaison as an advisor to the Faith and Opportunity Initiative in the fall, but has known the President for nearly two decades and was one of the six clergy members to speak at his inauguration. She is associated with the 'prosperity gospel,' a belief which holds that God wants his followers to be healthy and wealthy, and that many other Christians consider to be heretical." --s ~~~
~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "... Donald Trump's spiritual adviser Paula White defended herself on Sunday against criticism over a prayer she made earlier this month in which she asked for 'all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now,' saying her words were taken 'out of context for political gain.'" Mrs. McC: As revealed in the video clip that accompanies the story, what White said, in context, "In the name of Jesus, we command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now." Evidently claiming to speak for Jesus makes it okay.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "The Post has suspended reporter Felicia Sonmez following her social-media activity over the death of NBA great Kobe Bryant.... What did Sonmez do to deserve this brushback? She tweeted out a very good story from the Daily Beast.... An immediate and overwhelming expression of anger piled on Sonmez from Twitter users. Sonmez had directed her followers to this April 2016 story in the Daily Beast by Marlow Stern. Written at the time of Bryant's farewell tour through NBA cities, the story takes a deep look at the sexual-assault allegation against Bryant stemming from his 2003 visit to Colorado's Lodge & Spa a Cordillera.... 'To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story -- which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me,' Sonmez tweeted...." Wemple objects to Sonmez's suspension. "By [the Post's own] standards, Sonmez's tweet would appear to invite a pat on the back from management." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I would not have tweeted a link to the rape story, even tho, frankly, the rape allegation is just about all I knew about Bryant before his death other than that he was a star basketball player. But I am not a journalist; I don't have a duty to report or to put a public figure's life in perspective. I can see no legitimate basis for Sonmez's suspension, other than "a man decided to suspend her." ~~~
~~~ Wemple's report puts the onus for Sonmez's suspension on Tracy Grant, who is the Post's first female managing editor. Rachel Abrams of the New York Times: "Ms. Sonmez received an email from The Post's executive editor, Martin Baron, at 5:38 p.m., before she was told that she would be placed on leave. The reporter shared the three-sentence email with The New York Times. 'Felicia,' Mr. Baron wrote. 'A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. You're hurting this institution by doing this.' The text of Mr. Baron's email was attached to a screen shot of Ms. Sonmez's tweet linking to the Daily Beast article."
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "It is frankly baffling what 'policy' Sonmez's fi[r]st tweet could have violated. It can't be that it mentioned it linked to a story about Bryant being credibly accused of sexual assault, getting the criminal case dropped at least in part by doxxing his accuser, and then reaching a settlement. You can also find the news that Bryant was accused of sexual assault in ... the Washington Post's own obituary, published the same day[.]... There was a recent Oscar-winning movie about a true story of norms of silence surrounding sexual violence ended up shielding more powerful abusers. Baron may want to watch it again!" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The film Lemiuex links is "Spotlight," "a superbly controlled and engrossingly detailed account of the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the widespread pedophilia scandals and subsequent cover-ups within the Catholic Church," according to Variety critic Justin Chang. And the leader of the Globe's Pulitzer-winning team? One Marty Baron. Of course, the victims in these cases were mostly boys. So, ya know.... ~~~
~~~ Emily Stewart of Vox tries to piece together why the WashPo suspended Sonmez. "There is a bigger debate beyond the circumstances of Sonmez's tweets: How do we talk about revered figures when they die, including the good and the bad? Sonmez is hardly the only person to mention the allegation against Bryant in the wake of his death. Plenty of other people did the same and did not get the same amount of backlash; many of the posters were men, and men often don't experience the same amount of vitriol online as their female counterparts.... The Post's decision to suspend her is perplexing, as is its murky reasoning. Journalists are supposed to be dedicated to the truth and shining light on things that are sometimes ugly and painful. The Post should recognize that -- or at the very least have an explanation beyond seemingly responding to a Twitter mob."
Presidential Race
Bill Barrow & Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "As Bernie Sanders exudes confidence in his ability to win next week's Iowa caucuses, his moderate rivals are struggling with how -- and whether -- to directly take on the progressive Vermont senator who some Democrats worry won't be able to defeat ... Donald Trump.... Sanders has long identified as a democratic socialist, and the prospect that he could win the caucuses and gain momentum heading into later contests has alarmed the establishment wing of the Democratic Party. But that anxiety was hard to detect on the campaign trail as [Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg, two of the leading moderate candidates, declined to take him head-on, opting instead to speak about the need to unify the party and the urgency of beating Trump.... While they largely avoided talking about Sanders during campaign events, the moderate candidates displayed less reluctance to knock Sanders in appeals to potential donors.... Buttigieg's campaign issued a fundraising plea, warning of Sanders' strength and declaring, 'we risk nominating a candidate who cannot beat Donald Trump in November.' Biden's campaign also sent a fundraising solicitation citing Sanders' strength...."
Americans Warming to Autocrat. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Amid signs that more voters are in general less worried about the economy and their own economic wellbeing, and a week out from the Iowa caucuses, the national [Washington Post-ABC News] poll gave the president encouraging scores against contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination. In notional general election match-ups, Trump trailed former vice-president Joe Biden with registered voters by four points (50%-46%); Vermont senator Bernie Sanders by two (49%-47%); and Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar by one (48%-47%). Those deficits against the top Democrats have roughly halved since a similar poll at the end of 2019." --s
Kevin Hall of the Miami Herald: "... a top U.S. Justice Department official [said Monday] that Britain's Prince Andrew has provided 'zero cooperation' to an ongoing investigation into the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein. Although Epstein was found dead in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan last Aug. 10, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, the top prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, continues to investigate the disgraced financier with an eye toward bringing charges against his enablers and possible co-conspirators. 'Ordinarily our office doesn't comment on whether an individual cooperates or doesn't cooperate with our investigation. However, in Prince Andrew's case, he publicly offered, indeed in a press release offered to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,' Berman explained to reporters gathered outside Epstein's Manhattan mansion.... 'So let me say that the Southern District of New York and the FBI have contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys and requested to interview Prince Andrew, and to date Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.'"
Chris Francescani of ABC News: "One of two women that Harvey Weinstein is on trial for sexually assaulting took the witness stand on Monday to describe how the Hollywood producer violently sexually assaulted her and explain why she returned to him within a month and endured a second unwanted sexual encounter. Miriam 'Mimi' Haleyi is the second of six women expected to testify that the disgraced Hollywood mega-producer sexually assaulted them, following dramatic testimony last week from 'Sopranos' actress Annabella Sciorra."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Brazil. Dom Phillips of the Guardian: "When Jair Bolsonaro's culture secretary published an official video paraphrasing Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, it wasn't just Brazilians who were stunned. The video, in which Roberto Alvim called for a 'rebirth of art and culture in Brazil' while Adolf Hitler's favourite Wagner opera played in the background, sent shockwaves around the world. Alvim was sacked within hours.... Analysts said the use of such extremist tactics is typical of the brinksmanship, trolling and meme tactics used by the US 'alt-right' who are often referenced by powerful members of Bolsonaro's government.... Pushing the limits and goading liberals are classic alt-right tactics, said Rodrigo Nunes, a political philosophy professor at Rio de Janeiro's Pontifical Catholic University.... 'The playbook is the American alt-right,' Nunes said. 'In that sense, Brazil is the first alt-right government in the world.'" --s
News Ledes
CNN: "The NTSB, which is investigating the cause of the crash [that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others], detailed the helicopter's final moments before it crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, under foggy conditions. Visibility was so low Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department grounded its helicopters, department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said." ~~~
~~~ Washington Post: "The helicopter pilot flying Kobe Bryant, the basketball star's daughter and six other passengers Sunday grappled with poor weather, asking at one point for special permission to fly by sight in worse than normal visibility, but he displayed no signs of concern in his communications with air traffic controllers. Shortly after he got special clearance to continue through controlled airspace, he veered from Highway 101 below and crashed into the Calabasas, Calif., hills. All nine onboard were killed."
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Reader Comments (10)
This is a comment posted by Akhilleus late yesterday.
Talk about dissembling and crap...
So I turned on the Lie-a-Thon for a few minutes here and there today and here's what I heard:
Rudy Giuliani is a genius and a great patriot.
Gaaachhh...
Later I heard the classic Trump-loving confederate giveaway: "Let's look at the facts!"
Hahahahahahahahahaahahahaha...
Yeah, and next we'll explain how Fatty's surprise incursions into the dressing rooms of half-naked 15 year old girls at pubescent beauty pageants he sponsored (and what the fuck is that all about anyway??) had more to do with his concern for their well-being and not in any way, no-how, an attempt to ogle children in the altogether.
You know how confederates love to hang Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein over the heads of liberals (because Hollywood = liberal)? Trump is no different. And if he were a Democrat, they would all be screeching for the gas chamber, never mind impeachment. But he's one of theirs, so grabbing pussies and little girls is perfectly okay.
The hypocrisy is riveting.
As the apologists for treason love to say, "Let's look at the facts". Nope, let's not. They couldn't stand it. Not actual facts. Let's look at invented bullshit instead.
-- Akhilleus
@Akhilleus wrote: "You know how confederates love to hang Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein over the heads of liberals (because Hollywood = liberal)?"
Luckily for Trump, he had Epstein's lawyers Ken Starr & Alan Dershowitz and Weinstein's lawyer Dershowitz defending him Monday.
I see where Fatty is whining that Adam Schiff was tossed “softballs” during an interview with Chuck Todd. This from a guy who lives on Fox where he sees more softballs than Eddie Feigner did in his entire career, where the hardest question he gets is “Is it difficult being the smartest man in world history?”
I only heard a little bit on the radio on the way home from work, and after the dinner break, and that was enough for me. Hallmark channel and Say Yes To The Dress were the better choices for the evening. I begin to fear that this whole farce put on by the presidunce's toadies is ACTUALLY bad for my health. No matter what the so-called moderates running for the Dems' side say, it will be impossible to have unity of any kind going forward, when one side lies up one side and down the other, while the other is hospitalized from the effects of extreme anger. Don't believe anything Toomey offers. He is a nasty, slimey brownnoser-- possibly not along the lines of the moronic Goemert or Jordan or other congressional half-wits, but who likes things to sound mature and hasn't a reasonable bone in his body. He hopes to appeal to PA residents as able to bridge the gaps he helps create. He is a zero.
Dear Pat,
A second witness might be a good idea. Bolton and ? Who do you have in mind as the second witness?
What? Hunter Biden?
I don't think Hunter Biden was ever in the room when withholding of aid to Ukraine was being discussed. He couldn't have witnessed anything, was probably thousands of miles away, and I'm pretty sure he is not the one being impeached.
I'd go for that Pompeo guy though. He acts so smart, maybe he really does know something.
Historian Tim Naftali, speaking on CNN this morning said he was so delighted to see Ken Starr reappear to once again put his monumental hypocrisy on display. Twenty years ago, Starr knocked himself out trying to wrench an impeachable offense out of the Clintons' failed Whitewater real estate deal, only to have Monica Lewinsky, ah, drop in his lap. Now that the most corrupt, dishonest, disreputable president* in American history has been impeached for a corrupt, secret campaign against American interests and law & national security, Starr gets up in front of the Senate and argues there's just way too much impeaching going on. I've paraphrased here, of course; Naftali didn't say anything about Ken Starr's lap, for instance.
"Trump is a kook... not fit go be President of the United States."
-- Lindsey Graham, 2016
"What concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy as some kind of kook not fit to be president."
-- Lindsey Graham, 2017
From today's Doonesbury page in the WaPo.
And so it goes~~~~~~~~~~out of the mouths of the Prick Imposters.
The story about Fatty's religious whisperer is like something out of a Mel Brooks film or the Salem witch trials or maybe Rosemary's Baby. The very white Paula White doth shun thems that harbor Satan in their souls, especially fetuses that fester and bleed evil thoughts. Who knew you could decipher such egregious thoughts on the unborn.
I couldn't bear listening to "all the president's lawyers" except for short bits and pieces. They are trying like the dickens to convince us there is no there there when actually they must all know the man they are defending has no there there and is a despot and a clown and probably should have been thrown out at the outset. Yes, I know, we all said Maxine was premature in her urging impeachment so early on, but the damage this dotard has done since makes me furious that we waited this long.
The Tick Tock is here; the question is will it work.
@PD Pepe: You're right. Trump should have been pre-impeached.
Any theories as to why House Dems haven't already publicly sharpened their knives for Bill Barr to put his head on an impeachment pike? At least start by dragging his ass in front of the House and make him swear off all of these claims of blatant impropriety and conflicts of interests under oath?
I think the reason bill barr (and pompeo and pence) are not on the impeachment parade is that the country (ok, my guess is 60% of the country) is not ready to hear, let alone accept, the enormity of the treason that his happening before our very eyes. Weaponizing the Justice Department by protecting the person of the president* rather than the office of the President, rendering diplomacy useless by removing many of our effective diplomats and making the corrupt acts of the schmoozer-diplomats public, with the complicity of that white-haired VP* straight from Central Casting, all of this has destroyed the credibility of the US government for decades.
And this is only the stuff that is in the headlines.
If anyone sane can ever become president again, he or she is going to be hard pressed to right the ship of State in four years, with Rs doing their best to scuttle it at every turn.