;)
Thursday
Oct312019
The Commentariat -- November 1, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Florida Man, Traveling to Mississippi, Tweets He's Going to Louisiana. David Jackson of USA Today: A Florida man, "Donald Trump, tweeted early Friday he was looking forward to visiting Louisiana later in the evening, but there was one big problem: He's going to Mississippi. 'Louisiana, I'll see you tonight,' Trump said in a tweet that was later deleted. 'Big Rally for Eddie R. He will be a GREAT GOVERNOR. Early voting starts! @EddieRispone.' Instead, Trump has a political rally in Tupelo, Miss., on Friday evening.... In Mississippi, Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is in a tight race with Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood for the right to move into the governor's mansion. Trump's rally in Tupelo, Mississippi, is designed to bolster Reeves' chances." Mrs. McC: Eddie Rispone is the GOP candidate for governor of Louisiana. Charles Pierce has more on what a "GREAT GOVERNOR" Eddie would be.
Thomas Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed $20.5 trillion in new spending through huge tax increases on businesses and wealthy Americans to pay for 'Medicare for all,' laying out details for a landmark government expansion that will pose political risks for her presidential candidacy while also allowing her to say she is not raising taxes on the middle class to pay for her health care plan. Ms. Warren, who has risen steadily in the polls with strong support from liberals excited about her ambitious policy plans, has been under pressure from top rivals like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to release details about paying for her biggest plan, 'Medicare for all.'" The Politico story is here.
Deb Riechmann of the AP: "The House impeachment inquiry is zeroing in on two White House lawyers privy to a discussion about moving a memo recounting ... Donald Trump's phone call with the leader of Ukraine into a highly restricted computer system normally reserved for documents about covert action. Deepening their reach into the West Wing, impeachment investigators have summoned former national security adviser John Bolton to testify next week. But they also are seeking testimony of two other political appointees -- John Eisenberg, the lead lawyer for the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a senior associate counsel to the president.... The lawyers' role is critical because two witnesses have suggested the NSC legal counsel -- when told that Trump asked a foreign leader for domestic political help -- took the extraordinary step of shielding access to the transcript not because of its covert nature but rather its potential damage to the Republican president. The ... effort to lock down the rough transcript suggests some people in the White House viewed the president's conversation as problematic."
David Ignatius of the Washington Post traces the Ukraine scandal back to mid-2017, when Rudy Giuliani traveled to Ukraine. "While Giuliani was [in Ukraine to give a speech], he also met with [then-President Petro] Poroshenko and his prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, according a news release issued by the foundation." Two weeks later, Trump met with Poroshenko, who had been lobbying for the meeting for months. &"Just after Giuliani's visit, Ukraine's investigation of the so-called black ledger that listed alleged illicit payments to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was transferred from an anti-corruption bureau, known as NABU, to [Lutsenko], according to a June 15, 2017, report in the Kyiv Post. The paper quoted Viktor Trepak, former deputy head of the country's security service, saying: 'It is clear for me that somebody gave an order to bury the black ledger.'... Was there any implicit understanding that Poroshenko's government would curb its cooperation with the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of Manafort...?"
"Not Wholly Unexpected." Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials and lawmakers, a reversal from the summer when the president insisted he would offer policies to curb firearm deaths. Trump has been counseled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his reelection bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle. The president no longer asks about the issue, and aides from the Domestic Policy Council, once working on a plan with eight to 12 tenets, have moved on to other topics, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... The White House's position is a marked, if not wholly unexpected, change from when the president vowed he would make a push to pass more restrictive laws after two gunmen killed scores of people in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso in early August, creating national outrage." ~~~
~~~ Laura Clawson has the Daily Kos story: "Who could possibly have predicted?"
Holy Rolling in Money. Jeremy Peters & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Paula White, a televangelist based in Florida and personal pastor to President Trump whom he has known since 2002, has joined the Trump administration in an official capacity, according to a White House official. Ms. White will work in the Office of Public Liaison, the official said, which is the division of the White House overseeing outreach to groups and coalitions organizing key parts of the president's base. Her role will be to advise the administration's Faith and Opportunity Initiative, which Mr. Trump established last year by executive order and which aims to give religious groups more of a voice in government programs devoted to issues like defending religious liberty and fighting poverty. As Mr. Trump campaigns for a second term, he cannot afford to lose support from the religious conservatives who voted for him in 2016 in significant numbers. Without their backing, his path to re-election would be significantly narrower.... Ms. White cannot be easily categorized as either a political asset or a liability. She has a large following among Christians who believe in the 'prosperity gospel,' which teaches that God blesses people he deems to be of strong faith with wealth, good health and other gifts. But many other Christians consider these beliefs to be heresy. And Ms. White's presence in the top tier of Mr. Trump's coterie of informal religious advisers has long been a source of contention with many evangelical Christians." A Hill story is here.
David Nakamura & Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post: "The Washington Nationals have accepted an invitation to visit President Trump at the White House on Monday for the traditional champions celebration, less than a week after winning their first World Series. The quick turnaround is unusual, but most of the players are in town for a parade Saturday in downtown Washington, and White House officials said the timing worked well for the team and the president. The ceremony will take place at 1:15 p.m. on the South Lawn, a White House official said." The ESPN story is here.
More Adventures of the Middle-Class Boys from Pottstown
When my father became commander in chief of this country, we got out of all international business. -- Eric Trump, in an interview on Fox News's "The Ingraham Angle," October 15
We've been international businesspeople for decades, but we can't even do those kinds of deals anymore. We can't even continue, and because we chose not to, because we didn't think it was appropriate. So that's the double standard. The media said, "Oh, you're enriching yourselves." We're like, "We literally stopped." -- Donald Trump Jr., in an interview on "Fox and Friends," Oct. 30
Pinocchios courtesy of Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post
Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) came up with a novel way to avoid a question about ... Donald Trump on Thursday. Instead of ignoring the activists from the progressive group MoveOn.org who were asking it, he head-butted their camera.... He never answered the question, asked several times: 'Do you think it's OK for the president to pressure foreign governments to interfere in our elections?'"
Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Keystone pipeline system, an addition to which has been the subject of environmental protests for years, leaked about 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota, covering an estimated half-acre of wetland, state environmental regulators said. The spill, which has been contained, occurred in a low-gradient drainage area near the small town of Edinburg in northeast North Dakota, less than 50 miles from the Canadian border, according to Karl Rockeman, the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality's division of water quality. 'It is one of the larger spills in the state,' he said in an email on Thursday. There are no residences near the site and the wetland is not a source of drinking water, he said." A Hill summary of the story is here.
Deadspin Nears Death. Marc Tracy of the New York Times: "The last meeting for many of Deadspin's journalists took place on Wednesday in a conference room adorned with fake black cobwebs, a large spider and bloody handprints beside the words: 'HELP US.' The plea, it seemed, went unanswered. By Thursday, almost the entire staff -- nearly 20 writers and editors -- had resigned. The journalists at the site, founded as a sports blog in 2005, had chafed against an instruction handed down Monday in the form of a memo from management to confine themselves to sports-related posts. While largely focused on sports, Deadspin for years had delved into a broad range of topics in a voice that was sometimes rude, often funny and always conversational. On Tuesday, the site's top editor, Barry Petchesky, was fired after refusing to go along with the order.... The stick-to-sports memo ... was signed by Paul Maidment, the editorial director of G/O Media, the company that became the owner of Deadspin and sibling sites like Jezebel and Gizmodo six months ago." A Business Insider story is here.
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Rob Crilly & David Drucker of the Washington Examiner: "A defiant President Trump signaled he will not cooperate with the Democratic Party's impeachment proceedings, insisting his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was 'a good call' and that he might read it aloud to Americans so they can see his point. 'This is over a phone call that is a good call,' Trump, sitting behind the Resolute Desk, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. 'At some point, I'm going to sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television, and I will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. When you read it, it's a straight call.'... Trump said he was pleased with the Thursday testimony of a former White House official who said he saw nothing illegal in the telephone call at the heart of the controversy.... Trump flicked through a pile of papers to hold up a copy of news clipping reporting on Morrison's opening statement and said it was 'fantastic.' He said: 'This was going to be their star witness.'... [More on this below.] He outlined a strategy for fighting back that would rely on the White House account of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, including T-shirts with the slogan, 'Read the transcript.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: We now know, based on Alexander Vindman's testimony, that the abridged summary -- what Trump falsely calls a "transcript" -- is incomplete. Still, I can hardly wait for that "fireside chat" dramatic reading. No doubt Trump will read Zelensky's part of the conversation in something he imagines is a Ukrainian accent. He does do impressions, you know: people with disabilities, Asians, women, etc.
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A bitterly divided House of Representatives voted on Thursday to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in a historic action that set up a critical new public phase of the process and underscored the toxic political polarization that serves as its backdrop. The vote was 232-196 to approve a resolution that sets out rules for an impeachment process for which there are few precedents, and which promises to consume the country a little more than a year before the 2020 elections. It was only the third time in modern history that the House had taken a vote on an impeachment inquiry into a sitting president." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
** CNN has published a copy of Tim Morrison's opening statement. It clears up the differing accounts of whether or not Morrison took his concerns to NSC Legal Counsel. He did. Mrs. McC: What do not ring true are his reasons for seeking to loop in counsel, since he writes, "I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed." I expect the real reason was that he wanted to facilitate a cover-up. As for his claiming he didn't think "anything illegal was discussed," this is pure CYA. Morrison doesn't want to be liable for failing to report illegal acts by Trump & others. His opinion as to the legality of Trump's behavior, however, is moot. Morrison is a fact witness; his legal opinions are irrelevant, particular because he is not a lawyer. ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "... Mr. Morrison, a Trump political appointee and a former longtime Republican congressional aide, resisted making the kind of sweeping, often damaging judgments about what was taking place that Democrats have heard from other witnesses, and Republicans emerged calling him the most favorable witness they had heard from so far. In his opening remarks..., he did not draw conclusions about Mr. Trump's involvement in the pressure tactics, pointing back repeatedly to [Gordon] Sondland, whose involvement in Ukraine policy he said he 'did not understand.' In subsequent testimony, he said he did not view the July phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky as illegal or improper, but he found it striking enough to ask the National Security Council's chief lawyer, John Eisenberg, to review it, in part out of a concern that a summary might leak out.... Mr. Morrison characterized the ... pressure campaign against Ukraine ... as bad foreign policy of the sort that could potentially squander a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' afforded by the election of Mr. Zelensky, who campaigned as a reformer who would crack down on rampant corruption." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Republicans were crowing that Morrison was the most favorable witness evah because he did not characterize Trump as a criminal. Mighty favorable. Update: See Aaron Blake's post, linked below. ~~~
~~~ Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on ... Donald Trump's National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators that he was advised by then-White House official Fiona Hill to stay away from the parallel Ukraine policy being pursued by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, according to a source familiar with his Thursday testimony. Morrison also told lawmakers that he was concerned the July 25 call transcript between Trump and Ukrainian President While he did deviate from Taylor on some details, Morrison testified that Sondland told him [the] President would release the aid if the Ukrainian prosecutor general announced an investigation, according to sources.... Morrison did not raise any concerns about the call to the National Security Council lawyers, as [Alexander] Vindman did, according to one source. [This last detail differs from the WashPo report below.]... Morrison also seemed critical of the role that US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland played over Ukraine policy, one source said.... At times, Morrison's attorney has instructed his client not to answer questions about interactions with the President, multiple sources said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on President Trump's National Security Council, on Thursday corroborated the testimony of a senior U.S. diplomat who last week offered House impeachment investigators the most detailed account to date for how Trump tried to use his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, according to people familiar with his deposition. Morrison told impeachment investigators that the account offered by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine, is accurate. He said that he alerted Taylor to a push by Trump and his deputies to withhold both security aid and a White House visit for the Ukrainian president until Ukraine agreed to investigate the Bidens and interference in the 2016 presidential election, said one person, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Morrison, who told colleagues Wednesday that he plans to leave the Trump administration, said he did not necessarily view the president's demands as improper or illegal, but rather problematic for U.S. policy in supporting an ally in the region.... Yet Morrison twice reached out to the National Security Council's attorneys with apparent concerns about Trump's conversations pertaining to Ukraine policy, according to various witness' testimony." (This is a second major update of a story first linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... Republicans claimed a game-changer Thursday. It came in the form of Tim Morrison's testimony. But as the White House aide's actual testimony shows, they're really reaching here. And in hailing Morrison as a witness, they proved how badly they're hoping for something -- anything -- to stanch the bleeding.... While Morrison says he didn't think Trump's conversation with Zelensky involved anything illegal or improper, he did express concern about it for a few other reasons[.]... He also, most importantly, corroborated the testimony of the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, William B. Taylor Jr., who said last week that Morrison described to him what can only be described as a quid pro quo.... What we have is essentially a sixth person confirming some kind of quid pro quo involving official U.S. concessions being conditioned on Ukraine pursuing investigations that help Trump politically. To celebrate that is really to suck on a lemon."
Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "As the House of Representatives continues to take depositions in the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump, investigators are reportedly considering issuing a subpoena for the twin brother [Yevgeny] of an eyewitness who gave blockbuster testimony. 'The twin brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official who shared before House committees this week his concerns about President Trump's July phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, may also be called to testify,' The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday."
Cajoling the Jurors. Seung Min Kim & Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "President Trump, in a private lunch Thursday with Senate Republicans, repeatedly praised his own decision to release a rough transcript of the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president that has become a central focus of the House's impeachment inquiry, according to the senators who attended. The White House invited just over a half-dozen GOP senators, most of them among the president's staunchest allies in the chamber, where many members have refrained from commenting directly on the unfolding case, arguing they will effectively serve as jurors in any impeachment trial.... The lunch ... was not included on the president's public schedule."
Bribing the Jurors. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump is rewarding senators who have his back on impeachment -- and sending a message to those who don't to get on board. Trump is tapping his vast fundraising network for a handful of loyal senators facing tough reelection bids in 2020. Each of them has signed onto a Republican-backed resolution condemning the inquiry as 'unprecedented and undemocratic.' Conspicuously absent from the group is Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a politically vulnerable Republican who's refused to support the resolution and avoided taking a stance on impeachment. With his new push, Trump is exerting leverage over a group he badly needs in his corner with an impeachment trial likely coming soon to the Senate -- but that also needs him. Republican senators on the ballot next year are lagging in fundraising, stoking uncertainty about the GOP's hold on the chamber, and could use the fundraising might of the president. Trump's political operation has raked in over $300 million this year." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jason Lemon of Newsweek: "Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, warned on Thursday that ... Donald Trump appeared to be committing 'felony bribery' by giving Republican senators fundraising cash ahead of an increasingly likely impeachment trial in the Senate.... Painter argued that GOP lawmakers who accept the fundraising support should face criminal charges as well. 'The senators can raise their own campaign cash. Any senator who accepts cash from @realDonaldTrump before the impeachment trial is guilty of accepting a bribe and should go to the slammer,' he tweeted."
She Was Not Amused. Katelyn Polantz & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "A federal judge in Washington expressed disbelief that the White House could control what its former officials might talk about, when they're subpoenaed by the House of Representatives or otherwise. 'We don't live in a world where your status as a former executive branch official somehow shields you or prevents you from giving information,' Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Thursday during a nearly four-hour hearing to a Justice Department attorney who was defending the White House. The lawsuit is over whether former White House counsel Don McGahn must appear for testimony in the House. Democrats issued the subpoena in April, though he ignored their demands and didn't show up.... She also expressed disbelief over arguments from the Justice Department that the courts shouldn't play a role in these types of disputes between the more political branches of government.... [James] Burnham, the Justice Department attorney, said it didn't happen 'for 200 years' of US history. Jackson pointed out, nearly yelling with frustration at Burnham, that the Constitution always allowed for these sorts of disputes to be settled in the courts, even if it hasn't happened that often. The proceedings unfolding in Jackson's courtroom relate to one subpoena to one witness -- McGahn. But her eventual ruling could play a pivotal rule for future witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, as more Trump administration officials are subpoenaed for depositions in the House and could be called to testify at the Senate trial.... The judge didn't say exactly when she would issue a ruling, the timing of which could have a domino effect on other witnesses...."
Good riddance. It's not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He's all yours, Florida. -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In late September, [Donald] Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fla., according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document. Each of the Trumps filed a 'declaration of domicile' saying that the Mar-a-Lago Club, Mr. Trump's resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.... White House officials declined to say why Mr. Trump changed his primary residence, but a person close to the president said the reasons were primarily for tax purposes. The person also said that Mr. Trump, who is deeply unpopular in New York, was infuriated by a subpoena filed by Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, seeking the president's tax returns, which Mr. Trump has not released. Changing his residence to Florida is not expected to have any effect on Mr. Vance's case, which Mr. Trump has sought to thwart with a federal lawsuit.... Beyond taxes, Mr. Trump has repeatedly signaled the importance of Florida to his 2020 re-election effort...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: While the reasons Haberman explores probably are all true, I suspect the one in the back of Trump's mind is this: "I can play golf wearing an ankle bracelet. No golf course in NYC, but I have my very own golf club within 5 miles of Mar-a-Lago. I should be able to work out a deal to travel 5 miles.
The Continuing Saga of Two Ordinary Middle-Class Boys from Pottstown. James Walker of Newsweek: "Donald Trump Jr. has suggested growing up at a Pennsylvania boarding school where tuition fees are on par with the median household income helped him build a connection with middle Americans. Speaking on Fox & Friends Wednesday, the president's eldest son also claimed that he started his working life as a dock attendant and bragged that he and his brother Eric Trump were 'the only sons of billionaires' who could drive a Caterpillar D10 bulldozer. After saying his real estate mogul father Donald Trump 'gets' middle America because he spent time on construction sites, Trump Jr. said: "He'd get on the ground and that's why I was like, listen, he can go talk to working class Americans because he has his whole life. In an attempt to establish a connection of his own with the middle and working class, the president's son continued: 'Eric and I, we went to boarding school in central Pennsylvania. We went through our formative years in the rust belt. 'So while we may be the son of a New York billionaire, we grew up in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You may recall that in yesterday's episode, we learned that Junior wished he were Hunter Biden so he could go abroad & make millions off his father's presidency. Which is kinda funny, because Junior does go abroad & presumably makes something off his father's presidency. Also too, one business trip to India cost taxpayers at least $98,000 (figures incomplete) and a similar figure for Eric's business trip to Uruguay. CREW found that the boys cost the Secret Service another $200,000 when they went to the United Arab Emirates to open a golf course there.
Vera Bergengruen & Brian Bennett profile Rudy Giuliani for the cover of Time. Despite concentrating on his shady international deals, they make him seem nicer than he is, ~~~
~~~ Maybe because they don't integrate anecdotes like this one from Rich Schapiro of NBC News: "Less than a month after he was named ... Donald Trump's cybersecurity adviser in 2017, Rudy Giuliani walked into an Apple store in downtown San Francisco.... Giuliani was looking for help. He was locked out of his iPhone because he had forgotten the passcode and entered the wrong one at least 10 times, according to two people familiar with the matter and a photo of an internal Apple store memo obtained by NBC News.... Giuliani's handling of the situation calls into question his understanding of basic security measures and raises the prospect that, as someone in the president's inner circle, his electronic devices are especially vulnerable to hackers, two former FBI cyber experts told NBC News.... [One] said someone in Giuliani's position should never allow a person he didn't know to access his device." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Schapiro doesn't say so, but the iPhone in his story is likely the same one (or accesses the same info, since he uses iCloud) as the one he held up on the teevee to show Laura Ingraham records of his calls with the State Department. So yeah. Rudy's a cybersecurity expert like I'm a brain surgeon. Have scalpel (and drill), will travel. (Okay, no scalpel, but I do have an X-Acto knife & a cordless drill with dull bits in various sizes.) ~~~
~~~ White Castle Intrigue. Mrs. McCrabbie: I've seen some reporting that critics are worried that Bill Barr's decision to horn in on the Southern District of New York's scrutiny of Rudy gives Barr the opportunity to scuttle any SDNY action against Giuliani. But Chris Smith of Vanity Fair surmises Barr dislikes Giuliani, not least because "Barr can't be happy that Giuliani has muddied the attorney general's own globe-trotting effort to reinvestigate the investigation of Russian meddling in the election, this time from a decidedly pro-Trump perspective. 'Giuliani was out there very clumsily doing part of what Barr was going to do on his own, launching this very political investigation,' says Matthew Miller, a senior DOJ official in the Obama administration. 'And Rudy has done it in a way that could get the president impeached.'"
Daniel Lippman, et al., of Politico: "The White House plans to name Homeland Security official Chad Wolf acting secretary, according to three people familiar with the situation. Wolf will replace acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan, whose last day in the job was supposed to be Thursday. McAleenan will now stay until Nov. 7, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But here's the weird part: "The search has been complicated by a federal law that requires acting agency chiefs to have served under a Senate-confirmed secretary for 90 days. [Sen. Chuck] Grassley said this week there is no legal way to name someone acting DHS secretary if that person hasn't been confirmed in any capacity by the Senate. Wolf has not been confirmed in his present position as undersecretary for policy.... Two ... officials said that the White House has been speaking to reluctant GOP senators -- including Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- and asking them not to oppose Wolf's appointment to be undersecretary of the department." That is, Trump wants to keep Wolf in an "acting" capacity as secretary, so he's lobbying to have the Senate confirm in a lower-level position, one that he will no longer hold. Trump really likes to keep his Cabinet officers as nothing more than puppets. A person of principle would say, "No thanks, Mr. President*." Grassley should say the same.
Coral Davanport & Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "Monday's surprise move by General Motors, Toyota and other auto giants to back President Trump in his fight with California over pollution rules came after days of White House pressure to support one of the administration's biggest efforts to weaken climate regulations. Previously, many automakers had indicated to California that they would not take a stand, according to Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of California's clean air regulator, the Air Resources Board. Late last week, their stance quickly changed.... The auto industry was already divided. In July four other major companies -- Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW -- publicly sided with California." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (11)
Talk about a meme about to take off! With Donald Trump changing his address from NYC to Palm Beach the daily dose of stories that begin "a Florida man..." should skyrocket. Maybe area papers will create a new section dedicated the the weird, funny, and tragic tales.
Another quid pro quo.
The transactional president keeps on keepin’ on. He never learns. But really, his whole life has been an avalanche of quid pro quos. You want something from the Donald? You gotta pay to play.
Why should that change just because he slithered into the White House with help from Russia and the media? Little things like rule of law and ethics never mattered before.
Now he’s effectively bribing confederate members of the senate, ensuring that he can buy their votes in an impeachment trial. Do this for me, I’ll do this for you. Or in a phrase from his “perfect” phone call to the Ukrainian leader, “I want you to do me a favor”.
Toss out bothersome ethics, throw science overboard, abandon fact, skewer loyalists, make impulsive decisions, buy your way out of trouble, lie, obfuscate, stonewall (there is something about this man and walls): As Akhilleus says, he's Transactional Man!
Now this:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/31/20942685/trump-fuel-efficiency-freeze-general-motors-toyota-chrysler
More spinning heads from those who made the mistake of listening to the Pretender.
And I'm sure he'll do his dramatic reading of the Ukraine phone call's actual transcript right after he releases the last ten years of his federal and state taxes and sits down for that talk with Mueller he was so eager and willing to have.
@Bobby Lee; How about "Florida Man Eaten by Alligator at
His Own Golf Course Five Miles From Marred-A-Lago."
@ForrestMorris I'd considered that one, as well as others involving other Florida wildlife. It would be no more weird than the other "Florida man" stories in the news. Just more satisfying.
Hold on children! Just when you think your brain can't handle all the fun developments here comes another doozy:
A group preaching that sexual orientation is a choice and that "Conversion Therapy" should be legal held a forum in a Capitol Hill office Bld. right next to Rep.Ted Lieu (D-Calif) who is the sponsor of a bill to outlaw C.T.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conversion-therapy-group-congress-vicky-hartzler_n_5dbb1877e4b0bb1ea376d5a5
And a word about how one feels about the impeachment proceedings: The "This is a sad day" or " We feel deeply––so sad–-that it has come to this." REALLY???? Well, this here gal is shouting from the hill tops––you could say I'm ecstatic–––sure, why not.
@Forrest Morris: Authorities identified the man by means of a federal ankle bracelet monitor, which is all that was left at the scene. The man's identity is being withheld until next-of-kin, who are traveling abroad, can be notified.
Game and Wildlife officials reported later in the day that they had found the body of the voracious alligator who had died, they believe, after ingesting immense amounts of toxic, orange fat. They did find the brain, which was undigested in the animal’s stomach and were surprised to discover that it was the size of a small walnut, leading forensic investigators to speculate that the eaten man could have been part lizard.
Republicans in the House and Senate are jubilant after hearing testimony from another in the long line of those testifying about the president*'s bad acts. They were most happy that the witness did not directly blame Trump for much of anything.
Here now is an exchange with a member of the committee*:
CNN anchor: Another man who had his head nailed to the floor by Donald Trump was Stig O' Tracy. Let's listen...
MOC: I've been told Donald Trump nailed your head to the floor.
Stig: No. Never. He was a smashing bloke. He used to buy his mother flowers and that. He was like a brother to me.
MOC: But the police have film of Trump actually nailing your head to the floor.
Stig: (pause) Oh yeah, he did that.
MOC: Why?
Stig: Well he had to, didn't he? I mean there was nothing else he could do, be fair. I had transgressed the unwritten law.
MOC: What had you done?
Stig: Er... well he didn't tell me that, but he gave me his word that it was the case, and that's good enough for me with old Trumpy. I mean, he didn't *want* to nail my head to the floor. I had to insist. He wanted to let me off. He'd do anything for you, Donald would.
Republicans held up this part of the testimony specifically to prove that Trump was a "smashing bloke". Or something. They all declared victory and left the field.
Reporters keeled over as one in response.
*Apologies to Monty Python
Maybe Trump will convince Zelensky for a few javelins to participate in the reinactment. I'm sure that one of those "..." will turn out to be Zelensky saying "You are such a stable genius. No pressure. Such a perfect call."
I hope that the Democratic prosecutor in the impeachment asks the Senators to raise their hands if they have ever gotten money or something of value from Trump, if they've spent money at a Trump property, or if they've spoken directly with Trump on impeachment. But I'm sure that all those Republicans will keep an open mind, no corruption.