;)
The Commentariat -- March 4, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Dan Mangan of CNBC: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Monday blasted Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for an 'inane AND anti-Semitic' tweet that spelled billionaire hedge-fund operator Tom Steyer's last name with a '$.'"
Predicate to an Impeachment. Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Monday announced a sweeping investigation into ... Donald Trump's campaign, businesses, transition and administration, a probe that would lay the groundwork for Democrats if they choose to pursue impeachment proceedings against the President. The Judiciary Committee on Monday sent letters to 81 people and entities -- including the White House, the Justice Department, senior campaign officials, Trump Organization officials and the President's sons -- marking the start of a broad investigation that will tackle questions including possible corruption, obstruction of justice, hush-money payments to women, collusion with Russia and allegations of the President abusing his office and using it for personal gain. They are demanding responses within two weeks." ...
... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "In the two months since they took control of the House, Democrats have begun investigating members of the president's cabinet, his businesses, his campaign, his inaugural committee and his ties to key foreign powers, including Russia and its attempts to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. But Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made clear on Monday that the new majority intends to train its attention on actions at the heart of Mr. Trump's norm-bending presidency -- actions that could conceivably form the basis of a future impeachment proceeding.... In a statement released Monday, Mr. Nadler said that it was imperative to 'begin building the public record' of what he has contended are Mr. Trump's abuses."
Matt Shuham of TPM: "... Donald Trump ordered his chief of staff and top economic adviser to pressure the Justice Department to intervene against AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2017, according to a New Yorker report (also linked below). The Justice Department eventually did intervene, unsuccessfully. In late summer 2017, The New Yorker reported, a few months before the Justice Department formally filed suit to block the deal, Trump ordered Gary Cohn, then his chief economic adviser, to pressure the Justice Department to oppose the acquisition. The magazine, citing an unnamed 'well-informed source,' reported that Trump told White House chief of staff John Kelly and Cohn in an Oval Office meeting: 'I've been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing's happened! I've mentioned it fifty times. And nothing's happened. I want to make sure it's filed. I want that deal blocked!' According to the same source, Cohn, who announced his resignation in March 2018, told Kelly on the way out of the meeting: 'Don't you fucking dare call the Justice Department. We are not going to do business that way.'... The same New Yorker report, which focused on the relationship between Fox News and the President, also revealed that a Fox News reporter uncovered Trump's hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, but that Fox News blocked the publication of the story. An executive reportedly told the reporter: 'Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert [Murdoch], wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go.'" ...
... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd." Ronn Blitzer of Law & Crime: "The [New Yorker] article states that reporter Diana Falzone spent much of 2016 working on the story, and 'had obtained proof that Trump had engaged in a sexual relationship in 2006 with a pornographic film actress calling herself Stormy Daniels.' Falzone had also reportedly uncovered information related to the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels later signed, and how her attorney had worked with then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.... Falzone was reportedly ready to go with this story in October 2016, but it never saw the light of day, despite having confirmation from Daniels' former manager and ex-husband, in addition to emails between Cohen and Daniels' former attorney. After getting the run-around from different editors, Falzone's article was eventually shot down for good by Ken LaCorte, who was the head of FoxNews.com, the New Yorker reported."
Ana Herrero & Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader who defied a travel ban and left the country more than a week ago, returned Monday in what could turn into a new showdown with President Nicolás Maduro."
Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would open archives from the pontificate of Pius XII, possibly allowing historians to shed light on the actions of the pope during World War II, in particular his response to the Holocaust. Some critics of Pius XII maintain that he was shamefully silent during the Nazi massacre of Jews during the war, while others claim he saved thousands of lives by tasking the Roman Catholic Church with assisting victims of persecution."
Juliette Garside & Caelainn Barr of the Guardian: "A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal. Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin's presidency. In all, it is estimated that $4.6bn (£3.5bn) was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The details have emerged from 1.3m banking transactions obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Lithuanian website 15min.lt. Shared with media partners including the Guardian, the data represents one of the largest ever banking leaks.There is no suggestion that end recipients of funds were aware of the original source of the money, which arrived via a disguised route."
~~~~~~~~~~
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
It's the Democrats' Fault. Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Sunday that the congressional testimony of Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer, was in part responsible for the collapse in negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program last week -- continuing to vent about the investigations encircling him and his associates.... 'For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the "walk,"' he tweeted. 'Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!'... And earlier Sunday evening, he tweeted -- as he has done many times before -- about 'Presidential Harassment' from 'crazed' Democrats, calling it at the 'highest level in the history of our Country.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's right, Donnie. It had nothing to do with the fact that you never should have given Li'l Kim another moment on the world stage, your complete lack of preparation & your own not-surprising failure to charm Kim into doing something that everyone who watches the nightly news knew Kim wasn't ever going to do. BTW, the reason Mike Pompeo joined you on the dais during your N.K. presser was in hopes of muzzling you. It didn't work. Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to say if he believes that Kim Jong Un did not know about Otto Warmbier's mistreatment while the American college student was imprisoned in North Korea, as President Trump has asserted." Oh, and here's John Bolton on "Fox 'News' Sunday" trying to clean up after you: "It's not taking the word. He said I'm going to take -- when he says, 'I'm going to take him at his word,' it doesn't mean that he accepted as reality, it means that he accepts that's what Kim Jong-un said." Okay then: "I take him at his word" does not mean "I take him at his word."
Quinn Scanlan of ABC News: "Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that his committee will be issuing document requests on Monday to dozens of individuals. 'Tomorrow, we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, Jr., Allen Weisselberg, to begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power,' Nadler said on 'This Week' Sunday.... 'Do you think the president obstructed justice?' asked ... George Stephanopoulos. 'Yes, I do,' Nadler said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Kelsey Tamborrino of Politico: "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday lawmakers have found 'enormous amounts of evidence' into potential collusion between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election. Mark Warner of Virginia made his remarks in response to an assertion that there is 'no factual evidence of collusion' from the Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee.... Warner's House Intelligence Committee counterpart, Adam Schiff, said Sunday on CBS' 'Face the Nation' that there's both 'direct evidence' and 'abundant circumstantial evidence' of collusion with Russia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: “Lawmakers are investigating whether President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was involved in any discussions about possible pardons -- which they view as a potentially ripe area of inquiry into whether anyone sought to obstruct justice, people familiar with the matter said. Cohen has said publicly he never asked for -- and would not accept -- a pardon from Trump. But people familiar with the matter said his knowledge on the topic seems to extend beyond that statement. Privately, lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence committees pressed Cohen last week on whether he had had any discussions about a possible pardon and, if so, when and with whom those conversations took place, the people said.... Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the closed-door testimony, though he said on MSNBC on Thursday night that 'new information was developed that could be game-changing,' and that it was about 'lying and obstruction evidence.'"
Roger Stone Cannot STFU.Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Roger Stone on Sunday suggested he has been 'framed' by special counsel Robert Mueller in an Instagram post that appeared to run afoul of a judge's barely week-old gag order barring ... Donald Trump's longtime friend from criticizing the prosecutors in the criminal case against him. Stone deleted the only image in that multi-image post that included 'Who framed Roger Stone' language shortly after CNBC emailed his lawyer to ask about it.... The gag extends to 'posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other form of social media.' If Stone violates the order, Jackson could order him jailed without bail until his trial."
Thanks to Rand Paul, Trumpy-Dumpty's Wall Just Had a Great Fall. Dan Sergent of the Bowling Green Daily News: "The Republican Party cheerleading session that is the Southern Kentucky Lincoln Day Dinner veered slightly off course Saturday with this pronouncement by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Bowling Green: 'I can't vote to give extra-Constitutional powers to the president.' In a speech to the crowd of nearly 200 Republican officeholders and supporters at Western Kentucky University's Augenstein Alumni Center, Paul interjected, in a speech devoted largely to praising the work of ... Donald Trump, his opinion that Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border is a dangerous precedent.... Three GOP senators -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have already said they will vote to derail the emergency declaration. If Paul joins them and the Senate's 47 Democrats, the president will need to veto the measure in order to get his emergency money." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Intel Briefers Cater to Dumbcluck-in-Chief. Julian Barnes & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "In an effort to accommodate President Trump, who has attacked them publicly as 'naïve' and in need of going 'back to school,' the nation's intelligence agencies have revamped their presentations to focus on subjects their No. 1 customer wants to hear about -- economics and trade. Intelligence officers, steeped in how Mr. Trump views the world, now work to answer his repeated question: Who is winning? What the president wants to know, according to former officials, is what country is making more money or gaining a financial advantage." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: You can see why Michael Cohen threatened to kill the registrars who keep the records of Trump's grades. I doubt he even got "gentlemen's 'C's," because he professors probably thought associating "Trump" & "gentleman" was ridiculous.
Washington Post Editors: "President Trump's hypocrisy seldom comes packaged in such a neat bundle as it did recently when he insisted that European governments 'take back' hundreds of their citizens captured while fighting for the Islamic State. Five days later, he proudly asserted the United States refuses to do the same in the case of an American woman who married three Islamic State fighters and is now in custody in Syria."
Guess What Li'l Kim's Hackers Were Doing While Trump Was Kissing His Ample Ass. Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "North Korean hackers who have targeted American and European businesses for 18 months kept up their attacks last week even as President Trump was meeting with North Korea's leader in Hanoi. The attacks, which include efforts to hack into banks, utilities and oil and gas companies, began in 2017, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company McAfee, a time when tensions between North Korea and the United States were flaring. But even though both sides have toned down their fiery threats and begun nuclear disarmament talks, the attacks persist."
Isabel Debre of the AP: "The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem, downgrading the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the U.S. Embassy to Israel. For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy. The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership." Mrs. McC: As far as I can tell, cutting off diplomatic ties to Palestine is part of Jared Kushner's Middle East peace plan. I'm not kidding here.
Phil McCausland & Mariana Atencio of NBC News: "Parents deported to Central America by U.S. immigration officials returned to the southern border Saturday to demand asylum and reunification with the children they were forced to leave behind. The 29 parents, who were sent back to their home countries last year after crossing illegally into the U.S. with their children, traveled over the past month with immigration lawyers, religious leaders and other supporters in the hope of rejoining their kids."
Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "On America's southern border, migrant women and girls are the victims of sexual assaults that most often go unreported, uninvestigated and unprosecuted. Even as women around the world are speaking out against sexual misconduct, migrant women on the border live in the shadows of the #MeToo movement.... Undocumented women making their way into American border towns have been beaten for disobeying smugglers, impregnated by strangers, coerced into prostitution, shackled to beds and trees and -- in at least a handful of cases -- bound with duct tape, rope or handcuffs.... Much of [the violence] happens after women reach the supposed safety of the United States.... At least five of the women who were assaulted -- in one case, bound with duct tape, raped and stabbed -- were attacked ... by on-duty Border Patrol agents and Customs officers." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sadly, we now have a documented case of a migrant woman who was bound with duct tape (though not necessarily on her face, as Trump has claimed) raped & stabbed -- by a U.S. official.
Lee Fang & Nick Surgey of The Intercept: "On the first day the new Congress was in session in January, Rep. John Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland, introduced the For the People Act, known in the House of Representatives as H.R.1. The sweeping bill seeks to revamp lobbyist registration, campaign financing, and voting rights.... By the end of the month, hearings were held on Capitol Hill. One of the witnesses before the House Judiciary Committee hearings was Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission member who is now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.... In his prepared testimony, he wrote that H.R.1 is 'clearly unconstitutional,' complaining that its provisions 'come at the expense of federalism.' Just two weeks later, however, as von Spakovsky addressed a private gathering of conservatives, he was considerably more candid about his reason for opposing the bill.... Von Spakovsky explained that expanded voting rights and nonpartisan redistricting could imperil GOP political power." --s ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It is "secret" but obvious confederate orthodoxy that "voting rights" should be cut back to what they were in 1789, when -- in most states -- only white, propertied men could vote. Our anti-democratic Electoral College, of course, is a vestige of that system.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. "State TV/Servile Propaganda Ops" Edition. Jane Mayer of the New Yorker in a long piece on Fox "News": "As the President has been beset by scandals, congressional hearings, and even talk of impeachment, Fox has been both his shield and his sword. The White House and Fox interact so seamlessly that it can be hard to determine, during a particular news cycle, which one is following the other's lead. All day long, Trump retweets claims made on the network; his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, has largely stopped holding press conferences, but she has made some thirty appearances on such shows as' Fox & Friends' and 'Hannity.' Trump, [Prof. Nicole] Hemmer says, has 'almost become a programmer.... Nothing has formalized the partnership between Fox and Trump more than the appointment, in July, 2018, of Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, as director of communications and deputy chief of staff at the White House.... [Confederate Bill] Kristol contends that Shine's White House appointment is a scandal....' It's astounding that Shine -- the guy who covered up [Roger] Ailes's horrible behavior -- is the deputy chief of staff!'"
Caleb Ecarma of Mediaite: "Conservative Political Action Conference organizers threatened to ban every Mediaite reporter after a private complaint from ex-White House official Seb Gorka, who was caught on video shoving this reporter at the right-wing gathering last year." ...
... Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Seb Gorka, pundit turned White House staffer turned pundit, is no longer a Fox News contributor, the network confirmed to Mediaite. Gorka, a self-proclaimed national security expert, worked as a contributor for Fox News before he joined the Trump administration (to apparently wreak havoc on the National Security Council). He returned to Fox News in November 2017 shortly after he was reportedly forced out of the administration by former chief of staff John Kelly. When reached for comment, Gorka replied to Mediaite with a furious torrent of emails, the first of which accused this reporter of being in a 'drug-induced haze.' 'You really are obsessed with me aren't you. I'd be flattered if you weren't a washed-out hack,' Gorka wrote in a second email." Mrs. McC: I'd describe this as a Gorka meltdown, but it's Gorka's standard MO. All the best people, you know.
"The Neo-Nazi Plot Against America." Vegas Tenold of the Guardian: "Increased violence from far-right activists at a time when the administration is friendlier toward their goals is not without historical precedent, said the University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew, the author of Bring the War Home: the White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Belew explained that the far right's affinity for Donald Trump might mean more violence during his time in the White House, not less. 'The last time the movement underwent a major revolutionary turn was under the Reagan administration, during a moment of supposedly friendly state power,' she said.... 'What we've seen in the Trump-era is that a lot of the people on the fringes see opportunities for political engagement where they didn't see it before,' said Berger. 'The question is: what happens when that window closes?'" --s
Presidential Race 2020. Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: "John Hickenlooper, the two-time Colorado governor ... who has overseen Colorado's remarkable economic expansion, declared his candidacy for president on Monday. Mr. Hickenlooper, 67, a socially progressive, pro-business Democrat who has called himself an 'extreme moderate,' had long said he was considering a run, and made early visits to Iowa and New Hampshire."
Beyond the Beltway
Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "A woman in Los Angeles was sentenced to 15 years in prison this past week for what the authorities said was an unprovoked attack on an elderly man last year. The woman, Laquisha Jones, 30, was accused of beating the man with a brick and telling him to 'go back to your country,' the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said. Ms. Jones was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to an elder abuse charge, as part of a plea agreement in December."
** Daniel Trotta of Reuters: "A rapidly growing number of counties in at least four states are declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, refusing to enforce gun-control laws that they consider to be infringements on the U.S. constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Organizers of the pro-gun sanctuaries admit they took the idea from liberals who have created immigration sanctuaries across the United States where local officials defy the Trump administration's efforts to enforce tougher immigration laws. Now local conservatives are rebelling against majority Democratic rule in the states." --s
News Ledes
New York Times: "Luke Perry, who burst onto the television scene and countless fan-magazine covers in 1990 as one of the core cast members of the Fox drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' then went on to a busy career in television and film that included, most recently, the CW series 'Riverdale,' died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 52. His family announced the death. He had been hospitalized after a stroke last Wednesday."
USA Today: "First responders scoured debris Monday searching for missing people after several tornadoes devastated communities in the Southeast. At least 23 people died in one Alabama county, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said. Officials expect the numbers to rise as they assess damage and begin recovery. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris told The Associated Press that he had to call in help from the state because there were more bodies than his office could handle."
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Reader Comments (13)
Several days ago I mentioned Chris Christi's ubiquitous presence on all the talk shows and was puzzled as to why he was so sanguine about Trump's treatment of him. I now have the answer thanks to Fintan O'Toole who reviewed Christi's book. Recall that Chris had been put in charge of the transition team who spent months putting together thirty binders of plans only to be tossed in a dumpster after Bannon told Christi he was fired. Also recall that Trump dangled plum positions in front of Christi–-none of them came to fruition.
O'Toole thinks Christi comes across in his book more like a naive ingenue being trifled with by a cynical lothario, a Cécile to Trump's Valmont who still, after being cruelly exploited and abandoned does not understand the nature of his dangerous liaison.
"He told me he loved me" says Christi..."We've got to be together, you and me"..."You know how I feel about you"...and Christi responds by saying:
"I could help him, and he needed me."
"The reason he had to be banished from the Eden of Trump Tower along with his thirty binders, is that he threatened to erase Trump's most precious quality: He had the temerity to think he could make what he calls the 'unpredictable celebrity businessman' into a predicable president." Christi's plan would have placed qualified people in government positions; he had a first day plan, a 100 day plan and a 200 day plan––predicable like most presidents want and need. But this president does not want predicable; he wants chaos and ruin because in that he has power.
Poor Christi like so many other poor schmucks ––all delusional thinking that Trump loved them.
The PBS series of "Victoria" had its finale last night. I thought this dramatization of Queen Victoria's rule from the beginning and then ending the series with Albert's death was done really well–-the actual history and palace intrigue was worth a prize or two. Good, too, that we got to watch a woman in charge and what hell it was at times to deal with the many males although Victoria appeared to form close relationships with a few, especially her beloved Albert. There is a scene at the end between Victoria and her trusted head of the military and foreign affairs who is stepping down telling Victoria that a younger man is needed for this job–-that he has run his time and needs to retire. The two are standing together, he is about to take his leave when he looks down at her and says:
I never had a daughter, M'am, but If I had, I'd like her to be just like you."
and Victoria responds:
"I never had a father but I know now how hard it is to lose one."
and he tells her:
"Stick to your guns, M'am, and remember not to give in to sentimentality––at any age."
This moved me greatly.
Haven't turned this one into a letter to the editor yet, and may never will, but the rank insanity of seeing an equivalence between providing sanctuary to people and to weapons that are too often used to kill them should be glaringly obvious.
@PD Pepe: I think you're killing off Albert too soon. The Chrystal Palace exhibition was in 1851; Albert died in 1861, after a long illness.
@Marie: You're quite right––it's just that the series ended with him on the floor and not being as well informed as you as to his actual death I just assumed it was curtains. Thanks for the correction––gave him some more years in his crystal palace.
Here's Paul Jay from The Real News in conversation with three other academics on "The Most Harrowing Revelation of the Cohen Hearing: ( if Trump loses in 2020 will there be a coup?) If you can get past all the "I means" it's an interesting read.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-most-harrowing-revelation-of-the-cohen-hearing/
PD,
I didn't catch last night's "Victoria", but if they bump off Albert at this moment in time it will be (as Marie points out) ahistorical, to say the least. Although I must say that Albert has been something of a dick most of this season, so a bit of the old stomach trouble is not unwarranted. No one knows exactly what did him in, but current thinking is that it may have been Crohn's disease or some form of colitis rather than the typhoid fever given by contemporary doctors as the reason for the prince's demise, thus preparing the way, some years later, for jokes about "Prince Albert in a can" (in more ways than one).
As with almost all historical dramas, "Victoria" messes about with timelines. I'm not a scholar of Victoriana, but I knew enough about Dr. John Snow's work to recognize that half a decade here, half a decade there wouldn't upset many viewers. I didn't care all that much because Snow's bit of epidemiological detective work is one of the great stories in medical history. But if they give old Albert the heave-ho ten years too early, it will be an historical bridge too far. Plenty of time yet for him to continue his dickishness.
Most historical dramas play around with dates and events to compress the most fun and/or outrageous stuff in order to present viewers with a more compacted dramaturgy. Maybe event A and event B were too far removed from one another, so might as well delete that A to B period so as to get on to the next cool thing. But just think. When PBS does its "Age of Trump" miniseries, nothing will need to be compacted. Whacky shit happens every day. The only deletions will be which bit of craziness should be excised in order to spend more time with Crazy A, Crazy B, Crazy C, Crazy D, and so on, up to Crazy Z and Crazy Z'.
To those who pursue an education, so vital in this day and age. Education is important, so too is childcare. Are these the people not smart enough to vote for Trump?
@Ak
Regardless, I'll relish repeats of his perp walk scene. That could easily be a complete episode.
It's difficult to imagine Michael Cohen threatening so many people
at the behest of his boss, the president*. If the 500 number is an
actuality as Cohen claims, that seems like one a day. I think they
should all get together in a class action suit and sue trump's ass off.
Can one sue a sitting president? Probably not.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/opinions/i-was-one-of-the-500-
people-michael-cohen-says-he-threatened-dantonio/
Oh nooo! PD, I had decided to remain blissfully ignorant about whether Albert died right then, as cliffhanger, but now I know... I wonder if Sophie runs off to America with her footman—. If you know, and they are real, don’t tell me! Some mysteries must be preserved! Ha! I really enjoyed this season, supported as it was by tours and re-enactments based on photos and documentation. And fabulous costumery. It was an interesting era.
@Jeanne: Don't worry; Sophie is a fake character. She is very loosely based on a real person, so I won't tell you what happened to the real person in case the writers have Sophie follow the real person's path.
It's interesting to see that the WH princess isn't on Nadler's list of invitees. I wonder what's up with that.
Also, I'm curious to know if the presidunce* is starting to feel what it's like to be grabbed by the 'nads.
It would seem to this naif that the impending House action, whatever form it takes, is more proof that the new House member might well have had it right.
Israel is a foreign policy problem with no reasonable--certainly not a simple--solution.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/04/omar-israel-house-democrats-1201881