;)
The Commentariat -- June 29, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Mrs. McCrabbie: When Patrick wrote in today's Comments, "DiJiT thinks that when Putin says Western liberalism is kaput, he's talking about California democrats and cities," I thought Patrick was joking. He wasn't. Jonathan Chait provides the evidence. Even Mueller would convict. Trump's ignorance is breathtaking. (So is his incoherence, but that's SOP.) ...
... Rebekah Entralgo of ThinkProgress: "This was hardly Trump's only flub during the Saturday's news conference. He was asked by ABC News about an exchange between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in Thursday's Democratic presidential debate over busing.... Trump's made clear he thought the term 'busing' meant using a bus to commute to school. 'You know, there aren't that many ways you're going to get people to schools. So this is something that's been done. In some cases, it's been done with a hammer instead of a velvet glove. And, you know, that's part of it[....] But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.'"
LOLGOP in ElectraBlog: "Donald Trump is good at a lot of things, nearly all of them are terrible and nearly all of them exploit weaknesses in our system that have been intentionally exacerbated by America's right wing.... You don't get away with crimes like rape, tax fraud, or conspiring with foreign powers because you're lucky. You do it because you mastered the advantages you have.... The greatest advantage [the powers who made Trump possible] have is our belief is that it can't happen here. But Donald Trump already happened here and he knows he can get away with it." ...
... As Rose, who linked the LOLGOP post for us wrote at the end of yesterday's thread, "... I think the Democrats are falling into the trap described in the article of thinking that Trump is incompetent at what he does. Yes, he's stupid beyond bearing, mentally unstable in the extreme, narcissistic, sadistic and just plain evil, but -- and he doesn't need intelligence for this, just gut instinct -- he's gifted at grifting, a perfect example of the idiot savant in that regard. Whoever ultimately ends up facing off against him in the general election is going to have to take this into account if they hope to bring him down."
Kate Cronin-Furman in a New York Times op-ed: "What's happening at the border doesn't match the scale of [some infamous] horrors, but if, as appears to be the case, these harsh conditions have been intentionally inflicted on children as part a broader plan to deter others from migrating, then it meets the definition of a mass atrocity: a deliberate, systematic attack on civilians.... Many Americans have been asking each other 'But what can we DO?' The answer is that we call these abuses mass atrocities and use the tool kit this label offers us to fight them.... Children are suffering and dying. The fastest way to stop it is to make sure everyone who is responsible faces consequences." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This sounds like an urgent call to Congress to either investigate the atrocities from the ground up or quickly appoint a nonpartisan commission to hold open hearings.
Bari Weiss of the New York Times: "... the San Francisco school board's [unanimously decided] on Tuesday night to spend at least $600,000 of taxpayer money ... to destroy [a historical work of art].... Victor Arnautoff, the Russian immigrant who made the paintings in question, was perhaps the most important muralist in the Bay Area during the Depression.... His freshly banned work, 'Life of Washington,' does not show the clichéd image of our first president kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge. Instead, the 13-panel, 1,600-square-foot mural, which was painted in 1936 in the just-built George Washington High School, depicts his slaves picking cotton in the fields of Mount Vernon and a group of colonizers walking past the corpse of a Native American.... Arnautoff's purpose was to unsettle the viewer...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This supports my contention that school boards in general are gathering places for the stupidest people in the U.S. Thus, the San Francisco school board is being perfectly consistent with other boards when they prove they "just don't get" art, even when it is carefully explained to them. Now, can we please burn Picasso's "Guernica" & replace it with a painting of playful kittens?
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump Praises World's Tyrants at G-20
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as 'a friend of mine, despite concerns about the young leader among U.S. lawmakers and international officials. Trump and the crown prince held a working breakfast in Osaka, Japan, at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit. The president did not respond to shouted questions from reporters about whether he would confront the crown prince about the killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. Instead, he credited the crown prince for doing a 'spectacular job,' citing reforms that benefit women in the long-restrictive kingdom." ...
... Update. David Herszenhorn of Politico: "... Donald Trump enjoyed breakfast [in Osaka, Japan,] Friday with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, heaping praise on the Saudi ruler while ignoring evidence of his role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi..., including a conclusion by the Central Intelligence Agency, that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing. Appearing before their breakfast at the Imperial Hotel in Osaka, Trump and Prince Mohammed ignored at least two questions about Khashoggi's death.... 'It's an honor to be with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a friend of mine, a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of opening up Saudi Arabia,' Trump said. 'And I think especially what you've done for women. I'm seeing what's happening; it's like a revolution in a very positive way.' Trump continued, 'I want to just thank you on behalf of a lot of people, and I want to congratulate you. You've done, really, a spectacular job.'" ...
... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Barely a week ago, he was in theory a marked man, fingered by the United Nations as the probable mastermind behind one of the most grisly and sensational murders of recent years. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has been wandering around the world stage in Japan the last couple of days hobnobbing with presidents and prime ministers as if he were just another leader deliberating on economics and energy. No one is more important to Saudi efforts to rehabilitate their de facto ruler after the bone-saw killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi than President Trump, who joshed around with the crown prince during a summit photo session on Friday and hosted him for a personal breakfast on Saturday morning where he lavished praise on the prince as a reformer opening up his society." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's embrace of bin Salman, besides reflecting his admiration for brutal dictators & his greed for remuneration from the super-wealthy prince, also reflects his disdain for journalists. Just as he suggested to Vladimir Putin (see Baker & Crowley's NYT report, linked below) that murdering, shutting down & intimidating jounalists were good ways to solve the "problem" of "fake news," so he dismisses bin Salman's participation in the grisly murder of an American-based journalist.
Jordan Fabian & Saagar Enjeti of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday said he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea after the Group of 20 (G-20) summit that's taking place this weekend in Japan. 'After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!' Trump tweeted." ...
... AP: "... Donald Trump says he wants to inspect the heavily-fortified Korean demilitarized zone as an example of what a 'real border' looks like.... Says Trump: 'By the way, when you talk about a wall when you talk about a border, that's what they call a border. Nobody goes through that border.... That's called a real border.'" Mrs. McC: And you're called a real sadist. As the Hill story linked above describes the DMZ, "The region, a heavily guarded border dividing the North and South, is occupied by thousands of troops from both sides and is littered with land mines. Former President Clinton once called it 'the scariest place on earth.'"
Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared a 'cheers' as the pair gathered with other world leaders at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Japan. Trump and Putin were photographed sitting near each other at a G-20 dinner Friday night in Osaka with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seated between them.... Trump grabbed his glass and reached to clink it with Putin's cup, which appeared to be a plastic tumbler. Both then took a sip from their cups." ...
... Peter Baker & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "Like old friends reuniting, [Trump & Putin] warmly shook hands, smiled and chatted amiably. And then President Trump brushed off Russia's interference in American democracy with a joke as President Vladimir V. Putin chuckled.... Rather than challenge Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump treated it as a laughing matter..., [putting] put the issue back in the spotlight as House Democrats prepare to question Mr. Mueller on camera next month.... As reporters and photographers entered their meeting room..., the American president offered the sort of disdain for journalists sure to resonate with an authoritarian like Mr. Putin. 'Get rid of them,' Mr. Trump said. 'Fake news is a great term, isn't it? You don't have this problem in Russia, but we do.' 'We also have,' Mr. Putin insisted in English. 'It's the same.' In fact, Mr. Putin has made a hallmark of his nearly two decades in power a takeover of major news outlets. Russia's relatively few independent journalists often come under intense pressure and, in some cases, have even been killed. It fell to other leaders gathered in Osaka, Japan, for the annual Group of 20 summit meeting to volunteer the rebuttal to Mr. Putin's worldview that Mr. Trump did not." Baker & Crowley contrast Trump's effusive praise for Putin with the remarks & attitudes of world leaders Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, British PM Theresa May. ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Baker & Crowley repeatedly express the conventional wisdom that Trump's dismissal of Russian interference in 2016 is the result of Trump's discomfort with the implication that the Russians' aid tainted his 2016 victory. But I don't think that's the whole story, and I find it a much too kindly reading of Trump's motivations. As the reports above attest, Trump kisses up to plenty of murderous dictators who did nothing to help his election. Trump really likes Putin; he's "in love with" Kim Jong-un; at the G-20, he was jovial in the company of Mohammed bin Salman. He admires these monsters. He aspires to be one of them.
Gigi Sukin of Axios: "Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday that a thorough investigation into the 2016 presidential election would reveal that President Trump would not have won the presidency without the help of Russian interference, the Washington Post reports.... 'There's no doubt that Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016,' he said at a Carter Center conference in Virginia. He also indicated that he considers Trump to be an 'illegitimate president.'"
Presidential Race 2020
Julie Bosman & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "A day after a bruising primary debate in which Senator Kamala Harris laced into his history on civil rights, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. vigorously defended his record on Friday, saying that '30 seconds to 60 seconds on a campaign debate exchange can't do justice to a lifetime committed to civil rights.' Mr. Biden recited a litany of actions he had taken in his long career to promote equality, saying that 'I fought my heart out to ensure that civil rights and voting rights, equal rights are enforced everywhere.'... But his political and personal vulnerabilities as a 2020 candidate have never been more clear than they were on Thursday night...." ...
I did not oppose busing in America. -- Joe Biden, to Kamala Harris, in Thursday's debate ...
That's a big fucking whopper, Joe. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
... Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "Factoring prominently into the debate against busing [in 1975] ... was a young, liberal, 32-year-old Delaware senator by the name of Joe Biden. Asked in an interview at the time by NPR's David Ensor whether he would go so far as supporting a constitutional amendment to stop court-ordered busing, Biden was open to it. 'That would clearly do it,' he said, adding, 'I'm going to go at it through a constitutional amendment, if it can't be done through a piece of legislation.'" ...
Craig Silverman & Jane Lytvynenko of BuzzFeed News: "Not long after Sen. Kamala Harris challenged Joe Biden's record on race during part two of the first Democratic debate last night, a barrage of tweets questioned her race and US citizenship. While these claims erupted into national prominence last night, in part due to a quote-tweet from Donald Trump Jr., falsehoods about her have long been simmering in fringe conspiracy and neo-Nazi circles.... Harris was born in Oakland to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, and is eligible to run for president.... The sentiment that Harris is not an 'American Black' was also expressed in a viral tweet -- one that was briefly amplified by Trump Jr. (he later deleted his message)[.]... The smears against Harris have been percolating since long before she announced her campaign for president earlier this year." ...
... Katie Rogers & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, shared another person's tweet with his millions of followers during the Democratic debate on Thursday that falsely claimed Senator Kamala Harris was not black enough to be discussing the plight of black Americans. 'Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves,' Ali Alexander, a member of a right-wing constellation of media personalities, wrote on Twitter. 'She's not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That's fine. She's not an American Black. Period.' Mr. Trump, a valuable Republican surrogate as his father faces a bruising 2020 race, posted the tweet of unverified information, then asked his more than three million followers: 'Is this true? Wow.' By the end of the night, Mr. Trump had deleted his message, and by Friday, a spokesman said it had all been a misunderstanding.... Because his tweet was elevated by valuable surrogates like the president's son, Mr. Alexander has become part of a loose network of accounts weaponized by the Trump campaign as part of its effort to discredit candidates."
Frank Rich: "We're down from 20 [candidates] to either seven (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, Castro, and Klobuchar) or nine, if you hold out hope that the mellifluous but glib bros Booker and Beto will start putting at least as much effort into bold policy positions as they have into their pandering effusions of gringo Spanish.... By linking Biden's praise of James Eastland and Herman Talmadge to his opposition to busing, [Harris] revealed that Biden still doesn't understand that he didn't only benefit from these bigots' supposed 'civility'..., but actively enabled at least one plank of their arch-segregationist political strategy. He has chosen not to apologize for that failure. And last night, he paid a huge price by digging himself in further. His invocation in 2019 of states' rights to argue against busing ... sounds like something that would pop out of the mouth of Rand Paul, not a Democratic front-runner." Read on.
Michelle Goldberg: "We've now had two Democratic debates in which women dominated.... The question now is whether these victories can convince battle-scarred Democratic women to believe once again that a woman can beat Donald Trump. There's a bleak paradox here.... But the more you think that misogyny undermined Clinton, the less inclined you might be to support another female challenger.... This week should give us confidence that a woman can lead the fight against this grotesque president. Surely it's not riskier to back the women who won the debates than the men who lost them."
Ezra Klein of Vox: Kamala "Harris walked into the debates an unknown quantity. She walked out the winner. Given the number of Democratic factions that could plausibly unite behind Harris's banner, that's no small thing. It's a rare debate that truly shakes up the primary, but I suspect this one did."
Ledyard King of USA Today: "Author Marianne Williamson's quirky, love-conquers-all approach on the Democratic debate stage Thursday drew applause, ridicule and confusion. On Friday, she was attracting donations. From Republicans. GOP strategist Jeff Roe, who ran Texas Sen. Ted Cruz' 2016 presidential campaign, tweeted out to his 16,000 followers asking fellow Republicans "to donate $1 to keep this vibrant democrat on the debate stage. One debate performance is not enough."
David Brooks is very upset that Democrats won't give him a mealy-mouthed candidate he can vote for against Trump. Mrs. McC: Brooks is one of the slimiest, sneakiest columnists in the history of the New York Times op-ed page. This is his attempt to undermine the Democratic party by promising he will vote for a boring, uninspiring moderate if only Democrats will nominate one. Just so you'll know, Brooks is lying. Should Democratic voters follow his advice, he just won't be able to find enough to like about their dull nominee, and he'll use every column right up to November telling readers why.
A Ratings Blockbuster. Brian Stelter of CNN: "Thursday night's Democratic debate featuring Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and eight other candidates was the highest-rated Democratic match-up in Nielsen ratings history. About 18.1 million viewers tuned in for the debate across three TV channels -- NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo — according to Nielsen ... data."
Salute to America Trump & Friends. Elly Yu of the DCist: "... Donald Trump's 'Salute to America' on July 4 will include a ticketed area for VIPs around the Lincoln Memorial, officials announced Friday.... The ticketed area will be 'immediately around the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and about midway down through the Reflecting Pool,' said Matt Miller with the U.S. Secret Service.... A spokesperson for the White House said there will be a 'portion' that is ticketed for special guests, friends, and family, and the rest will be open to the general public."
Mehdi Hasan of The Intercept: "[New White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham fits right into this kakistocratic administration. Her cavalier disregard for the truth is matched by her equally cavalier disregard for the law. In September 2018, Grisham was reprimanded by the Office of Special Counsel for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits White House employees from engaging in party-political activities. Rather than fire her, Trump decided to promote her. And why wouldn't he? There don't seem to be any consequences for Trump advisers who tell lies or break the law." --s
Maybe you were wondering how Trump officials would respond to the heartbreaking photo of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria lying dead on the banks of the Rio Grande. Turns out (okay, not surprisingly,) Ken Cuccinelli, Trump's new (acting) director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services doesn't have a heart to break: "... the reason we have tragedies like that on the border is because that father didn't wait to go through the asylum process in the legal fashion and decided to cross the river and not only died but his daughter died tragically as well." Mrs. McC: According to CBS News, "Martinez' family said he spent weeks trying to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Mexico, but couldn't get anyone to talk to him. His father said he was there about two or three months." So not only is Cuccinelli a heartless SOB, he's a lying, heartless SOB if the Martinez story is true. (Also linked yesterday.)
Former Trump Campaign Chairman Gets a Perp Walk. Erica Orden of CNN: "Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Thursday in New York state's Supreme Court to state fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the third criminal case he has faced in recent years and one that may trigger a battle on double jeopardy grounds."
Debbie Nathan of The Intercept: "A Trump administration program [known as the Migrant Protection Protocols] that banishes asylum-seekers to perilous Mexican border cities could expand exponentially -- and disastrously -- with a new plan to hold mass video proceedings in tents along the border.... So far, the MPP has sent immigrants to Mexico but returned them for hearings in traditional brick-and-mortar courtrooms, where immigration judges almost always sit a few feet from the migrants and their lawyers, and journalists and representatives from immigrant advocacy groups observe from benches in the spectator section. But the new plan is to erect giant tents, each one subdivided into several courts, and each court containing migrants but no judges, reporters, or observers." --s
Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "The House of Representatives passed the Securing America's Federal Elections Act (SAFE Act) on Thursday, on a 225 to 184 vote. While the bill's provisions to ensure a paper trail for American's ballots, give accessibility and privacy for citizens with disabilities, and avoid foreign rigging would seem fairly non-controversial, just one Republican voted for the bill.... Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan and has made advocacy for wounded veterans a priority, joined the Democratic majority in supporting the bill.... 183 other Republican colleagues, voted no." --s
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House Ethics Committee announced Friday that it is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for a February tweet in which he threatened to release embarrassing personal information about ... Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen. The panel revealed in a statement that it has opened a formal inquiry into Gaetz's comment based on a March 13 complaint from a fellow lawmaker, who is not identified. According to the panel, Gaetz blew off an initial review of the complaint on May 16, an extraordinary rebuke to his colleagues. That refusal to cooperate led the committee to launch a more formal inquiry, led by a subcommittee of two Democrats and two Republicans. Gaetz, in a text, said he intends to blow off that panel too. 'If members of Congress want to spend their time psychoanalyzing my tweets, it's certainly their prerogative,' he wrote. 'I won't be joining them in the endeavor. Too busy.'... Gaetz's initial attack on Cohen came a day before the former Trump confidant was slated to testify to the House Oversight Committee...."
Adam Liptak & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may shut down a program that shields some 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation, the court said on Friday. The court will hear arguments in the case during its next term, which starts in October, and will probably issue its decision in the spring or summer of 2020, ensuring a fierce immigration debate over the outcome in the midst of the presidential campaign." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a case on an Alabama law that outlawed a common form of abortion, allowing lower court orders blocking the law to remain in place.Alabama had sought to overturn lower court rulings that struck down the ban on the abortion procedure, but the justices rejected that bid in their order." (Also linked yesterday.)
Dahlia Lithwick & Mark Stern of Slate: "As [Chief Justice John] Roberts' first term as the court's decisive vote in major political cases has drawn to a close, he has centered that gravity around upholding the legitimacy of the court as an institution -- while pushing our nation's laws as far to the right as possible without cracking the façade of that institutional integrity. In an age of crudeness and ugliness, the Last Reasonable Man still values moral seriousness over scoring points or throwing tantrums, much to the chagrin of the enemies on his own side.... If Republicans learn the lesson of the 2018 term, it's that the chief justice is on their side, until and unless they do it ugly. He has limits, which is more than one can say for most of the GOP." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the teeny upside of elitism. Roberts wants to be thought of & remembered as a proper gentleman, someone who is endeavoring to put his middle-class past behind him & demonstrate his inherent fitness for power & his worthiness for respect. He must well understand Joe Biden's admiration for the "civility" of those segregationist senators who called Biden "son" instead of "boy" even as they collaborated to curb the rights of black Americans. ...
... Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: "Chief Justice John Roberts would like the Trump administration to stop leaving a paper trail. Conservatives were outraged Thursday when Roberts joined the Court's Democratic appointees in at least temporarily blocking the addition of a citizenship question to the U.S. census because the Commerce Department had plainly lied about the purpose of that change.... Roberts did not argue that a citizenship question was unconstitutional, merely that the administration had violated administrative law by misleading the public about its decision.... The chief justice clearly wanted to side with the Trump administration, writing that 'we do not hold that the agency decision here was substantively invalid,' but that the law 'calls for an explanation for agency action' rather than the false explanation provided.... The Trump administration's dishonesty and even its bigotry are no barrier to its success at the Supreme Court, even when it demands that the Court endorse blatant discrimination and disenfranchisement. All that Roberts asks is that they lie about it more convincingly. His conservative colleagues don't even need that much."
Kartikay Mehrotra of Bloomberg: "... Donald Trump was ready to break ground Monday morning on his long-promised Mexico border wall. But a court ruling late Friday dealt the president another setback. A federal judge who last month blocked a pair of construction projects in Arizona and New Mexico added four more sites in Arizona and California. And the Oakland, California-based judge turned his temporary injunction into a permanent one. Trump promised to appeal the ruling immediately.... 'We'll appeal it right away,' he said at a news conference following the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday. 'It's very unfair. We're building a lot of wall. But we had a ruling just yesterday, late, from a judge in the 9th Circuit. There's no reason that that should have happened.'... [Judge Haywood] Gilliam agreed with the Sierra Club that Trump overstepped his authority by reprogramming federal funds without approval from Congress." thanks to Ken W. for the lead.
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Gary Fineout of Politico: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday quietly signed into law a sweeping elections overhaul that restricts the voting rights of former felons, a measure civil rights groups have already prepared to challenge in court.... The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, along with the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, are expected to file a federal lawsuit in Gainesville that will challenge the new law as unconstitutional and fo targeting African Americans.... The measure crafted by [Republican state] legislators requires offenders to pay all restitution owed to victims, as well as fees or fines imposed by the court, to be eligible to vote.... Critics have likened the measure's requirement that fines and fees be paid to a modern-day poll tax, which was still in place in several Southern states into the 1960s."
North Carolina. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is currently exploring a bid for governor in 2020, delivered a sermon on Sunday denouncing America's diversity and multiculturalism and calling for Christian assimilation.... Forest issued a stern warning that diversity was destroying America.... Anti-multiculturalism rhetoric is popular among the growing white nationalist wing of the Republican Party. " --s
Way Beyond
Germany. Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "A group of German rightwing extremists [known as Nordkreuz compiled a 'death list' of leftwing and pro-refugee targets by accessing police records, then stockpiled weapons and ordered [200] body bags and quicklime to kill and dispose of their victims, German media have reported, citing intelligence sources.... The 30-odd members of the group reportedly had close links to the police and military, and at least one member was still employed in the special commando unit of the state office of criminal investigations." --s
Guatemala -- Where the Coyotes Wear Clerical Collars. Sarah Kinosian of the Guardian: "Guatemala is one of the biggest sources of migrants to the US, and across the highlands of this poor Central American country, churches and clergymen also play a role in the booming business of people-smuggling. As trusted individuals in a deeply religious society, pastors and priests can offer comfort and a promise of safety to those undertaking the dangerous trek north. They also take a cut of the profits.... 'The church is an invisible actor in migration,' said Francisco Simón, a researcher on migration and smuggling at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala.... Evangelical leaders were more frequently involved in migration than Catholic priests, Simón found." --s
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Reader Comments (10)
Another finger in the Pretender's eye from one of those "Obama" judges.
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/28/737236244/federal-judge-rules-against-border-wall-construction-with-military-funds
I would think if asked in a debate ––actually the last question asked by the panelists––"what is the first thing you would do on the first day in office" and a candidate replies : "Defeat Donald Trump" that reply would cause twitters, not loud claps. Biden smiled as he said this thinking it was apparently a great closing line.
This one got my dander up.
Let’s call it:
When Lefties suffer from myopia so advanced they draw bead on the Left they’d like to forget.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/sunday/san-francisco-life-of-washington-murals.html
My comment:
Just retured to my own Left Coast state from a trip to SF.
Loved the fog, the food, the hills and the history. That my wife was raised there and again this last week shared memories of what SF was like when she was a girl in the 1950's and how the area in which she was raised has changed since the days when the Presideo was walled off, not open to the public as it is today, only added to the pleasure of our visit.
Now that beautiful stretch of land and beach is open to both visitors and to the thousands who live, work and recreate there every day. We consider that change progress, emblematic of SF's generous spirit.
That change meant a great deal to us. It is the kind of change we all should applaud. It's an opening, an invitation, a sign of acceptance to all fortunate enough to live or visit there.
But this? A closure. another wall erected by those who would deny history.
There's more than enough off the game of let's pretend going on in this country. The Left doesn’t have to play it, too.
That a school anywhere would participate in the effort to erase the real gritty, often uncomfortable history of our republic that both our students and our older selves can and should learn from is beyond embarrassing.
It’s another scene in our ongoing national tragedy.
Who will paint a mural of that?
In this time, when justice is challenged by power married to money and bigotry, we are in need of a champion prosecutor who will defend the interests of the oppressed and forgotten. Harris' prosecutorial skill and focused, righteous passion to expose these injustices seems to fit the need. She is in a sweet spot now. But I wonder whether she can govern a collection of rivals and forge a consensus for lasting policy changes out of the current dysfunctional congress - or whether we/she will continue with ping-pong policy by executive order as usual. Does she have the political resources to form an effective cabinet? Prosecutors don't make the best friends. Can she reason with rural and rust belt Americans on economic issues?
I suspect that in future debates her role as outspoken prosecutor for victims of rape and sexual discrimination could be questioned in light of her silence on the catholic clergy racketeering charges, brought by the survivors of clergy sex abuse, when she was California AG. I will be very interested in that explanation.
Ah, gee, just when we thought we had wiped our hands of David Brooks, up he pops again. OF course I had to read his column and then read some of the comments and quite a few remind Brooks that yeah, they really liked their healthcare until they got really sick and then found that they would not be covered completely or in some cases not at all and were in debt for thousands. David, now in Aspen, retains some of that mountain high back in the real world. I tend to forgive him because he tries so hard to be something other than he really is.
As far as Medicare for all policy: Most of us on Medicare have to get a supplement because Medicare does not pay for everything and that everything can amount to a whole lot. So you would still have to have private insurers in this scenario, yes?
OUR MAN A–BROAD
It's one thing for Fatty to fool around with Putin–-we actually expect that–-but his adoration for MBS is pathetic! It is said among US policy makers and intelligent analysts that no country is more opaque except for North Korea ( and here we have another love fest although I reckon it's strictly one sided). After Trump went to Riyadh.––his first trip abroad–- we read pieces like Tom Friedmans' who lavished praise calling it the most significant reform process that is under way in the Middle East...blah, blah. He praised MBS as did Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos at a dinner party hosted by none other than that old foxy friend, Rupert Murdoch entertained by Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman before having an audience with Oprah.
But the sheen faded quickly as it became clear this Prince's notion of of reform owed less to to Western norms than to Xi Jinping's policy for pushing for economic growth without permitting the expansion of political freedom. And––by gum, any reforms must be granted by the crown (no wonder Fatty loves the Prince) not elicited , let alone demanded, by his subjects. Ask the women if they feel liberated––they'll look at you and say "what's that?" Suffice to say there ain't no great changes in this country of oil and turmoil. But Fatty finds it otherwise and once again praises the Prince and kisses his feet. What should be concerning here is this administration has embraced the Saudi hard line against Iran. What should be concerning also is Trump's neglect of holding MBS responsible for Khashoggi's death.
And so it goes~~~~~~~~~
Regarding the current vogue for anti-multiculturalism among the droolers, racists, and haters on the right (not anew thing, actually, this sort of thing has been around for decades on the right, probably longer), I would like to point to some seminal moments in American history (I know, I know. They only like history they’ve rewritten.) as examples of the stupidity of such thinking.
When the Mayflower landed at Plymouth in 1620, the event often pointed to as “proof” that this is a Christian nation which should abide no other religions or groups other than European whites, I would like to point out that every single one of those separatists who journeyed here would have been dead and gone had it not been for the kindness and humanity of the Wampanoags (even though their number had recently been sharply depleted by epidemics started by diseases visited upon them and other native tribes by Europeans). So, in fact, there would not have been any Plimoth Plantation, no City on the Hill, and no “Christian nation” had the Wampanoags maintained that same sort of mindset that the current beneficiaries of their largesse and decency now exhibit.
Fast forward to 1943. The Manhattan Project, which brought an end to WWII and arguably saved tens of thousands of US lives, would have been unthinkable without the brains and ingenuity of a group of émigré scientists from Europe, the vast majority of whom were very decidedly not Christian. Thousands of years ago the Roman Empire understood the value of immigrants from other places, backgrounds, and cultures as forces for rejuvenation of the state. That little enterprise lasted quite a long time. Until conservatives and greedy rich assholes decided differently.
But history, schmistory. Right wingers always know best. That’s why we now have an ignorant, greedy rapist in the Oval Office.
This funny. DiJiT thinks that when Putin says Western liberalism is kaput, he's talking about California democrats and cities.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/trump-thinks-western-style-liberalism-is-about-california.html
When our hosts took us to the DMZ between North and South Korea several years ago, they explained that it has become a wildlife refuge, because humans don't go into it, except in a few specific places. It's a 2+ mile wide swath across the peninsula. Lots of heavily armed people on each side, but nobody inside.
I've gone through several drafts listing why the DMZ is completely different from the situation at the US-Mexico border, but of course facts don't matter to trump. We cannot get rid of this imbecile and his corrupt administration fast enough.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This supports my contention that school boards in general are gathering places for the stupidest people in the U.S.
I've always considered school board elections stepping stones for up and coming future stupid politicians.
"First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made school boards." --Mark Twain