The Ledes

Thursday, October 10, 2024

CNBC: “The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021.”

The New York Times' live updates of Hurrucane Milton consequences Thursday are here: “Milton was still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of East and Central Florida, forecasters said early Thursday, even as the powerful storm roared away from the Atlantic coast and left deaths and widespread damage across the state. Cities along Florida’s east coast are now facing flash flooding, damaging winds and storm surges. Some had already been battered by powerful tornadoes spun out by the storm before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. In [St. Lucie] county [Fort Pierce], several people in a retirement community were killed by a tornado, the police said.... More than three million customers were without power in Florida as of early Thursday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the Weater Channel's live updates.

CNN: “The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her 'intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.' Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection. She later began writing longer prose works, most notably 'The Vegetarian,' one of her first books to be translated into English. The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman’s attempt to live a more 'plant-like' existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty. Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901.” The New York Times story is here.

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The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Washington Post: “Hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, a spate of unusually strong and long-lived tornadoes touched down across the state, flipping tractor-trailers and ripping off roofs. The twisters surprised anxious residents, even as the storm’s eye still loomed. Authorities said there had been 'multiple' deaths after the intense and destructive tornadoes.” MB: I'm still on Florida's emergency-call list, and I received several calls from Lee County, urging me to shelter in place.

The Washington Post's live updates of Hurricane Milton developments are here: “Hurricane Milton, which has strengthened to a 'catastrophic' Category 5 storm, is closing in on Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane, which could bring maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 mph with bigger gusts, poses a dire threat to the densely populated zone that includes Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. As well as 'damaging hurricane-force winds,' coastal communities face a 'life-threatening' storm surge, the center said.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here: “Milton carved a path of destruction after crashing ashore Wednesday evening on Florida’s Gulf Coast, making landfall near Sarasota as the second powerful hurricane to pound the region in less than two weeks. The storm battered the state for much of the day, with heavy winds, pelting rain and a spate of tornadoes.... By around midnight, the storm had destroyed more than 100 homes, killed several people in a retirement community and ripped the roof off Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.”

Washington Post: “The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to David Baker at the University of Washington and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind.... The prize was awarded to scientists who cracked the code of proteins. Hassabis and Jumper used artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins, one of the toughest problems in biology. Baker created computational tools to design novel proteins with shapes and functions that can be used in drugs, vaccines and sensors.”

Sorry, forgot this yesterday: ~~~

Reuters: “U.S. scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries and inventions in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. Heralded for its revolutionary potential in areas ranging from cutting-edge scientific discovery to more efficient admin, the emerging technology on which the duo worked has also raised fears humankind may soon be outsmarted and outcompeted by its own creation.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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The Commentariat -- January 5, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday escalated his efforts to force Vice President Mike Pence to overturn President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory, falsely asserting that Mr. Pence had the power to unilaterally throw out electoral votes on Wednesday when Congress meets to certify the election results.... 'The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors,' the president tweeted on Tuesday. That's not how it works."

William Booth & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "... on Tuesday, the leader of Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, was asked if Trump was headed her way and what might be her message to him?... Sturgeon warned Trump he might be breaking the law if he came: 'We are not allowing people to come into Scotland now without an essential purpose, which would apply to him, just as it applies to everybody else. Coming to play golf is not what I would consider an essential purpose.' Scotland, alongside Northern Ireland, Wales and England are in lockdown, with stay-at-home orders...." See Patrick's comment in today's thread. Patrick suspects it is not Trump who will be traveling to Scotland on January 19th, but some of his secret, incriminating presidential* papers White House staff have refused to shred.

Trump Relies on QAnon for Election Fraud "Research." Ben Collins, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump cataloged a series of false conspiracy theories during an hourlong call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday in which he sought to overturn the state's election results, and they were familiar to anyone following the far fringes of the internet. Trump floated fragments of several baseless conspiracy theories that were primarily pushed by QAnon followers over the last two months, including a widely debunked theory about voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems. The wide-ranging slew of theories, spawned on extremist forums like 4chan, were repeatedly referred to by Trump as 'rumors' that are 'trending on the internet.' He claimed they were reasons Raffensperger should 're-examine it [the election] with people that want to find answers.' Saturday's call offered a look at just how much he is now relying on some of the most outlandish theories from obscure corners of the internet to make his case for election fraud."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Attorneys for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday lit into a 'thirteenth hour' effort by ... Donald Trump to decertify the results of the state's Nov. 3 election, calling it a belated bid to nullify the ballots of millions of voters."

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "Following the abrupt Monday resignation of Byung Jin 'BJay' Pak, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, President Trump is bypassing his first assistant, a career prosecutor, to name a new acting leader from outside the office. The announcement came early Tuesday morning in an internal email obtained by TPM. The new acting U.S. attorney in Atlanta will be Bobby Christine, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, according to the email. Christine will continue simultaneously in both roles, according to the email."

Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "The activists said they had staged a peaceful vigil on Monday night to protest a GOP plan to object to Congress's certification of the presidential electoral vote this week. On the sidewalk in a Northern Virginia suburb, a group of 15 people chanted while holding candles and signs saying, 'Protect democracy.' But Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had a different description for the scene outside his family's home in Fairfax County: 'leftwing violence.' 'Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter,' he wrote on Twitter late Monday. 'They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door.' Demonstrators with ShutDownDC, which organized the protest, told The Washington Post that they did not engage in vandalism or even knock on Hawley's door." The Hill's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Georgia Senate Races

Steve Peoples & Bill Barrow of the AP: "Georgia voters are set to decide the balance of power in Congress in a pair of high-stakes Senate runoff elections that will help determine President-elect Joe Biden's capacity to enact what may be the most progressive governing agenda in generations.... At a rally in northwest Georgia on the eve of Tuesday's runoffs, Trump repeatedly declared that the November elections were plagued by fraud that Republican officials, including his former attorney general and Georgia's elections chief, say did not occur. The president called Georgia's Republican secretary of state 'crazy' and vowed to help defeat him in two years. At the same time, Trump encouraged his supporters to show up in force for Georgia's Tuesday contests. 'You've got to swarm it tomorrow,' Trump told thousands of cheering supporters, downplaying the threat of fraud." MB: One of the many ways to tell Donald Trump is crazy: he described a supposed opponent as crazy. Trump usually projects his most serious shortcomings onto people he doesn't like. More on Trump's Georgia rally linked under "Last Days."

Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you. The power is literally in your hands. One state can chart the course, not just for the next four years, but for the next generation. -- President-elect Joe Biden, at an Atlanta rally Monday

The Washington Post's presidential transition liveblog for Monday is here: Reis Thebault: "Georgia elections officials, who have been beating back unfounded claims of fraud and malfeasance since the November election, say they're prepared to be in the spotlight once again after Tuesday's runoffs. 'All the counties in Georgia are in the spotlight right now, so we are all prepared for this as well as we can be,' Richard Barron, Fulton County's elections director, said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Trump has attacked Fulton County, the most populous in Georgia, repeatedly since he lost the state two months ago in the presidential election -- including in his call to the secretary of state. Barron said his staff has endured a bomb threat, death threats and repeated racial slurs in the run-up to Tuesday's vote." ~~~

~~~ Michelle Lee: "On the eve of the Senate runoff elections in Georgia, Biden emphasized the importance of the election in determining party control of the upper chamber and the fate of the negotiations in Congress over a third coronavirus stimulus package. Biden urged Georgians to vote for the two Democrats running in Tuesday's contests, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, noting that a Democratic-controlled Senate would support the $2,000 covid-19 stimulus checks that Senate Republicans have opposed."

Once Again, It's the Whistleblower's Fault. Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Sen. David Perdue tore into Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday for recording a phone call with President Donald Trump over the weekend, calling it 'disgusting' to do so. 'I guess I was raised differently,' Perdue, a Republican, said on Fox News. 'To have a statewide elected official, regardless of party, tape without disclosing a conversation -- private conversation -- with the president of the United States, and then leaking it to the press is disgusting.'... Perdue and fellow Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler have gone all-in with Trump as they seek to save their seats ahead of Tuesday's run off." MB: Perdue is an odd person to question anybody else's morals: he has used his Senate seat to gain insider knowledge to enhance his stock portfolio, and he has a long professional history of underpaying American employees and outsourcing labor to Asia. By anyone's standards, these are far more immoral than blowing the whistle on a corrupt president* who falsely defamed him.

Faker's Dozen. Loeffler to Join Dirty Dozen. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) said Monday that she will object to the presidential election results when Congress convenes a joint session on Wednesday to formally count the Electoral College vote.... Former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) has also endorsed challenging the election results, but, unlike Loeffler, he will forfeit his seat until the Georgia races are certified, meaning he will not be in Congress on Wednesday."

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Astead Herndon & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump used a campaign rally on the eve of two critical Senate runoffs in Georgia to once again vent his debunked grievances about the outcome of November's presidential election, as he continued his assault on the peaceful transfer of power. In an appearance that was supposed to bolster the fortunes of the two Republican candidates ... Mr. Trump instead turned the nearly 90-minute rally into a rambling lecture filled with conspiracy theories, rumors, unproven assertions and personal attacks on Democrats, the news media and Georgia's Republican officials. 'There's no way we lost Georgia,' Mr. Trump said just after taking the stage. 'I've had two elections. I've won both of them. It's amazing.' Moments later, after briefly mentioning the two Republican senators, he shifted back to his own, losing election: 'They're not going to take this White House. We're going to fight like hell, I'll tell you right now.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's impossible to guess what Trump will do January 20 because he doesn't know from moment to moment what stunt he may pull. There was his Churchillian "We will fight them on the beaches" remark last night (see above); on the other hand, there are indications he will flee the country on your dime (see story linked below).

~~~ Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "President Trump's campaign rally Monday night in Dalton, Ga., on behalf of Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue, whose Senate term expired Sunday, was filled with his usual collection of scores of falsehoods. We will focus mostly on his election-related claims, along with a selection of statements that turn up at virtually all his recent rallies, as documented in our database of Trump's false or misleading claims. (We are still trying to catch up but as of Nov. 5, the count stands at 29,508 claims.)"

Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump on Monday continued his public meltdown over the results of the 2020 presidential election with yet another angry broadside against members of the Republican Party who aren't supporting his efforts to launch a coup against President-elect Joe Biden. Writing on Twitter, the president called out Republicans who are refusing to go along with plans to block the certification of Biden's victory in Congress this week. 'The "Surrender Caucus" within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective "guardians" of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!' the president wrote.... Earlier on Monday, Trump warned Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) that his voters would 'NEVER FORGET' that he declined to help Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) in their plans to block Biden's win from being certified."

Mike's Dilemma. Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "'I know we all have got our doubts about the last election,' Mr. Pence said Monday [at a rally] in Georgia, attempting to assuage Trump supporters. 'I want to assure you that I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities. I promise you, come this Wednesday, we will have our day in Congress.' It was not clear, perhaps by design, what he meant. Mr. Pence does not have unilateral power to affect the outcome of Wednesday's proceedings. But he has carefully tried to look like he is loyally following the president's lead even as he goes through a process that is expected to end with him reading out a declaration that Mr. Biden is the winner.... Two people briefed on the discussions said Mr. Trump had directly pressed Mr. Pence to find an alternative to certifying Mr. Biden's win, such as preventing him from having 270 electoral votes and letting the election be thrown to the House to decide. In Georgia on Monday night at a rally for Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Mr. Trump openly pressured the vice president, saying, 'I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you.' He added, 'Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him as much.'... Mr. Pence ... met with Senate parliamentarians for hours on Sunday to prepare himself and the president for what he would say while on the Senate floor."

Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Almost 200 of the country's top business leaders urged Congress to certify the electoral results for President-elect Joe Biden in a letter Monday, arguing that 'attempts to thwart or delay this process run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy.' The letter marked the business community's most significant push yet to ensure President Trump's efforts to overturn the November election are unsuccessful. Signers included a wide array of executives of Fortune 500 companies, from the leaders of banks, airlines, investment firms, pharmaceutical companies, professional sports leagues, real estate conglomerates, top law firms and media companies."

The Cost of a Failed Impeachment. David Graham of the Atlantic: "The memory of impeachment is back with a vengeance this week.... The president continues to try to overturn Biden's victory. In a phone call on Saturday that was eerily reminiscent of Trump's July 2019 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump tried to pressure Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of Georgia (the state, not the country) to do something, anything, to throw the state's results back to him.... The president's MO has not changed since July 2019 -- in fact, it has scarcely changed over the course of his career.... [In his call to Raffensperger,] Trump speaks like a mob boss, making his desire clear but never saying explicitly what he wants, so as to maintain deniability.... Trump's current, shambling coup attempt is the price of the Senate's failure to remove him.... The post-election moves, and especially the coup call, are the most brazen and direct echo of the Ukraine plot, and they show why acquittal was so dangerous to the republic.... All of this could have been prevented." Firewalled. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Contributor RAS reminded me yesterday of Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-Calif.) remarkable closing argument for impeachment of Donald Trump, which I re-watched in its entirety yesterday. By contrast, here's Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in February 2020, whom Mainers in their collective wisdom returned to her job: ~~~

~~~ Neal K. Katyal & Sam Koppelman in a New York Times op-ed: "Whether he acknowledges it or not, President Trump is leaving the White House on Jan. 20 -- but right now, there is nothing stopping him from running in 2024. That is a terrifying prospect, because the way he has conducted himself over the past two months, wielding the power of the presidency to try to steal another term in office, has threatened one of our republic's most essential traditions: the peaceful transfer of power. Fortunately, our founders anticipated we would face a moment like this, which is one reason Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution entrusts Congress with the power not only to remove a president but also to prevent him or her from ever holding elected office again. Mr. Trump's conduct over the past two months has left our legislators with no choice but to use it. That impeachment inquiry would take time, far more than Mr. Trump has left in office. But it would be well worth it.... We must establish a precedent that a president who tries to cheat his way to re-election will be held accountable.... We also need to set a precedent that a lame duck president can still be held accountable.... We cannot risk Mr. Trump's becoming president again...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I guess I like this op-ed because it jibes with what I wrote yesterday, even if Katyal & Koppleman write far more elegantly, convincingly & completely than I did. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Taken on their own, most excuses for not investigating or prosecuting Trump make at least some sense.... Yet if there is no penalty for Republican cheating, there will be more of it. The structure of our politics -- the huge advantages wielded by small states and rural voters -- means that Democrats need substantial majorities to wield national power, so they can't simply ignore the wishes of the electorate. Not so for Republicans, which is why they feel free to openly scheme against the majority. During impeachment, Republicans who were unwilling to defend the president's conduct, but also unwilling to penalize him, insisted that if Americans didn't like his behavior they could vote him out. Americans did, and now Trump's party is refusing to accept it. It's evidence tha you can't rely on elections to punish attempts to subvert elections. Only the law can do that, even if it's inconvenient."

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump's relentless effort to overturn the result of the election that he lost has become the most serious stress test of American democracy in generations, led not by outside revolutionaries intent on bringing down the system but by the very leader charged with defending it. In the 220 years since a defeated John Adams turned over the White House to his rival, firmly establishing the peaceful transfer of power as a bedrock principle, no sitting president who lost an election has tried to hang onto power by rejecting the Electoral College and subverting the will of the voters -- until now. It is a scenario at once utterly unthinkable and yet feared since the beginning of Mr. Trump's tenure. The president has gone well beyond simply venting his grievances or creating a face-saving narrative to explain away a loss, as advisers privately suggested he was doing in the days after the Nov. 3 vote, but instead has pressed the boundaries of tradition, propriety and the law to find any way he can to cling to office beyond his term that expires in two weeks. That he is almost certain to fail does not mitigate the damage he is doing to democracy by undermining public faith in the electoral system." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When Peter Both-Sides-Do-It Baker is as alarmed as this, you can be assured the situation is alarming.

Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump is effectively sabotaging the Republican Party on his way out of office, obsessed with overturning his election loss and nursing pangs of betrayal from allies whom he had expected to bend the instruments of democracy to his will. Trump has created a divide in his party as fundamental and impassioned as any during his four years as president, with lawmakers forced to choose between certifying the results of an election decided by their constituents or appeasing the president in an all-but-certain-to-fail crusade to keep him in power by subverting the vote. As Republican lawmakers took sides ahead of Wednesday's joint session of Congress to certify the electoral college results, some on Monday voiced rare criticism of Trump for his attempt to pressure Georgia elections officials to change vote totals there during a Saturday phone call.... Even one of Trump's most loyal defenders, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said it was 'not a helpful call.'... The president is ... exhorting his supporters to travel to Washington for mass protests Wednesday. He is planning to speak to the crowd on the Ellipse around midday Wednesday...." ~~~

~~~ AP: "Bracing for possible violence, the nation's capital has mobilized the National Guard ahead of planned protests by ... Donald Trump's supporters in connection with the congressional vote expected Wednesday to affirm Joe Biden's election victory. Trump's supporters are planning to rally Tuesday and Wednesday, seeking to bolster the president's unproven claims of widespread voter fraud. 'There are people intent on coming to our city armed,' D.C. Acting Police Chief Robert Contee said Monday.... With downtown D.C. businesses boarding up their windows, Mayor Muriel Bowser ... Monday ... asked that local area residents stay away from downtown D.C., and avoid confrontations with anyone who is 'looking for a fight.' But, she warned, 'we will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city.'... On Monday, Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested the leader of the Proud Boys, Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, 36, after he arrived in Washington ahead of this week's protests. Tarrio was accused of burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington during the December protests."

"Yet the President* Persists." Paulina Firozi of the Washington Post (from the WashPo's live transition updates, also linked above): "Gabriel Sterling, Georgia&'s voting systems manager, pulled no punches during a Monday news conference as he point by point dismissed numerous unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, some of which Trump repeated during an hour-long phone call with Georgia's secretary of state Saturday. Sterling called it 'anti-disinformation Monday' and said he wanted to set the record straight, especially ahead of a pair of Senate runoff elections, because 'we want to make sure people understand their votes count.... The secretary wants me to make clear that everybody's vote is going to count and everybody's vote did count,' Sterling said." The New York Times' story is here. Sterling's full remarks are recorded in this YouTube video.

Marie: What if the GOP state official Trump called was not straightlaced Brad Raffensperger but former Kansas secretary of state & voter suppression aficionado Kris Kobach? Or for that matter, former Missouri attorney general & Electoral College challenger Josh Hawley? The Republican party is littered with officials who didn't need Donald Trump to teach them how to undermine or even overturn the voters' will.

In a Twitter thread, NBC News' Geoff Bennett writes that Trump had tried to telephone Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 18 times during the past two months. People in Raffensperger's office recorded the call, and he told them not to release it unless Trump mischaracterized the call. MB: Trump did mischaracterize Raffensperger's responses in a tweet, which Ryan Nobles of CNN reported in a story linked below. None of these previous efforts has been previously reported, so I this implies an answer to a question I asked below: has Trump called other state officials around the country trying to overturn the results in their states? I'd guess yes, yes and yes. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Allan Smith & Alex Moe of NBC News: "A pair of House Democrats are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to open a criminal probe into ... Donald Trump after a leaked phone call showed him pleading with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn his state's election. 'As members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes,' Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday. 'We ask you to open an immediate criminal investigation into the president.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: “The district attorney overseeing Atlanta said Monday that she will 'enforce the law without fear or favor' if a case is referred to her office regarding President Trump's controversial phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R.) In a statement obtained by local outlet WSBTV, Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis said she found news reports about the weekend phone call 'disturbing.' 'Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction wil be held accountable,' Willis said. 'Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office based on the facts and the law.'"

Worse Than Watergate: ~~~

Marie: Andrew Weissmann, a former Mueller prosecutor appearing on MSNBC, made a point that supports the illegality of Trump's ask of Raffensperger. According to Weissmann, Trump attorneys who were on the call repeatedly asked Raffensperger to provide them with data and other information to back up Georgia's contention that the election count was proper. Trump, however, shut down his lawyers and told Raffensperger what he wanted was not information but a "recalculated" vote count that would give him at least one more vote than they credited to Biden. That is, Trump's lawyers were not asking the secretary of state to overturn the election results; Trump was. ~~~

~~~ Nevertheless.... Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A Milwaukee-based law firm is distancing itself from one of the attorneys involved in ... Donald Trump's disturbing call trying to overturn the results of the Georgia election. Cleta Mitchell, a partner at Foley & Lardner, participated in the Saturday call in which Trump pressured the Georgia secretary of state to 'find' 11,780 votes to help Trump win that state's election. In a statement, a spokesman for Foley said the firm does not represent 'any parties seeking to contest the results of the presidential election.... We are aware of, and are concerned by, Ms. Mitchell's participation in the Jan. 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more thoroughly,' Dan Farrell, director of communication for Foley, said in a statement Monday. Farrell added that the firm made a decision in November not to take on any clients involved in any matters related to the November presidential election."

Coincidence??? Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The U.S. attorney in Atlanta departed his post Monday, TPM has learned, after previously indicating that he would not leave until Inauguration Day. The reason for U.S. Attorney Byung 'BJay' Pak's change of plans are not clear. In an internal email announcing his departure obtained by TPM, Pak cited only 'unforeseen circumstances' as the reason he was leaving Monday rather than Jan. 20." MB: Seems likely the "unforeseen circumstances" were Trump's call to Raffensperger & having to decided whether or not to prosecute Trump. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Trump to Flee U.S.? Peter Swindon of the Dundee, Scotland, Sunday Post: "... Donald Trump could be planning a trip to Scotland to avoid attending his successor Joe Biden's inauguration, according to aviation sources. Prestwick airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 -- the day before his Democratic rival takes charge at the White House. Speculation surrounding Trump's plans has been fuelled by the activity of US Army aircraft, which were based at Prestwick airport for a week and said to be carrying out 3D reconnaissance of the president's Turnberry resort." MB: The new AG should be checking our extradition treaties with Scotland. I don't think Trump is going to play golf. The average high temp in Ayrshire in January is 43 degrees & the average low is 34. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dan Primack of Axios: "Dominion Voting Systems plans to sue attorney Sidney Powell 'imminently' for defamation, and it's continuing to explore similar suits against President Trump and others, company founder and CEO John Poulos told the Axios Re:Cap podcast on Monday.... Dominion, which makes the voting machines used in Georgia and elsewhere, has been the subject of baseless accusations of malfeasance during last November's elections. Trump, during his leaked call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, called the U.S.-based company 'corrupt' and had to be corrected by Raffensperger after claiming machines had been recently removed and/or altered by Dominion employees."

The Radical Right. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... the true radicals are the enablers of President Trump's ongoing attempted coup: the media bloviators on Fox News, One America and Newsmax who parrot his lies about election fraud; and the members of Congress who plan to object on Wednesday to what should be a pro forma step of approving the electoral college results.... But instead of being called what they are, these media and political figures get a mild label: conservative.... In applying this innocuous-sounding description, the reality-based media does the public a terrible disservice. Instead of calling out the truth, it normalizes; it softens the dangerous edges.... I'd call them members of the radical right." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "More than 128,000 people across the United States are currently hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. That number is a record and represents an increase of 2,800 patients in a single day."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "California's daily coronavirus case tallies remain around four times what they were during the state's summer surge, and officials predict that the aftereffects of a December surge linked to holiday gatherings will worsen as the winter drags on.... Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said on Sunday that the county's latest surge was infecting a new person every six seconds, and that many transmissions were occurring in private settings." MB: Heard on MSNBC this morning: in Los Angeles County, someone is dying of Covid-19 every 15 seconds. Update: CNN is reporting that a person dies in L.A. County every 15 minutes. That's bad, but it's different.

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government's top infectious-disease doctor, a leading drug regulator and the Health and Human Services secretary are dismissing suggestions that the second shot of authorized coronavirus vaccines could be delayed to make more doses available faster to more people. In recent days, some public health experts have debated whether it is worth taking a scientific gamble by altering the two-dose regimen that proved highly effective in trials to maximize the number of people partially protected with at least one shot as the pandemic surges. The debate is playing out as the United States struggles with administering the doses it already has. More than 15 million doses of vaccine have been distributed, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data updated Monday morning, but only about 4.5 million have been administered." MB: IMO, this decision is a relief. Having most Americans half-vaccinated did not seem like a very smart decision.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Several health experts in recent days have suggested delaying the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine in order to inoculate more people, to at least some extent, sooner rather than later. The advice comes amid concerns about the highly transmissive U.K. variant which has been reported in more than 30 countries, including the United States." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wisconsin. Shaila Dewan & Kay Nolan of the New York Times: "A pharmacist who was arrested on charges that he intentionally sabotaged more than 500 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at a Wisconsin hospital was 'an admitted conspiracy theorist' who believed the vaccine could harm people and 'change their DNA,' according to the police in Grafton, Wis., where the man was employed. The police said Steven Brandenburg, 46, who worked the night shift at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wis., had twice removed a box of vials of the Moderna vaccine from the refrigerator for periods of 12 hours, rendering them 'useless.'... Although the Moderna product is sometimes described as a 'genetic' vaccine, it does not alter a person's genes in any way." The AP's story is here.

U.K. AP: "England is facing a third national lockdown that will last at least six weeks, as authorities struggle to stem a surge in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals around the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a tough new stay-at-home order for England that won't be reviewed until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus. It takes effect at midnight Tuesday. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon imposed a lockdown that began Tuesday. Johnson and Sturgeon said the lockdowns were needed to protect the National Health Service as a new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 sweeps across Britain. On Monday, hospitals in England were treating 26,626 coronavirus patients, 40% more than during the first pandemic peak in April."


Kate Conger of the New York Times: "More than 225 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on Monday, capping years of growing activism at one of the world's largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labor organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley. The union's creation is highly unusual for the tech industry, which has long resisted efforts to organize its largely white-collar work force. It follows increasing demands by employees at Google for policy overhauls on pay, harassment and ethics, and is likely to escalate tensions with top leadership." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Comments Off

Reader Comments (21)

Unwashed: "grift for him to get a taxpayer-paid flight out of the country". What'cha say we tape record the "former" president's reaction if they put him into one of those tiny, twin engine planes? Maybe a Cessna? With a refueling stop in Iceland?

January 4, 2021 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625

@citizen, I'll down the ante one worse. How about live drone footage of his fat ass being harnessed into an ultralight with a 5-gallon fuel supply, being given a helmet and a pair of goggles, but no parachute. Do you think he'll squawk?

It's reminiscent of the old joke -- What's the last thing that goes through a bug's mind as it hits your windshield? It's asshole.

Sounds just to me.

January 4, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

oops. Its, not it's.

January 4, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

Citizen,

How ‘bout a balloon? The hot air kind. Plenty of that available. Maybe enough to approach escape velocity. That’s the idea after all, in’it? Just think of the yuuuuuge amount of fried fat on the re-entry.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Here’s hoping Stacey Abrams and her people, and Georgians who aren’t enamored of criminal fascists running the Senate can pull off a miracle: restoring the rule of law and the Constitution to the United States of America. Confederates have the long knives out, but perhaps we can save this country yet.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Florida has turned into an example on how not to handle the vaccination program. After Trump dumped it on the states, Governor DeSantis passed the buck on down the line. Now the Miami Herald quotes him as saying "There's just too many people" wanting to be vaccinated, and the Tampa Bay Times referring to a "train wreck" as the roll out begins.

DeSantis naturally blames the hospitals telling them to step up vaccinations or their number of doses will be cut. Kind of like "The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves."

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Your morning chuckle, via Steve Benen:

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gabriel-sterling-held-press-conference-asl-interpreter-david-cowan-said-n1252807

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

"Can't prosecute him because he believes this nonsense is true."

Bollocks!

He has at his disposal a $Billion information gathering service that can provide him with facts -- True facts -- but he chooses to fill his brain with conspiracy theories from garbage "news" channels.

He can process information well enough to know EXACTLY how many votes he needs to overturn the Georgia election. He can process real information. He just won't.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@NiskyGuy: Couldn't agree more. I'm really disgusted with Democrats who have gone on the teevee saying Trump was going to lose anyway so let's let bygones be bygones & essentially let him get away with an insanity defense. I see where that Wisconsin pharmacist who ruined Covid-19 doses because he believed in vaccine hoaxes has still been charged with crimes. Why is Trump, who spouts election fraud hoaxes, getting away with crimes when an equally-nutty pharmacist is not?

January 5, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@Bobby Lee: "The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves." Sure hope I find an appropriate place to steal & insert that.

January 5, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

"I DON'T LIKE LOSERS" the man once said about a war hero and repeated it several times referring to the dead military. The man's niece told the world that this man was raised in a family in which being a loser was anathema to their rigorous idea of success. This man now faces a monumental loss that he refuses to acknowledge and, true to form, he will try to sabotage an election by going the way Roy Cohen taught him.: "Never admit you're wrong."

So whatever ensues during these weeks of tribulation and cut-throat antics, one thing is certain: Man will no longer have his title, the protective fabric that has kept him safe. He will be naked and vulnerable, cat nip for those waiting in the wings ready to slap all sorts of crimes on his sorry ass. Who is to say, at the end of the day, if this lesson of a loser will change our ways–-will finally shore up this shaky democracy in order for US never again have to LOSE.

Adam Schiff's last words during the impeachment trial should be etched in marble.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@Marie Burns: Have at it. I stole it off an old sweatshirt.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

So there is a flight from the 89th Airlift Wing (the USAF wing that priovides VIP lift for the White House and others) seeking landing in Scotland January 19. I doubt that the Fat Loser will be on board. And I doubt that there will be a cargo manifest. But if I were a Scots journalist I'd be seeking pictures of what gets offloaded and driven to Turnberry. I'm betting filecases with documents of two broad types:
(1) material Fat Loser can use to blackmail others
(2) material that can incriminate him -- and which will be shredded and burned within hours of arrival. His WH minions don't want to spend 20 years in Leavenworth for destroying archived material or obstructing justice by destroing evidence. But Groundskeeper Willie at T-berry might do it for enough gelt. If not, Fat Loser's kin can put the match to it.

If I were the Aircraft Commander on that flight, I think I'd declare engine trouble and divert to Maguire in NJ, red-X the aircraft and unload the (unmanifested) cargo. Which would require documentation.

I'd love to know what's on that flight. Probably not just the silverware.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Another thing about Trump (maybe) comming to Scotland, At the moment "People have also been told not to enter or leave Scotland unless in exceptional circumstances. "
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/05/scotland-lockdown-tier-4-rules-covid-restrictions-when-end-review/
I do not believe "Not wanting to be in the USA because his 2nd term was "stolen" counts. Especially since everyone here knows that he LOST, and we don't want him.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterDBuice

@ DBuice. The orange prick is not "people", besides, he's reportedly "immune" to SARS Cov2, and he's likely got blackmail material on Scottish leadership. Whether US intelligence and security working with the UK intelligence and Interpol have grounds for search and seizure of cargo is a ... scenario, hopefully.

Actually I wish he'd show all his blackmail cards, now that the world knows he's a liar and a cheat, that sunlight would be the best scenario of all.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterperiscope

'The "Surrender Caucus" within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective "guardians" of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!' -Trump
Donnie is really laying into Hawley, Cruz and the rest of the coup plotters there. Usually he waits a little while before going after his allies. But "Surrender Caucus" does fit them pretty well.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I might have to spend the 19th (and 20th?) glued to the screen tracking arrivals and departures at Prestwick. Unless said plane is able to escape such visibility.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

If today’s election in GA is at all close, especially if the candidates representing the Treason-Trump Party are losing, look for Fatty to demand that the election be stopped, voting machines be seized, and if a single Democrat complains, martial law declared. This is the little king of chaos we’re talking about here. A victory for Democrats tonight will be “proof” that the fascists are being screwed. I don’t put anything past these people. Both Trump and Gohmert, and by their silence on such matters, almost all the other traitors, have called for violence if they don’t get their way.

This will get ugly very quickly. Well, it’s already that. I mean dangerously, homicidally ugly. Just the way they like it.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I remember flicking through TV channels maybe a year ago and finding an infomercial or program on dashboard cameras that are used in Russia and other places to settle accident claims because people trust neither the authorities nor each other.

It really does seem that any interaction with an R requires one to have full recorded evidence. T****'s call to Georgia is an example, but Hawley's whining about antifa shows they will just keep shoveling the crap as long as it has even the tiniest receptive audience.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

I see the WaPost does, in fact, link to a 50-minute video. People wrote on the sidewalk with chalk. People spoke through megaphones. At one point, guests to the house walked up the driveway unimpeded and entered the house. Police officers arrived and apparently asked the protesters to move off of the sidewalk, which they did, even though the sidewalk in most places is public property.

Somehow, the video does not show the behaviors mentioned by hawley.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

Another Republican lying?

In itself one more lie is trivial.

But when it's all they have, it's monumental.

Not a single, solitary grasshopper, but a never-ending, all consuming plague of locusts.

January 5, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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