;)
The Commentariat -- November 3, 2018
Afternoon Update:
ABC 7 New York: "Police have made an arrest after disturbing messages of hate were found inside a Brooklyn synagogue Thursday evening, the latest in a string of anti-Semitic incidents across the nation. 26-year-old James Polite is charged with four counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and making graffiti. Polite has been sent to Woodhull Hospital for psychiatric observation, authorities say." ...
... Steve Sadin of the Chicago Tribune: "A 39-year-old Winthrop Harbor man was arrested Thursday by Highland Park police for allegedly making threatening statements in an Oct. 29 phone call to the Central Avenue Synagogue in Highland Park[, Illinois]. Police say the phone call was placed just two days after 11 people were fatally shot and six others injured during services at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Dean R. West, of the 1100 block of Sheridan Road, Winthrop Harbor, has been charged with a hate crime against a church or synagogue, according to Cynthia Vargas, spokeswoman for the Lake County State's Attorney's office." Mrs. McC: The article is accompanied by a photo (mug shot?) of West, who looks just like what you thought a hate-filled bigot looks like. Obviously, lack of originality is hardly West's worst trait, but it is a trait.
Some people just don't appreciate 7th-grader fart jokes:
*****
Matthew Dessem of Slate: "In unrelated news, actress Tilda Swinton and her partner, artist Sandro Kopp, directed a music video for Anthony Roth Costanzo's performance of 'Rompo i Lacci,' from Handel's Flavio, starring her dogs running around on a beach in slow motion. It probably won't make you feel much better. It might not make you feel any better at all. You could watch the entire thing and close the tab and still feel like the American experiment is collapsing all around you." Thanks to Aunt Hattie for the link. ...
In unrelated news... Des Shoe of the New York Times: "He's a Mandarin duck, and his species is native to East Asia. He should not be paddling in the Pond in Central Park, and yet there he is. Nobody is sure how he got to Manhattan, but he appears healthy and is getting along well with the local mallards. His glorious plumage is already attracting fans." ...
Nicole Lafond of TPM: "President Donald Trump took his 'enemy of the people' diatribe a step further on Friday, accusing 'fake news' and reporters of 'creating violence' by their 'questions.' 'No, no, you know what, you're creating violence by your questions,' he said. ' You are creating, you. And also a lot of the reporters are creating violence by not writing the truth. The fake news is creating violence.'" --s ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As Marvin S. says, the POTUS* is mentally ill.
Nick Miroff & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Seizing on immigration as his main campaign theme ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, Trump has depicted the caravans -- at least four have formed, though they remain hundreds of miles away -- as a grave danger to U.S. national security, claiming they are composed of 'unknown Middle Easterners,' hardened criminals and 'very tough fighters.' He also insists the number of migrants heading north is much larger than estimates put forward by U.S. and Mexican government officials. The [U.S.] military assessment does not support any of those claims." ...
... James LaPorta, et al., of Newsweek: "The Trump administration's plan to deploy thousands of troops to the U.S. border took officials by surprise, with many senior-level Defense Department officers saying they believed the move was politically motivated and a waste of money, multiple Pentagon sources with knowledge of the directive told Newsweek. Four sources with direct knowledge of how plans for the troop deployment -- dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot -- came together said that the initial directive to send troops to the border came directly from the president's office, known in Pentagon parlance as National Command Authority, which would mean ... Donald Trump or Defense Secretary James Mattis.... But ultimately, the decision to move forward with the southern-border deployment was unexpected by military planners. Speaking to Newsweek on condition of anonymity..., the four U.S. military sources said senior leaders within the Pentagon had derided the deployment not only as a significant waste of taxpayer dollars but as running counter to military readiness, but that a minority lauded the Trump administration's hardline crackdown on immigration." ...
... Ryan Browne & Nicole Gaouette of CNN: "When the Trump administration first asked the Pentagon to send troops to the southern border, the administration wanted the troops to take on duties that Department of Defense officials viewed as law enforcement functions.... The Pentagon said no.According to two defense official familiar with the request, the Department of Homeland Security asked that the Pentagon provide a reserve force that could be called upon to provide 'crowd and traffic control' and safeguard Customs and Border Protection personnel at the border to counter a group of Central American migrants walking to the US border to request asylum.... Defense officials have repeatedly emphasized the troops at the border are there to support civil authorities and that they are not expected to come into any contact with migrants." ...
... Paul Yingling has "Advice For US Troops Sent To The Mexican Border In An Age Of Terrible Leaders." Thanks to Monoloco for the link. Mrs. McC: Kwitcherbitchin. Young officers & enlisted personnel have it worse than most of us do. ...
... David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "When President Trump issues an election-time order to send up to 15,000 troops to confront what many experts say is a nonexistent threat on the U.S.-Mexico border, what should Defense Secretary Jim Mattis do about it? Mattis's answer, so far, has been to support the president and mostly keep his mouth shut. He gruffly batted back a reporter's question Wednesday about whether Trump's troop deployment order was a political stunt by saying, 'We don't do stunts in this department.' Unfortunately, some of Mattis's colleagues fear he's doing just that in implicitly backing Trump's incendiary talk of an immigrant 'invasion' that requires sending active-duty troops. Watching Mattis walk the Trump tightrope is agonizing. For many Americans, the retired Marine four-star general is the model of a stand-up guy -- the sort of independent, experienced leader who can steady the nation in a time of division. But in dealing with Trump, Mattis often takes a seat and quietly accommodates the president's erratic and divisive rhetoric -- evidently believing that it's better to hold fire and work from inside to sustain sensible policies." (Also linked yesterday.)
Words Matter
Trump's Remarks Used to Justify Mass Murder. Dionne Searcey & Emmanuel Akinwotu of the New York Times: "The Nigerian Army, part of a military criticized for rampant human rights abuses, on Friday used the words of President Trump to justify its fatal shootings of rock-throwing protesters. Soldiers opened fire this past Monday on a march of about 1,000 Islamic Shia activists who had been blocking traffic in the capital, Abuja. Videos circulated on social media showed several protesters hurling rocks at the heavily armed soldiers who then shot fleeing protesters in the back. The Nigerian military said three protesters were killed but the toll appears to have been much higher. Amnesty International as well as leaders of the protest said more than 40 people were killed at the march and two other smaller marches, with more than 100 wounded by bullets. A Reuters reporter counted 20 bodies at the main march.... The Army's official Twitter account posted a video, 'Please Watch and Make Your Deductions,' showing Mr. Trump's anti-migrant speech on Thursday in which he said rocks would be considered firearms if thrown toward the American military at the nation's borders.... 'We're not going to put up with that,' Mr. Trump said in the clip. 'They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump told reporters Friday that U.S. troops will not necessarily shoot at migrants heading toward the southern border if the asylum-seekers throw rocks, in contrast to earlier comments he made that troops on the border should treat hurled rocks as firearms." ...
... Remembrances of Slurs Past. Michael Cohen Recalls Some of Trump's Racist Remarks. Emily Fox of Vanity Fair: "Cohen recalled a discussion at Trump Tower, following the then-candidate's return from a campaign rally during the 2016 election cycle. Cohen had watched the rally on TV and noticed that the crowd was largely Caucasian.... 'I told Trump that the rally looked vanilla on television. Trump responded, "That's because black people are too stupid to vote for me."'" There's more. ...
Mass Murderer & Bomb Mailer Are Inconvenient. Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "President Trumpwhose actions halted Republican momentum ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections. 'We did have two maniacs stop a momentum that was incredible, because for seven days nobody talked about the elections,' Trump aid at a Missouri campaign rally. 'It stopped a tremendous momentum.'... The president had previously lamented that the mailed bombs had stolen headlines away from the GOP so close to the midterms." (Also linked yesterday.)
Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "At the White House, on Thursday, after President Trump had wrapped up his remarks about immigration..., he continued, 'I don't want them [the migrants] in our country. And women don't want them in our country. Women want security. Men don't want them in our country. But the women do not want them. Women want security. You look at what the women are looking for.' Less than a week before the midterm elections, Trump has returned to the image that he invoked on the day, three years ago, when he announced that he was running for President: rapists on their way from Mexico. Trump is not subtle about the racial aspects of this appeal to fear.... Nor are there any limits, it seems, on the President's willingness to ply the country with conspiratorialism.... Treating migrants as soldiers or terrorists would hardly be more radical than one that Trump has already proposed: ending birthright citizenship, a fundamental promise of the Fourteenth Amendment[.]" --s
Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ordered evidence-gathering to begin in a lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by maintaining a financial interest in his company's Washington hotel. The plaintiffs are seeking records that could illuminate potential conflicts of interest between Mr. Trump and foreign leaders or state officials who patronize Trump International Hotel, blocks from the White House. The judge, Peter J. Messitte of the United States District Court in Greenbelt, Md., said the Justice Department had failed to show a compelling reason to hold up the case while its lawyers appeal his earlier rulings. He ordered the parties to come up with a timeline within 20 days to produce evidence. The lawsuit, filed by the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland, seeks for the first time to define the meaning of constitutional language that restricts the president from accepting financial benefits, so-called emoluments."
She Doesn't Care. Erika Harwood of Vanity Fair: "According to federal spending records, [Melanie (sic)] Trump's hotel bill during her stop in Cairo cost taxpayers $95,050 -- even though, as spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told Quartz, Trump did not even stay overnight at the InterContinental Semiramis hotel and was only in Cairo for six hours. It's unclear how the First Lady and her staff racked up the bill at the hotel, where rooms start at $119 and go up to $699 for the presidential suite." --s
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "A senior Trump administration official in line to become special counsel Robert Mueller's new supervisor if there's a Justice Department shakeup secured White House approval earlier this year on what critics say is a potential ethics hurdle that could have kept him from assuming the high-profile role. Solicitor General Noel Francisco has long been considered a likely candidate to oversee Mueller's Russia probe if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is fired or quits. But the 49-year-old conservative lawyer has also been dogged by conflict of interest concerns because he previously worked as a partner at Jones Day, the same law firm that represents Donald Trump's presidential campaign in the Russia probe." --s ...
... Frank Dale of ThinkProgress: "Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility (CREW) revealed on Friday that Trump signed a secret waiver to prevent Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the man who 'built his law practice as if his primary goal was to troll the libs' and is poised to oversee Mueller's probe if Trump fires Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, from having to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Trump's campaign is represented by Francisco's former law firm, Jones Day, in [Robert] Mueller's investigation.... To make all of this even more questionable, Francisco is not included on the list of waivers on the government website for 'preventing conflicts of interest in the executive branch.'"
... Betsy Woodruff & Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The Senate intelligence committee has asked the National Rifle Association to provide documents on its connections to Russia -- including documents related to a 2015 trip some of its top leaders made to Moscow.... Former NRA President David Keene and soon-to-be president Peter Brownell were both on the trip.... The NRA's Russia connections have drawn growing public scrutiny after a key figure in Russian outreach to the powerful gun lobby, Maria Butina, was indicted in July on charges of being an undeclared Russian operative connected to the country's intelligence apparatus.
Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced on Friday that it was exempting eight countries from bruising sanctions that the United States was reimposing against Iran, undercutting its pledge to economically punish Tehran's regional aggressions while widening a profound rift with European allies. Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, did not identify the eight countries that were being granted six-month waivers, but a senior official confirmed that they include India, South Korea, Japan and China -- among the world's largest importers of Iranian oil. Mr. Pompeo said the European Union, which recently announced the creation of an economic channel to continue financial dealings with Iran, was not among those receiving waivers. The sanctions were promised in May, when President Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from a 2015 deal with world powers to limit Iran's nuclear program."
Fake Diplomacy Falters. Jiyhe Lee of Bloomberg: "North Korea stepped up its attack on U.S.-led sanctions, threatening to resume its nuclear program if the measures aren't lifted. The Foreign Ministry's Institute for American Studies said it could revive its policy of economic construction and nuclear development if sanctions continue. The U.S. 'had better stop the self-destructive act of putting pressure' on the North, the Korean Central News Agency cited director Kwon Jong Gun as saying.... The remarks come a week before a planned meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and North Korean official Kim Yong Chol to discuss details of a potential second summit between Kim [Jong-un] and President Donald Trump." [Open in private window]--s
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court refused Friday to delay an upcoming trial in which a number of states and civil rights organizations allege there was an improper political motive in Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in New York. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have granted the Trump administration's request to delay the trial. It is unclear how the other six voted -- including new Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh -- because justices are not required to publish their votes in such procedures. But at least five of the six were unwilling to block the trial."
Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The big news Friday is that wages are growing above 3 percent for the first time since 2009. It's a significant milestone after years of sluggish wage growth and most economists say workers are likely to see strong gains for the foreseeable future. But the good news comes with two caveats. The first is that the 3.1 percent annual wage growth figure the Labor Department reported Friday is slightly inflated because of some hurricane effects.... The second caveat is that while wage growth is getting better, it's still well below the norm.... Corporate profits, meanwhile, are at an all-time high.... Corporate tax cuts have enabled companies to boost profitability, many analysts and executives say. But companies are spending a lot of their extra cash on stock buybacks and dividends, leaving only a little extra for workers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is waiting to see the results of a Saudi investigation into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, according to U.S. officials, and appears in no hurry to decide whether and how to punish Saudi Arabia. The only specific response suggested so far has come from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said this week that the administration was 'reviewing putting sanctions on the individuals ... engaged in that murder.'... While President Trump has demanded the truth and all options are said to be on the table, he has repeatedly emphasized that business as usual with Saudi Arabia is precisely what he has in mind. He has cited the economic importance of Saudi purchases of U.S. weapons, the stability of international oil markets and what he considers the kingdom's key role in advancing U.S. objectives in the Middle East.&" ...
... President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Over the course of the past month, Turkey has moved heaven and earth to shed light on all aspects of [the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi]. As a result of our efforts, the world has learned that Khashoggi was killed in cold blood by a death squad, and it has been established that his murder was premeditated. Yet there are other, no less significant questions whose answers will contribute to our understanding of this deplorable act. Where is Khashoggi's body? Who is the 'local collaborator' to whom Saudi officials claimed to have handed over Khashoggi's remains? Who gave the order to kill this kind soul? Unfortunately, the Saudi authorities have refused to answer those questions." ...
... Yaron Steinbuch of the New York Post: "Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said Friday that Saudi Arabia should get a pass for murdering US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi because the kingdom is an ally of the Jewish state against Iran. 'What happened at the Istanbul consulate was horrendous and it should be duly dealt with. But at the same time, it is very important for the stability of the region and the world that Saudi Arabia remain stable,' Netanyahu said in Bulgaria, the Times of Israel reported."
Election 2018
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "As he hit the campaign trail this fall, [President Barack] Obama has vented his exasperation loud and often, assailing his successor in a sharper, more systematic way arguably than any former president has done in three-quarters of a century. Although some admirers believe he remains too restrained in an era of Trumpian bombast, Mr. Obama has excoriated the incumbent for 'lying' and 'fear-mongering' and pulling 'a political stunt' by sending troops to the border. As he opened a final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's midterm elections, Mr. Obama has re-emerged as the Democrats' most prominent face, pitting president versus president over the future of the country." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This has all been very upsetting to that nice Karl Rove: "I was taken aback by the amount of space in Presiden Obama's speeches that are devoted to a full frontal assault on Donald J. Trump and his administration. He spends a considerable amount of his time to get up there and trash Trump" ...
** The Desperate Demagogue. Laura McGann & Stavros Agorakis of Vox: "President Donald Trump's closing argument for the 2018 midterm elections represents a dangerous escalation of demagogic rhetoric.... He smears minority groups, particularly immigrants, with impunity.... It looked erratic or even desperate.... It might be desperate, but it's not irrational. Trump has a good reason to act as he has. It's his most effective political strategy. And it's a strategy that demagogues know has to keep ratcheting up to work. And if he's not stopped now, he'll only get worse.... Trump's message is growing increasingly extreme.... While the media and other political observers struggle to see anything but a meltdown, his supporters see exactly what they want to see. They don't support him in spite of his behavior. They support him because of it.... Trump's approval numbers nationally are underwater. But among Republicans, 89 percent approved of the job he's doing, according to Gallup's most recent poll.... [According to] Michael Signer, a professor at the University of Virginia..., 'This is one of, if not the greatest, tests constitutional democracy has been through.'" --s ...
... Dana Milbank: "On Tuesday, voters will make a decision in what is the purest midterm referendum on a sitting president in modern times: Will we take a step, even a small one, back from the ugliness and the race-baiting that has engulfed our country? Or will we affirm that we are really the intolerant and frightened people Donald Trump has made us out to be? If we choose the latter, 2018 will in some ways be more difficult to take than 2016. This time, we don't have the luxury of saying we didn't really know what Trump would do. Our eyes are wide open." Milbank recalls many of Trump's atrocities in office.
Jacques Billeaud of the AP: "A political ad from ... Donald Trump that shows a Mexican immigrant bragging about killing police officers has put the spotlight back on noted immigration hard-liner Joe Arpaio, who detained and released the man in the video years ago.... Trump blames Democrats for weak laws that allowed the man to keep coming across the border, even though he was deported during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Bracamontes was also incarcerated four times in jails run by Arpaio, a Republican who is known for his crackdowns on illegal immigration and being the first person to receive a pardon from Trump. He campaigned for Trump on several occasions during the presidential campaign...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I know I've run a couple of stories on this before, but it just irritates me to no end that Trump blames Democrats for something Joe Arpaio -- the scourge of decent people -- did. Too bad Fox "News" will never cover this (unless Shep Smith has).
Thanks, Supremes. Richard Hasen in Slate: "In separate rulings on Thursday, two federal courts had the same message for minority voters making credible claims of potential disenfranchisement: Your arguments may be good on the merits, but it's too late. These courts, which were examining onerous voting rules in North Dakota and Kansas, took their cues from the U.S. Supreme Court, which has embraced an unfortunate rule that even serious voting problems cannot be remedied in the period before Election Day." --s
Christopher Bing of Reuters: "Twitter Inc ... deleted more than 10,000 automated accounts posting messages that discouraged people from voting in Tuesday's U.S. election and wrongly appeared to be from Democrats, after the party flagged the misleading tweets to the social media company.... The removals represent an early win for a fledgling effort by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, a party group that supports Democrats running for the U.S. House of Representatives.... The Tweets included ones that discouraged Democratic men from voting, saying that would drown out the voice of women...."
California. Courting Extremists. Elham Khatami of ThinkProgress: "Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA) is 'proud' to have the vote of a veteran who has posted numerous anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and racist comments on Facebook. Knight ... is currently facing a tough re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Katie Hill.... In a screenshot obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Knight also shared [an] ad on his campaign Facebook page, writing that he is 'proud to have earned David Brayton's vote.' The LA Times reported that, in addition to Brayton's dozens of bigoted comments, he has also posted comments promoting violence against the media and left-wing protesters, while praising President Donald Trump." --s ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The LA Times report, which lays out some of Brayton's disgusting remarks, was linked here Thursday.
Georgia. Daniel Strauss of Politico: "Former President Barack Obama joined the chorus of Democrats criticizing Georgia Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Kemp for his record on voting rights, contrasting the Georgia secretary of state with Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom the president called 'most experienced, most qualified candidate in this race.' Obama made the remarks in front of a packed audience at Morehouse College on Friday night, just a few days ahead of the midterm elections as Georgia braces for a close gubernatorial race.... 'How can you actively try to prevent the citizens from your state from exercising their most basic right?. Obama said.... Earlier in the evening, former Attorney General Eric Holder made similar warnings about Kemp and national Republicans." ...
... Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "President Trump disparaged Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, in ambiguous and unusually personal terms on Thursday, warning that 'her past' left her 'not qualified to be the governor.' Mr. Trump did not elaborate and offered no evidence for his assertion, which seemed to be a potential preview of the political message he will deliver on Sunday, two days ahead of the election, at a Georgia rally for Brian Kemp, Ms. Abrams's Republican rival. But the decision of the president, who has been criticized for inflammatory language, to invoke Ms. Abrams's background so broadly was a distinct escalation in his attacks on her bid to become the first black woman to be elected governor in the United States. Ms. Abrams, a former Democratic leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, has staked out an array of liberal positions during her campaign, but her tenure in the Legislature has drawn measured praise from the Republicans who led the State Capitol." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mark Niesse of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "A federal judge ordered Georgia election officials to end the 'severe burden' facing some new U.S. citizens trying to vote for the first time, deciding Friday that they must be allowed to cast regular ballots if they show proof of citizenship at the polls. U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross ruled against Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor who faces Democrat Stacey Abrams in Tuesday's election. Kemp, who oversees Georgia's elections, had argued that state law already provides a process for new citizens to vote. Ross wrote in her order that the state's process wasn't working because some new citizens who signed up to register to vote have been turned away at early-voting locations. Her injunction, coming just four days before Election Day, orders that anyone whose voter registration has been put on hold because of his or her citizenship status can vote on a regular ballot after showing proof to a poll manager or deputy registrar. Previously, only deputy registrars could verify citizenship, and they weren't always available when voters tried to cast their ballots."
Montana. Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Montana voters heading to the polls on Tuesday could be forgiven for having no idea that Republican Senate nominee Matt Rosendale once spoke at a rally held by an anti-government militia group. Rosendale's appearance at an April 2014 Oath Keepers rally in the town of Kalispell received little attention in the press, with the exception of one left-leaning local blog.... The Second Amendment rally was focused on supporting the Bundy family's armed standoff against the federal government over their illegal use of public lands." --s
North Dakota. Danielle McLean of ThinkProgress: "Hundreds of Native American voters may now be unable to vote in North Dakota this Election Day because of a new rule that requires their addresses in a government database to exactly match the one on their ID cards. Many don’t match because local emergency services changed those database addresses so officials could use GPS to more easily find locals’ homes in case of a emergency.... On Thursday, Robin Smith, enrollment director for Spirit Lake tribe, went down a list of tribal IDs she's issued since Oct. 22, plugging in voters' addresses into the state DOT website.... With a ThinkProgress reporter watching, Smith checked about a dozen voters' addresses against the website, and found just one had the correct matching address. The others had mismatching towns, mismatching zip codes, and mismatching home numbers. Smith said she would need to print out new identifications — potentially for hundreds of voters — with the updated addresses, before Election Day." --s
Virginia. Patrick Wilson of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch: "John W. Warner, a Republican who represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate for 30 years, endorsed Democrat Abigail Spanberger in her challenge to Republican Rep. Dave Brat in a close House race that has implications for control of the chamber. Warner's endorsement was the second time this week that the second longest-serving senator in Virginia history crossed the aisle in an endorsement. Earlier, he announced support for Democrat Leslie Cockburn in the 5th U.S. House District race against Republican Denver Riggleman to succeed Rep. Tom Garrett, a Republican who did not seek re-election. Spanberger, a former CIA officer, is challenging Brat in the 7th District, which includes parts of Chesterfield and Henrico counties.... Warner endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in the 2016 presidential election. He has endorsed Kaine in his race this year against Republican Corey Stewart. In 2017, Warner backed Republican Ed Gillespie for governor." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND, speaking of Warner's endorsement of Leslie Cockburn, I apologize to the Roanoke Times for republishing this letter-to-the-editor in full:
Please explain to me why Leslie Cockburn pronounces her name Coburn. There is no way you can get 'co' out of 'cock' and please don't tell me that the CK is silent. If she finds her name offensive for some reason or another, then why doesn't she just change it? Is it because she is a Democrat and doesn't know the difference? I know this won't be printed because the paper is liberal and never wants to print the truth.
I have omitted the writer's name to spare him any further embarrassment. ...
... There are far too few perfect moments in life. This would be one.
Robert Barnes & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court Friday night refused to halt a novel lawsuit filed by young Americans that attempts to force the federal government to take action on climate change, turning down a request from the Trump administration to stop it before trial. The suit, filed in 2015 by 21 young people who argue that the failure of government leaders to combat climate change violates their constitutional right to a clean environment, is before a federal judge in Oregon. It had been delayed while the Supreme Court considered the emergency request from the government. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch would have stopped the suit. The other justices did not indicate how they voted on the government's request. The court's three-page order said the government should seek relief from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It noted the government's assertion that the 'suit is based on an assortment of unprecedented legal theories, such as a substantive due process right to certain climate conditions, and an equal protection right to live in the same climate as enjoyed by prior generations.'"
Beyond the Beltway
Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "A man walked into a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday evening and shot six people -- two fatally -- before killing himself, the police said.... Not all of those injured had been shot; one was pistol-whipped." ...
... Tallahassee Democrat: "Andrew Gillum's campaign to be governor was disrupted Friday by a shooting in Tallahassee. The mayor locked in a tight race with Republican Ron DeSantis canceled campaign events in Miami Dade to return to the capital city. 'I'm deeply appreciative of law enforcement's quick response to the shooting at the yoga facility in Tallahassee today. No act of gun violence is acceptable. I'm in close communication with law enforcement officials and will be returning to Tallahassee tonight,' Gillum tweeted shortly after the late-afternoon shooting."
Trumpism Comes to New York City. Ali Watkins of the New York Times: "The African Burial Ground Monument in Lower Manhattan, a treasured site for the nation's black community, was defaced with a racist slur on Thursday, the authorities said.In black marker, a vandal scrawled 'Kill,' followed by the slur, on a plaque at the monument. The authorities said they did not have a suspect in the incident. Discovered in 1991 during construction of an office building, the six-acre burial ground is estimated to contain 15,000 intact skeletal remains of New York City's colonial African-American community, who were not allowed at the time to be interred in traditional church cemeteries. Many were slaves. The monument, which is steps from City Hall, is considered a literal and figurative symbol of New York's prominent and long-ignored role in colonial African-American culture. The graffiti was quickly scrubbed from the site on 290 Broadway. But soon after, the city was jarred by another incident of hate when 'Kill All Jews' and other anti-Semitic slurs were discovered written inside a Brooklyn synagogue.... According to a report from California University's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, hate crimes have increased in major American cities over the last two years." ...
... Fanning Flames. Noor Al-Sibai of RawStory: "The New York Police Department received reports of fires at seven Hasidic Jewish institutions in a single neighborhood in Brooklyn — around the same time vandals spray-painted 'Kill All Jews' inside a reform synagogue in the same borough. City Council Member Stephen Levin and State Senator Martin Dilan released a statement about the fires Friday afternoon." --s
Way Beyond
Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "[A]lready in the few days since his victory [Jair Bolsonaro] has given Brazil -- and the world -- a dizzying, and to many disturbing, glimpse of the rightist roller-coaster ahead.... [He] has reaffirmed his regard for Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship and vowed to brand social movements such as the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) terrorists. He has publicly embraced a radical televangelist who calls himself 'public enemy number one' of the gay movement and invited another commander of Brazil's religious right to his home, stirring fears of a puritanical tack. On Thursday, just hours after controversially naming the judge who jailed his main rival for the presidency as his justice minister, Bolsonaro announced his intention to move Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.... He suggested building 'a very high wall' along Brazil's southwestern border with Paraguay to block gun runners and smugglers." --s
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Reader Comments (11)
I give thanks for the pleasure the videos of the dogs, ducks and Dinner with the Russians have given me this morning. My husband and I spent half the night trying to comfort a dear friend and relative whose husband of 20 years simply up and left telling her he had "met someone else." Real life unlike the "fake" shit we deal with every day from Mr. I am the GREATEST!
I was struck with Michael Cohen's complete turn around ( Trump would call him a "turn-coat") and these words resonated:
“I truly thought the office would change him,” he[Cohen] said. But it hasn’t, Cohen continued. In fact, he said, it has exacerbated his rhetoric."
And when you think about that statement it backs up the idea that Trump and family USED the presidency for their own advantage. Not something we haven't see, but it affirms it from someone who did know right from the start what bastards these people are.
The FATuous one says rocks will be treated as guns at the border.
Waiting to hear what the NRA thinks about this. (The National
Rocks Association.)
@forrest morris: The NRA was working on a statement about rocks, only to be interrupted by a pressing need to come up with a statement about Russia.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure Trump will be changing the Second Amendment -- by executive order, as is his right to do: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to shoot to kill foreigners bearing rocks and debris, shall not be infringed."
(The wording of the Second Amendment has always been clumsy; no reason for Trump to make it clearer.)
With the shooting in Tallahassee yesterday I'm bracing myself for a barrage of anti Gillum spots from the Florida GOP and DeSantis over the weekend.
Weak on crime!!
Marie,
While he’s at it, Fatty should just go ahead and further edit the words of the Second Amendment to make sure it conforms more closely to reality, he being a stickler for truth (*cough, cough*). Instead of “well regulated militia”, and in honor of the Orange Monster’s personal influence in such matters, it now ought to read “unregulated mob”.
Much closer to the truth.
@Akhilleus: Quite right. Second draft: "An unregulated mob, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to shoot to kill foreigners bearing rocks and debris (including paper airplanes fashioned from their asylum papers), shall not be infringed."
Brazil: One more place to avoid. The list keeps growing doesn't it.
Evidently they don't need tourist dollars any more. Build that wall!
Where have we heard that tired statement repeated over and over?
Wonder how long before the FATuous one will invite Bolsonaro
to the White House so they can compare notes (or pictures in the
case of president* illiterate), almost typed illegitimate.
I see James not very Polite will be sent to a hospital for psychiatric examination.
Seems reasonable.
Now if only the same sensible rules applied to all Repugnants who have climbed aboard the anti-Semitic bandwagon, the Pretender foremost among them.
I understand the political calculation of Hannity/Bannon/Shine/Trump that FEAR is one of the strongest primal drivers of scared, insecure white folks, but I also find it mind-blowing how far the Drumpfus and his Republican minions have steered clear of championing the economy in the home stretch. It was literally absent. Nothing on major media outlets. Only fear and lies about protecting health care.
I remember a time when "It's the economy, stupid" existed.
The absence of the "booming economy" narrative in the GOP comm teams' strategy is actually kind of freaking me out. We all know that the stock market is not at all a good measure on Americans' wealth and financial security, as only a small minority own stocks, and an even smaller group own significant amounts. The corporate tax cut just sold the store to the same people, and nearly all of the money went back into stock buybacks and workers were gifted with pocket change for a yearlong subscription to Sam's Club. It's only now that wages are starting to rise, but this is amidst a context where a huge amount of American families are living paycheck to paycheck, or chronically underployed as the job growth post-Great Recession has been largely low wage, low benefit positions.
I think the Republicans know they're currently seen as pleasing the plutocrats with their latest tax giveaway and Americans are rightfully pissed getting squeezed by corporate vultures, so the GOP is sending out the boogymen while hoping the economic machine keeps running smoothly. But if they can't hype up the economy and wage raises now at a time of record unemployment, I'm afraid of what might come from all of the pent-up anti-Washington anger, not to mention the brain-warped MAGA zombies, if the economy stalls and recession takes away the little progress the American worker has been able to garner thus far. With all the racial and resentment fans being flamed right now, if we add serious economic anxieties to the fire, we could have a serious mess on hands.
@Safari
Your thoughts (as they often do) parallel mine.
As large corporations and the immensely wealthy increasingly dominate the economy and along with it, with more than a little help from the Supremes, our politics as well, resource distribution has been so skewed to the top tier that even the average Joe and Jane has finally noticed it.
In that context, the cynicism of the Republican tax giveaway was impossible to miss, and that the promised (was it?) 4000 dollar benefit to the middle class has failed to materialize only underscores the extent of the heist.
Even the wage increases some are seeing are evanescent. Inflation is rising along with and even outpacing those increases and as multiple sources have noted, along with gas prices, the cost of other necessities has also grown.
Regardless of how much they think they hate the invading brown skins or want all pregnancies to result in births, people notice such things at least once a month.
And yes, this bubble will pop.
Ken and Safari,
It does seem entirely reasonable that at some point R's who are not enjoying the same sort of economic boom times as Trumpy and his billionaire pals might come to their senses, realize that they've been had, and reject the constant lies of the Party of Traitors.
Seems reasonable, but this will never happen. Never. Most of the Fox-Trump-R-bots would rather stick needles in their eyes than vote against the tribe. Millions of them will be happy to deep-six their future and the future of their kids in order to make sure that the hated Demycraps don't get a leg up anytime soon.
Trump and Ryan and McConnell, et al, know this. They know they can shove a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat up the asses of R voters and no one will complain as long as they understand that their suffering will help to screw evil Democrats.
So not only are Trump and company fucking the 99%, they're screwing their own voters. Why? Because they can. And they can get away with it. Because their voters are, and there's no way to put this politely, stoopid.
They are perfectly happy to lie down in the gutter as long as people they hate, liberals, minorities, Me Too types, etc., get theirs.
And if the economy comes crashing down, they know whom to blame: Hillary, Obama, George Soros, CNN, Michael Moore, and you and me.
But they will never blame Trump. Never.
Brainwashing is a powerful tool in the hands of authoritarians and fascists.