;)
The Commentariat -- May 8, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump told President Emmanuel Macron of France on Tuesday morning that he plans to announce the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, according to a person briefed on the conversation. Mr. Trump's decision unravels the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama, isolating the United States among its allies and leaving it at even greater odds with its adversaries in dealing with the Iranians. The United States is preparing to reinstate all sanctions it had waived as part of the nuclear accord -- and impose additional economic penalties as well, the person said.... Mr. Trump's decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, plunges America's relations with European allies into deep uncertainty.... It also raises the prospect of increased tensions with Russia and China, which also are parties to the agreement." Mrs. McC: In other words, "Trump Threatens International Security in 2018 Campaign Move to Avoid Impeachment: Announcement at 2 pm ET." It's all about Donald. Always. ...
... New Lede: It's All Obama's Fault: "President Trump declared on Tuesday that he was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and isolating the United States among its Western allies. 'This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,' Mr. Trump said at the White House in announcing his decision. 'It didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will.'"
*****
David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Monday that he was ready to announce whether he would pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, as European officials quietly indicated they had failed to convince the administration that dismantling the accord would be a huge diplomatic error. Diplomats who were familiar with the negotiations said Mr. Trump appeared inclined to scrap the deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran that were suspended in an accord reached in Vienna in July 2015." ...
... ** New Lede, with Steven Erlanger also on the byline: "President Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday that he is withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, European diplomats said after concluding that they had failed to convince him that reneging on America's commitment to the pact could cast the West into new confrontation with Tehran." ...
... Michael Shear> & Ronen Bergman of the New York Times: "Now, just as President Trump appears likely to announce his decision to withdraw from the [Iran nuclear] deal, evidence has surfaced that the agreement's opponents engaged in a sophisticated effort to dig up dirt on [Benjamin] Rhodes..., a top national security aide to President Barack Obama..., and his family that continued well after the Obama administration left office. A detailed report about Mr. Rhodes, compiled by Black Cube, a private investigations firm established by former intelligence analysts from the Israeli Defense Forces, contains pictures of his apartment in Washington, telephone numbers and email addresses of members of his family, as well as unsubstantiated allegations of personal and ethical transgressions. In a separate case in 2017, the same firm was hired to gather dirt on women accusing Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul, of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. It is unclear who hired Black Cube to prepare the report on Mr. Rhodes and a similar report on Colin Kahl, the national security adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... The Guardian, which first published the existence of the reports on Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Kahl, said aides to Mr. Trump hired the firm, but there is no evidence ... that indicate any connection to anyone in Mr. Trump's administration." ...
Most explicit statement yet tying Trump circle and #BlackCube dirty tricks ops... @julianborger [of the Guardian]: 'our sourcing who are close to this private security firm said it was clear that, when the tasking for this went out, that the ultimate customer was the Trump team, the Trump camp.' -- Ryan Goodman, in a tweet ...
... Michelle Goldberg: "In a remotely normal America, Congress would immediately plan hearings into Black Cube.... Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council..., recently discovered, thanks to a reporter covering the Black Cube story, that he had been interviewed last year by a Black Cube operative posing as a journalist.... There are still a great many unknowns in this story, which, like so much of this administration, has a wild, dystopian implausibility.... It's grotesque that Black Cube ... target[ed] the spouses of former Obama administration officials. And if Trump's team had any role at all in using foreign spies against American citizens, it should end his presidency, even if it probably won't.... [Colin] Kahl emphasized that he has no idea who was behind the approach to his wife. But he points out that Trump officials were obsessed with him and [Ben] Rhodes; on Fox News, the former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka spoke darkly about the 'Ben Rhodes-Colin Kahl nexus.'" ...
... Ken W. suggests in today's Comments that to answer -- or further muddy -- the "great many unknowns" about the Black Cube affair, we should just ask Rudy. Seems like a plan.
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "Trump has begun questioning whether [Rudy] Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, should be sidelined from television interviews, according to two people familiar with the president's thinking.... Trump also expressed annoyance that Giuliani's theatrics have breathed new life into the Daniels story and extended its lifespan. It's a concern shared by Trump allies who think Giuliani is only generating more legal and political trouble for the White House.... Trump, who has denied the affair with Daniels, was angry that Giuliani had given the impression that other women may make similar charges of infidelity.... Additionally, Trump has grown agitated in recent days by cable news replays of Giuliani's Wednesday interview with Sean Hannity, in which he first said that Trump knew about the payment but claimed it wouldn't be a campaign violation. A clearly surprised Hannity then asked, 'Because they funneled it through the law firm?' To which Giuliani responded, 'Funneled it through the law firm, and the president repaid him.' Trump snapped at both men in recent days, chiding Hannity for using the word 'funneled,' which he believes had illegal connotations, according to the people." ...
... Eliana Johnson, et al., of Politico: "The president has been griping to associates that Rudy Giuliani, his new personal attorney, has failed to shut down the Stormy Daniels hush money saga. And he has expressed frustration that Giuliani's media appearances are raising more questions than they are answering, turning the story into a days-long drama capped by the admission Sunday that the president may have made similar payments to other women.... Some aides said they expect the president to fire Giuliani if his behavior doesn't change.... In a phone interview Monday, Giuliani [told Politico.] 'If I'm not up to it, I don't know who is.... I know the Justice Department better than just about anyone.'"
CBS News: "... Rudy Giuliani ... told CBS News correspondent Paula Reid Monday afternoon that special counsel Robert Mueller's office has rejected proposals to allow Mr. Trump to answer questions from investigators in writing.... If negotiations are not successful and Mr. Trump is subpoenaed, he will fight it, Giuliani said. The case would likely end up at the Supreme Court." ...
Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "The Trump legal team is still deciding how to handle the possibility of President President Trump sitting down with Robert Mueller. Per The Wall Street Journal, the Trump legal team will make a final determination on whether to go ahead with it by next week -- May 17th.... And per the Journal, Trump's lawyers are apparently concerned about the prep process for a potential sit-down interview: 'Preparing Mr. Trump to testify would be a serious distraction to his work as president, eating into time he needs to deal with pressing global issues, Mr. Trump's lawyers contend. In an informal, four-hour practice session, Mr. Trump's lawyers were only able to walk him through two questions, given the frequent interruptions on national-security matters along with Mr. Trump's loquaciousness, one person familiar with the matter said.'"
Mallory Shelbourne of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday criticized the suggestion that he has obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, saying he is simply 'fighting back.' The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found No Collusion, Coordination or anything else with Russia,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'So now the Probe says OK, what else is there? How about Obstruction for a made up, phony crime. There is no O, it's called Fighting Back.'... 'The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice...and just wait 'till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!' Trump added Monday." (Also linked yesterday.)
New York Times Editors: "... let’s pause to remember what happened one year ago this week, when ... President Trump fired the F.B.I. director, James Comey. That shocking act remains the best distillation of the mind-set of this president: He considers himself answerable to no one.... He said of the firing, 'When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.'... The day after he dumped Mr. Comey, Mr. Trump entertained top Russian officials in the Oval Office. 'I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,' he told them. 'I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off.' The president ... admitted, twice, that he [fired Comey] to shut down an investigation into his campaign, his top associates and possibly himself.... Like aspiring authoritarians everywhere, Mr. Trump sees law enforcement in intensely personal terms. When the law investigates you, it's a witch hunt; when it's used to punish your enemies, it's an essential tool.... Americans should remember May 9, 2017, as the beginning of one of the great tests of American democracy."
Rudy Who? Josh Lederman of the AP: "The Trump administration sought to distance itself Monday from Rudy Giuliani's dramatic public statements about Iran and North Korea, saying that ... Donald Trump's new lawyer does not speak for the president on matters of foreign policy.... Giuliani has raised eyebrows for a series of startling assertions not only about his legal strategy and the special counsel investigation, but also about global affairs and Trump's policies. That spurred widespread confusion over whether the former New York mayor, now on Trump's payroll, was disclosing information he'd been told by the president, stating U.S. government policy or merely describing his own impression of events. 'He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy,' State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauertsaid Monday.... 'We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners today,' Giuliani told Fox News [last week].... There has been no formal announcement by the U.S. government.... Then on Saturday, Giuliani caused another stir when he spoke to a group that supports the overthrow of Iran's government and said that the president was 'committed' to regime change in Iran.... [The Trump] administration has not called for overthrowing Iran's government."
Damian Paletta & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "President Trump is sending a plan to Congress that calls for stripping more than $15 billion in previously approved spending, with the hope that it will temper conservative angst over ballooning budget deficits. Almost half of the proposed cuts would come from two accounts within the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that White House officials said expired last year or are not expected to be drawn upon. An additional $800 million in cuts would come from money created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to test innovative payment and service delivery models. Those are just a handful of the more than 30 programs the White House is proposing to Congress for 'rescission,' a process of culling back money that was previously authorized. Once the White House sends the request to Congress, lawmakers have 45 days to vote on the plan ... through a simple majority vote. If approved by Congress, the reductions would represent less than 0.4 percent of total government spending this year.... '... President Trump and Republicans in Congress are looking to tear apart the bipartisan [CHIP], hurting middle-class families and low-income children, to appease the most conservative special interests and feel better about blowing up the deficit to give the wealthiest few and biggest corporations huge tax breaks,' Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday." ...
... Miriam Jordan & Ron Nixon of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced Monday that it is dramatically stepping up prosecutions of those who illegally cross the Southwest border, ramping up a 'zero tolerance' policy intended to deter new migrants with the threat of jail sentences and separating immigrant children from their parents. 'If you cross the Southwest border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It's that simple,' Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in announcing a policy that will impose potential criminal penalties on border crossers who previously faced mainly civil deportation proceedings -- and in the process, force the separation of families crossing the border for months or longer.... The new policy strikes squarely at parents who have traveled with their children, some apparently with the expectation that they would face shorter periods of detention while their cases were heard. 'If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law,' Mr. Sessions said at a law enforcement conference in Scottsdale, Ariz." ...
... Melania Trolls Donald & JeffBo. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "... Melania Trump stepped into the Rose Garden and said she would focus her official effort as first lady on teaching children to put kindness first in their lives, particularly on social media.... Mrs. Trump unveiled a program called 'Be Best,' which she said would tackle opioid abuse, social media pressures and mental health issues among young people.... Mrs. Trump's program will primarily repackage projects that already exist, including an initiative by the National Safety Council to encourage people to be proactive with talking to their doctors about opioid abuse, and guidelines distributed by the Federal Trade Commission on children's social media activity.... Mrs. Trump came up with the logo and program name herself, her aides said. Observers on social media seized on the event, noting that ... Mrs. Obama ... had delivered a speech last year urging men to 'be better.' During the 2016 campaign, Mrs. Trump took flack for a speech that appeared to be sourced, in part, from remarks Mrs. Obama made in 2008."
Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump issued an online vote of confidence Monday for Gina Haspel, his pick to be the next director of the CIA, and chided Democrats who have been critical of her for her role in waterboarding terrorism suspects at a secret agency prison. 'My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!'" (Also linked yesterday.)
One of these men is Dr. Evil. The other is a Canadian actor. Thanks to a friend for sending the pic.Eric Lipton & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "... a new cache of emails offer a detailed look inside the [EPA's] aggressive efforts to conceal [Administrator Scott Pruitt's] activities as a public servant. The more than 10,000 documents, made public as part of a Freedom of Information lawsuit by the Sierra Club, show that the agency's close control of Mr. Pruitt's events is driven more by a desire to avoid tough questions from the public than by concerns about security, contradicting Mr. Pruitt's longstanding defense of his secretiveness. Time and again, the files show, decisions turn on limiting advance public knowledge of Mr. Pruitt's appearances in order to control the message. The emails, many of which are communications with Mr. Pruitt's schedulers, show an agency that divides people into 'friendly and 'unfriendly' camps.... 'The security aspect is smoke and mirrors,' said Kevin Chmielewski, Mr. Pruitt's former deputy chief of staff for operations, who is one of several former E.P.A. officials who have said that they were fired or sidelined for disagreeing with Mr. Pruitt's management practices. 'He didn't want anybody to question anything,' Mr. Chmielewski said, adding that Mr. Pruitt 'just doesn't understand what it's like to be a public figure.'... Three other current and former agency officials, who asked not to be identified because they still work for the government, expressed similar views." ...
Dear Scotty: I knocked myself out drawing that little mustache on your pic. But you don't have to fly first-class on my account. There is a difference between ridicule & death threats. That was ridicule. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbieZahra Hirji & Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed: "The Environmental Protection Agency's internal watchdog launched three investigations this year into potential threats against Scott Pruitt, the agency's administrator. All three cases were closed due to a lack of evidence that Pruitt had been seriously threatened, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. One of the threats, made in March, consisted of someone drawing a mustache on Pruitt's face on the cover of Newsweek and taping the magazine inside of an elevator at an EPA building." ...
... Coral Davenport & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Senior White House staff members are encouraging President Trump to fire Scott Pruitt.... While Mr. Trump has until now championed Mr. Pruitt, the officials say the president's enthusiasm may be cooling because of the ongoing cascade of alleged ethical and legal missteps.... Since last month's confirmation of Mr. Pruitt's deputy, the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, White House staff members say they believe that if Mr. Pruitt is fired or resigns, Mr. Wheeler will continue to effectively push through Mr. Trump's agenda to help the coal industry and roll back environmental regulations." ...
... Emily Holden & Anthony Adragna of Politico: "EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt placed a polluted California area on his personal priority list of Superfund sites targeted for 'immediate and intense' action after conservative radio and television host Hugh Hewitt brokered a meeting between him and lawyers for the water district that was seeking federal help to clean up the polluted Orange County site.... Hewitt [is] a resident of Orange County whose son James works in EPA's press office... Since then, Hewitt has been a robust defender of Pruitt, dismissing his recent controversies as 'nonsense scandals.'... Environmental advocates have worried Pruitt's efforts to identify Superfund priority sites would bypass the process set up by Congress to ensure cleanup resources are divided fairly, and that he could focus on sites seen as important to his political supporters." Mrs. McC: No kidding. Anyhow, if Sean Hannity can run the White House, I don't see why Hugh Hewitt can't run the EPA.
Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "Fair-housing advocates planned to file a lawsuit early Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and HUD Secretary Ben Carson for suspending an Obama-era rule requiring communities to examine and address barriers to racial integration. The 2015 rule required more than 1,200 communities receiving billions of federal housing dollars to draft plans to desegregate their communities -- or risk losing federal funds. After nearly 50 years of inaction, the rule was seen as a belated effort by HUD to enforce the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which compelled communities to use federal dollars to end segregation in residential neighborhoods.... The lawsuit alleges Carson unlawfully suspended the 2015 rule by not providing advance public notice or opportunity for comment...."
Paul Krugman: "... conservatives hate Obamacare precisely because it works. It shows that government actually can help tens of millions of Americans lead better, more secure lives, and in so doing it threatens their low-tax, small-government ideology. But outright repeal failed, so now it's time for sabotage, which is taking place on two main fronts. One of these fronts involves the expansion of Medicaid, which probably accounted for more than half the gains in coverage under Obamacare. Now a number of Republican-controlled states are trying to make Medicaid harder to get, notably by imposing work requirements on recipients.... The other front involves trying to reduce the number of people signing up for private coverage."
Orrin Hatch Has an Unpresidented Amount of Gall. Ted Barrett of CNN: "Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch said Monday it is 'ridiculous' that ailing Sen. John McCain, also a Republican, doesn't want ... Donald Trump to attend his funeral, as was reported over the weekend. 'I think that's ridiculous,' Hatch told CNN when asked about McCain's desire to keep Trump away. 'He's the President of the United States. He's a very good man. But it's up to John. I think John should have his wishes fulfilled with regard to who attends his funeral.'"
Congressional, Gubernatorial Races
There are primaries today in West Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio. Politico reporters post a rundown of key races.
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump intervened Monday in the West Virginia Republican Senate primary, pleading with voters a day before the election to oppose the former mine operator Don Blankenship, and suggesting that Mr. Blankenship's nomination would lead to a replay of the party's embarrassing loss last year in Alabama. Mr. Trump's decision to speak out on the race came after Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whom Mr. Blankenship has targeted in a deeply personal manner, urged the president in a telephone call on Sunday to weigh in against the controversial former coal executive, according to a Republican official familiar with the conversation.... 'Don Blankenship currently running for Senate, can't win the General Election in your State...No way!' Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet. 'Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Christopher Cadelago & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Trump has increasingly cautioned his party against allowing the House, and even the Senate, to fall into Democratic control, voicing fears about his certain impeachment if that happens. 'We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she's going around saying, "We will impeach him,"' Trump said at a recent rally in Michigan, referring to the Democratic congresswoman from California.... Trump appears to believe victory in the November midterms depends on turning the contests into a referendum on his leadership, rather than risking a district-by-district slog over conventional messaging about the Republican tax overhaul and the upbeat economy." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... I'm Voting for the Racist. Dana Milbank: "Sooner or later, Donald Trump will be gone. Trumpism, however, is here to stay." Don Blankenship's recent surge in the West Virginia Senate polls followed his recent racist ads & comments. "... we have Blankenship, Roy Moore, Joe Arpaio and a proliferation of name-calling misfits and even felons on Republican ballots. They are monsters created by the GOP, or rather the power vacuum the GOP has become.... Trump didn't condemn such filth; he merely said Blankenship 'can't win' and cited the example of Moore -- who Trump unsuccessfully opposed in the Alabama GOP primary."
Jane Mayer & Ronan Farrow of the New Yorker: "Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, has long been a liberal Democratic champion of women's rights, and recently he has become an outspoken figure in the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.... As his prominence as a voice against sexual misconduct has risen, so, too, has the distress of four women with whom he has had romantic relationships or encounters. They accuse Schneiderman of having subjected them to nonconsensual physical violence.... They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent.... two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam..., say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face, and also choked. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him." Read on. Details of the allegations are sickening, frightening & documented. Schneiderman denies the allegations. Mrs. McC: I believe the women. It would be hard not to. ...
... Danny Hakim & Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "Within hours after the allegations were made public, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who like Mr. Schneiderman is a Democrat, called for him to step down.... If Mr. Schneiderman does not resign, the Democratic-controlled Assembly could vote to impeach him. A trial would then be held in the Republican-controlled Senate, which would be joined by judges from the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. A two-thirds vote would be required to remove him." ...
... ** New Lede: "Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general who rose to prominence as an antagonist of the Trump administration, abruptly resigned on Monday night, hours after four women accused him of physically assaulting them in an article published by The New Yorker." Emphasis added. ...
... Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "It took three hours for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to step down Monday night after he was accused by four women of physical abuse in a New Yorker article. Equally swift was the response from allies of President Trump, a longtime nemesis of the attorney general. While the president himself had not weighed in on the news as of early Tuesday morning, numerous Trump supporters from within and outside of the White House reveled in Schneiderman's resignation.... Meanwhile, critics of Trump fired back at those who were quick to condemn Schneiderman while defending a president accused by more than a dozen women of improper conduct or sexual assault."
Bill Saporito of the New York Times: "It's been sort of a revolving door for the perpetrators of the housing bust.... When it all went sideways, people like Steve 'I Take Great Offense to Anybody Who Calls Me the Foreclosure King' Mnuchin picked at the carcasses.... [Sean] Hannity joined this flock of vultures in 2012, buying distressed properties using limited liability corporations -- shell companies that are often used to hide the real ownership.... Rents went up an above-average 50 percent in five years at one of Hannity's Georgia housing complexes.... Not surprisingly, so did evictions -- although his company also renovated the properties. He's a bit of a trendsetter. Housing Secretary Ben Carson suggested tripling the rent of people getting federal subsidies, an interesting anti-poverty solution.... The Republican tax overhaul, which cuts taxes for the wealthy, will make it harder to afford a home.... Mr. Hannity may be a sideshow. But as investors like him profit off the housing collapse, millennials struggle to find homes they can afford. Once again, average Americans struggle, while guys like Mr. Hannity thrive."
NRA Chooses Former International Arms-Dealing Felon (Convictions Vacated) as New Prez. Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a central figure in the Iran-contra affair in the 1980s, has been named president of the National Rifle Association. The NRA's board of directors chose North to be the organization's president Monday morning after NRA President Pete Brownell decided not to seek a second term. 'This is the most exciting news for our members since Charlton Heston became president of our Association,' said NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre.... North will assume the presidency in the coming weeks and has retired from Fox News, where he was a commentator, effective immediately.... North was convicted in 1989 of charges including obstructing Congress, unlawfully mutilating government documents and taking an illegal gratuity. He was fined $150,000, given a three-year suspended sentence and two years' probation. A federal judge dropped the criminal charges against North in 1991." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mark Stern of Slate: "Ginni Thomas is at it again. On Saturday, the conservative activist and lobbyist -- and spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas -- shared a meme on her Facebook page accusing Democrats of engaging in 'a silent coup, not just against Trump, but also against the very premises of our constitutional republic.' The meme, which came from the Citizens [sic] Mandate, featured an image of George Soros, the liberal donor often at the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about malign 'globalist' machinations.... In recent months, [Ginni Thomas has] escalated her rhetoric against perceived political enemies. She has alleged that President Barack Obama ' rigged' (unsuccessfully) the 2016 election for Hillary Clinton and that Robert Mueller is 'going to fabricate whatever fake scandals [are] needed to take down Trump.'"
Peggy McGlone of the Washington Post: "In a first for the Kennedy Center, the board of trustees voted to rescind the high-profile awards it has given [Bill Cosby], who was convicted on three counts of sexual assault last month. Cosby received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998 for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. In 2009, he was the 12th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor."
Beyond the Beltway
Gal Lotan of the Orlando Sentinel: "George Zimmerman has been charged with [misdemeanor] stalking a private investigator who contacted him about a documentary series on Trayvon Martin produced by the rapper Jay Z, court records show.... The private investigator told Seminole County deputies that he had contacted Zimmerman in September on behalf of the series' executive producer, Michael Gasparro.... Zimmerman soon called Gasparro and talked about the documentary series, which will be about 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's life and his 2012 death, for which Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder. The private investigator told deputies he did not hear from Zimmerman again until December. Gasparro called him and said Zimmerman was 'extremely agitated' and sending Gasparro threatening messages, deputies wrote in the request for a warrant. Between Dec. 16, 2017, and Christmas Day, the private investigator told deputies he got 55 phone calls, 67 text messages, 36 voicemails and 27 emails from Zimmerman, records show. When the investigator asked him to stop, Zimmerman texted 'NO!' and then 'Pursue charges,' records show."
Way Beyond
Jane Perlez & Gerry Mullany of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping of China met with Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, on Tuesday, for the second time in two months, continuing a flurry of diplomacy over the North's nuclear program. The meeting in the Chinese port city of Dalian near the North Korean border, came as China tries to regain a central role in the fast-moving diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula."
News Lede
Reuters: "Emergency crews said they were poised to evacuate more people as fissures kept spreading from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano, five days after it started exploding. Around 1,700 people have already been ordered to leave their homes after lava crept into neighborhoods and deadly volcanic gases belched up through cracks in the earth. The evacuation zone could now grow as fissures are spreading into new areas on the eastern side of the Big Island, Hawaii Civic Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno told a community meeting[.]"
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Reader Comments (24)
The intended Black Cube hit on Ben Rhodes and Colina Kahl would seem to be more evidence of the existence of the real deep state, but once again we're likely seeing only the iceberg's tip. The corruption on the corporate Right goes very deep.
Can't wait to hear who paid for this one. Maybe Rudy will tell me tomorrow.
Just finished reading the New Yorker piece on Schneiderman: I feel sick. We women who have been in relationships of either physical or emotional abuse or both find it painful to read what other women have had to endure in a way that brings up the old gut hurt that we ourselves endured. To realize again and again that men of prized reputations, men of solid foundations can be found to be such tortured individuals is so pathetic. And to think we revered Schneiderman as the guy who would come to our rescue––make things better–-get the bad guys off the street and right the world. I truly despair.
PD: It is a huge loss for "our side." Feet, legs, trunks and heads of clay, these guys-- Very disappointed in the AG. Reminds me of Anthony's demise, both New Yorkers...both speakers-out and apparently both sick cookies underneath.
On the "upside," (snark--) so happy to hear Melania flunks original material again and talks with feeling about children and her regime's AG vows to put children in detention the selfsame day. Hideous people, Repugs all.
"Where's my Roy Cohn?" supposedly was Trump's recent question. Think he found himself a new Con, errrr Cohn!.
Margaret Sullivan of the WAPO has a very good commentary today: "Giuliani’s bumbling media blitz might be a calculation, not a mistake." "Where's my Rudy? "
Shudda said, "Here's my Rudy!"
Embarking on a little bumbling of my own here by opining about a woman, especially a woman I never met (Melania), but what the hell, I opine about men I don't know all the time. I even call one of them the Pretender, separating him as far as I can from the inherent dignity of the office he now holds.
I would like to give Melania, whom I am still willing to call the First Lady, all that she's due, all the benefits doubt would allow, but if forced to conclude anything about her (and after yesterday's performance I'm feeling the force) I'd say she's just a fine looking woman who like Pooh has very little brain. The Pretender did not pick her for her intelligence. The Pretender is all surface. Melania is like his hair. He likes how things look.
Unfortunately her new role forces her to say something now and again and neither she nor her handlers have anything of substance to say, so she says little and that infrequently. And when she is trotted out to say something, to make a First Lady cameo, the lines she utters and the initiatives she launches (and then immediately forgets?) are not her own. They are stolen, often and ironically from the preceding Obama administration.
Outright theft, assuming the marks are too dumb to notice. What could come more naturally to the band of grifters she has joined?
I would like to think Melania is deliberately sourcing her material from the Obama's as a sly dig at her philandering husband, who presents himself to his supporters as the anti-Obama, but based on what I have seen I'm reluctant to grant her that much credit.
Instead, she just makes me sad, while her husband makes me very angry.
And I know those twinned but very different reactions to two people, one female, one male, one quiet, one very loud, but both seemingly interested in and acting at the level of appearance only, does say something about me.
What's going on?
Thoughts that cross my mind as I read the stories of physical and other behavioral abuses by men, which has seemed to coarsen and worsened in recent years. (Yeh! It is most generally men, sorry to say). Conflicting in my puzzlement is thinking about all the 'younger' women of that past generation who were in the forefront of the positive changes made in the 60's and 70's...women who recognized the unfair treatment and position so many found themselves in...how did they influence the future sons and daughters. They were women who protested. Who marched. Women who valued their worth.
So why and where then are these male troglodytes (of a certain age) coming from? Many of them most be the children of those former "women-libbers'? No? Didn't mommie have an influence on your behavior in how to treat a woman? Didn't she tell/show you how to interact with women? Has social media diminished us all?
Knew a bunch of jerks when I was younger, but also knew many fine men who showed respect and behaved appropriately.
But, in many disappointing ways male chauvinism is showing an astounding rebirth.
The "threats" against King Scotty who must, at all costs (paid by us, natch), be protected from all those horrible tree huggers who want to inflict "harm" by asking questions, reminds me of an old Father Guido Sarducci sketch.
Talking about a certain church figure nominated for sainthood, Fr. Guido mentioned that he didn't think this person would make the cut. He reminded viewers that in order to become a saint in the Catholic Church, they needed two miracles, but in this case, one was a card trick.
How much more taxpayer money will be spent investigating card tricks for King Scotty?
(Oh, and Marie, that Newsweek cover? I almost fell over thinking it was the real thing (until I read the blurb). You and Andy Borowitz!)
@MAG: I don't disagree with Jay Rosen & some of the others Sullivan cites. But I think Gene Robinson has this right (and I think I wrote something similar the other day): "There is madness in Rudolph W. Giuliani’s incoherence on behalf of President Trump, but there is also method. He’s following the Trump playbook: Confuse, distract, provoke and flood the zone with factoids and truthiness until nobody can be sure what’s real and what’s not." It's not for nothing that in his interview with Stephanopoulos, Giuliani repeatedly said, "The facts don't matter to me."
This Eric Schneiderman thing? Jesus Christ! What is wrong with these guys? Hitting women? Threatening to kill them? Forget that it gives plenty of ammo to the Bible bangers who laud a rapist (alleged) and sexual abuser. The damage done to other human beings because assholes can't control themselves is one of the primary ways we continue cycles of violence. Maybe this is one of those "has to get worse before it gets better" things. If so, can we move on to the getting better part soon, please?
Like racism, it seems misogyny is an ongoing (chronic?) crisis. We think we're getting somewhere then it raises up and bites us again.
At least he resigned quickly and at least Democrats have all come out against such behavior, light years beyond the Troglodytes on the right who still probably think there's nothing wrong with the concept of "actual rape" or pussy grabbing.
@MAG
Re: What's Going On?
Part of the explanation can be found the in recent spate of articles on the Evangelical-Pretender's truly unholy alliance, some of them linked here in the last week or so.
But this is one of my favorites. It came relatively early in the Pretender reign but hits all the right! notes. In short, it documents a movement that arose simultaneously with the advance of women's interests, in large part a counter to it. No one account can say it all, but this one lays out the history pretty well, I think.
http://religionandpolitics.org/2017/01/17/donald-trump-and-militant-evangelical-masculinity
The Pretender era is all about white, MALE, and of course corporate, privilege, which as I said yesterday to someone else, translates into a flowering of sheer nastiness on multiple fronts.
No surprise, NTY a minute ago"Trump Tells Macron the U.S. Will Withdraw From Iran Nuclear Deal".
It's official, we no longer qualify for the use of the word 'allies'.
As always, what interests me most about the Pretender's decisions is his Plan B....which is always mostly absent.
Repeal that ACA? Where's the promised better and cheaper health insurance? Nowhere to be seen.
Turn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over to someone who despises it? Where's the consumer protection? Going....going...gone.
Likewise for the EPA and the Paris Climate Accord. And now where's the environment (and the people who live in it) sitting? Not pretty.
For the latter two there is a plan, but it's Plan A. Scuttle them and damn the consequences.
Now the Iran deal. The Iranians already got their money back. Why would they give a hoot?
The allies Marvin mentioned are cringing. Iran is laughing.
Wonder what the Pretender's buddy Putin (another guarantor of the deal) will do.
Think the Pretender checked?
Doesn't matter what negative news (real news) is reported about the
president*, we shouldn't get all jolly-wobbly because nothing is
going to happen with this congress regarding impeachment or any
type of condemnation, 'cause they's got them an idiot who will sign
anything they put before him which is all they care about and to
heck with the country, the middle class, the poor, the lame, etc. etc.
Perhaps when friend Putin doesn't get his way with his puppet and
comes up with those golden showers tapes, if they exist, then
congress will say "now urine trouble".
But maybe not with all the other misdeeds he's been able to pay his
way out of, like Stormy Daniels. I'll bet when the movie "Stormy"
comes out he'll even want top billing, assuming he's a top.
Forrest,
Maybe they'll include the scene where Stormy spanks his fat ass and asks what's going on with that bird's nest on his head.
The sex scenes (for any who can watch) will feature Stormy fake moaning "Oh Donald!" while checking her watch every 30 seconds and rolling her eyes.
Glad I looked at Brooks today, not so much for the content but for the picture. More Brooks drivel, I thought, not about what Stewart Brand accomplished, which is worth a review for those of a certain age, but about what Brooks made of it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/opinion/stewart-brand-hippie-silicon.html?
But the picture!
What do all those wrinkles say about time passing?
Yes, Brand is two years older than I am, but that picture still presents another powerful argument for me to stay as far as possible away from mirrors.
I'm a good American. I'm in denial.
So the US is out of the Iran deal.
Maybe at some point in the future (though I seriously doubt it), Fat Boy will take time to actually read the agreement he just killed. It really IS all about Trump. National security, international relations, world economy, terrorism, tariffs...none of it matters because he doesn't know shit about any of it. He's made up his pinched mind based on what imbeciles like Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity tell him, and that's that.
Anything more complex than a 15 word bullet point goes right over the orange dome, sails through the Javanka offices, past the half pence, and out the nearest open window to splash into the Potomac.
I'll refrain from asking (once again) how we ever ended up with such an ignorant, fatuous boob as president*.
And Forrest's right. Nothing will happen to him. Not as long as Confederates call the shots. This Black Cube thing sounds bad, and it would be death for any other president (or president*). But not Trump. Fox and the right wing echo chamber have inoculated him against any real world consequences. Any legal or political moves made against the reign of Dumbo will run into waves of fake news, lies, partisan charges, and more attempts to distract and confuse. And the Confederate congress will play See no Evil, Hear no Evil.
Reagan used to be called the Teflon President because nothing seemed to stick to him. Trump is the Anti-Teflon president*: everything sticks, but because there's so much of it, it doesn't matter.
When you have an administration beset by new or updated scandals every four or five days, after a while it's hard to remember it all never mind make sense of it. Remember when Trumpy declared that it might be necessary for his minions to assassinate Hillary Clinton? Remember when he made fun of John McCain for being captured and tortured for five years? Seems like 20 years ago, doesn't it? And there have been scores of instances even worse than those (I know, how much worse can it be than a presidential candidate asking his followers to murder his opponent...how about depriving millions of healthcare? And now jeopardizing tens of millions more by backing out of yet another important deal.)
I know there are presidential historians who love to inform us, when asked if things have ever been this bad, that yes, things have actually been worse. I'll give them the Civil War. That was worse. But when they start throwing around names like Teapot Dome, the Grant administration scandals, and Andrew Johnson, Zachary Taylor, and James Buchanan, I have to point out that none of those guys were close to having the combination of corruption, infantilism, racism, greed, and narcissism as Trump. And even the worst of them affected mostly the United States. When Trump wakes up in the middle of the night and has a tantrum, he gets up in the morning and shoots out waves of distress around the world. It's not just because he's The Donald, it's because of the power of any occupant of the White House.
Sorry historians, it's NEVER been this bad.
Ken,
Not gon' read Brooks. Nope, not gon' do it.
But Stewart Brand? I'm wondering (because I'm not reading Brooks) what a hippie-hating iron rod up the backside conservo-fraud like Brooks is doing writing about Brand?
Well, never mind.
The Whole Earth Catalog was a revelation. I was 14 when it came out and I think I may still have the first one I bought packed away somewhere. It was like Google before there was Google. Before there were personal computers.
Borges wrote a story once called "The Library of Babel". Within this library was collected a universe of knowledge (too much for any one person to accommodate). He called this library the universe.
The WEC wasn't exactly that, but it felt like something close (to a 14 year old); it was a compendium of information and knowledge from too many sources to track down individually and so became almost indispensable for its time.
You could find reviews of interesting books ( I bought a bunch of them eventually), information on building jigs for brick and stone beehive structures, learn how to grow food without tilling the land or read articles about glass blowing. There was nothing like it.
It was Wholly Cool.
Dept. of Corrections:
Chagrin tinged with a little relief. Succumbed to rhyme, maybe, or just screwed up. Brand is not two, but (more than) a few years older than I.
Eight in fact. So am more likely to make use of a mirror the next time I shave.
As for the Whole Earth Catalog, must still have the second edition around here somewhere. The books? One on goat husbandry; another on composting your way the Garden of Eden.
A college friend did much of the typing and setup on it between his graduation and a lengthy commune sojourn, but that's another story.
Yeah, those were the days.
Hmm. The Dow dipped after the Iran deal pullout was announced. I would have thought the surge in defense contractor stocks and the testosterone rush would outweigh the all of those namby pamby fears about consequences.
Ak, I adored the Whole Earth Catalog. I made a solar oven out of aluminum foil and a cardboard box, but I forget what I cooked in it.
This is all so disorienting, isn't it? Black Cube, and the implications flowing from what we're learning, is very scary. The very specific connection to those two Obama negotiators appears to be Seb Gorka. I ran across the nickname "The Kosher Nostra" referring to him, Jared, Steve Miller, etc.--and Harvey Weinstein? This makes me dizzy and sick.
Shouldn't have bothered with my earlier comment about the absence of Plan B. The NYTimes says it in more detail and much better.
The Pretender sure is good at breaking deals. At making them? Not so much.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/iran-deal-trump-withdraw.html?
Ken,
My thoughts exactly.
Confederates are great at kicking stuff over. Not very good (at all) at building them up.
When I was a kid, I loved building sand castles. I'd work hours building the most elaborate structures. But as we'd be leaving the beach either the waves or some asshole older kids would stomp on my creation and destroy hours of work in seconds. That's Trump and the entire Party of Traitors. The ACA took years to carefully build, but it took a single vote, seconds, for assholes to stomp on it. Trump promised something much better and much cheaper. Any sign of that yet? No? No. And there won't be. He's a taker, a chiseler, a grifter, a cheater, a conniver. And a traitor.
He's no creator. Creation (not building cookie cutter hotels and slapping your name on in gaudy, giant gold letters) requires the classic combination of inspiration and perspiration. Trump's only inspiration is how to bilk others out of their hard earned money. He has not banked a hard earned penny in his entire life. As for perspiration, that's for the lower classes. Trump travels in the rarefied atmosphere of porn stars and Russian oligarchs and Mafia thugs. No perspiration for him.
Trump-anundrum
So here's the situation.
We had an agreement with Iran, with other nations as co-signatories.
The agreement meant a cessation of Iranian attempts to develop a bomb in exchange for relief from international sanctions (in a nutshell).
The Great Negotiator sez he can do better. So he kills the deal.
But he's already killed other deals. Has he negotiated other, much better deals, in their place?
No.
Why?
He's an idiot. A liar. An incompetent fraud. He's not a negotiator, he's a chiseler.
So he killed the Iran agreement because, according to Fat Boy, Iran was still trying to build a bomb and we had "weak" oversight.
Now...we have NO oversight. Will Iran decide to say "Oh, what the hell, let's not go back to trying to build a bomb. That Donald Trump is too scary."
No. Does anyone think Trump scares Iran?
Iran, in case, Trump hasn't noticed, doesn't scare easily. We're talking here about a culture stemming from the Persian Empire, one of the great civilizations in world history, much advanced when Trumpy's ancestors were still painting themselves blue and running into trees in the middle of the woods at night.
So, what? Does this imbecile expect that because he's nixed American involvement in this agreement, that everything will take care of itself?
Certainly not. He only cares that the mouthbreathing Mooslim haters--and developmentally stunted Foxbots--love him.
For all his bluster about how he'll negotiate unilateral trade agreements with every country in the world that is trying to "screw" America, he's done nothing. Nothing. As in NO-THING.
He's a fraud. A con man. An incompetent loser. A lying crook.
It's as if some rich, fat, useless, but suddenly influential patriarch in ancient Rome told the plebes that no one but him could deal with Hannibal, that he alone could bring him to heel.
Next scene. Hannibal crosses the Alps and rains destruction down on Trumpus's unprepared troops.
Trumpus Delenda Est.
It's still an entirely valid--and necessary--goal.