;)
The Commentariat -- March 28, 2019
Afternoon Update:
** The Constant Liar. David Fahrenthold & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "When Donald Trump wanted to make a good impression -- on a lender, a business partner, or a journalist -- he sometimes sent them official-looking documents called 'Statements of Financial Condition.' These documents sometimes ran up to 20 pages. They were full of numbers, laying out Trump's properties, debts and multibillion-dollar net worth. But ... the documents were deeply flawed. Some simply omitted properties that carried big debts. Some assets were overvalued. And some key numbers were wrong. For instance, Trump's financial statement for 2011 said ... his Virginia vineyard had 2,000 acres, when it really has about 1,200. He said Trump Tower has 68 stories. It has 58.... Now, investigators on Capitol Hill and in New York are homing in on these unusual documents in an apparent attempt to determine whether Trump's familiar habit of bragging about his wealth ever crossed a line into fraud. The statements are at the center of at least two of the inquiries that continue to follow Trump...."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a Trump administration initiative banning bump stocks, the attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in sustained, rapid bursts. The court's action, in a one-sentence order, means that the regulation will remain in force while challenges to it move forward in the courts."
Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "... Jared Kushner returned to the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed door interview Thursday as part of the committee's Russia investigation.... The first time Kushner appeared before the panel in 2017 he was interviewed by committee staff. The committee has wanted to re-interview witnesses central to the investigation. On Thursday, senators were sitting in on the interview."
Megan Crepeau & Madeline Buckley of the Chicago Tribune: "... Donald Trump tweeted early Thursday that the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice would review the Jussie Smollett case, calling it 'outrageous' and 'an embarrassment to our Nation!' Trump did not say exactly what the agencies would look into, but the Fraternal Order of Police and others have been calling for a federal investigation into State's Attorney Kim Foxx's handling of the case involving the 'Empire' actor." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: President* Racist just can't stand the idea that a young black man might have got the same sort of get-out-of-jail card that Bill Barr just gave him.
Nicholas Fandos & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The still-secret report on Russian interference in the 2016 election submitted by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, last week was more than 300 pages long, according to the Justice Department, a length that raises new questions about Attorney General William P. Barr's four-page summary.... The total of 300-plus pages suggests that Mr. Mueller went well beyond the kind of bare-bones summary required by the Justice Department regulation governing his appointment and detailed his conclusions at length. And it raises questions about what Mr. Barr might have left out of the four dense pages he sent Congress." ...... Mrs. McCrabbie: No kidding. It's beginning to look as if Barr made a big mistake if he in fact mischaracterized Mueller's report. The CNN poll (linked below) shows that the public aren't buying the Barr Report, suggesting that people, for various reasons, view Barr as a partisan actor and trust his possibly fake synopsis far less than they trust what they've learned about Trump & Co. over the past several years.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The House Intelligence Committee devolved into bitter infighting Thursday, as all nine Republicans demanded Chairman Adam Schiff resign his post and the California Democrat responded with a blistering account of 'evidence of collusion' between ... Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.... The attack by the Republican committee members on Schiff is a continuation of a similar assault launched by Trump -- who called on Schiff to quit Congress in a tweet earlier in the morning -- and other Trump allies who accused Schiff of fomenting claims of conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. Democrats have rallied around Schiff in recent days. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dismissed the GOP attacks, and Democrats' House campaign arm elevated Schiff on Wednesday to be its national frontline finance chair." Worth reading. ...
... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday demanded that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff resign from Congress over his accusations that Trump conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Trump, in a Thursday morning tweet, accused Schiff (D-Calif.), without evidence, of spending the past two years 'knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking' about the Russia investigation. He 'should be forced to resign from Congress!' Trump added."
Hadas Gold of CNN: "Twitter is considering labeling Trump tweets that violate its rules.... The social media company is trying to find a way of maintaining its standards while adding context to tweets from politicians and other figures that may be offensive but are important for public debate."
Jackie Borchardt of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will join a growing number of states fighting a Texas judge's decision to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act. But Yost, a Republican, won't be siding with fellow Republicans who filed the lawsuit or Democratic attorneys general who have joined together to support the Obama-era health care law. Yost said in an interview he agrees that the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional but disagrees that the rest of the law is also therefore invalid. Yost plans to file a friend-of the-court brief in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal. The brief will argue the individual mandate can be removed from the law without eliminating protections for pre-existing conditions, insurance caps and other parts of the law. About 1.9 million non-elderly Ohioans have pre-existing conditions, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That puts him at odds with the Trump administration."
Roni Rabin of the New York Times: "New York State on Thursday laid out one of the most detailed and sweeping legal cases yet against the family that owns Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid OxyContin, as well as the companies that distributed alarming amounts of prescription painkillers amid a rising epidemic of abuse that has killed hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. The lawsuit, filed by the state attorney general Letitia James, is one of the very few in a wave of opioid litigation across the country that name the Sacklers. It targets eight family members."
~~~~~~~~~~
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr is expected to miss House Democrats' deadline to provide Congress the full report documenting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III&'s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, increasing the likelihood lawmakers will subpoena the Justice Department. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said that during a Wednesday phone call with Barr, the attorney general said it would be 'weeks, not months' before lawmakers can see the report, making it 'apparent that the department will not meet the April 2nd deadline that we set' earlier this week. Barr would not promise 'an unredacted full report with the underlying documents, evidence, would be provided to Congress and to the American people,' Nadler said. 'We're not happy about that, to put it mildly.'... The report is several hundred pages -- though less than a thousand, Nadler said -- and Democrats believe it is vital to see its details before they can determine whether they agree with Barr’s assessment...."
It Ain't Over Till Its' Over. Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "The special counsel grand jury that investigated Russian collusion into the 2016 presidential election is 'continuing robustly' despite the end of Robert Mueller's probe, a federal prosecutor said in court Wednesday. The revelation -- while laced with uncertainty -- indicates that the ongoing cases Mueller handed off after concluding his probe could still feature significant developments, legal experts said.... During a brief open hearing Wednesday, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for D.C., Beryl Howell, pressed [an assistant U.S. attorney] to say whether the grand jury Mueller had been using in the case remained active. 'It is continuing,' the prosecutor replied. 'It's continuing robustly.' The fact the grand jury is continuing its work adds a new wrinkle to the Mueller probe, which Attorney General William Barr announced on Friday was finished."
The Art of the Deal. Max Frankel in a New York Times op-ed: "... the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin's oligarchy ... had an overarching deal: the quid of help in the campaign against Hillary Clinton for the quo of a new pro-Russian foreign policy, starting with relief from the Obama administration's burdensome economic sanctions.... Run down the known facts about the communications between Russians and the Trump campaign and their deal reveals itself.... [Sanctions] relief and a warm new relationship with Russia were then freely discussed in public and in private. There was even an effort to concoct a grand diplomatic bargain by which the Russians would be allowed to legalize their seizure of the Ukrainian Crimea." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wink, wink, nod, nod is legal. ...
... Cody Fenwick of Alternet: "So here's where we are. A future president can fire investigators, dangle pardons to friends, and attack law enforcement officials for failing to cater to his or her whims. Perhaps they'll push the limits even further (the extent of Trump's behavior is, as yet, unknown to the public). Barr, Rosenstein, and Mueller, it seems, have given the green light to this behavior." --s ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth remembering that the confederate Supremes set the bar here. In Citizens United, Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority of the See-No-Evil, essentially limited bribery & corruption of officials to instances where the government has a recording or written contract of the official agreeing to perform an official act in exchange for remuneration, then taking the money & stashing it in the freezer. Ergo, the wink, wink, nod, nod referenced above is A-Okay.
Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Former FBI Director James Comey ... said the principal findings of the [Mueller] probe show ... Donald Trump's blistering criticism of the FBI were lies and his attempt to destroy the agency had failed.... 'I don't think that we've seen in the history of our country, the president try to burn down an institution of justice because he saw it as a threat,' Comey said. 'And the lies he told, forget about me, the lies he told about the agents of the FBI, "storm troopers," the lies he told about Bob Mueller, were terrible." ...
... Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "Former FBI Director James Comey questioned Wednesday why special counsel Robert Mueller did not subpoena President Trump during his nearly two-year-long investigation into Russian election interference and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Asked by NBC's Lester Holt if he ever questioned why Mueller did not subpoena Trump, Comey responded 'Yes, I do.'" ...
Jonathan Chait: "The likely Republican move from here on out will be to continue touting [William] Barr's summary of the [Mueller] report as the final word while quietly blocking a release of the full report. What questions would the report answer? There are four major categories. 1. How straight did Barr play it?... 2. What other obstruction of justice evidence is there?... 3. How much noncriminal collusion took place?... 4. How much corruption took place?" (Also linked yesterday.)
The People Are Not Impressed. Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Though ... Donald Trump has claimed 'complete and total exoneration' based on Attorney General William Barr's summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the American public disagrees, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. A majority (56%) says the President and his campaign have not been exonerated of collusion, but that what they've heard or read about the report shows collusion could not be proven. Fewer, 43%, say Trump and his team have been exonerated of collusion."
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The House Oversight and Reform Committee is seeking 10 years of ... Donald Trump’s financial records from an accounting firm, according to a letter obtained by Politico. The Democrat-led committee asked Mazars USA, a tax and accounting firm, for documents this month related to Trump's personal finances, with a particular focus on his failed bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills before he became president. It reflects an effort by the committee, under Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), to corroborate aspects of former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen's testimony before the panel last month. Cohen told lawmakers that Trump inflated his personal net worth as he sought to buy the NFL team. He also claimed that Trump sought to reduce his tax burden by deflating the value of certain assets."
Emily Jane Fox of Vanity Fair: "[During his Congressional testimony, Michael] Cohen ... said [Donald Trump] had spoken in 'code' to prompt Cohen to lie about the Moscow project. Moreover, Cohen said, his false testimony was coordinated with the president's attorneys.... Cohen had communications detailing these alleged edits.... One document, which I have reviewed, was an e-mail exchange between Cohen and his then attorney, Stephen Ryan, outlining changes that Ryan said [Abbe] Lowell [personal attorney of Javanka] had asked them to make in order to distance Ivanka from the Moscow deal.... The revelation of Lowell's involvement, as the e-mails suggest, in Cohen's original testimony will likely be of interest to congressional investigators...." --s
Bloomberg: "The Swedbank AB money laundering scandal grew considerably more serious this week amid reports that the bank is now being investigated by U.S. authorities after potentially providing misleading information. Former Trump campaign chairman and convicted felon Paul Manafort was among those to have received suspicious payments made through the Stockholm-based lender, the SVT network reported March 27." --s
Trump's Big Healthcare Lie, Ctd. Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Asked about the Department of Justice's decision to call for all of ObamaCare to be struck down in an ongoing court case, Trump called the Affordable Care Act a 'disaster,' saying insurance premiums are 'too high' and the law is 'far too expensive for the people, not only for the country.' Trump also pledged the Republican Party would have a 'far better' health care proposal than ObamaCare if the law is eventually thrown out by the Supreme Court. 'If the Supreme Court rules that ObamaCare is out, we'll have a plan that is far better than ObamaCare,' the president said at the White House." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Sarah Cliff of Vox homes in on the difference between Trump's assertions & Trump's actions: "Candidate Donald Trump wanted to make sure you have health insurance. President Donald Trump is committed to taking it away.... Donald Trump is very committed to taking away your health insurance." ...
... Maggie Haberman & Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Trump administration's surprise decision to press for a court-ordered demolition of the Affordable Care Act came after a heated meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, where the president's acting chief of staff and others convinced him that he could do through the courts what he could not do through Congress: repeal his predecessor's signature achievement. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff and former South Carolina congressman, had spent years in the House saying that the health law should be repealed, and his handpicked head of the Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan, supported the idea of joining a Republican attorneys general lawsuit to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act.... Among those with concerns was Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, who shared that the new attorney general, William P. Barr, opposed such a move. Vice President Mike Pence was concerned about the political ramifications of moving ahead without a strategy or a plan to handle the millions who could be left suddenly uninsured if the suit succeeded. But Mr. Trump had been sold, and on Monday night, the Justice Department issued a letter saying it supported the Texas judge's decision. The blowback has been severe." ...
... Jonathan Swan, et al., of Axios: "Reflecting widespread concerns within his party, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told President Trump he disagrees with the Trump administration's attempt to get the entire Affordable Care Act thrown out in court. McCarthy told Trump over the phone that the decision made no sense -- especially after Democrats killed Republicans in the midterms in part over the issue of pre-existing conditions, according to two sources.... Multiple GOP sources -- from the most conservative to the most moderate wing of the party -- have told Axios that they can't fathom why the president would want to re-litigate an issue that has been a clear loser for Republicans.... They're also exasperated about Trump's substance-free declaration that Republicans will become 'The Party of Healthcare.' Republicans aren't united on health care, and they have been unable to advance a replacement for the ACA." ...
... digby argues, both in Salon & on Hullabaloo, that Trump's latest attempt to kill health insurance is "to get even with a dead man": John McCain, who of course gave the thumbs-down to ObamaCare repeal. Mrs. McC: I don't think digby would disagree with me when I suggest that this is also payback to President Obama, who not only shepherded the eponymous healthcare law thru Congress but also made fun of Trump in 2011. Trump's only "interest" in health insurance is as a vehicle for revenge. The fact that 20 million Americans would lose health coverage if Trump succeeds, means nothing to him. ...
... Gail Collins is fairly gleeful about Trump's ill-timed move (as if there is a good time to pull health insurance coverage from 20 million people). ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: And I hope you noticed Bill Barr proved twice in one week that Trump has him in his pocket. Not only did Barr "exonerate" President Obstruction, he also caved & agreed to take a position hurting millions of Americans. The "people's attorney" is now Trump's attorney. MEANWHILE, don't worry, Trump's signature "accomplishment" -- the tax cut law -- is working like a charm. (Special thanks to Pauly & Mitch, too.) ...
... Ryan Koronowski of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump once promised that, following the passage of the GOP tax bill in late 2017, the United States would be awash in repatriated corporate profits. Now, a new report from his own administration is pouring cold water on that assurance.... While the $664.9 billion in 2018 is more than the $155.1 billion brought back in 2017, it is nowhere close to the amount Trump promised.... Last August, Trump told business leaders ... that thanks to the law, 'we expect to have in excess of $4 trillion brought back very shortly.'" --s
Bill Barr is hardly the only Cabinet member who left the last shred of whatever principles he may have had at the White House gate. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post provides more context:
The Trump Show. Noor Al-Sibai of the Raw Story: "A majority of ... Donald Trump's executive orders have done almost nothing except provided a show for him, a new Los Angeles Times analysis revealed Wednesday. 'For a president who relishes pomp and shows of executive action, unchecked by Congress, signing ceremonies have become a hallmark, a way to convey accomplishment for a man who asserts he has done more than any president in history,' the report revealed. In a review of 101 Trump orders, the Times found that while 'many were geared toward favored political constituencies,' few did anything that 'moved policy significantly.... The Times also noted that Trump's 100th EO, which was signed last week in an Oval Office ceremony complete with a string quartet, is ostensibly supposed to 'force colleges to support free speech' -- but at least one White House aide appeared to struggle when asked how it was actually going to work. 'Experts who read the text afterward said the ultimate impact was uncertain, given that public universities already must follow the 1st Amendment and it simply instructed private colleges to comply with their existing policies,' the report noted." The LA Times report, which is firewalled, is here.
Devos Accuses Media of Reporting Accurate Story. Matt Stieb of New York: "After a House Appropriations subcommittee on education grilled Betsy DeVos on her recommendation to cut all federal funding for the Special Olympics for the third year in a row, the Secretary of Education was frustrated by how her plan was reported in 'the media.'... 'It is unacceptable, shameful, and counterproductive that the media and some members of Congress have spun up falsehoods and fully misrepresented the facts.'... Just a few paragraphs [later]..., DeVos states that '... the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations.' To recap, DeVos claims that journalists and some House Democrats have 'misrepresented' the 2020 ED budget, then immediately confirms what was already clear in the first place -- DeVos has attempted to cut the Special Olympics funding from the budget for three years standing."
Erin Banco of The Daily Beast: "The U.S. Department of Energy has approved six authorizations for U.S. companies seeking to conduct nuclear related work in Saudi Arabia, according to two sources with knowledge of those approvals.... The DOE authorizations, previously unreported, indicate that U.S. companies are indeed moving ahead in their plans to engage with Saudi Arabia on nuclear technology and nuclear energy development. The companies began seeking contact with Riyadh in November 2017. It's unclear which U.S. companies have obtained authorizations." --s
Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "The question of whether the F.A.A<. has gone too far in allowing Boeing to regulate itself has emerged as one of the key issues after the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia this month, the second deadly crash of the new plane in less than five months. The practice is already coming under scrutiny from Congress, and lawmakers are likely to press the F.A.A.'s acting administrator on Wednesday when he appears at a Senate hearing." (Also linked yesterday.)
Inae Oh of Mother Jones: “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday delivered an impassioned defense of the Green New Deal, the ambitious Democratic proposal aimed at fighting climate change, after a Republican congressman attacked the resolution as an elitist plan he claimed had been created by out-of-touch 'rich liberals from New York of California.' 'I think we should not focus on the rich, wealthy elites who will look at this and go "I love it, cause I've got big money in the bank. Everyone should do this!&"' Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.) said."; Thanks to unwashed for the heads-up. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Chris Cillizza of CNN: "On the day that the Senate rejected -- by a vote of 0-57 -- the broad strokes of the so-called 'Green New Deal,' New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), one of the leading voices for the legislation, went off on those who mock the effort as nothing more than an elitist fantasy. The clip of Ocasio-Cortez's speech, which was tweeted by liberal activist Brian Tyler Cohen at 8:32 p.m. Eastern Tuesday night, already has 4.7 million views." ...
Joe Romm of ThinkProgress breaks down the benefits of the Green New Deal: "[A] do-nothing climate policy will end up costing Americans more than a half-trillion dollars per year in increased sickness and death, coastal property damages, loss of worker productivity, and other damages.... And so the biggest benefit of the Green New Deal would be avoiding those costs.... None of the public cost estimates for the Green New Deal take into account the spectacular gains in cost competitiveness. Nor do they take into account the countless economic, environmental, and health co-benefits. What we can say with certainty now is that rapid decarbonization becomes more and more affordable every year. Meanwhile, the cost of inaction -- which is already in the range of tens of trillions of dollars -- gets higher and higher." --s ...
Dylan Scott of Vox: “A federal district judge has blocked Medicaid work requirements approved by the Trump administration in Arkansas and Kentucky. Judge James Boasberg, who previously ruled on technical grounds against work requirements in Kentucky, blasted the Trump administration in two decisions Wednesday for failing to consider how many Medicaid beneficiaries would lose coverage under the states' proposals to require that recipients work in order to receive their benefits. He deemed the approvals of those proposals by the administration to be 'arbitrary and capricious' and said that the work requirements could not be allowed to remain in effect. The rulings are a major loss for the Trump administration on one of its signature health policy crusades: introducing work requirements to Medicaid, the country's largest health insurance program."
Karen Zraick & Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: “A man convicted of murder for killing a woman when he drove into a crowd protesting a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., pleaded guilty to additional federal hate crime charges on Wednesday. James Fields Jr., 21, faced 30 federal charges for his actions at the Unite the Right' rally. He pleaded guilty to 29 of them, including one count of a hate crime that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, an anti-racism activist, and 28 counts for the injuries to nearly 40 other protesters. Each of the counts to which he pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. In a letter submitted to the court, Attorney General William P. Barr directed federal prosecutors to forgo seeking the death penalty against Mr. Fields because of the plea agreement.... Mr. Barr said in a statement that the hate crimes were 'acts of domestic terrorism' and that prosecuting them was a priority for his office.&"
Liam Stack of the New York Times: "Facebook said on Wednesday that it would ban white nationalist content from its platforms, a significant policy change that bows to longstanding demands from civil rights groups who said the tech giant was failing to confront the powerful reach of white extremism on social media. The threat posed by white nationalism on Facebook was violently underlined this month when a racist gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand, using the platform to post live video of the attack. Facebook removed the video and the gunman's account on Facebook and Instagram but the footage was widely shared on YouTube, Twitter and Reddit."
Hamza Shaban of the Washington Post: "The nation's largest burger chain has backed away from a lobbying campaign to fend off minimum-wage increases, a decision being hailed as a significant victory by workers and labor advocates. McDonald's said it will no longer use its vast resources to oppose raising the hourly pay floor at the federal, state or local level, according to a letter sent Tuesday to the National Restaurant Association, the largest food service trade association in the country. The move marks a dramatic shift for the chain; it comes after 19 states raised their pay minimums at the start of the year and amid intensifying grass-roots efforts to advance working-class policies. Fast-food restaurants and retail stores became political battlegrounds as service industry workers pressed for unionization and higher wages. Through strikes, protests and advocacy, groups like Fight for $15 galvanized the minimum-wage campaign and have pressured McDonald's and other major fast-food chains to take action." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Unlike Facebook, McDonald's didn't require a mass murder to get it to adjust its policy.
Here's an excerpt of Susan Page's biography of Barbara Bush. Bush had despised Trump for decades. In 1988 Trump volunteered himself to be her husband's veep, an idea that Poppy dismissed as "strange and unbelievable." (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Eric Geller of Politico: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is poised to sign a bill to overhaul the state's voting system with machines that are widely considered vulnerable to hacking...The warnings from cybersecurity experts, election integrity advocates and Georgia Democrats are especially troubling given the abundant warnings from U.S. intelligence leaders that Russia will once again attempt to undermine the presidential election in 2020." --s
Illinois. CBS Chicago: "The prosecutor who decided to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett said he believes the move does not vindicate the 'Empire' actor of allegations that he orchestrated a racist and homophobic attack against himself. 'I do not believe he is innocent,' First Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Joseph Magats said Tuesday afternoon.... 'Based on all facts and circumstances of the case, and also keeping in mind resources and keeping in mind that the office's number one priority is to combat violent crime and the drivers of violence, I decided to offer this disposition in the case,' Magats said." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Chicagoans React to the Smollett Saga. Julie Bosman & Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, the confusion of the day before -- a whirl of accusations, dropped charges, fiery news conferences and chaotic courthouse scenes -- had hardly lifted. Chicagoans, accustomed to the city's legendary corruption and everyday graft, said they were sure that something illicit had taken place. They were just unsure what it was."
Wisconsin. Patrick Marley & Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Some of the lame-duck laws limiting the power of Gov. Tony Evers went back into effect Wednesday when an appeals court overruled a Dane County judge who invalidated them last week. A three-judge panel in Wausau stayed the ruling by Judge Richard Niess, but the court did not act on a separate ruling in a second case that blocked parts of those laws. For now, those provisions -- including ones taking power from Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul -- remain sidelined. An appeal in the second case is expected soon, and more court action in both cases is expected in the days and weeks ahead. Wednesday's ruling immediately raised questions about whether 82 appointees of former Gov. Scott Walker continued to hold their jobs. Niess' ruling invalidated their confirmations last week and Evers quickly rescinded their appointments."
Way Beyond
Australia. Ben Smee & Michael McGowan of the Guardian: "Senior One Nation figures James Ashby and Steve Dickson claim they had been 'on the sauce' drinking scotch for 'three or four hours' when discussing seeking a $20m donation from the National Rifle Association to the far-right Australian party. Ashby and Dickson faced the media on Tuesday after an al-Jazeera investigation revealed the two men had sought millions in donations from the NRA during a trip to the US last year, in a bid to seize the balance of power and weaken Australia's gun laws." --s
U.K. Rowena Mason & Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister before the next phase of Brexit negotiations in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her withdrawal deal. The prime minister said she would make way for another Conservative leader, after listening to the demands of MPs for a new leadership team. 'I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach -- and new leadership -- in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations and I won't stand in the way of that,' May said, according to a transcript released afterwards." (Also linked yesterday.)
So some Roman Catholics are terribly upset by this now-viral video that shows Pope Francis repeatedly pulling his hand away as the faithful in Loreto, Italy, bend to try to kiss his ring.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: A number of reports have it that Frances was greeting many people & just wanted to move the line along, but of course others have less prosaic theories. My own belief is that Francis heard Donald Trump was making Oval Office visitors kiss his ring, causing the Pope to realize it was time to end such symbolic subservience.
News Lede
Reuters: "The U.S. economy slowed more than initially thought in the fourth quarter, keeping growth in 2018 below the Trump administration's 3 percent annual target, and corporate profits failed to rise for the first time in more than two years."
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Reader Comments (16)
I'll have to ask if you're sure that it's Trumps' ring that oval office visitors are required to kiss.
@Bobby Lee: Eeeeeeuuuuuuuwwwww!
@Bobby Lee: Thanks for getting to the bottom of this, so to speak. Nevertheless, I maintain that Francis's informant gave him a bowdlerized version of Trump's actual policy, so the old Pope wouldn't have to suffer the way @forrest.morris did.
With DiJiT, it's always hard to tell which end is up.
How ironic....turns out the vaunted "institutions" and sacred guardians of the "rule of law" are the precise minions that open the door to a lawless presidunce* to wage more war on their own supposed values as well as, of course, the rest of the country that refuses to bend a knee.
People are exulting that the "institutions held", but I'd say their foundations have been severely compromised. They're still standing, but infested with mites. The current AG, he who bends the laws, is the queen, laying the eggs of future destruction.
Apropos of Pompeo's response:
"A political football is a topic or issue that is seized on by opposing political parties or factions and made a more political issue than it might initially seem to be. ... A less-used meaning, is a political issue that is continually debated but left unresolved."
And Lawrence was right: Pompeo was terrified––at least he looked like it. The exchange we witnessed in that video is the kinds of exchanges that need to be had––and it was done without rancor or histrionics on the part of the questioner. And yes, it IS a political issue that has remained unresolved.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg continues to impress. Trevor Noah did a brief, amusing segment recently. I am getting the feeling that he might be a gay Jed Bartlet, hopefully without the MS.
@Nisky: you bet! I, too, am most impressed with Pete ––but wonder whether he'd have a chance in hell.
The Relativists Are Home
“At this time, there is a deeply serious problem we see right now within our society. We see moral relativism becoming more and more pervasive in our culture. Identity politics and tribalism have grown on top of this.”
This is Paul Ryan speaking last year at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
The idea of Paul Ryan denouncing moral relativism, identity politics, and tribalism is worse than a sick joke. Has there been any politician in so high a position (besides Mitch McConnell, that is) who has been more of a moral relativist? This is the guy whose supposed dismay at the idea of Donald Trump as president turned quickly into toadying obsequiousness and shameful submission as Trump ascended the throne and stuck his fat ass out for the puckered lips. And identity politics? Wingers love to use this term to assault liberals who stand up for the groups the right despises. But how is a fierce, obdurate battle for the rights of white Christian men over everyone else less of an example of identity politics? And tribalism? Please.
But Ryan's conjuring up of that old right-wing bogeyman Moral Relativism is what sticks hardest in my craw. The charge of relativism in liberal moral decision making has been around for decades. Bill Buckley made some sesquipedalian noises about it back in the 60's and 70's.
Right-winger Allan Bloom, in his "Closing of the American Mind", derided American colleges for allowing students to believe there were any ways of thinking other than his own brand of moral absolutism. Bloom, by the way, studied with Leo Strauss, the founder of neoconservatism which preached that the elite (right-wing elite, that is) had every right to lie, cheat, and steal in order to stay in power so they could enforce their views on the lowly plebes. Well, that might not be moral relativism. More like amoral assholeism. But I digress...
There was a reason for the charges at one point. The rise of cultural studies brought with it a new respect for non-western, non-Christian, non-white cultures and various sociologists proffered the idea that we should not necessarily look down upon other ways of seeing the world. This position gave the right plenty of ammunition for attacking it as flakey, namby-pamby, and...morally relativistic.
But can anyone who voted for, or now wholeheartedly supports, Donald Trump declare the purity of their own moral absolutism? How? They cannot. Donald Trump is more like the Anti-Christ than some beacon of Christian purity. But no matter. He's their guy. Even if he is an asshole, he's our asshole and he's getting us what we want, judges who will rule against our enemies. How is this not morally relativistic? Tossing out the teachings of the Holy Bible to get whatever you want? WWJD?
So how does this play out in the real world (aside from the daily flood of immorality, lies, and self-indulgence from the Trump administration)?
A longstanding position on the right has been the understanding that members of the LGBTQ community can rightly be shunned and dismissed. The supporting argument goes like this: Well, the guy who owns that bakeshop thinks gays are evil and are all going to hell. That's what he believes and so he doesn't have to serve them. We must honor his belief system, so those gays who came in for a wedding cake can just go somewhere else.
How is this not the purest case of moral relativism? The guy is not basing his decision on facts in the real world (never mind the LAW). It's all based on his interpretation on an ancient text. You might as well say that my belief in the Scrolls of Lochlan Dagmar support my contention that I have every right to stop in the middle of Fifth Avenue at rush hour, drop trow and take a pee. Yes, I realize that's a ridiculous contention (there are no scroll of Lochlan Dagmar, as far as I know) but you get the point. If one can lay claim to being able to flout the law based on a belief system, where do we draw the line? Do we say one set of beliefs are okay but others are not?
Remember when Nino Scalia told some Native Americans to take a hike regarding their use of peyote as part of a religious ceremony? I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the Native ceremony was being practiced thousands of years before the Bible (or American law) was written. So who's right?
The we have that paragon of perfect behavior and honesty, Sarah Sanders, who goes into a restaurant where the staff refuses to serve her. "This is the same thing!" cry the wingers. But it's not. First, the staff was basing their decision on Sanders' support for vicious anti-LGBTQ treatment. She says so. It's a fact. The baker is basing his decision on personal beliefs. That's an entirely different rationale. But it's still a case of moral relativism at work on the right. The fact that they then yell that "civility" is at stake is another cruel joke, coming from supporters of a guy for whom cruelty is the prime directive.
The larger point is how ridiculous it is that "big thinkers" like Paul Ryan, and the vast majority of pundits on the right, who themselves have become avatars of moral relativism, berate others for the same thing.
And the fact is, that the sort of moral relativism that existed in academia in the 70's and 80's is almost nowhere to be found now. The zeitgeist is full of examples of righteous heroes abiding by codes of honor and the importance of upholding law and order. And most of those narratives are coming out of that hated left-wing cesspool Hollywood.
But moral relativism is alive and well.
It's moved into the front room of the right-wing mansions and double-wides. It's got its feet up and it's chowing down. It ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon. It's home.
Just a question. Would Bill Barr have instructed federal prosecutors to forego the death penalty had the person driving the car been a black separatist and the victim an innocent white bystander?
Barr is exactly who we thought he was. A hack.
Do the Trumpies truly relish their image as mustache-twirling Dickens villains or are they just so awash in the Kool-Aid, they don't see it?
Forcing people, many of whom may be unable, to work for their healthcare? Destroying the Special Olympics in order to hand more money to wealthy, for-profit scam artists? Taking babies from their families and making sure they'll never, in this life, be reunited? Working--again--to take healthcare away from millions of Americans, many of whom have only just recently gotten it for the first time in their lives, in order to stick it to a dead guy and black man? WTF?
Mustache wax must be selling out on Amazon.
This one's kinda fun.
Working with Repugants must make Shiff's skin crawl. Just listening to them does it to mine.
https://www.newsweek.com/adam-schiff-trump-collusion-russia-1378232
Beg to disagree (agreeably, of course), Akhilleus.
The Repugnants are not moral relativists. They hew to one clear standard from which they do not deviate:
Money, money and more money.
Reading Safari's comment on Barr above I was reminded of a graphic editorial I'd seen earlier that summarizes things nicely. https://www.gocomics.com/jimmorin/2019/03/28
I just received a copy of a speech my German granddaughter gave to her class. It made me cry with pride:
"Discrimination against the LGBTQ-Community
Hello everybody. My name is Mimi and I am 15 years old.
Today, I want to address the discrimination the LGBTQ-Community has to endure around the world. LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning.
The fourteenth amendment assures all Individuals rights and equal protection from discrimination, but it was only in the Sixties that US states began decriminalizing homosexuality. And only in 2015 was gay marriage legalized in the US.
In many countries, LGBTQ citizens face severe consequences for their existence.
In Mauretania, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and Nigeria, homosexuality is punished with the death penalty by being publicly stoned to death.
In other countries such as Afghanistan and Irak, homosexuals get tortured or are forced to pay a fine.
Many members of the LGBTQ Community emigrate because being who you are is illegal in some parts of the world. In Uganda, LGBTQ citizens face violent and brutal attacks every day. They are often performed by state officials, which is even more shocking to hear.
This hate does not only come from the influence of different religions such as Catholicism.
When government officials speak out against the LGBTQ Community and don’t assure them their basic human rights, it can have a big impact on the public. Not showing support to all parts of society is not acceptable.
The worst thing that one can do is to deny their existence. The LGBTQ Community has a problematic history. They have always had to fight for their rights and to show resistance. They have been pushed out and have been forced to experience hate, brutality and repression. They have had to justify their existence while also having to accept refusal.
LGBTQ family members were put on the street and disowned by their families.
Using one’s religious beliefs in order to justify discrimination is unacceptable. Humans are entitled to basic rights. These rights are unattached to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity and are prior to religious freedom.
On June 12, 2016, a 26 year old man carried out a mass shooting inside a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. 53 people were wounded and 49 innocent lives were taken. It would become known as the deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ people in US history.
We are one community, one society. We are all humans. Love should unite us instead of hate dividing us.
LGBTQ individuals deserve the same rights as every other human being on this planet. Exclusion is unnecessary and inappropriate.
So please, educate yourself and others, show support for the LGBTQ Community and vote against politicians that fail to honour basic human rights.
All humans deserve to be treated with love, dignity and respect.
Homosexuality and transsexuality are not a choice, and love is not a crime.
Be kind to one another.
Thank you for listening.
PD,
Please convey my admiration for and my best wishes to your granddaughter.
Thanks for sharing.
Ken