;)
Tuesday
Jun262018
The Commentariat -- June 27, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** "Oh Jesus. Anthony Kennedy is retiring. Nazi Germany, here we come." Mrs. McC: That might not be quite how the NYT report (linked) phrases it, but Akhilleus's report is good enough for me.
Pete Williams of NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a crippling blow Wednesday to unions representing millions of the nation's public employees. The justices said in a 5-4 opinion that state government workers who choose not to join a union cannot be compelled to pay a share of union dues for covering the cost of negotiating contracts. Unions had said such an outcome would cut off a source of income and diminish their political clout in the 23 states where they bargain for both members and non-members alike. A recent non-partisan study predicted that a Supreme Court defeat would eventually cause public employee unions to lose 726,000 members, a significant blow in one of organized labor's remaining strongholds. Nearly half of all union members in the U.S. are government employees.... Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the ruling that it was a 'Big loss of the coffers of the Democrats!'" ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: "In hindsight, it's hard to argue that Democrats did everything in their power to [put a liberal on the Supreme Court to replace Antonin Scalia.] For example, imagine if Barack Obama had nominated the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court -- one who was young, and unabashedly progressive in her jurisprudence. When McConnell subsequently vetoed her appointment -- and thereby nullified Obama's attempt to give a modicum of representation in the halls of high power to the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency -- wouldn't it have been easier to mobilize the Democratic base in outrage, than it was to rally them behind Merrick Garland?"
Benjamin Haas of the Guardian: "North Korea has continued to upgrade its only known nuclear reactor used to fuel its weapons program, satellite imagery has shown, despite ongoing negotiations with the US and a pledge to denuclearise. Infrastructure improvements at the Yongbyon nuclear plant are 'continuing at a rapid pace', according to an analysis by monitoring group 38 North of commercial satellite images taken on 21 June." Mrs. McC: What? You mean Kim snookered the artful dealer Trump? Unpossible.
Margaret Hartmann: "In a battle over which candidate is the most Trump-like, GOP primary voters in Staten Island went with the guy who isn't a convicted felon. Michael Grimm, who resigned from Congress in 2015 after pleading guilty to tax evasion..., was easily defeated by Representative Dan Donovan. With all precincts in New York's 11th Congressional District reporting, Donovan took 64 percent of the vote to Grimm's 36 percent."
*****
Primary Election Results
New York. The New York Times has results here.
... Shane Goldmacher & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Representative Joseph Crowley of New York, once seen as a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader of the House, suffered a shocking primary defeat on Tuesday, the most significant loss for a Democratic incumbent in more than a decade, and one that will reverberate across the party and the country. Mr. Crowley was defeated by a 28-year-old political newcomer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign, who had declared it was time for generational, racial and ideological change. Mr. Crowley, the No. 4 Democrat in the House, had drastically outspent his lesser-known rival to no avail, as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's campaign was lifted by an aggressive social media presence and fueled by attention from national progressives hoping to flex their muscle in a race against a potential future speaker." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If Crowley were any good at promoting the Democratic party & liberal values, I would have known who the hell he was. The No. 4 guy in the House & I never heard of him? Shame on him, not on me. He deserved to lose, & thanks to Ocasio-Cortez for relieving us of the dead-weight pasty old white guy. ...
... Matt Berman, et al., of BuzzFeed: "Ocasio-Cortez in her campaign became one of the dominant voices of the left's anti-establishment movement. She ran on a slate of issues now popular on the left -- Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and stripping corporate money out of politics. She's backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and by Our Revolution, the group affiliated with Bernie Sanders. She spent the last weekend of the campaign in Texas, protesting ... Donald Trump's border policy.... 'Holy cow, we're elated, and simultaneously and honestly shocked,' Corbin Trent, Ocasio-Cortez's communications director told BuzzFeed News.... 'Shell shocked' was the phrase an aide who works closely with Democratic House leadership used in a text to describe the night. 'I don't know what else to say. We joked about it today. I can't believe this is real life.' Ocasio-Cortez was given virtually no chance of winning the race by New York political observers...."
Maryland. NYT results are here.
... Baltimore Sun: "Ben Jealous' progressive bid for the Democratic nomination for governor hinged on a bet that the Maryland Democratic party's left wing had enough force to put him over the top. He won that bet by a big margin -- more than 55,000 votes. Tuesday night's results show that the traditional Maryland establishment lost out to a candidate who could unite unions, Bernie Sanders-style Democrats and African-Americans. Rushern Baker, the Prince George's County executive supported by most of the state's Democratic leaders, started out as the nominal front-runner...."
Oklahoma. NYT results are here.
... Barbara Hoberock, et al., of the Tulsa World: "Former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett comfortably advanced and Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt upset Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb to get into the Republican runoff for governor. On the Democratic side of the governor's race, former Attorney General Drew Edmondson easily advanced to the general election, securing more than 60 percent of the vote over state Sen. Connie Johnson. Cornett and Stitt move on to an Aug. 28 runoff.... Gov. Mary Fallin is term-limited and could not seek re-election after eight years in office.... Voter turnout was bolstered by dissatisfaction with the current Oklahoma Legislature and Fallin's low approval rating. A state question seeking to legalize medical marijuana also contributed to heavy turnout. Tuesday's unofficial turnout exceeded 880,000 votes, more than were cast in the 2014 general election and the 2016 presidential primary." ...
... They'll Be Smoking Marijuana in Muskogee. Andrea Eger of the Tulsa World: "Oklahoma voters on Tuesday appear to have made it legal to use, sell and grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in a referendum two years in the making. About 57 percent of voters approved the measure."
Colorado. Results are here.
... John Frank of What's Left of the Denver Post: "The Colorado governor's race is set: Democrat Jared Polis will face Republican Walker Stapleton in a November election in which President Donald Trump, marijuana and big money are expected to dominate. The two candidates easily won their respective nominations in Tuesday's primary election, each defeating three rivals with campaigns that appealed to the party's most ardent supporters. Polis, a five-term Boulder congressman, would become the nation's first openly gay man elected governor if he succeeds, and his win Tuesday represents a sharp leftward shift that will test whether Colorado is a true blue state. Stapleton, the two-term state treasurer and Bush family relative, is competing to become only the second Republican elected governor in 44 years and aligned himself with Republican firebrands to win the race.... Stapleton embraced former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a hard-liner on immigration, to secure a place on the ballot at the state party assembly after fraudulent petitions nearly cost him a place on in the race."
Utah. Results are here.
... Benjamin Wood of the Salt Lake Tribune: "Mitt Romney hardly broke a sweat on his way to capturing the Republican nomination in Utah's U.S. Senate race, according to unofficial results Tuesday, earning 73 percent of the vote.... Romney wished well to his Democratic opponent, Jenny Wilson, whom he will face in November's general election to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch. To be a great nation, Romney said, the United States must be strong. The country should live within its means as Utah does, and welcome refugees and immigrants who legally enter the country and add vitality to the nation.... The former Massachusetts governor moved to Utah in 2014 after it looked like he was retired for good from political campaigning.... Romney finished behind [State Rep. Mike] Kennedy at the Utah Republican Convention in April in a 49 percent to 51 percent vote of state GOP delegates."
South Carolina. The New York Times has run-off results here.
... Avery Wilks of the State: "A day after ... Donald Trump flew to South Carolina to campaign for him, Gov. Henry McMaster won the S.C. Republican Party's nomination for governor Tuesday. The 71-year-old Columbia Republican defeated Greenville businessman John Warren, a political novice, after a contentious primary runoff in which both candidates tried to court Trump voters. In the end, S.C. Republicans picked the candidate Trump liked over the Trump-like candidate." ...
... Sammy Fretwell of the State: "Former state Sen. Lee Bright, the socially conservative Spartanburg resident known for his hardline political stances, lost Tuesday in his bid for a seat in Congress to replace retiring Rep. Trey Gowdy. William Timmons, a state senator from Greenville, defeated Bright in the Republican primary runoff election for the Upstate Congressional seat.... A first-term state senator, Timmons in November will face Democrat Brandon Brown, who defeated Lee Turner in that party's primary Tuesday. Chances that Republicans will retain the seat are strong because the district in northwestern South Carolina votes heavily for the GOP." ...
... Also, if you'd like to know who-all is ahead in the Miss Teen South Carolina & Miss South Carolina pageants, well, the State reports that news is right up there with primary results.
Mississippi. Primary run-off results are here.
... Anna Wolfe of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: "Attorney and veteran state lawmaker David Baria defeated venture capitalist Howard Sherman, husband of Meridian native and Emmy-award winning actress Sela Ward, to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Baria led Tuesday night with 59 percent to 41 percent, with 99 percent of votes in from a low turnout election. Baria won despite having a fraction of his opponent's campaign funds."
It's Another Mitch McConnell Day at the Supreme Court ...
Or, to borrow from Ian Millhiser, Another Great Day for White Nationalism
Adam Liptak & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court >upheld President Trump's ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, delivering to the president on Tuesday a political victory and an endorsement of his power to control immigration at a time of political upheaval about the treatment of migrants at the Mexican border. In a 5-to-4 vote, the court's conservatives said that the president's power to secure the country's borders, delegated by Congress over decades of immigration lawmaking, was not undermined by Mr. Trump' history of incendiary statements about the dangers he said Muslims pose to the United States." (Also linked yesterday in an earlier iteration.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is that "presumption of good faith" Ian Millhiser & Cristian Farias discuss. Farias specifically tied said presumption to the possible decision in the Muslim ban case. Sadly, he was right. I'll be way interested to see if the winger justices presume good faith on the part of Democratic lawmakers & administrators. Scalia thought one purpose of ObamaCare was to make every American eat broccoli, & they all seem to think workers & unions are up to no good. ...
... Amy Howe of ScotusBlog provides a detailed analysis of the decision, Justice Kennedy's concurrence (see Feldman, linked below, for more on Kennedy's lame excuse) & dissents.
... ** "Bigoted & Feckless, the Travel Ban Is Pure Trump." New York Times Editors: "On Tuesday morning the five conservative justices of the Supreme Court -- including the one who got the job only because Senate Republicans stole a seat and held it open for him -- voted to uphold President Trump's travel ban, which indefinitely bars most people from five majority-Muslim countries, and certain citizens from two other countries, from entering the United States.... They reached this conclusion despite Mr. Trump's best efforts to convince them, and the country, that its real purpose was to discriminate on the basis of religion.... The conservative majority's endorsement of nearly unchecked presidential power in this context is all the more disturbing given this administration's policies at America's southern border.... On Jan. 27, 2017, as Mr. Trump signed the first version of the travel ban, he read out its official title, 'Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,' then looked up and said, 'We all know what that means.' Indeed we do, even if five Supreme Court justices refuse to admit it." ...
... Dana Milbank: "On the penultimate page of their 39-page majority ruling in the Trump travel-ban case Tuesday, the Supreme Court's conservative justices overturned a 74-year-old decision they weren't asked to consider. Renouncing the 1944 Korematsuv. United States decision, which upheld internment camps for U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote: 'Korematsu was gravely wrong the day it was decided, has been overruled in the court of history, and -- to be clear -- "has no place in law under the Constitution."'... He dismissed the many anti-Muslim statements Trump has made as 'extrinsic statements.'... It should take the court of history much less time to conclude that the Roberts Court was likewise wrong in deciding to uphold President Trump's travel ban.... The justices ... missed the big-picture impact their decision would have on discrimination generally and on the president's shaky regard for the rule of law.... Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent..., cited Justice Robert Jackson's dissent in Korematsu, in which he argued that, while the internment order itself was temporary, 'once a judicial opinion rationalizes such an order ... the Court for all time has validated the principle of racial discrimination.' Now Roberts has validated religious discrimination. And his fig leaf of facial neutrality won't stand up in the court of history." ...
... "A Decision that Will Live in Infamy." Noah Feldman of Bloomberg: "In what may be the worst decision since the infamous Korematsu case, when the Supreme Court upheld the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the court today by a 5-4 vote upheld ... Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban.... The decision will be a stain not only on the legacy of the Roberts court, but on that of the Supreme Court itself.... To focus on Roberts's analysis would be to make the same crucial error as Roberts himself -- that is, treating one of the most outrageous acts of presidential bias in modern U.S. history as though it were an ordinary exercise of presidential power, taken by an ordinary president acting in good conscience.... Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court's most liberal member, played the truth-telling role today. Her dissent, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, states bluntly that a reasonable observer looking at the record would conclude that the ban was 'motivated by anti-Muslim animus.'... It has taken two generations for the court to begin to live down the taint of Korematsu. The taint of Trump v. Hawaii will last just as long." ...
OK. I'll tell you the whole history of it. So when [Trump] first announced it he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up and said, 'Put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally.'... And what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger. The areas of the world that create danger for us. Which is a factual basis. Not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible, and that's what the ban is based on. -- Rudy Giuliani, last year ...
... Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "In the first paragraph of Roberts' opinion in Trump v. Hawaii ... the Chief writes one of the most literally unbelievable lines to appear in a Supreme Court opinion: 'the President concluded that it was necessary to impose entry restrictions on nationals of countries that do not share adequate information for an informed entry determination, or that otherwise present national security risks.'... If you believe that, you probably slept through the entire 2016 presidential campaign.... Donald Trump has done everything short of publishing a book entitled How I'm Flouting The Constitution's Establishment Clause By Prohibiting Muslims From Entering The United States.... And yet, Roberts writes on behalf of himself and his four Republican colleagues, none of that matters.... Tuesday's decision is likely to embolden Trump even further." ...
... Christian Nation. Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Three weeks ago, many religious-liberty advocates celebrated the Supreme Court's decision that a Colorado baker should not have to create a gay wedding cake, saying the baker's religious faith was disparaged by the government and that could not stand. But some of the same groups met with silence the court's decision Tuesday to uphold what President Trump reportedly called his 'Muslim ban.'... Compared with other recent federal rulings about religious liberty, 'I would have said we were in a period when the court was caring more about religion,' said Noah Feldman, a constitutional law scholar at Harvard University who focuses on law and religion. 'But this makes it look like what the court cares about is the religion of evangelical Christians, not Muslims. It makes it look like the Supreme Court doesn't have a general concern for religion. It looks badly motivated.'" ...
... Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly: "One of the most disturbing aspects of Trump's presidency has been to watch congressional Republicans normalize the attacks on our democracy by failing to hold the Liar-in-Chief accountable. We can now add the conservative justices on the Supreme Court to that group because, in ruling the president's travel ban constitutional, they just affirmed his right to lie.... The national security argument used by this administration to defend the ban is a lie. To demonstrate that point, Philip Bump went back 20 years to determine whether this particular ban would have saved any of the lives that were lost to terrorist attacks.... 'Of the 24 attacks listed above, only two might have been prevented had the perpetrator been subject to the full travel ban Trump has proposed. One would have had to have been rejected at the age of 2. No deaths would have been prevented.' It is bad enough that the conservatives on the Supreme Court -- many of whom want to claim the mantle of being defenders of 'religious liberty' when it comes to Christians -- completely dismissed the fact that this travel ban is motivated by anti-Muslim animus. But I find it equally disturbing that they just affirmed the president's right to lie about national security concerns." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Rachel Maddow pointed out Tuesday night, the government also lied in the Korematsu case, claiming the military saw a clear necessity to intern Japanese Americans. There was not.
... Oh, P.S. California Legislators Presumably Act in Bad Faith. Because Abortion. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court said Tuesday that pregnancy centers established to persuade women to continue their pregnancies do not have to tell their clients about the availability of state-offered services, including abortion. The court's conservatives said a California law likely violates the First Amendment. It required what are called crisis pregnancy centers -- they promise prenatal care and help when the child is born -- to post notices or tell clients about the state's service. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the 5 to 4 decision." Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the dissent "said the court has repeatedly upheld state laws that provide a script for doctors when they are counseling women who seek abortion. '"If a state can lawfully require a doctor to tell a woman seeking an abortion about adoption services, why should it not be able, as here, to require a medical counselor to tell a woman seeking prenatal care or other reproductiv healthcare about childbirth and abortion services?' Breyer wrote." Mrs. McC: Must be a false equivalency. Or something. (Also linked yesterday.)
** Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "The Supreme Court held on Monday that white lawmakers enjoy a presumption of racial innocence, even when they draw legislative districts that empower white voters at the expense of racial minorities. The thrust of Justice Samuel Alito's opinion in Abbott v. Perez is that the 'good faith' of a 'state legislature must be presumed,' even when there are very serious allegations of racialgerrymandering.... [T]he Perez opinion is very bad news for anyone hoping to challenge a racial gerrymander in the future. Lawmakers now enjoy an exceedingly strong presumption of racial innocence when they draw legislative maps. It's a great day for white nationalism." --safari (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Elizabeth Dias & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "The consequences of President Trump's nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court -- and the Republican blockade of President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick B. Garland in 2016 for that seat -- became powerfully clear on Tuesday after the court's conservative majority handed down major decisions to uphold Mr. Trump's travel ban and in favor of abortion rights.... 'As one after another 5-4 rulings of this SCOTUS on voting rights, abortion rights, the travel ban and more are announced, the full meaning of @
Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in San Diego on Tuesday barred the separation of migrant children from their parents and required immigration officials to reunify within 30 days families that have been divided as a result of a zero-tolerance policy enforced by the Trump administration. Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted a preliminary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union. He said all children must be reunited with their families within 30 days, allowing just 14 days for the return of children under 5 to their parents. He ordered that parents must be entitled to speak by phone with their children within 10 days.... [The court's order] faulted the Trump administration for 'a chaotic circumstance of the Government's own making.' The judge stated bluntly: 'The unfortunate reality is that under the present system, migrant children are not accounted for with the same efficiency and accuracy as property.'" Sabraw is a Bush II appointee. ...
... Elliot Spagat, et al., of the AP: "The decision [by Judge Dana Sabraw] comes as 17 states, including New York and California, sued the Trump administration Tuesday to force it to reunite children and parents. The states, all led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C., in filing the lawsuit in federal court in Seattle, arguing that they are being forced to shoulder increased child welfare, education and social services costs.... Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Congress on Tuesday that his department still has custody of 2,047 immigrant children separated from their parents at the border. That is only six fewer children than the number in HHS custody as of last Wednesday. Democratic senators said that wasn't nearly enough progress. Under questioning, Azar refused to be pinned down on how long it will take to reunite families. He said his department does extensive vetting of parents to make sure they are not traffickers masquerading as parents." ...
... Dara Lind of Vox: "DHS is promising to reunite parents once they've been ordered deported -- but not while they're still fighting an asylum claim.... [According to a DHS/HHS 'fact sheet,'] it is solely 'to ensure that those adults who are subject to removal are reunited with their children for the purposes of removal' (emphasis added). There is no such assurance for parents who are fighting deportation because they are trying to claim asylum (or another form of relief) in the United States. What this means, in practice, is that a parent who is currently trying to pursue an asylum claim but wants to see her child as quickly as possible will have to waive two sets of rights: her own and her child's." ...
... Mrs. McC: Judge Sabraw appears to have put the kibosh on this plan. Besides, it seems unconstitutional on the face of it; the plan declares that the U.S. government will hold your child hostage until you waive your Constitutional rights. Might as well call it kidnapping for ransom.
Gardiner Harris & Stanley Reed of the New York Times: "The United States said on Tuesday that it will impose sanctions against all importers of Iranian oil by Nov. 4, a surprisingly tough position that roiled oil markets and is likely to further alienate allies and adversaries alike. The policy shook financial markets that had become accustomed to waivers for American sanctions that in years past had been granted to companies in countries like India and China as long as they showed steady reductions in their imports of Iranian oil.... Oil prices immediately rose on the news. The Trump administration may be signaling an unusually tough position to gain leverage ahead of the first official meeting in Vienna of the remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal since President Trump announced in May that he was leaving the accord. American diplomats will not participate in the Vienna talks, set for next week, since the United States is no longer a party to the deal. But senior Trump administration officials will talk with European diplomats on the sidelines.... Sanctions experts expressed a mixture of bafflement and scorn at Tuesday's announcement." Mrs. McC: Thanks, Trump! I was hoping you'd drive up gas prices. Besides, if a guy can't afford gas, he surely doesn't have enough $$ to buy a hog to put the gas in. Brilliant moves all around. Numbskull. ...
... Alan Rappeport & Stacy Brown of the New York Times: "President Trump lashed out at one of his favorite American manufacturers on Tuesday, criticizing Harley-Davidson over its plans to move some of its motorcycle production abroad and threatening it with punitive taxes in return.... Mr. Trump also revived a threat that he used to lob at companies when he was a presidential candidate, warning Harley that it would pay a financial price for moving manufacturing abroad. 'Harley must know that they won't be able to sell back into U.S. without paying a big tax!' the president said in another tweet on Tuesday. While running for office in 2016, he said on several occasions that if elected he would make Ford pay a 35 percent tax on cars that it made in Mexico and sold into the United States. He did not say what presidential authority would give him that power, and the warning on Tuesday appeared to misunderstand -- or misconstrue -- the fact that Harley would be using its overseas production facilities to sell motorcycles in Europe, not back into the United States."
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Virginia concluded Tuesday that a special counsel is a poor tool for investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and that the current one is prosecuting Paul Manafort only so he will offer evidence against President Trump. But those thoughts do little for the ex-lobbyist, because U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III ultimately ruled that Robert S. Mueller III's prosecution of Manafort on bank and tax fraud charges can go forward. 'Although this case will continue, those involved should be sensitive to the danger unleashed when political disagreements are transformed into partisan prosecutions,' the judge wrote. If there are no further delays, the July 25 trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria will be the first case brought by Mueller's team to come before a jury."
Charlie Savage & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Reality L. Winner, a former Air Force linguist who was the first person prosecuted by the Trump administration on charges of leaking classified information, pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of an agreement with prosecutors that calls for a sentence of 63 months in prison. Ms. Winner, who entered her plea in Federal District Court in Augusta, Ga., was arrested last June and accused of sharing a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 election with the news media. Ms. Winner, who is now 26, has been jailed since her arrest.... Her decision to plead guilty to one felony count allows the government both to avoid a complex trial that had been scheduled for October and to notch a victory in the Trump administration's aggressive pursuit of leakers."
Trump Sets a Record. Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star: "The frequency of ... Donald Trump's dishonesty had steadily accelerated since late last year. Then, last week, it skyrocketed. Trump made an astonishing 103 false claims over those seven days, an average of 15 per day. That shatters his one-week record of 60, which he had set in early March." ...
... That's a Feature, Dan, Not a Bug. Liam Stack of the New York Times on how Trump uses his lies: "On Monday, President Trump tweeted that Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, had encouraged liberals to 'harm' supporters of 'the Make America Great Again movement' and warned her to 'be careful what you wish for.'... By Tuesday, the tweet was shared more than 40,000 times.... This kind of Twitter outrage cycle has repeated itself countless times since Mr. Trump began his presidential campaign in 2015, and it is one of his tried and true methods for injecting disinformation into public discourse, experts said.... The president's tweet about Ms. Waters contained a false statement, an insult and what sounds like a threat. But each time it was shared -- even, and perhaps especially, by critics who wanted to vent their anger &-- the message was amplified and spread.... Sarah Huckabee Sanders ... repeated a version of that claim during a White House press briefing, implying that she had advocated action against 'any Trump supporter.'"
Anton Troianovski of the Washington Post: "National security adviser John Bolton is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesman said, in a prelude to a long-anticipated summit with President Trump that now looks increasingly likely. Bolton is in Moscow ahead of an expected meeting between Putin and Trump in mid-July. Bolton is also meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said."
Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Protesters confronted Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday over migrant family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border.... Chao and McConnell, who are married ... were approached by a small group of young men at Georgetown University. One started repeating, 'Why are you separating families?' A short confrontation ensued. 'Why don't you leave my husband alone? Why don't you leave my husband alone?' Chao responded as McConnell got into the SUV." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hey, kids. If you want to call out McConnell, the words you should be shouting are "Neil" & "Gorsuch."
... Being Politely Asked to Leave a Restaurant Is Dangerous. Elizabeth Landers & Jim Acosta of CNN: "White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is expected to receive Secret Service protection as soon as Wednesday, two sources familiar with the decision tell CNN, but they did not specify how long it will last.... The news comes days after Sanders was asked to leave a small Lexington, Virginia, restaurant because of her role with the Trump administration, a move that has since sparked a national conversation on civility and public service in the age of Trump." ...
... Thanks to Patrick for the link. ...
... Onion (satire): "Recent incidents of Trump officials being confronted in public for their role in the administration’s separation and imprisonment of immigrant families have driven renewed concern about the lack of civility in U.S. politics. The Onion presents tips for staying civil in a debate about child prisons. [Here are a few of them:] ... Consider that we all have different perspectives stemming from things like age, ethnicity, or level of racism. Recall that violently rejecting a tyrannical government goes against everything our forefathers believed in.... Realize that every pressing social issue is solved through civil discourse if you ignore virtually all of human history." More where that came from.
Kyla Mandel of ThinkProgress: "Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in an effort to stop plans to allow mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota.... The legal challenges come after President Donald Trump announced during a rally in Duluth, Minnesota last week that he wanted to keep large portions of land within the state's Superior National Forest -- where the Boundary Waters recreation area is located -- open to mining. These ares of land were set to be banned to industry activities under the Obama administration." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
Dan Spinelli of Mother Jones: "One of the country's major federal science agencies [The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization] seems to have been forced to abandon climate change research as a key organizational focus, the New York Times revealed this week. The ... Organization is responsible for managing the National Weather Service and using its network of satellites to forecast the effects of climate change.... NOAA ... had remained relatively immune so far from the influence of climate change skeptics within the Trump administration." -safari (Also linked yesterday.)
They Once Were Lost But Now They're Found. Alan Blinder: "When the Montgomery bus boycott electrified the struggle against segregation, it was all recorded in appeals bonds, court motions and $10 fines. A forgotten trove has turned up in a courthouse vault.... The fragile papers, filled in with sharp signatures and characters stamped out on manual typewriters, are part of what officials believe is the largest surviving trove of legal records from the boycott.... Discovered by a courthouse intern [Maya A. McKenzie] during a housecleaning project and now on loan to Alabama State University, the records will be made public online this summer."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Diego Cupolo of The Atlantic: "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extended his 16-year dominance over Turkey with a victory in the first round of the country's snap elections, winning 52.5 percent of the vote.... In the eyes of his roughly 26 million supporters, it was a resounding victory for the powerless.... The problem is that such victories for Turkey's supposedly oppressed classes can feel like oppression for the other half of the country's voters, who just missed their best chance to date to unseat a leader with very real staying power.... Erdoğan is poised to rule Turkey for up to three more terms with consolidated governing powers -- what his opponents call 'one man rule.' Turks have, in essence, voted away their democracy." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
Pavel Polityuk of Reuters: "Hackers from Russia are infecting Ukrainian companies with malicious software to create 'back doors' for a large, coordinated attack, Ukraine's cyber police chief told Reuters on Tuesday. The hackers are targeting companies including banks and energy infrastructure firms, in a roll out that suggests they are preparing to activate the malware in one massive strike, cyber police chief Serhiy Demedyuk said. Ukrainian police are working with foreign authorities to identify the hackers, Demedyuk added. The Kremlin denied the allegations."
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Reader Comments (28)
Remember that time a lily white "real" American refused Joe Biden because he didn't like his policies, and the GOP held him up as a star to emulate and Faux News went wild. Yeah. Civility for thee.
https://youtu.be/ApGl6OtMsfQ
Trevor Noah on Sarah, civility, chicken and eloquent racists of the 50s.
Funny
Well, I am not alone in my thinking. Thanks Bea. I was also dumbfounded by the so-called big Democratic loss in NY that's been reported. Joseph Crowley? Who he? Talk about a low profile!
I think I had heard of Crowley with regard to his wanting to replace Pelosi, but that's all. I wanted to prescribe Ritalin to Steve Kornacki last night, as he was manic and bouncing all over the place while reporting how "mind-blowing" this is. I have no more mind to blow, since hearing the "supreme" court expose itself as a Trump administration subsidiary. I hope Roberts et al and Mitch McConnell fry in hell.
Russian Pop Star behind Trump Tower meeting releases music video featuring Trump and other notables. The song––"Got Me Good" is catchy, (maybe you can dance to it). See what you think:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/emin-agalarov-music-video-trump-got-me-good_us_5b334edde4b0b745f17914c0
I have got to mention Trump's recent rally ––was it last night or the night before–-that I watched off and on and concluded that what was happening was not a political stand for someone running for office, but an unhinged comedian/ dictator venting and vomiting absolutely crazy stuff––and continuing with the lying–-always the big whoppers that the crowd cheers on. He ended with a sweep of his hands, like an anointed gesture calling his base, this crowd, "Super elites."
One day people in the future will watch films of this phenomenon and, I hope, will scratch their heads and ask how did this happen; what will the answers be by that time I wonder.
@Patrick–-Guy nails it! Thanks!
There's this crazy guy in my neighborhood. Mr. Orange. For years he's been threatening to murder his next door neighbor, Mr. Ahmed. He says he's a threat to America. The police have been to his house a couple of times because he was out in the yard with a sniper rifle waiting for Mr. Ahmed to go to work. An injunction was brought against him for trying that sort of thing.
Finally, one day, the cops are called. Mr. Ahmed is dead. Mr. Orange was seen out in his yard with his rifle. The whole thing ends up before Judge Johnny. The DA brings all the evidence up of the many, many threats Orange had made, for years. Threats to kill Ahmed, his prior acts. Orange's lawyers claim that it was an innocent misunderstanding. Orange was out in his yard but he was cleaning his weapon and it went off. Snickers all around in the courtroom. Judge Johnny threatens to clear the court if any more such nonsense ensues.
Finally, because it's a bench trial, Judge Johnny dismisses all the evidence of Orange's obvious animosity towards Mr. Ahmed, his prior attempts to shoot him, and all his threats against him.
"The court finds no basis for a belief that Mr. Orange had anything whatsoever against Mr. Ahmed. It was all a big misunderstanding by the neighbors, by the DA and, unfortunately, by Mr. Ahmed. Mr. Orange, I find you not guilty. You are free to go. The court apologizes for any inconveniences you must have suffered. Poor man."
This is pretty much what happened yesterday.
Stephen's interview with "Melanie Trump" re. the jacket:
https://youtu.be/8crpSnfl6Hs
Stephen and Laura Benanti are tired of this shit. No mercy.
I am still reeling from the arrogant entitled hypocrisy of the 5 "conservative" supreme court justices. Rotting in hell will be too good for them.
We had a look yesterday at what life in a true authoritarian state will look like once Trump's goons on the Supreme Court get a little more comfortable with their role as rubber stamps for out and out racism and the fascist way of life.
This brings me around to Mark Warner's somewhat giddy anticipation of the "wild ride" to be expected once Mueller and his bloodhounds bring the Fat Man to bay. Calm it down, Mark. Whatever Mueller has on the Trumps will easily be shot down once it gets to Little Johnny and the Dwarfs (Now with new dwarf, Goblin Boy Gorsuch).
You may recall the vital role played by the Supreme Court during Nixon's attempt to shred the Constitution. The current constitutional crisis will very likely see the current court play a role as well. Um, but make that a roll. As in "roll over and play dead".
This isn't a joke either. We have seen that future. The TrumpenCourt has spoken: "*squeak, squeak, squeak*"
Expect more mousy mewlings from these giants of jurisimprudence.
Perhaps one reason no one seems to know, or know much about, this Joe Crowley guy is that Democrats have been so fucking moribund.
Confederates scream and yell on a regular basis. Of course they don't do anything, but at least most people who pay attention know who's who.
I looked up the Democratic House leadership. Hell, after Steny Hoyer (no. 2) I don't know any of them. Jim Clyburn, the assistant leader (whatever that is), I've heard of but I wouldn't know him if I was sitting next to him on a long bus ride and we traded family snapshots.
I'm not suggesting that Democrats scream, yell, play with their navels and do nothing, like Confederates, but Jesus. They need to be a tad more visible.
On the other hand, it might be a good sign that Crowley was booted by a Sanders candidate. Same 'ol has not been working. Of course, the media is playing this up as a serious blow to the Democrats.
@AK: do you remember when Sandra Day O'Connor had that long interview with B.Walters after she had left the bench when Barbara asked her if the S.C. was in any way political? Absolutely not, was the answer––it might SEEM that way given the division of the votes but, no, we don't judge politically, she added. Psssh! I said at the time.
The decision yesterday you can add with the Citizen's United, and the Voting rights decision that will go down in history as some of the worst decisions in our time––meaning recent history. Back when that "good honest" governor of California, Earl Warren, the one Eisenhower tapped for the S.C., sided with the Japanese internment, it was a blot on his otherwise sterling record. Later he deeply regretted it and broke down in tears during an interview years later. It was stated then that "even the best politicians can display some fatal imperfection" as though this was something fresh to recognize.
On a lighter note from the link above about the SC pageants:
"This is the last year of swimsuit competition, and the ladies walked in neon yellow and orange bikinis. The newer fitness component featured the ladies performing a set fitness routine of jumps, squats, pushups and poses."
OK, was the fitness component performed in their bikinis or evening gowns? Weren't they already wearing pushups?
Inquiring minds and dirty old men want to know.
Here is the NY 14th Congressional, northern Queens, where Crowley lost and Ocasio-Cortez won:
"18.41% White; 11.39% Black; 16.24% Asian; 49.80% Hispanic; 0.45% Native American; 3.71% other"
This is the white nationalists' nightmare.
Eric Levitz: Stop fighting yesterday's battles. Focus on 2018 and getting out the vote.
"A federal judge in California issued a nationwide injunction late Tuesday temporarily stopping the Trump administration from separating children from their parents at the border and ordered that all families already separated be reunited within 30 days. " -- NYT.
This is much more important than the Travel Ban.
Danger, Will Robinson!
Rudy (Am I Still Relevant?) Giuliani stated that the deciding factor in the Trump Muslim Ban is danger.
Oooooh...why didn't you say so? In that case, can we ban the entire Trump administration? Can we ban NRA executives? Can we ban all the white supremacists who stump for Trump? Can we put a lifetime ban on the dangerous Fox and Friends assholes? And finally Rudy, we should be able to ban you too. And while we're at it, Mitch McConnell.
PD,
It could be that O'Connor meant that the Supremes of her generation weren't themselves overtly political. But that's extremely questionable. It also doesn't mean they weren't ideological. Look at William Rehnquist who sat as Chief Justice during O'Connor's tenure on the court. Rehnquist was a naked partisan. As a poll watcher in Arizona he challenged black and Hispanic voters. He went after non-whites with a vengeance. He refused to sell property to blacks or Jews. And O'Connor sided with him more than any other justice on that court. She also gave us The Decider as part of the group that voted to stop Florida's vote count and install Bush, by fiat, in the Oval Office. What a great decision that was.
Not political, my ass.
And you're right, Citizens United will also go down as one of the more shameful decisions of the Roberts court, along with upholding the Trump religious test, Roberts' very own Dred Scott decision.
Those old enough to remember Burdick and Lederer's "A Nation of Sheep" might recall the authors' indictment of American foreign policy in SE Asia, which put the ultimate blame on American citizens for their ignorance and apathy.
Didn't agree with all of it but liked the title, and ignorance and apathy still reign. Now, subsequent to the SCOTUS "Janus" decision I'm thinking about something along the lines of "A Nation of Scabs."
More on this later when I have time to think more about the implications (none of them good) of this horrendous decision: "Dred Scott for Workers" might be another appropriate title.
Doesn't look like the Pretender has to pack the Court. McConnell already did.
Yesterday I read a piece in the NYRB, a review of a couple of books that take a ground level look at the Nazis' takeover and its effect on average Germans.
The connection with what's going on now in America is chilling. The essential takeaway from these books is the understanding that it's not the dozen or so big names or the Glorious Leader himself who are most at fault, but the so called little people, the ones who cheer on the brutality and lies. "What matters are 'we anonymous others' who are not just 'pawns in the chess game,' because the 'most powerful dictators, ministers, and generals are powerless against the simultaneous mass decisions taken individually and almost unconsciously by the population at large.'"
But the inverse is also true, that powerful dictators can be empowered and emboldened by mass decisions of a population and the ministrations of the media that either look the other way or cheer on the savagery.
One of the writers, Milton Mayer, talked to a dozen or so Germans in 1951 who lived through the rise of fascism. He describes them as regular people, funny, friendly, even wise at times. But the fact that they all went along with the Nazis gave him something to think about.
"When Mayer returned home, he was afraid for his own country. He felt 'that it was not German Man that I had met, but Man,' and that under the right conditions, he could well have turned out as his German friends did. He learned that Nazism took over Germany not 'by subversion from within, but with a whoop and a holler.' Many Germans 'wanted it; they got it; and they liked it.'"
Not only that, many of "Mayer’s subjects 'did not know before 1933 that Nazism was evil. They did not know between 1933 and 1945 that it was evil. And they do not know it now.' Seven years after the war, they looked back on the period from 1933 to 1939 as the best time of their lives."
Plenty of Americans want Trump. They got him. They like him. Plenty of whooping and hollering at Trump Bund rallies. And I bet plenty believe they have finally achieved Nirvana, best time of their lives. Blacks and browns kicked to the curb, liberals and "nasty women" beaten down, the Supreme Court siding with them, belligerence and nationalism rampant. Guns everywhere.
Cass Sunstein, who wrote this review, also references an unfinished 1939 memoir by Sebastian Haffner (a pseudonym) called "Defying Hitler". In it he states that "...the collapse of freedom and the rule of law occurred in increments, some of which seemed to be relatively small and insignificant. In 1933, when Nazi officers stood menacingly outside Jewish shops, Jews were merely 'offended. Not worried or anxious. Just offended.' But Haffner insists that Hitler’s brutality and the ongoing politicization of everyday life were clear from the outset. In the early days of the regime, a self-styled republican advised him to avoid skeptical comments, which would be of no use: 'I think I know the fascists better than you. We republicans must howl with the wolves.'"
Today we have our own Republicans howling with the wolves. Just look at Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan baying away, tails wagging.
Sunstein points out that "...If the president of the United States is constantly lying, complaining that the independent press is responsible for fake news, calling for the withdrawal of licenses from television networks, publicly demanding jail sentences for political opponents, undermining the authority of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, magnifying social divisions, delegitimizing critics as 'crooked' or 'failing,' and even refusing, in violation of the law, to protect young children against the risks associated with lead paint—well, it’s not fascism, but the United States has not seen anything like it before."
Not fascism, yet. But the points not to be missed are that first, things start somewhere. They move ahead because a large enough sector of the population likes those changes, wants them. And gets them.
One other thing I've been noticing is the near total lack of pushback from the Right against Herr Trump. The few that do are leaving the scene either willfully or by force. Now he has the Supreme Court behind him. And up and coming Republican pols are outdoing themselves to prove who can be the most barbaric human being, the most like Trump, rather than pointing out the dangers of the descent into the Trump swamp. I'm not suggesting that we are on the verge of an American Nazi Party, but no one can, with any certainty say what we ARE on the verge of, except that it ain't good.
Sunstein concludes with a warning from James Madison. "Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks—no form of government can render us secure."
In other words, checks and balances ain't gonna save us.
All I can say to that is "What checks and balances?"
If there is a critical mass of barbarians desirous of the Trump Way, there will be no rescue without an even larger mass who come out to vote him and his kind out of office. But even that questionable possibility won't diminish the evil set in motion by the Right over the last 30 years.
And if that weren't enough.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/politics/anthony-kennedy-retire-supreme-court.html
To quote my daughter-in-law, "Well, fuck."
Would point out the obvious. Turkey and Russia have courts, too.
I had meant to comment on something the other day besides the horrors from the District, but events gushed past too quickly.
It was with great sadness that I heard from a friend over the weekend that Donald Hall had died. A former US Poet Laureate, his poems have been a semi-constant companion of mine for years, dog-eared collections never far from hand. A longtime New Hampshire resident, he wrote about the country, the land, stone walls, sheep, his grandfather's farm, the seasons...and baseball. He was once given an arts award by Barack Obama. Now that he's dead, Trump will probably try to claw it back.
I had a chance to meet him in a professional setting in the mid 90's. A lovely man with a wonderful way about him. He made you feel immediately as if you and he were longtime neighbors and he was just stopping by to see if you happened to catch that 1-4-3 double play last night on the TV (we were fans of the same team). Turning to poetry, he asked if I had a favorite. I told him it would have to be a short one, and so I launched into it. He finished it with me and we both laughed.
A great loss. I recently bought my little guy a copy of Hall's "The Ox-Cart Man" and have been hiding his "Lucy's Christmas" as a present for that holiday, but may break down and hand it over as the Solstice closes in.
Speaking of short poems, I'll give you my favorite short Donald.
The title is almost as long as the whole bloody thing.
A Poem Beginning With a Line of Wittgenstein
The world is everything that is the case.
Now stop blubbering and wash your face.
The line is from the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Humor was not Ludwig's strong suit, but I'm betting he'd have liked Hall's take on his work.
Thanks, Donald.
Are you a creep, an asshole, a sex offender, or the former president of a network that protected and coddled sex offenders?
Well, hey. You can get a job at the White House working for the Pussy Grabber in Chief!
Bill Shine, late of the Roger Ailes-Bill O'Reilly house of harassment horrors at Fox is in line to be Donaldo's communications director, replacing Hope Hicks.
Wonder if he'll be referring to Shine as a "piece of tail". Maybe Corey Lewandowski can start dating him.
Every piece of shit that comes on the market, this jerk hires.
Oh Jesus. Anthony Kennedy is retiring.
Nazi Germany, here we come.
A further thought on Kennedy.
Though any Pretender nominee scares the bejeezus out of me, I haven't forgotten that Kennedy has hardly served as a sterling defender of freedom.
Au contraire.
With the exception of gay rights cases he’s often gone to the dark side and place his heavy judicial hand of the side of corporations as he did in Citizen United and again today in Janus. And when it comes to voting rights, he doesn’t much seem to like them either, unless those voting are white.
And how long will it take to overturn Roe v. Wade?
NJC,
About a week. Well, maybe a year.
Obergefell is gone too. So is the rule of law. The next "justice" will be chosen by a proven scofflaw, a crooked schemer who believes that adherence to the rule of law is only for losers and Democrats. He, a superior being, is above such things, and he will appoint someone, like Gorsuch, who is flippantly dismissive of concepts such as Stare Decisis. But you know who else doesn't care about Stare Decisis?
Little Johnny.
This will be a test of John Roberts' bona fides as a jurist in good standing, a justice for whom the rule of law and carefully adjudicated precedence matters. Given his blithe brush-off of the central role of unions in this country, there is a clear signal that he doesn't give a half a shit about precedence if it does not absolutely guarantee the success of Confederate policies. Will he knuckle under, like a weasel, to the "Go-Along With Happy Fascism" strain currently becoming a tidal wave in American jurisimprudence given the raft of crooks, racists, and stunningly unqualified Confederates promoted to the federal bench by the little dictator, or will he stand up and be counted as someone not under the influence of hatred, racism, Un-Americanism, and anti-democratic forces?
My guess?
He won't.
Very much like Trump, he is a pretender (thanks, Ken) of the first order.
Or even worse, his pretense is that he was ever a believer in Constitutional Democracy in the first place.
There is not now, nor will there be in the next ten years or so, a swing vote on the Supreme Court.
And that is really fucking scary.
Sorry, ladies, it's back to coat hangers in dark alleys. I give Roe v Wade about a year. Maybe less. And African-Americans? Go vote this time. You may never get another chance.
Also, look for the little dictator to announce his latest future Nuremberg Trials defendant in days, and for traitor Mitch McConnell to race the nomination through in record time. No waiting for the November elections which might boot his fat turtle ass out of the leadership position and put a responsible person in his oily stead.
Here, by the way, is what the confirmation will look like under Trump and McConnell. Fox will cover the entire two minute process.
As you can see, it's not exactly the same as Garland's, which, um, was never allowed to take place, because treason.
For me, this link worked better for "The Onion"s suggestions for engaging in civil discourse.
https://www.theonion.com/[object%20Object]
Just wondering; does the new SCOTUS nominee have to swear fealty to Trump?