;)
The Commentariat -- June 6, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Burgess Everett of Politico: "... Donald Trump called Bob Corker on Wednesday morning to try to dissuade the GOP senator from filing an amendment that would allow Congress to block his steel and aluminum tariffs on U.S. allies.... The Tennessee senator is unbowed and plans to introduce his amendment to a defense policy bill on Wednesday afternoon with a bipartisan group of senators. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is also planning to lead a delegation of Republican senators to the White House to express their disapproval of the president's new tariffs, according to senators and aides.... Corker may not even be able to get a vote on his proposal. Senators are already at loggerheads over amending the defense bill, and Corker acknowledged that his amendment has a lot to do with it. The Senate has not held an amendment vote on the floor since March."
Sarah Fitzpatrick & Tracy Connor of NBC News: "Stormy Daniels says in a new lawsuit that her former attorney betrayed her and became a 'puppet' for ... Donald Trump and his personal lawyer while still representing her. The filing Wednesday alleges that Trump attorney Michael Cohen 'hatched a plan' and 'colluded' with the adult film actress' lawyer, Keith Davidson, to get her to go on Fox News in January and falsely deny she had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago. Cohen even referred to Davidson as 'pal' in one text cited in the complaint. The lawsuit against Davidson and Cohen also claims that Trump was aware the two attorneys were communicating and coordinating for his benefit -- unbeknownst to Daniels.... 'Mr. Davidson abdicated his role as an advocate and fiduciary of his client Ms. Clifford and instead elected to be a puppet for Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump in order to advance their interests at the expense of Ms. Clifford,' the suit says."
Gossip Page. Adam Edelman & Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "First lady Melania Trump made her first public appearance in nearly a month on Wednesday, tamping down rumors about her noticeable absence from the public eye after she underwent a kidney procedure. The first lady sat next to ... Donald Trump at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a 2018 hurricane season briefing with the vice president and several cabinet officials also in attendance."
Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump has signed a commutation for Alice Johnson, currently serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense, according to a source with direct knowledge. CNN reported earlier today that the White House had prepped the paperwork for a pardon for Johnson while The Washington Post reported last night that he had been considering doing so.... Johnson's cause was championed last week at the White House by Kim Kardashian West.... Per a source familiar, White House counsel Don McGahn is skeptical of the merits of pardoning Johnson."
Louis Nelson of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's office is 'trying very, very hard to frame' ... Donald Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at a conference Wednesday in Israel. Giuliani said Mueller's team, tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations that the Trump campaign colluded in those efforts, is composed of '13 highly partisan Democrats ... (who) are trying very, very hard to frame him to get him in trouble when he hasn't done anything wrong.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a shocking lie to tell anywhere, much less while visiting an ally with whom we share intelligence. It's also probably pretty effective: if you're having trouble defending your vote for Trump because he's such a corrupt fuck-up, it really helps if you "find out" that the DOJ & the FBI are "trying to frame" Trump, so you can ignore every charge the Mueller team may assert.
Elie Mystal of Above the Law: "I'm not going to pretend I know the answer to the question: Can the President pardon himself?... Every speck of digital ink spilled contemplating the scope President's pardon power without talking about impeachment is a waste. This is not 'Philosophy of Laws: 101.' Instead, open your book 'So you've elected a despot' to chapter 1, page 1. It says right there: 'Does your system allow for the impeachment of said despot, and peaceful removal from power?' If YES, then you can stop reading. Impeachment or the 25th Amendment are the only Constitutional ways to remove a sitting president from power. That's the full list of despotic remedies.... It doesn't MATTER if he pardons himself. If Congress won't act, he can do ANYTHING HE WANTS.... The only relevant legal question is: what happens after Trump leaves office? Will he be arrested, like, the day a new president is sworn in? If so, will a preemptive self-pardon carry sway with whatever legal authorities are arrayed against former-President Trump? I don't know the answer to that question either, but at least it's one worth asking." --safari
Brooke Seipel of The Hill: "The World Bank is warning that trade tensions between the United States and other countries could trigger a financial crisis equivalent to the decline seen in 2008. In its Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank warns that tariff increases would have 'severe consequences' for global trade and could cause a decline similar to that seen in 2008, or worse if tariffs are increased beyond the maximum level allowed by the; World Trade Organization." --safari
Simon Tisdall of the Guardian: "China's expanding efforts to impose its will on neighbours through diplomatic, commercial and military pressure -- the so-called Xi doctrine -- have drawn the sharpest riposte to date from the Trump administration with Taiwan once again the main flashpoint in a sea of accelerating Sino-American rivalry.... China has accelerated efforts to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, using its economic clout to pressure countries and international institutions into breaking off ties ... including the deployment of its own aircraft carrier in the strait.... The US response is being closely watched for signs of weakness by America's other allies in the region, who are also feeling the squeeze.... Dangerous US-China flashpoint issues appear to be multiplying fast." --safari
Extra-Special Rich-White-Boy Sentence Leads to Recall. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Aaron Persky, the California judge who drew national attention in 2016 when he sentenced a Stanford student to just six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, was recalled on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. He is the first judge recalled in California in more than 80 years. Judge Persky, 56, had served on the Santa Clara County Superior Court since 2003, and he began his most recent six-year term in June 2016.... The judge said he thought [Brock] Turner [-- the assailant --] would 'not be a danger to others' and expressed concern that 'a prison sentence would have a severe impact' on him. He did not mention the impact of the assault on the victim, known publicly only as Emily Doe, who described her suffering in a more than 7,000-word statement that went viral soon after it was published by BuzzFeed."
Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton's book tour for his first novel keeps getting interrupted by a familiar character from his past: Monica Lewinsky. After Mr. Clinton reacted defensively on the 'Today' show on Monday when asked about Ms. Lewinsky..., he tried to walk back the tenor of his remarks, if not fully the substance, on Tuesday. 'When something that was that painful is thrown up again after 20 years after it was fully litigated, you tend to freeze up -- and it wasn't my finest hour,' Mr. Clinton said at a TimesTalk event in Manhattan."
*****
... Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "... one of the most crucial bits of [American] technology [during World War II], the one that helped the Allies launch the surprise attack on Normandy, was the hull of a boat -- the Higgins boat ... the one that carried troops right onto Normandy's beach. It was built by a wily, hard-drinking inventor named Andrew Higgins, the man Dwight D. Eisenhower once credited with winning World War II. 'It is Higgins himself who takes your breath away,' Raymond Moley, a former FDR adviser, wrote in Newsweek in 1943. 'Higgins is an authentic master builder, with the kind of will power, brains, drive and daring that characterized the American empire builders of an earlier generation.'... They were 'tunnel stern boats,' whose magic was in the way the 'hull incorporated a recessed tunnel used to protect the propeller from grounding'...." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: To appreciate the Trump administration's "remembrance" of D-Day, find Heather Nauert on this page.
Primary Results
New Jersey. Sen. Robert Menendez (D) has survived a challenge from Lisa McCormick. Bob Hugin won the Republican Senate primary. Other results here.
Jonathan Salant of NJ.com: "New Jersey Democrats' fight to help the party win the House in the midterm referendum on ... Donald Trump kicked into high gear Tuesday as high-profile candidates won primaries. Candidates touted by national party leaders defeated insurgent challengers in three districts deemed crucial to the party's chances of taking back the House. State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Tom Malinowski and former federal prosecutor and Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill all won their primary contests, according to the Associated Press.
Alabama. Gov. Kay Ivey won the Republican primary; her Democratic challenger will be Walt Maddox. Other results here. Al.com columnist John Archibald assesses the state of the state races.
Mississippi. Incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker (R) won the GOP primary. Democratic challengers Howard Sherman & David Baria advance to a run-off. Anna Wolfe of the Clarion-Ledger reports. The New York Times lists other results.
Iowa. Democrat Fred Hubbell will challenge Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who ran uncontested. The Des Moines Register has links to full results & related stories here.
Jason Clayworth of the Des Moines Register: "Multiple Iowa voter turnout records were announced as bested Tuesday even before polls had closed. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate reported at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday that 50,610 absentee ballots had been received, surpassing the previous stat primary election record of 44,740 in 2014."
South Dakota. Kristi Noem won the GOP primary for governor. Billie Sullivan (uncontested) is the Democratic nominee. In South Dakota's House at-large district, Dusty Johnson won the GOP primary & Tim Bjorkman (uncontested) will face Johnson in November.
Montana. Sen. Jon Tester (D) will face Republican Matt Rosendale in November. At 1:40 am ET, the Democratic challenger to horrible Greg Gianforte (R) had not been decided.
New Mexico. Both Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) & his challenger Mick Rich ran uncontested in the primaries. Michelle Grisham won the Democratic primary for governor; Steve Pearce ran uncontested for the GOP candidacy. The NYT has other results here.
California. The New York Times has results here.
Phil Willon & Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times have live updates here. "John Cox, a multimillionaire Republican hitched to the far-right policies of President Trump, won the second spot in California's primary for governor Tuesday night, and will face Democrat Gavin Newsom in the November general election. The results mark a stunning defeat for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, representing the fall of a politician who embodied the growing power of the Latino electorate when he was elected mayor in 2005."
L.A. Times reporters are doing live analysis here. The most recent update, at 1:30 am PT: "Democrats in California appeared poised Tuesday night to avoid getting shut out of key congressional races for the November election, the most pressing risk they faced as they seek to retake control of the House. With most precincts reporting, Democrats seemed to have captured second place in the contests where the threat was most acute. The party's wide, boisterous field of candidates could have locked them out of multiple races because of the state's unique primary, which advances the two candidates with the most votes regardless of party."
Adam Nagourney & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "The California results were muddled in the most-watched races here: Seven congressional districts that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016 and are now held by Republicans. Democrats are aiming to capture those seats in November, a linchpin of their strategy to take back control of the House. But many of the districts had crowded primaries and votes were still being counted late Tuesday night.... Among the seven highly competitive House races in California, Democrats were battling in at least three of those contests to avoid getting shut out from the November ballot under the state's 'top two' election system.... The races appear to be close, and provisional ballots and votes sent by mail could be critical and take days to count.... California's unusual open-primary system has become a difficult obstacle for Democrats, as a horde of candidates on the left have divided up Democratic votes and threatened to let Republicans monopolize the general election."
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "'The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn't tell me he was going to recuse himself,' Mr. Trump [tweeted Tuesday morning.] 'I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and mone wasted, so many lives ruined ... and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion!'... What made this tweet so striking was that it encapsulated the essential contradictions of Mr. Trump's arguments. In fewer than 280 characters, he acknowledged perhaps as explicitly as he ever has that the reason he is mad at Mr. Sessions is that the attorney general did not shut down the investigation into Mr. Trump's campaign. To critics, that is all but an admission of obstruction of justice, or at least the desire to obstruct justice.... The implication of his [many] attacks has been that he wanted a loyalist in charge of the Justice Department. But Tuesday's tweet went further by making clear that he was counting on Mr. Sessions not just to run a fair investigation but to halt it altogether."
** Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "In a series of exclusive interviews, former Fox News Channel chief political correspondent Carl Cameron explained to ThinkProgress how the Russians coordinated their cyber-attack on the 2016 election with the Trump campaign. 'Trump confidant Roger Stone's success was having the connections and creating the opportunities for [Russian intelligence officer] Guccifer2.0 and other Russian groups to really start taking advantage of social media'... Cameron explained.... In 2016 ... Stone helped Guccifer2.0 -- who worked for Russian intelligence -- and other Russian-backed groups boost an anti-Clinton narrative online targeted at key groups. Stone direct-messaged with Guccifer2.0 on Twitter and WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange in August 2016.... The President, Roger Stone, and other campaign officials have put a lot of effort into lying about their meetings and contact with Russians linked directly to the Kremlin and its cyber attack on the United States. But they put even more effort into coordinating their message with the Russians." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
David Corn of Mother Jones: "The other evening I was on a cable news show to cover the latest Russia news of the day -- and I had an epiphany.... Though it's clear Trump's presidency has been hobbled by the Russia scandal, the manner in which this matter plays out in the media has helped Trump.... The evidence [against Trump] is rock-solid: They committed a profound act of betrayal.... But how often do you hear or see this fundamental point being made?.... It is hard to hold on to all these pieces and place them into one big picture.... The problem is there is no organized force with as loud a bullhorn countering his disinformation in fundamental terms.... When it comes to framing the overarching story, Trump practically has a monopoly.... All this shows how easy it is for disinformation and demagoguery to distort reality. That is a tragedy for the United States. For Trump -- and Putin -- that is victory." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
Spencer Hsu & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "... Paul Manafort plans to fight prosecutors' claims that he tried to tamper with a witness -- an accusation that could get him sent to jail before he goes on trial this summer on conspiracy and money laundering charges. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia set a June 15 hearing to weigh prosecutors' demand that she revoke or tighten the terms of Manafort's release while he is pending trial. Manafort, 69, has been on home detention. The judge gave Manafort's lawyers until Friday to present a written rebuttal to accusations by prosecutors that he and a longtime associate repeatedly contacted two executives at a public relations firm in hopes of persuading them to provide false testimony about secret lobbying they did at Manafort's behest in 2013.... Sending Manafort to jail before trial could intensify the pressure on him to reach a plea deal with prosecutors."
Pot Calls Kettle Black. The Latest Trumpertantrum. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump doubled down on his war with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, hosting a short celebration without the team as his spokeswoman accused the Super Bowl champions of turning their White House invitation into 'a political stunt.'... 'We love our country, we respect our flag and we always proudly stand for the national anthem,' Mr. Trump said.... The message from the president was clear: a denunciation of football players who knelt during the anthem or have said they would stay in the locker room when it is played -- even though none of the Eagles players did either of those things during their winning season. In tweets earlier, Mr. Trump also made his meaning crystal clear, saying, 'NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!' And moments before the 10-minute celebration, Sarah Huckabee Sanders ... unloaded on the Eagles, flatly accusing them of engaging in what she repeatedly called 'a political stunt' by declining to attend the White House celebration at the last minute.... In a [prior] statement, Mr. Trump abruptly disinvited the Eagles, accusing them of trying to make a political statement about the anthem." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: How many groups and individuals does Trump have to alienate before his dimwitted cult followers notice he's a nasty SOB with no redeeming qualities? ...
... David Nakamura & Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "Trump's decision to carry on with a 'Celebration of America,' complete with a Marine Corps band in dress uniforms and miniature American flags -- after abruptly canceling a traditional visit from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles -- drew intense backlash from high-profile professional athletes [like LeBron James].... The event marked another discordant moment in the tide of cultural disputes stoked by Trump, who has fanned controversies on issues including immigration, a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville and last week's flare-up over a racist tweet from comedian Roseanne Barr. Rather than seek to defuse tensions, Trump again sought to magnify them -- turning what has traditionally been an apolitical White House feting of a sports team into another divisive spectacle.... Over the years, some players have chosen to skip the events, sometimes for political reasons. But past presidents have typically not reacted to the no-shows. That has changed in the Trump era. Last fall, after Warriors guard Stephen Curry said he did not want to attend his team's White House visit, Trump canceled the event.... Trump also used his speech to pay tribute to himself, touting low unemployment rates and asserting that the United States 'has never done better than it's doing right now. Never. We have record numbers at every outpost.'" ...
... Annie Karni & Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "Last week, the Eagles submitted 81 names of players who were planning to visit the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The team was 'full steam ahead,' another administration official said, for an event that had been in the works since February. But on Monday, the White House was informed that the delegation had been reduced to just two or three players, the owner, and the team's beloved mascot, Swoop. 'We feel like they wanted to publicly humiliate the White House and the president,' the official said." Mrs. McC: Hmm, wonder if that's because Trump has knocked himself out trying to "publicly humiliate" NFL players demonstrating for justice for all Americans. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Even by the standards of a hastily devised event, it was a shambolic display. If the plan was to prove that Eagles fans would side with Trump over the Eagles, there is very little evidence it worked.... I have seen Philadelphia Eagles fans. [The people who showed up at the White House 'fan' event] do not look like Philadelphia Eagles fans.... They look like Republican staffers and lobbyists who were hastily summoned to the White House to fill out the audience. Trump attempted to sing along to 'God Bless America,' but managed to get just two lines in before he obviously no longer knew the words." With illustrations. Chait has a nice riff on Sarah Sanders' confused misunderstanding of "free speech," the national anthem &, oh, American values. ...
... Say, Here's a Clue Chait Might Be Right. Christian D'Andrea of SB Nation: "So instead [of the Eagles event, Trump] hosted a celebration of America -- i.e. the singing of patriotic songs to which Trump may or may not know the words -- for the 'more than 1,000 Eagles fans.'..." In a tweet D'Andrew cites, Tim Furlong of NBC Philly writes, "I've asked 6 of the 'fans' at the White House who was the Eagles quarterback during the super bowl. Not ONE person knew." ...
... Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Trump disinvited the Eagles. Why? Because he couldn't stand to have so few show him fealty. And here's the thing: He's admitting it.... Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz wanted to go. So did head coach Doug Pederson. They said they didn't see it as a political issue.... If two or three dozen Eagles wanted to attend, they should now realize why they were invited.... They were pawns in his game.... It was never to be done in their honor, only his.... So, what now, Pennsylvania?... Let's hear how spitting in the face of the Super Bowl champions Makes America Great Again.... This act -- this graceless, puny act -- insults both the democratic ideal and the sporting ideal. Both are rooted in the concept that citizens put aside their differences to unite for the greater good." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
Trump Foiled Again. Laura Nahmias of Politico: New York State Judge Jennifer Schechter "ruled Tuesday that ... Donald Trump can be deposed in a defamation lawsuit brought last year by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on 'The Apprentice' who says Trump kissed and groped her after she appeared on the show.... [Trump's] lawyers have appealed to New York's highest court in hopes of avoiding it.... Zervos' attorney Mariann Wang said Trump's attorneys are trying to stall for time. Wang said her legal team had already issued a subpoena to the Trump campaign, which had been unwilling to hand over any information related to other women who've accused Trump.... Schecter ordered both legal teams to give her a briefing on the issue." (Also linked yesterday.)
** Putin Punks U.S. Steven Erlanger & Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia arrived in Austria on Tuesday sensing an opportunity almost unimaginable just months ago: to overhaul frosty relations with a European Union infuriated by President Trump on a host of issues, from climate and Iran to, most recently, tariffs and trade.... Mr. Putin was now gaining considerable traction by casting himself as a reliable friend and trading partner to Europe even as the Trump administration was treating its closest allies there as strategic and economic competitors.... Though careful not to gloat, Mr. Putin had to take great satisfaction in the recent turn of events. Often dismissed as a tactician and opportunist, he was looking more like a grand strategist as Mr. Trump bluntly rejected European demands for an exemption from what Brussels considers illegal and unilateral tariffs on steel and aluminum.... It is not only Europe's populists who are looking for warmer ties with Russia. Last week, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, called for an end to the demonization of Russia."
Ana Swanon & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Mexico hit back at the United States on Tuesday, imposing tariffs on around $3 billion worth of American pork, steel, cheese and other goods in response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminum levies, further straining relations between the two countries as they struggle to rewrite the North American Free Trad Agreement. The tariffs came as the Trump administration threw yet another complication into the fractious Nafta talks by saying it wants to splinter discussions with Canada and Mexico and work on separate agreements rather than continue three-country discussions to rewrite the 1994 trade deal. Larry Kudlow, President Trump's chief economic adviser, said on Tuesday that Mr. Trump's 'preference now, and he asked me to convey this, is to actually negotiate with Mexico and Canada separately.'" ...
... Sanction Trump! Matt Yglesias of Vox: "Our trade partners are planning to respond to ... Donald Trump's imposition of new taxes on steel and aluminum imported from those countries by hitting back with tariffs of their own -- attempting to inflict economic harm on American companies and mobilize political pressure on Trump to relent. This is a fine idea.... But it does tend to founder on a few problems. One is that it's simply not clear whether Trump cares about the welfare of American citizens.... Another is that, with overall economic conditions generally pretty good in the United States right now, you'd need to inflict a lot of retaliatory pain for it to be noticeable to normal Americans. Last but by no means least, the true perversity of trade war is that it's genuinely lose-lose.... But there is a better way.... America's democratic allies probably can't (and certainly shouldn't) bribe Trump and his family in [the way China has], but they both can and should do the opposite: work together on a package of targeted sanctions narrowly designed to inflict pain specifically on the Trump Organization.... Hitting Trump personally might work on its own terms."
David Graham of the Atlantic: Donald Trump "aggressively and successively made hardline immigration policy synonymous with himself, but with a growing uproar over the separation of children from parents apprehended crossing the border, he is now wishing to distance himself from the policy. This is not the first time this has happened. The fight over how to handle 'Dreamers,' unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, has played out similarly.... Trump has tried to soft-pedal the effects of the policy Sessions announced in May, and to distance himself from it. On May 26, he tweeted, 'Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there [sic] parents once they cross the Border into the U.S.' On Tuesday, he added:... 'Separating families at the Border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats. Border Security laws should be changed but the Dems can't get their act together! Started the Wall.'... There is no law that requires separation per se...." ...
... Julia Ainsley & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "Border agents and child welfare workers are running out of space to shelter children who have been separated from their parents at the U.S. border as part of the Trump administration's new 'zero tolerance' policy, according to two U.S. officials and a document obtained by NBC News. As of Sunday, nearly 300 of the 550 children currently in custody at U.S. border stations had spent more than 72 hours there, the time limit for immigrants of any age to be held in the government's temporary facilities. Almost half of those 300 children are younger than 12.... HHS officials will soon tour military installations near the border in Texas as they search for more space to house children while they wait for placement." ...
... ** Gabe Ortiz of Daily Kos: "In an interview with America's most racist Keebler elf [Jeff Sessions], [conservative media personality Hugh] Hewitt said he was 'disturbed' by the administration's policy tearing kids from the arms of immigrant parents at the U.S./Mexico border, saying that 'I don&'t think children should be separated from biological parents at any age, but especially if they're infants and toddlers': 'HH: Is it absolutely necessary, General, to separate parents from children when they are detained or apprehended at the border? JS: Yes. What's happening is we are having more people coming bringing children with them entering between the ports of entry, between the ports of entry illegally.... We believe every person that enters the country illegally like that should be prosecuted. And you can't be giving immunity to people who bring children with them recklessly and improperly and illegally.... Within 72 hours, they're taken to the Health and Human Services to be sure they're properly cared for. And those persons will have, the adults will be prosecuted like the law requires.'... Petitioning for asylum at a U.S. port of entry is a legal act enshrined in U.S. law, yet the Trump administration has horrifically dismissed this as a 'Democrat loopholes.' There is no law forcing Trump and Sessions to separate families." Read the whole post so you won't forget what a weasly, lying little turd Jeff Sessions is. ...
... U.N. Cites U.S. Human Rights Violations. AFP: "The United Nations has urged Washington to immediately halt its controversial practice of separating asylum-seeking Central American children from their parents at the southern border. The UN human rights office said it was deeply concerned over the zero tolerance policy introduced by the Trump administration to deter illegal immigration. The spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the policy had 'led to people caught entering the country irregularly being subjected to criminal prosecution and having their children -- including extremely young children -- taken away from them as a result'.... 'The US should immediately halt this practice,' she told reporters in Geneva. 'The practice of separating families amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of the child. The use of immigration detention and family separation as a deterrent runs counter to human rights standards and principles,' she said."
Good Grief. Pete Williams of NBC News: "A man wanted on an attempted murder charge was arrested Tuesday morning outside the White House, where he was working as a contractor and had a White House pass, law enforcement officials said. Officers arrested 29-year-old Martese Maurice Edwards of Suitland, Maryland, when he reported for work, according to a Secret Service statement.... A federal official said the warrant was for attempted first-degree murder.... A federal law enforcement official says Edwards did work for the National Security Council in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House and did not have access to the West Wing."
No Apologies, But Sadler Gets the Boot. Noah Gray, et al., of CNN: "Kelly Sadler, the White House communications aide who made a imprudent comment about Republican Sen. John McCain's health, was quietly let go Tuesday nearly a month after making the insensitive remark. 'Kelly Sadler is no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President,' wrote Raj Shah, the principal deputy press secretary, in an emailed statement. The White House had been strategizing an exit for Sadler for the last two weeks, a senior administration official said." ...
... Update. Katie Rogers & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Ms. Sadler did not leave in light of her comments, according to two people familiar with the situation. Instead, they suggested that Ms. Sadler was pushed out over reports that she had told Mr. Trump that Mercedes Schlapp, the White House strategic communications director, had been the one leaking to the news media. Tensions between the two had reached a point where Ms. Sadler, who worked in the White House communications office focusing on immigration, and Ms. Schlapp were unable to be in the same room together, White House aides said."
David Dayen of The Intercept: "The leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [Mick "little prick" Mulvaney] is required by law to hold in-person meetings with its consumer advisory board, yet according to more than a dozen of its members, they are refusing to do so.... The CFPB ... has canceled two in-person meetings with the CAB, as well as numerous conference calls. Contact has been limited to one phone call in March that was supposed to last one hour but ended after 20 minutes.... CAB members have expressed concern with more than just refusing to meet, but the entire strategic direction of the CFPB. Since taking over last November as acting director, Mulvaney has overseen efforts to sideline enforcement, undermine the offices of fair lending and student loan enforcement through restructuring, sought to delay a major rule governing payday lenders, and temporarily freeze consumer complaint data collection. The CAB was not consulted on any of these changes." --safari
Swamp. Justin Glawe of The Daily Beast: "Before stepping off a military jet in Kentucky last summer where he viewed a solar eclipse at Fort Knox, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was doing something else in secret.... Mnuchin's use of the exemption to redact information [from his public schedule] supposedly related to his personal security is significantly higher than his predecessors.... In the first eight months of Mnuchin's tenure, the Treasury Department has used Exemption 7 148 times, or 18 times per month, on average.... By comparison, both Treasury secretaries in the Obama administration used law enforcement exemptions 235 times in eight years.... The revelation that Mnuchin is redacting significantly more information from his calendar comes at a time when several cabinet members have come under scrutiny for travel expenses...." --safari...
...This Is a Real Headline in a Real Newspaper: "Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job -- with Chick-fil-A." There's a real story below the real headline, by Juliet Eilperin & others of the Washington Post. Almost tops yesterday's news: "Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to buy an old Trump Hotel mattress." Extra points for predicting tomorrow's story: "Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to _______(fill in the blank)_______." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jennifer Dlouhy & Mario Parker of Bloomberg: "Republican Senator Joni Ernst blasted allegations of ethical misconduct by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.... 'He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C., and if the president wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet,' said Ernst, of Iowa.... The comments from Ernst coincided with sharp words from her fellow Iowa Republican, Senator Chuck Grassley, who told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday that Pruitt 'has betrayed the president.'"
Apparently Betsy DeVos was upset by the all the headlines Scott Pruitt was garnering, so she thought up something comparable for herself:
... AP: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday said the federal commission on school safety set up after a Florida high school shooting won't be looking at the role of guns in school violence. DeVos was asked during a congressional hearing whether the panel, which she is chairing, will look at guns in the context of school safety. 'That is not part of the commission’s charge per se,' DeVos told a Senate subcommittee overseeing education spending. 'We are actually studying school safety and how we can ensure our students are safe at school.' Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, who asked the question, quipped[,] 'So you are studying gun violence, but not considering the role of guns.'" ...
... Somebody Schooled Betsy. Michael Stratford of Politico: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday walked back earlier comments that it's up to individual schools to decide whether to report undocumented students, following intense criticism from Democrats and civil rights advocates. DeVos at a hearing was pressed by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on whether teachers and principals are permitted under federal law to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about students who are undocumented. Murphy asked: 'So they can't call ICE?' 'I don't think they can,' DeVos responded. [Mrs. McC: According to the AP report linked above, "The audience gasped with relief" at her answer.] At another congressional hearing last month, DeVos said it was up to individual schools to decide whether to call ICE to report undocumented students."
You. Can't. Make. Up. This. Stuff. Mrs. McCrabbie: I didn't think anybody could top Scott Pruitt's petty corruption -- silver pens, used Trump mattresses, Chick-fil-A franchise -- or Betsy DeVos's commission on gun violence that isn't studying gun violence. But Patrick set me straight in today's Comments. Not only did State Department spokesperson and former "Fox & Friends" couch tomato Heather Nauert excuse our ambassador to Germany for his impolitic remarks by arguing that ambassadors have free speech rights, too, she cited D-Day as a proof of the U.S.'s great relationship with Germany:
Mike Ives of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of dollars in cash. Documents listing locations of United States Cyber Command outposts. A passcode-protected thumb drive, hidden behind a sock in the toe of a shoe. According to the Justice Department, these are among the items that United States agents found over the years while searching the luggage of Ron Rockwell Hansen, a former Defense Intelligence Agency case officer, as he flew numerous times between the United States and China. Mr. Hansen, 58, a fluent Mandarin speaker who first visited China in 1981, has allegedly received at least $800,000 in 'funds originating from China' since May 2013. On Saturday, Mr. Hansen was arrested in Seattle and charged with attempted espionage, in what appears to be another high-profile mol hunt by F.B.I. investigators intent on uncovering Chinese spying against the United States." (Also linked yesterday.)
Senate Races. Thomas Kaplan & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday that he is canceling most of the Senate’s monthlong August recess, a move that could keep vulnerable Democrats tethered to Washington as the midterm elections approach.... With 10 incumbent Democratic senators up for re-election in states won by Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential election, the campaign implications were hard to overlook."
Now the Chinese Are Watching You, Too. Michael LaForgia & Gabriel Dance of the New York Times: "Facebook has data-sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese electronics companies, including a manufacturing giant that has a close relationship with China's government, the social media company said on Tuesday. The agreements, which date to at least 2010, gave private access to some user data to Huawei, a telecommunications equipment company that has been flagged by American intelligence officials as a national security threat, as well as to Lenovo, Oppo and TCL. The four partnerships remain in effect, but Facebook officials said in an interview that the company would wind down the Huawei deal by the end of the week."
Good-bye to all that.... Matthew Haag of the New York Times: "The Miss America Organization, confronting a harassment scandal and trying to find its place in the #MeToo era, announced on Tuesday that it would scrap the swimsuit portion, starting with its next pageant in September. 'We are not going to judge you on your outward appearance,' Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor who is now the organization's chairwoman, said on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'We want more women to know that they are welcome in this organization.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "David H. Koch, the billionaire industrialist who combined his vast wealth and libertarian-tinged brand of conservatism to influence candidates and campaigns at all levels of American politics, is stepping away from his political and business interests because of declining health, his company announced Tuesday. Mr. Koch's brother, Charles, said in a letter to employees at Koch Industries, the company the two brothers controlled, that David Koch's health problems had made it impossible for him to continue working."
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "The Wall Street Journal named a new editor in chief on Tuesday, elevating Matthew J. Murray to the top spot at one of the country's pre-eminent newspapers and bringing an end to the tenure of Gerard Baker, whose stewardship had prompted defections and some unrest in the newsroom. The British-born, Oxford-educated Mr. Baker, who led the broadsheet for five and a half years, will remain at The Journal as a weekend columnist and a host of conferences and live events. He will also host a Journal-themed show on the Fox Business Network, which, like the newspaper, is an arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.... Last year, at an all-hands meeting called to address concerns about coverage, Mr. Baker defended himself against accusations from reporters that the paper had gone easy on President Trump, and suggested that other news organizations had become overly negative in their coverage."
... Weird News. Martin Weil of the Washington Post: "An armored military vehicle, looking like a tank, but without the weaponry, was taken Tuesday night from a military installation in Virginia, and pursued over main roads to Richmond. The vehicle, known as an armored personnel carrier, and equipped with treads reminiscent of a tank, came to a halt about 9:40 p.m. in a Richmond intersection near the state capitol. It was not immediately known why it stopped or why it stopped where it did.... The base is used for National Guard training. It was not immediately known whether whoever drove it from the base was connected to the Guard.... State police said a man was taken into custody. The incident remained under investigation late Tuesday and no charges had been filed."
Beyond the Beltway
This is America. Brad Reed of RawStory: "[Eighth] graders graduating from the St. Cornelius middle school in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, this week were given a macabre gift: Bulletproof backpack 'shields' intended to save their lives during a future school shooting.... [M]any students seemed baffled by the fact that this was the gift they were getting to welcome them to high school. 'I never thought I'd need this,' one student told Fox 29.... A great grandparent of one of the graduating students similarly said it was a sad commentary on American society that 8th graders needed to be given bulletproof shields as rites de passage going into high school." --safari: As much as most of recoil in horror about this, others are amazed in its ingeniousness. WTF is wrong with us? ...
... Alex Finnie of WPLG-TV: "The family of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg was 'swatted' Tuesday morning, prompting deputies to respond to their Parkland home. A call came into the Coral Springs Police Department claiming a hostage situation at the home. When a Broward Sheriff's Office SWAT team arrived at the scene, they found no hostage situation and determined the call was a prank. Hogg was not home at the time of the incident and is currently in Washington with his mother to accept the RFK Human Rights award. In a phone call with Local 10 News, Hogg sounded off about the prank call, which led to the massive law enforcement presence at his home."
Max Greenwood of the Hill: "A South Dakota state lawmaker argued in a Facebook comment that businesses should be allowed to turn down people based on the color of their skin. The comment from state Rep. Michael Clark (R) came shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker, who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple because of his religious beliefs.... 'It is his business,' Clark wrote in a comment. 'He should have the opportunity to run his business the way he wants. If he wants to turn away people of color, then [that's] his choice.' Clark deleted the post on Tuesday, saying he had 'jumped in on it a little bit too fast,' the Leader reported. He later apologized for the comment in an email to a reporter for the Leader." Mrs. McC: Reminds me of Sen. Rand Paul, who has a far more influential job than Clark.
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Happy D-Day, everybody!
Picking up on a tradition started by Reagan honoring SS men buried at Bitburg, Heather Nauert, State Department spokesperson, defended U.S. Ambassador Grenell's undiplomatic statements. When she said ambassadors have the right to express their opinions like anybody else, I choked on my coffee. Embellishing, she noted our great relationship with Germany, citing today's anniversary of D-Day as an example of the U.S.-Germany relationship history.
Its not just the malevolence of this crowd, their ignorance and obtuseness are dangerous.
Gee, we had such great rapport with Germany in the aftermath of D-Day. Here's a perfect example from a member of the 101st Airborne who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. Even though this clip is from the series "Band of Brothers", the words come from the speaker's own memoir of his years fighting the Third Reich (David Webster).
I'm sure he'd heartily agree with the Trumpie assessment of US-German relations during the war. Clearly the 101st and the SS were besties.
Couldn't get more stupid if they tried.
Update correction from Heather Nauert:
Germans are bad.
Jumpin Jehoshaphat ! Heather honey must be tetched in the haid or– ....Nothing, absolutely nothing surprises us anymore. News here of Pruitt preening once again in his chicken coop of poop and pomposities, breaking the law by facilitating a franchise deal for his wife should be that straw that breaks the back of that camel but hey, why fire the guy now––"he's doing a heck of a job" says the other guy whose straws are strewn all over the place. And what about that other guy–-the one who is in his own T.V. show called–-"My Glorious life as the Leader of the Free World"––and Eagles fly over the White House soaring into the wild blue yonder while this leader doesn't even know the words to our Star Spangled songs is par for the course or the curse, as is the case. We wait with anticipation for shoes to fall and those Eagles to continue to soar.
Since there has been much coverage of late about Bobby Kennedy here is a piece by Robert Scheer written in 2000 : "The Two Bobbys': the Short Complicated Political life of RFK."
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/bobby-he-hardly-knew-ye/
"Bobby was no saint, but he was indeed attuned in his last years to the hurt of people and open to the prospect that things did not have to be this way."
Today––things do not have to be this way. Promising voting results and yet...
L'etat c'est moron
The official denunciation of the Philadelphia Eagles (black) players by the White House came complete with a phrase I've heard more and more, and not one I can ever remember hearing before, at least not to such an extent.
The Eagles were ripped for not kowtowing to "their president". This "their president" thing smacks of ownership akin to "their king" or "their massa". It carries with it the feel of proprietary obligations due, not to the country, but to the person.
Words matter. Trump and his snarling minions (let's dispense with the frivolity that someone like Liarbee Sanders is a decent and truthful person) insist on equating Trump with the nation. Fealty to Trump means fealty to the nation, and vice versa. You cannot, in their minds, be a patriotic, faithful American without obeying and revering Trump.
I probably shouldn't quibble about such a seemingly small thing when there are so many larger issues to worry about, but these sneaky insinuations of Trumpian glorification bug the crap out of me.
If it were ever true that Trump WAS the state, we would be deemed an irredeemably fascist, racist, authoritarian nation run for the personal profit and glory of one small dickhead and his family of bungling moochers.
Trump will never acknowledge that he is the one who owes us. Not the other way around.
I think that some responsible journalist should look into the personal finances of Pruitt. People do not act like this neurotic bastard if they are confident of their own resources and abilities. He does nothing but invent gloriousness for himself (self-aggrandizing doesn't even describe his efforts--)and steal from the people. His own money goes for cheap housing and used mattresses, but he thinks nothing of stealing our money. Something is really wrong with him-- he is stupid and mean and probably nuts like his boss. You can be sure that the presidunce had never heard of this palooka before he was nominated, so I guess we can blame the Federalist or Heritage criminals for relieving Oklahoma of this puny little burglar and foisting him off on us. Compared to him, Tom Price was pure as the driven snow, so what does HE have on the crazyman in the Oval? He simply personifies the "swamp" that is the administration. We also have the morally corrupt congressvillains to thank.
Marie asked "How many groups and individuals does Trump have to alienate before his dimwitted cult followers notice he's a nasty SOB with no redeeming qualities?"
They may notice but they won't care and they assuredly won't admit it. Trump supporters are either equally nasty SOB's with no (or few--I'm being nice) redeeming qualities, or they are so mired in the mud of the Trump-GOP swamp that they simply refuse to acknowledge their error.
The other day Krugman mentioned one of the particularly noxious peccadilloes of Confederates, their meanspiritedness, which causes them to reject out of hand anything supported or even considered by those they have been taught are their enemies (progressives, liberals, people able to think for themselves, eg). In like fashion, they will not, ever, for any reason, agree with those people that Trump was a huge mistake.
Thus, Trump can alienate the entire rest of the planet and they'll still sing his praises because to do otherwise would be to admit a blunder of world historical proportions, and as we've learned from Fox and Bush and Trump and the entirety of the Confederate combatants, they are never wrong and they never make mistakes.
God Bless Trump
I have yet to hear a single cri de coeur from anyone on the right because president* l'etat c'est moi could barely eke out a few words of "God Bless America". Radio silence. Unless there are some perhaps who try to suggest that, as president, he has a lot on his mind and couldn't be expected to bother with something as insignificant as the words to a song (as Charlie Pierce pointed out, Trump knows the words to "God Bless America" about as well as he probably knows the third verse of "Duke of Earl"*).
During the Obama presidency (the last real administration), wingers were routinely outraged by real, imagined, or invented slights perpetrated by that horrible nee-groe on the symbols of the United States. I once received hate mail from an email group I weirdly found myself on after they sputtered and screamed about how Obama didn't salute during the playing of "Hail to the Chief". Once I pointed out that presidents don't salute themselves, I was roundly attacked as a traitor for "backing that muslim nigger". But Obama was attacked for any and every apparent slight. Remember the coffee cup salute? The fainting couches were full up.
Now normally I wouldn't make a big deal of something like a guy forgetting the words to a song, even "God Bless America", but when the situation is one in which he himself is attacking other Americans for not displaying sufficient patriotism and orders a grandiose demonstration of his own sterling qualities as the patriotic patriarch and then has only a rough guess at what the words are to the most patriotic song after the national anthem....well, that's a different story.
So here is a case of ACTUAL patriotic shallowness, ignorance, and disregard, and from the haters?....nothing.
Fucking assholes, the lot of them.
*There actually is no third verse to "Duke of Earl" but that's beside the point. Trump's probably lucky he can make it through "Happy Birthday". He balks at the phrase "to you", knee-jerkily singing "to me" instead.
@Akhilleus: Excellent essay on the "God Bless America" lapse as contrasted with the "Hail to the Chief," etc. Obama "scandals" (hey, Obama didn't know the words to "Hail to the Chief," either, because nobody ever sings them).
Not only that, if Trump didn't remember the words, since it was his party, he had access to the program so he could have boned up on the lyrics. If his memory is shot, he could have asked to have more than one verse played & have the lyrics printed for everyone, thus covering his own forgetfulness.
PD,
This being the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, I was thinking this morning of how I found out about it. That year I got a job as a paperboy (remember paperboys and papergirls?) and it was, as I recall it now, one horrendous headline after another. I'd read the paper as I walked from house to house.
Civil Rights protests, killings, dire news from Vietnam, the Tet Offensive, Johnson decides not to run, MLK murdered, Bobby Kennedy killed, Andy Warhol shot (don't ask me why I remember that, I barely knew who he was when I was 13, but the whole thing sounded strange and exotic).
The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the Chicago Seven, Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Mexico City Olympics. Mickey Lolich (whose parents were immigrants from Croatia) won three games in the World Series that year, the last pitcher to do so. The Prague Spring and the May Day riots in Paris made the headlines as well.
Worst of all, was the ascension of Tricky Dick to the highest office in the land, an office he was to disgrace a few years hence, setting the stage for the sort of dirty political tricks that other Republicans have adopted with glee, although none went so far as to organize the derailing of an election with a foreign government the way the current fat traitor in the Oval Office has done. Another Republican disgrace.
It was a wild year and for a budding news junkie, a crazy way to set that obsession into overdrive.
There's been a lot of speculation about what we would have been like as a nation had Bobby Kennedy lived and gone to the White House. Counterfactual history is a fun parlor game, but that's all it is. We are where we are.
Where we go from here is what matters now. And that's what makes me feel that 2018--and 2020--could be just as momentous in the life of the republic as 1968.
We shall see.
"...since it was his party, he had access to the program so he could have boned up on the lyrics."
Quite. But as we all know, king trumpie doesn't sweat the small stuff. "Words, schmerds. I'm the monarch. No one can fault me. It's my country and I can do what I want."
I'm always amazed when people show up to sing the national anthem on TV before some sporting event and forget the words. C'mon, dudes. You get to review the lyrics all the way up to walking out on the field. And it's not as if they dragged your ass out of bed to run over to the ballpark.
Oh well, look around the stands and you'll see plenty of people in You Ess Ay! shirts singing "Oh say can you see....la, la, la, la, light, what so la, la, la, at the something, something, something...And the rockets...ba, da, bum, la, la, la....land of the free....and the home of the brave!"
Now about that ridiculous octave jump on "free"? Don't get me started.
(Oh, and while we're at it, don't forget Trumpie BFF Roseanne Barr who grabbed her crotch while screeching out the anthem. Now she's a Confederate darling. I wonder, at the time, did Trump rip her for not being properly patriotic, or did he laugh along with her?)
Huh? cnbc.com " Trump's architect shutters firm."
And takes down his Web site.
NY Architect John Fotiadis designed some of Trump's most ambitious luxury developments there. There being (See Ukraine): (playing a key role in Trump's quest for real estate deals in former Soviet lands).
The more one learns about Fotiadis' career, however, the more difficult it becomes to square his new job with his old one.
I'll say! Looking at SNS projects—very modest designs. Why go there?
Twelve days after announcing the JFA closure, Fotiadis became design director at SNS Architects and Engineering, a 30-person firm based in Montvale, a northern New Jersey borough.
Wednesday Weasels
Weasel of the House, Lyin' Ryan, now that he has decided to cash in his chips and go for a seven figure salary as a lobbying lizard, or whatever the hell else he can make a bundle doing (as opposed to not doing a goddam fucking thing as an elected official for his entire career), has decided that it might...MIGHT...be okay for him to tell the truth, or at least come close to a weaselly approximation of the truth for once in his life as a moocher at the teat of the public dole.
So now he is kinda, sorta saying that maybe (now that Trey Gowdy has hung his carcass out to dry in the Trumpian sun) the FBI didn't actually hide a mole in the Trump/Putin campaign. When asked whether he thought that the little king could pardon himself, Ryan, reverting to his usual lifelong dissolution of the truth, said that he's not really sure but maybe it's not a good idea. Maybe.
A more debased, intellectually debauched, personally feculent conniver I cannot conjure. Unless, of course, you're talking about Trump himself. Then we're talking about a strip mined mountain of explosive shit that would make Krakatoa look like one of those seventh grade vinegar and baking soda volcanoes.
@Akhilleus: But otherwise Ryan is a nice guy. You have to admit he'd probably be a better neighbor than the one L'il Randy drew. Shit, Ryan would pose for a picture raking up the grass clippings in L'il Randy's yard. Brand new rake, too.
If one doesn't know the words to the National Anthem or to God Bless (whatever), perhaps one should stay in the locker room---or in Philadelphia.