;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 25, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Criminal Pardons Criminal. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Trump pardoned on Wednesday his former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian diplomat and whose prosecution Attorney General William P. Barr tried to shut down. 'It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Ken Vogel & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "It's not just Michael T. Flynn. The White House is weighing a wave of pardons and commutations by President Trump in his final weeks in office, prompting jockeying by a range of clemency seekers and their representatives, including more allies of Mr. Trump.... The end of any presidential administration is a time for intense lobbying related to pardons. But in Mr. Trump's case, it extends to his own personal and political considerations, his lingering bitterness over the Russia inquiry and his transactional approach to governing.... There are at least 13,700 people who have formally applied to the Justice Department for pardons that are listed as 'pending.'... There is open speculation about whether he might go even further in using his clemency power in his self-interest, possibly issuing pre-emptive pardons to members of his family and even himself for federal crimes."
Split Screen. The President & the Pretender. Jenna Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: "President-elect Joe Biden urged Americans on the eve of Thanksgiving to recommit to fighting the coronavirus, not one another, and to take it upon themselves to make decisions that can save lives. In a somber and at times pleading speech, Biden reflected on other times in history that Americans have suffered, on the pain felt by the families of the more than 260,000 people who have been killed by the virus, on the sacrifices many Americans are making by scaling back or canceling their holiday plans and on the additional deaths that will undoubtedly come in the months ahead. He urged Americans to take 'simple steps' like wearing a mask, limiting the size of gatherings and socially distancing from others.... As Biden called on Americans to come together, President Trump spent the day tweeting a steady stream of grievances and baseless accusations, twice scream-tweeting: 'RIGGED ELECTION!' The president made no mention of the pandemic, which has killed more than 260,000 under his watch, offered no suggestions to Americans conflicted about how to celebrate Thanksgiving safely and publicly expressed no gratitude. Just before Biden began speaking in Wilmington, Del., Trump called the cell phone of his attorney Jenna Ellis, who was at a news conference about voter fraud in Pennsylvania. As she put him on speakerphone, he continued to unleash his grievances over the sometimes scratchy line.... At the event, [Rudy] Giuliani appeared without a mask, even though he had been in close contact with campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, who tested positive after appearing last week at the RNC with Giuliani. Much of the White House was empty on Wednesday morning, and several advisers said they were no longer paying attention to Trump's antics." ~~~
Dan Diamond of Politico: "Trump administration health officials on Wednesday kicked off a series of planned meetings with the Biden transition team on 'Operation Warp Speed,' the administration's effort to rush Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, according to two people familiar with the hastily scheduled session. The focus of the initial meeting was on Covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics and distribution, said one person familiar with the agenda, with a goal of bringing President-elect Joe Biden's agency review team up to speed on Operation Warp Speed's workings. A second person familiar with the meeting said it was scheduled about 24 hours after the General Services Administration's announcement on Monday that the transition could proceed and that Wednesday's meeting was intended to be the first of multiple briefings in coming weeks."
Meredith McGraw of Politico: "...Donald Trump's campaign has gone quiet. Some aides are leaving their posts for the holidays. It has been days since Trump's aides held a briefing for the press on its dwindling legal efforts to overturn the election, replaced by Rudy Giuliani's Twitter feed and YouTube videos. The campaign's communications director, Tim Murtaugh, hasn't tweeted himself for almost a week. A senior campaign official described the campaign manager, Bill Stepien, as 'MIA.'... But back in Washington, Trump is clinging to the White House, attending to the bare minimum of presidential duties and improbably boasting on Twitter that he 'will soon prevail!' in the already-settled presidential election. In other words, he's soldiering on -- publicly, at least. Almost everyone else is going home."
"In Wisconsin, somebody has to be indefinitely confined in order to vote absentee. In the past there were 20,000 people. This past election there were 120,000...and Republicans were locked out of the vote counting process." @VicToensing @newsmax -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, November 24
In case anyone needed a reminder that Trump simply cannot be believed on the election, this is it. He is casting doubt on Wisconsin's results, but every part of his claim is demonstrably false. -- Salvator Rizzo of the Washington Post
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The pace of first-time filings for jobless claims picked up last week, with the jobs market showing increasing vulnerability to the coronavirus spread. Claims totaled 778,000 for the week ended Nov. 21, ahead of the 733,000 expectation from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and up from 742,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday."
Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "For the first time since the coronavirus outbreak hit the United States, the country has added more than one million cases in each of the past two consecutive weeks. Covid deaths, which lag reported cases by weeks, are also at a level not seen since the spring."
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Joe Is Being President Because We Don't Have One. John Bowden of the Hill: "President-elect Joe Biden will deliver a Thanksgiving address on Wednesday, his White House transition team announced in a press release. A news release Tuesday evening indicated that the live-streamed speech would touch on the 'shared sacrifices Americans are making this holiday season'' while delivering a message 'that we can and will get through the current crisis together.'"
Alana Wise & Barbara Sprunt of NPR: "President-elect Joe Biden stressed a return to multilateralism Tuesday as he introduced key national security and foreign policy appointees and nominees for his incoming White House Cabinet, moving forward with the traditional transition process.... The group joined Biden in his announcement on Tuesday. Biden hailed the group, saying the team gathered behind him 'reflects that America is back.'... Following Biden's remarks, each nominee delivered introductory comments.... Four of the six roles Biden announced require Senate confirmation. [John] Kerry and Jake Sullivan, tapped for national security adviser, will not need such a vote." You can watch the event here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
The Washington Post's live election updates Tuesday are here. They are free to non-subscribers. "Pennsylvania certified Biden's victory on Tuesday, effectively handing him 20 electoral votes while further dashing Trump's hopes of overturning a loss in a key battleground state. After receiving official confirmation of the presidential vote totals from all 67 Pennsylvania counties, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (D) formally certified the result for president and vice president, a news release from her office stated. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) then signed a certificate selecting Biden's slate of electors, which was submitted to the federal government...." ~~~
~~~ "The Dow Jones industrial average reached 30,000 points for the first time in history, after Trump authorized the government to begin the transition processes and Biden signaled his pick for treasury secretary -- steps Wall Street interpreted as further progress in stabilizing the nation's economy." MB: Wall Street is jumping for joy at the prospect of being rid of you, Donnie Boy. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "Investors of all political persuasions say they are ready to turn the page on what was a profitable but extraordinarily politicized and stressful period for the financial markets, where they had to contend with an unpredictable force whose pronouncements frequently moved stock prices. For the most part, investors supported Trump administration policies; it was the president's unpredictable tweeting they found hard to stomach. In the past four years, Mr. Trump used his bully pulpit to praise and berate companies, escalate a trade war with China and signal the economy's strengths ahead of official announcements. In the process, his Twitter account became a singular source of market volatility." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Last Days of the Kaiser
Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump briefly emerged Tuesday to tout the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking 30,000 for the first time ever, and then vanished after a minute without taking questions.... Trump bragged about the stock market's latest milestone.... Trump has repeatedly claimed that if Biden won the election, the stock market and the economy would 'crash.' But the Dow's record-setting rally came weeks after news outlets called the race for Biden, and days after the president-elect started revealing the top officials who would occupy his Cabinet."
Trump's Last Stand for the Confederacy ... and Slavery. Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "For what may be the last policy fight of his administration, [Trump is] going to bat one last time for the Confederacy. At issue is the National Defense Authorization Act, the yearly bill that funds America's military colossus. For 58 straight years it has never failed to pass; this year's version spends $740 billion.... But included in the bill -- with the support of all Democrats and some Republicans -- is a provision to rename the 10 military installations still named after Confederate officers, people who waged war on the United States of America to maintain the ability of wealthy White southerners to enslave other human beings. President Trump has said that if the renaming provision is not removed, he will veto the defense bill.... Republicans are now urging Democrats to agree to remove the provision so as not to make the petulant toddler in the White House too upset." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Lazy, Good-for-Nothing Twitter King. Karen Yourish & Larry Buchanan of the New York Times: "In the three weeks since Election Day, President Trump's most visible presence has been on Twitter. Since Nov. 3, he has posted some 550 tweets -- about three-quarters of which attempted to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election results. In total, the president attacked the legitimacy of the election more than 400 times since Election Day, though his claims of fraud have been widely debunked.... Mr. Trump's public calendar, meanwhile, has been remarkably light, especially relative to his pre-election schedule, when he often attended multiple campaign rallies in a single day.... He has managed to maintain his weekend golf plans at his club in Virginia, as he has done most weekends in Washington.... Mr. Trump also used Twitter twice to take care of personnel issues, firing the defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, and the top official in charge of election cybersecurity, Christopher Krebs. (Also linked yesterday.)
Kaitlan Collins & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Three weeks after the election, the White House has given formal approval for President-elect Joe Biden to receive the President's Daily Brief, a White House official told CNN Tuesday. Coordination on when Biden will receive his first briefing is currently underway, but the move is another step toward a transition of power that ... Donald Trump held up for weeks after it was clear he lost the 2020 election. It follows a formal notice by the General Services Administration Monday night that the formal transition of government can proceed." ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Herb & Kristen Holmes of CNN: On "Friday, November 20..., Donald Trump's lawsuits challenging the election result were going nowhere, Georgia was certifying its hand recount for Biden, and both Michigan and Pennsylvania were preparing to certify their elections early the next week. So GSA officials gave the White House a heads up that if Michigan and Pennsylvania certified their elections as expected, [GSA Administrator Emily] Murphy would formally start the transition for Biden in a process known as ascertainment, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations.... The message to the White House on Friday set up Murphy's decision to finally send the letter to Biden on Monday saying he could begin the transition -- as well as an effort inside the West Wing preparing Trump for his administration's first official acknowledgment of his defeat, something the President has refused to accept.... GSA did not give the Biden transition team a heads up it was planning to send a letter. But a little more than an hour after Michigan certified its election, Murphy sent a letter to Biden saying that he could begin the transition. The letter failed to refer to Biden as President-elect, nor did it say she explicitly was granting ascertainment."
Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "While Mr. Trump's mission to subvert the election has so far failed at every turn, it has nevertheless exposed deep cracks in the edifice of American democracy and opened the way for future disruption and perhaps disaster. With the most amateurish of efforts, Mr. Trump managed to freeze the passage of power for most of a month, commanding submissive indulgence from Republicans and stirring fear and frustration among Democrats as he explored a range of wild options for thwarting Mr. Biden.... Important, legal and political experts said, is the way Mr. Trump identified perilous pressure points within the system.... In [some] scenarios, it might not be such a long-shot gambit for a losing candidate to attempt to halt certification of results through low-profile state and county boards, or to bestir state legislators to appoint a slate of electors or to pressure political appointees in the federal government to block a presidential transition. Indeed, Mr. Trump managed to intrude on normal election procedures in several states."
Trump Secret Sauce Ingredient: Brainwash Juice. Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "... according to a new CNBC/Change Research poll..., only 3% of Trump voters surveyed said they accept Biden's victory as legitimate, the survey released Monday found. A staggering 73% of respondents consider Trump the legitimate winner. Another 24% said they are not sure." ~~~
~~~ Because the Grifters. David Corn of Mother Jones: "I've heard from Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Lara Trump. I've heard from Rudy Giuliani, Ronna McDaniel, and Newt Gingrich. And I've heard from Donald Trump. Over and over again. The 2020 election was stolen from Trump. The left-wing mob, the Democrats, the fake news media -- they successfully plotted together to pull off the greatest political heist of all time. Trump really won. But fake ballots were counted. Real ballots were trashed. American democracy was undone. The people have been robbed of their rightful president.... Each day I have received a steady stream of emails signed by Trump or one of his minions. These missives all request money for Trump's so-called 'Election Defense Fund' -- that is, his effort to overturn the election results and retain power -- and they are obvious acts of grift. Though they generally ask for small amounts -- from $5 to $45 -- the fine print on the donation page notes that unless you kick in about $8,000, the money goes to Trump's political operation and the Republican National Committee.... This barrage is doing more than squeezing cash out of Trump fanatics. For the recipients, it is solidifying a dangerous message: the election was illegitimate." ~~~
~~~ Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "By lodging baseless claims of voter fraud and embracing -- or declining to reject -- outlandish conspiracy theories about the electoral process, Trump and his allies have normalized the kind of post-election assault on institutions typically seen in less-developed democracies, according to historians, former administration officials, and lawmakers and diplomats from across the political spectrum.... Trump has been undeterred by the cascade of court losses, and his allies have continued to make the case that the election was stolen from him. Unable to change the results with lawsuits or by persuading state lawmakers to overturn the will of voters, Trump has resorted to pressing the last avenues of protest that remain open to him.... The lack of pushback from Republican lawmakers signaled a willingness by them to accept Trump's post-election denial despite the danger it poses, said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University."
Jonathan Swan & Zachary Basu of Axios: "President Trump has told confidants he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.... Sources with direct knowledge of the discussions said Flynn will be part of a series of pardons that Trump issues between now and when he leaves office." The New York Times story is here.
Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is part of the team of ... Donald Trump's administration working to make life difficult for the incoming administration. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that there is about $455 billion in unspent funds from the CARES Act, which Congress passed to help Americans get through the COVID-19 pandemic.... [According to Bloomberg,] 'moving the unspent money [into the general fund, as Mnuchin plans t do,] will make it virtually impossible for [Janet] Yellen, if confirmed by the Senate as Treasury secretary, to deploy on her own. The Biden transition team last week called Mnuchin's clawing back of unspent money from the Fed "deeply irresponsible."'" The Bloomberg story is here.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Just as star anchor Sean Hannity and other high-profile Fox News figures were due to be deposed about their promotion of a bogus conspiracy theory about the death of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, the cable network last month threw in the towel and moved to settle a lawsuit brought by Rich's parents that threatened to expose a wealth of new details about one of its most embarrassing screw-ups in recent years. The settlement between Fox News and Rich's parents, Joel and Mary Rich, was publicly disclosed Tuesday, but with no details about the terms. But legal sources tell Yahoo News that the settlement includes a lucrative seven figure payment to the Rich family consistent with the size of payouts Fox News and related corporate entities have made in other cases that have brought them negative publicity. The hastily arranged settlement also had the benefit of sparing Hannity and other Fox News figures -- including network president Jay Wallace and contributor Newt Gingrich -- the ordeal of being grilled under oath about claims in a series of broadcasts in May 2017 that blamed the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks on Rich."
Arkansas. When a Pardon Doesn't Matter. John Moritz of Arkansas Online: "The Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Democrat Jimmie Wilson is ineligible to serve in the state Legislature due to decades-old misdemeanor convictions in federal court, wiping out Wilson's victory at the polls earlier this month in House District 12. Wilson, a former state lawmaker who was convicted of selling mortgaged crops and illegal use of farm loans, had argued that a pardon he received from President Bill Clinton in 2001 removed any barriers to his potential return to the Legislature.... After the ruling Tuesday, state GOP chairman Doyle Webb released a statement declaring [Republican David] Tollett the winner in the District 12 race. Tollett will become the first Republican to represent the district -- which is centered in the Democratic-stronghold of Phillips County -- since Reconstruction, Webb said."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "The United States logged nearly 2,100 coronavirus-related fatalities on Tuesday, marking the deadliest day in more than six months. Record numbers of fatalities were also reported in nine states -- Maine, Alaska, Missouri, North Dakota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Washington, Ohio and Oregon -- according to data tracked by The Washington Post. Tuesday's tally of 2,092 deaths is the highest the country has seen since May 6, when 2,611 deaths were reported."
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Reader Comments (12)
Now that many (not all) confederate traitors have given up on stealing the election, get ready for the lectures from the right on why bipartisanship is important and how character really matters and why it’s necessary for Biden to let bygones be bygones.
The lectures on character will be my favorites.
239 years and some weeks ago, at Yorktown, Virginia, after a three week siege, the British army gave up the ghost and surrendered. The British military commander, Lord Cornwallis, however could not bring himself to admit defeat personally. At the surrender ceremony, he refused to make an appearance, sending out a flunky to hand over his sword.
As if this wasn’t enough of an insult, the flunky ignored Washington and tried to surrender to a French general, Comte de Rochambeau. Rochambeau pointed to Washington. Ol’ George, tired of all the insults, refused Cornwallis’ sword and had the flunky surrender to his second in command.
Cornwallis was no coward, but some years before, while stationed in Boston, he had written a play which portrayed Washington as a bumpkin, a stumblebum riding a hobby horse with his pants down around his knees. It was a big hit with the Tories. He just couldn’t bring himself to surrender to the man he made such fun of who had now kicked his ass for all the world to see.
My guess is that the Fat Fascist will never admit defeat either. He loves to make fun of others but can’t take it himself. He will never personally concede. But unlike Cornwallis, he is a coward. He’ll send out one of his own flunkies to “surrender”.
Biden should make Trump’s flunky surrender to Kamala Harris. Better yet, he could have them surrender to his dog.
Dog to dog.
The confederates/Tories wouldn’t like it, but it would make my day.
The articles about Munchkin and others sabotaging their departments to make January harder on Biden are all missing the forest for the trees. The sabotage is against THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA dammit!
Here I will omit needless words.
@NiskyGuy: Quite right. Of course, sabotaging government to hurt the American people is not a problem for Republicans; rather it is a feature. Their whole schitck is "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem" (Reagan inaugural address). So every time they vote down or sabotage a government program designed to help ordinary people, they are doing so to happily prove their central thesis.
Speaking sabotage, I read somewhere this morning that Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) isn't happy with Biden's picks for national security posts & may lobby not to confirm them. I'm not going to bother to check Marco's voting record, but I'm pretty sure he voted to confirm most of Trump's sorry, clueless Cabinet & court nominees who came before the Senate. And now he's all pissed off about qualified nominees who can return some stability & international prestige to our national security apparatus? STFU, Marco.
Marie,
It's always the same. What might seem a contradiction is for Republicans like Marco just an instinctive response to a shift in the political winds.
For these people it was never about public service; it was and is always about them.
In Pretenderworld, it made sense for Marco to get in line most of the time,. expressing occasional disagreement or demurrals to pretend independence of intellect or spirit.
In Biden world, it makes sense for a self-serving Republican (is there any other kind?) to object to everything Democrats propose if only to prove his Republican bona fides.
I often wonder if that's why Republicans hate Democrats. To the degree that Democrats really believe in public service--not one hundred per cent one hundred per cent of the time, I know--their behavior often projects a genuine moral superiority that Republicans naturally resent, since they like to present themselves as the moral majority but the contrast to their conduct real public service implies is too harsh for them to handle.
STENTORIAN SABOTAGE:
During Obama's long fight to pass his health care bill Republicans abandoned all pretense of wanting to negotiate and continued to spread negative Tea Party lies. In his recent book Obama describes one of the scenarios:
"The only upside to all this was that it helped me cure Max Baucus of his obsession with trying to placate Chuck Grassley. In a last stab Oval office meeting with the two of them...I listened patiently as Grassley ticked off five new reasons that he still had problems with the latest version of the bill.
"Let me ask you a question, Chuck,"...If Max took every one of your latest suggestions, could you support the bill?"
"Well..."
"Are there ANY changes––any at all––that would get us your vote?"
There was an awkward silence before Grassley looked up and met my gaze.
"I guess not, Mr. President."
I GUESS NOT!!!!! (EMPHASIS MINE TWICE THAT OF OBAMAS'
It's pretty clear, isn't it, that Biden will be in for more of the same, especially if McConnell remains majority speaker. Power is the powerful piece these miscreants operate from––any semblance of actual concern for the country itself is null and void. It's a party that has lost its moorings and has become even more brutish and beastly than previously. But, hey––ya never know––there might be some sunshine right around the middle of May––or thereabouts.
Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Winkes. They constantly, through the years, have accused Democrats of being weenies, and it has been such a stumbling block when the Ds come to power and can't bring themselves to shame the Rs or settle some scores. They even have a trumpian code name: virtue-signaling...They bitterly resent anything that smacks of caring or concern, and hide it all inside a crisp, brisk "It's just business--" business is all that counts. And business wants what it wants, people be damned. I am not surprised Mnunchkin is looking to consolidate money, as they regard the USA's money as R's money-- we don't count at all. Natural habitat for the Mnooch, and of course, of course, of course, for the thieves and whiners of the Grifter Goblins, the trumps.
I don’t think Republicans have lost their moorings or have become untethered from reality or decency or concern for the country, the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, or the fucking Oledge of Allegiance. They haven’t cared about anything except tax cuts for their wealthy donors, putting minorities in prison, and their own power to do just exactly whatever the holy hell they want in decades. Any goody-goody sticks in the mud or apostates who were determined to harbor some scintilla of respect for true public service have long since been extirpated. With a vengeance.
And now, all of a sudden, out of some hidey hole, here comes Lyin’ Ryan to lecture Joe Biden on the importance of giving in to the other side (don’t know if he brought his baseball cap). Where was this wisdom when his party was putting babies in cages and gassing those protesting systemic racism? When did he get up before a microphone and lecture Trump on such matters?
Fucking vicious, opportunistic, snake in the shithole hypocrites.
Yes, we’re about to see the crooks and racists and self-serving scoundrels who all giddily ran down any American standing in the way of authoritarian brutality start whinging about how Biden and the Democrats are “out to get them, for shame!” and trying to turn the country into a socialist pit, where real ‘mericans will be put in chains.
Moscow Mitch, who was open to scratching every fascist, Trumpist itch with alarming alacrity, will be closing up shop and denying any and all legislation “for the good of the nation”, unless it suits his purposes.
It’s been this way for a generation. It won’t change until they are voted out or kick the bucket and land in Dante’s river if boiling blood. I’m fine with the former, but I cling to the hope that the latter will be imminent. Imminent, like tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Turkey Day, I wonder how many of those family gatherings will end up like this
Thanks, RAS. I needed a good laugh.
After yesterday's brief appearance by T**** in the press room, one reporter was heard to say: "Well that was weird as shit" as transcribed by the folks at Colbert. These are awfully similar to words uttered by W after the American Carnage inauguration blather, a fitting bookend on a disgraceful four years.
He's on a roll. Pardoned two turkeys in two days, the feathered one and the Flynn one.