The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Wednesday
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The Commentariat -- October 17, 2019

Morning/Afternoon Update:

"Adding Insult to Dishonor":

pence Displaces Kurdish People. Annie Karni, et al., of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday said Turkey had agreed to suspend its military operations in northeast Syria for five days while Syrian Kurdish fighters left the area, immediately raising questions about whether the agreement was a diplomatic breakthrough or a capitulation to the Turkish government. Emerging from close to five hours of deliberations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Pence said that the American delegation had achieved the cease-fire it had hoped to broker in the hastily organized trip to Ankara, the Turkish capital. Hailing the agreement as a diplomatic victory for President Trump, he called it a 'solution we believe will save lives.'... But Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, immediately countered that the agreement was not a cease-fire at all, but merely a 'pause for our operation.' He added that 'as a result of our president's skillful leadership, we got what we wanted.' Mr. Cavusoglu also directly contradicted Mr. Pence's announcement that Turkey had agreed to engage in no military action in Kobani, Syria. 'We did not make any promises about Kobani,' Mr. Cavusoglu said, adding that they would discuss Kobani with Russia going forward.... [The agreement] was in practice less of a cease-fire deal than an acknowledgement of the United States' rapid loss of influence in Syria since the Turkish invasion began last Wednesday." ~~~

     ~~~ USA Today has a story here. Chuck Todd says the U.S. is beating such a hasty retreat that we're bombing our bases so the Turks don't get 'em. Mrs. McC: Not only did Trumpence give the Kurds' region to Turkey, I haven't seen where we're not knocking ourselves out helping the displaced Kurds relocate.

Maggie Haberman & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Rick Perry, the energy secretary who has drawn scrutiny for his role in the controversy surrounding President Trump's efforts to push Ukraine officials to investigate the son of a political rival, on Thursday told the president he would resign from the cabinet.... It is not known exactly when Mr. Perry will leave his post, but it is expected soon." The CNBC story is here.

I have news for everybody: get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy. Elections do have consequences and they should, and your foreign policy is going to change ... there's no problem with that. -- Mick Mulvaney, endorsing open corruption ~~~

~~~ ** A Shakedown Is Legal if Trump Does It. New York Times: "Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, told reporters that the release of military aid to Ukraine this summer was linked in part to White House demands that Ukraine's government investigate what he called corruption by Democrats in the 2016 American presidential campaign. It was the first time a White House official has publicly acknowledged what a parade of current and former administration officials have told impeachment investigators on Capitol Hill. 'The look-back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation,' Mr. Mulvaney told reporters, referring to Mr. Trump. 'And that is absolutely appropriate.'... 'Did he [Trump] also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the D.N.C. server? Absolutely. No question about that, [Mulvaney] said. 'But that's it, and that's why we held up the money.' Mr. Mulvaney was referring to Mr. Trump's discredited idea that a server with Hillary Clinton's missing emails was being held by a company based in Ukraine. Mr. Mulvaney's comments undercut the president's repeated denials that there was a quid pro quo...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Lie Falls Apart. John Hudson & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters Thursday that President Trump blocked nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in part to force the government in Kyiv to investigate his political rivals, a startling acknowledgment after the president's repeated denials of a quid pro quo." CNN's story is here.~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is Trump-Mulvaney's idea of mopping up after Sondland's damning opening statement, released this morning. As I understand it (and I may be wrong), Mulvaney dropped both this load and the one that follows in the same press briefing. ~~~

~~~ Trump Announces Another Brazen Criminal Plan to Take Your Mind off His Other Brazen Criminal Enterprises. Self-Dealing Is Okay if Trump Does It. Toluse Olorunnipa & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "President Trump has awarded the 2020 G-7 Summit of world leaders to his own private company, scheduling the summit for June at his Trump Doral golf resort outside Miami, the White House announced on Thursday. That decision is without precedent in modern American history: the president used his public office to direct a massive contract to himself. The G-7 Summit draws hundreds of diplomats, journalists and security personnel, and provides a worldwide spotlight." The resort is severely "underperforming."

Nicholas Fandos & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, will tell House impeachment investigators on Thursday that President Trump essentially delegated American foreign policy on Ukraine to his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, a directive that he will say he disagreed with but nonetheless followed. Mr. Sondland, a Trump campaign donor who has emerged as a central figure in the Ukraine scandal, will testify that he did not understand until later that Mr. Giuliani's goal may have been an effort 'to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly in the president's 2020 re-election campaign.' According to a copy of his opening statement obtained by the New York Times, Mr. Sondland will say that Mr. Trump refused to take the counsel of his top diplomats, who recommended to him that he meet with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, without any preconditions. The president said that the diplomats needed to satisfy concerns both he and Mr. Giuliani had related corruption in Ukraine, Mr. Sondland will say.... Mr. Sondland arrived on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to take his turn in the secure rooms of the House Intelligence Committee...."The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Sondland's opening statement is here, via NBC News.

Washington Post @8:30 am ET: "A group of House Republicans postponed a news conference scheduled for Thursday morning at which they planned to demand greater 'transparency and inclusion' in the impeachment inquiry. A statement released by the office of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said the decision was made following the death of [Elijah] Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, one of the panels involved in the inquiry." ~~~

     ~~~ WashPo @ 9 am ET (same link as above): "Trump tweeted his condolences Thursday morning over the death of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is involved in the impeachment inquiry. 'My warmest condolences to the family and many friends of Congressman Elijah Cummings,' Trump tweeted. 'I got to see first hand the strength, passion and wisdom of this highly respected political leader. His work and voice on so many fronts will be very hard, if not impossible, to replace!'... Twenty minutes after praising Cummings for his work, Trump returned to lashing out at the impeachment inquiry on Thursday...," (which, of course, was part of Cummings' work).

"Gordon Sondland's Ukraine Alibi: I Was the Dumbest Diplomat Ever." Jonathan Chait: "In his testimony, Sondland claims he 'did not understand, until much later, that Mr. Giuliani's agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son,' and that such an investigation 'would be wrong.' To grasp how utterly absurd this excuse is, consider a few facts. On May 1, the New York Times ran a lengthy front-page story about Biden and Ukraine, describing and detailing Trump's agenda of ginning up charges against his likely opponent. The word Burisma appears 36 times in that story. The Times also ran follow-ups on May 9 and May 11.... Generally speaking professional diplomats tend to be aware of front-page New York Times stories about the president's deep, personal interest in the country they are negotiating with.... If Sondland had boycotted all the mainstream news coverage..., he definitely caught the right-wing media's even more thorough coverage, all of which made the connection with the Bidens extremely clear."

Mrs. McCrabbie: Last week, Akhilleus laid out the steps of a Trump Scandal Cycle. Akhilleus applied the steps to a scandal that is in progress (the Lev & Igor sideshow). Allow me to fill in the particulars re: the Trump-Zelensky shakedown, a cycle which now is complete:

Step One: Deny. It was a perfect phone call.

Step Two: Attack. The whistleblower is practically a traitor, and what he says is all second-hand lies.

Step Three: Tacit admission but accept no responsibility. Here's the transcript of the call. Ukraine corruption is terrible.

Step Four: Admission with CYA qualifications. There was no quid pro quo.

Step Five: Conspiracy time. Everyone's out to get me because I'm so great. Those wonderful gentlemen were just trying to help me against the deep state.... (by Akhilleus) Nancy Pelosi & Adam Schiff are traitors and should be impeached.

Step Six: Find someone else to blame. Deep state infiltrating White House (so cut down NSC staff & "investigate" to find scapegoat).

Step Seven: New scandal. Doral.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ Elijah Cumming, Democratic National Convention, 2016

** WUSA Washington, D.C.: "Congressman Elijah Cummings died on Thursday morning, according to an official from his office. Congressman Cummings passed away at Johns Hopkins hospital due to complications concerning longstanding health challenges. He has represented Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1966 [Bobby Lee Correction: 1996]. Before then he served 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates. During his tenure he made history as the first African American in Maryland to be named Speaker Pro Tem." Update: The Washington Post's obituary is here. ~~~

Update. New York Times: "Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a son of sharecroppers who rose to become one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress and a key figure in the impeachment investigation of President Trump, died on Thursday in Baltimore.... He was 68."

Everything Is Going Very Smoothly
Wednesday Was the 1,000th day of Donald Trump's Presidency*

Lone woman stands up to stupid. White House photo.

     ~~~ Update. Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "The image was meant to be an insult -- 'Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown!' Trump wrote as a caption. But instead, it ended up as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Twitter cover photo."

The Guardian's lede, by Julian Borger, is a masterful summary: "A senior US delegation faces the mammoth task of pressuring Turkey to halt its offensive in north-east Syria or face sanctions, hours after Donald Trump said his country had no stake in defending Kurdish fighters who died by the thousands as the US's partners against Islamic State."

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump seemed to wash his hands of the conflict between Turkey and America's Kurdish allies in Syria on Wednesday, generating withering criticism from Republican allies, who rebuked him in a House vote. The day ended with a heated confrontation between Mr. Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office.... Mr. Trump then engaged in a sharp exchange at the White House with Democratic congressional leaders, who walked out of a meeting, complaining that he had been more offensive to them than any president in modern times.... [Earlier in the day,] Mr. Trump insisted his handling of the matter had been 'strategically brilliant' and minimized concerns for the Kurds, implying that they allied with the United States only out of their own self-interest.... Echoing Mr. Erdogan's talking points, Mr. Trump compared one faction of the Kurds to the Islamic State and he asserted that Kurds intentionally freed some Islamic State prisoners to create a backlash for him. 'Probably the Kurds let [them] go to make a little bit stronger political impact,' he said. He dismissed concerns that his decision had opened the way for Russia, Iran, the Syrian government and the Islamic State to move into the abandoned territory and reassert their influence in the area. 'I wish them all a lot of luck,' Mr. Trump said of the Russians and Syrians." This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "President Trump had a 'meltdown' and called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a 'third-rate politician' during a meeting Wednesday with congressional leaders on the situation in Syria, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters after they left the meeting early. The White House had invited leadership and top committee members of both parties and chambers of Congress to discuss Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria.... Pelosi attributed Trump’s comments to being 'shaken' by the overwhelming nature of the House vote, where 129 Republicans sided with Democrats. 'That's why we couldn't continue in the meeting because he just wasn't relating to the reality of it,' Pelosi said. 'What we witnessed on the part of the president was a meltdown, sad to say,' she added later. Schumer added that Trump was 'insulting' to Pelosi. 'She kept her cool completely, but he called her a third-rate politician. He said that there are communists involved and you guys might like that. I mean, this was not a dialogue. It was sort of a diatribe, a nasty diatribe,' Schumer said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The President was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi's decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising. She had no intention of listening or contributing to an important meeting on national security issues. While Democratic leadership chose to storm out and get in front of the cameras to whine, everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room and work on behalf of this country. -- Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, in a statement Wednesday

     ~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times reconstructs how the meeting went down. And out. Lisa Mascaro of the AP does the same. ~~~

     ~~~ Marina Petofsky of the Hill: "Lawmakers and other social media users took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to praise House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after President Trump tweeted a photo of her standing up at a contentious meeting with Democratic leaders in Congress and Trump about his decision to pull American troops from northern Syria.... David Lauter, Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, tweeted, 'This photo could be a Pelosi campaign poster -- the sole woman in the room, literally standing up to the President. Why he thinks this makes her look bad is a mystery.'"

First Trump Abandons the Kurds, Then He Insults Them. Morgan Chalfant & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said Wednesday that Turkey's offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria is 'not our problem,' defending his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the region amid criticism.... Trump also downplayed the U.S. alliance with the Kurds.... 'The Kurds are much safer right now, but the Kurds know how to fight, and as I said, they're not angels. They're not angels. You take a look... but they fought with us. We paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's OK,' Trump said. 'If Russia wants to get involved with Syria, that's really up to them. They have a problem with Turkey. They have a problem at a border. It's not our border, we shouldn't be losing lives over it,' Trump said later." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "'They're not angels, if you take a look. You have to go back and take a look. But they fought with us, and we paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's OK,' [Trump said of the Kurds]. 'They did well when they fought with us. They didn't do so well when they didn't fight with us.' The incendiary comments marked perhaps the president's most dismissive defense of his widely condemned decision earlier this month to allow Turkey to invade Syria, and come just days after the Pentagon's announcement that Trump had directed the evacuation of the last U.S. troops still stationed in the West Asian nation." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In his multiple insults of the Kurds -- our long-time allies who now face possible ethnic cleansing because Trump abandoned them -- Trump said Wednesday, "It's not our problem. They've got a lot of sand over there ... There's a lot of sand they can play with." At the same time, Trump has sent pence & Pompeo to Ankara -- tho it's not clear Erdogan will receive them -- to negotiate a ceasefire & relay Trump's message that he will "destroy the Turkish economy" if Erdogan doesn't stop attacking the Kurds. Even Lindsey Graham can see this makes no sense: "The statements by President Trump about Turkey's invasion being of no concern to us also completely undercut Vice President Pence and Secretary Pompeo's ability to end the conflict," Graham tweeted. IOW, a babbling, incoherent ignoramus is in charge of U.S. international policy. And nobody can guess what it is from moment to moment.

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Sen. Lindsey Graham, marking the latest salvo in the pair's clash over Trump's sudden withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria. 'Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years with thousands of soldiers fighting other people's wars. I want to get out of the Middle East,' Trump charged during a news conference at the White House alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella.... "I hope President Trump is right in his belief that Turkey's invasion of Syria is of no concern to us, abandoning the Kurds won't come back to haunt us, ISIS won't reemerge, and Iran will not fill the vacuum created by this decision,' Graham said Wednesday. 'However, I firmly believe that if President Trump continues to make such statements this will be a disaster worse than President Obama's decision to leave Iraq.'"

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) lashed out at the Trump administration on Wednesday saying it paved the way for Turkey's invasion of northern Syria and that it was 'disingenuous' to be surprised by Ankara's actions. 'This was a decision by the administration which had the clearly observable result that we're seeing. To have the vice president and the secretary of State going to meet with Erdoğan and suggesting that somehow we're surprised by what's happening is disingenuous,' Romney told reporters on Wednesday."

Benjamin Hart of New York: "After President Trump gave Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the green light to invade northern Syria last weekend, thus unleashing chaos in the region, Trump wrote him a very strange letter, obtained by Fox Business's Trish Regan. The message's theme --; that Erdogan should show military restraint -- was straightforward, but the prose style and phrasing ... are so surpassingly weird in a high-level diplomatic context that many wondered if the note was authentic. It is." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: On Wednesday, Trump actually boasted about this letter (dated Oct. 9): New York Times: "President Trump said on Wednesday that he did not give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey a green light to move Turkish forces into northern Syria, adding that he'd written a 'very powerful letter' of warning in the days after announcing his decision to pull back American troops from the area." Mrs. McC: It would have been more powerful still in the original Crayola.

** Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "The House on Wednesday approved a resolution formally rebuking President Trump over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria. The measure passed in a 354-60 vote, with four lawmakers voting present. All 60 votes against the resolution came from Republicans, with the present votes coming from three GOP lawmakers and Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.). The top three House Republicans supported the motion in a rare split from the president. The resolution -- which was sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and the panel's top Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas) -- 'opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria.' The measure also calls on Turkey to end its military action, calls on the United States to protect the Kurds and calls on the White House 'to present a clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of ISIS.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Elena Becatoros & Bassem Mroue of the AP: "Syrian forces on Wednesday night rolled into the strategic border town of Kobani, blocking one path for the Turkish military to establish a 'safe zone' free of Syrian Kurdish fighters along the frontier as part of its week-old offensive. The seizure of Kobani by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad also pointed to a dramatic shift in northeastern Syria: The town was where the United States military and Kurdish fighters first united to defeat the Islamic State group four years ago and holds powerful symbolism for Syrian Kurds and their ambitions of self-rule." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Wednesday called for Kurdish fighters battling his troops in northeastern Syria to lay down their weapons and withdraw from the border area 'this very night.' Resisting Western pressure to halt the operation, Mr. Erdogan also requested international support for his country's battle against Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers terrorists but who had been allied with the United States against the Islamic State. Speaking to the Turkish Parliament, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey would not stop fighting until it had established a planned 'safe zone' in Syria roughly 20 miles deep, from the town of Manbij in the west to the Iraqi border in the east." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Impeachment of President* Trump, Ctd.

Here is your President*, despite being the victim of a witch hunt and winning a presidential election in the face of "corruption like you wouldn't believe," chatting as amiably as possible with his guest, President Sergio Mattarella of Italy:

~~~ ** Mrs. McCrabbie: I hope you get to listen to this unhinged plaint. If not, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post summarizes this bit & more: "... Trump acted the way he increasingly has lately: as if the walls are closing in. Trump lashed out, indiscriminately, in all directions. His unfocused rage was as cogent as a primal scream and as subtle as a column of Turkish tanks." After running down a long list of Trump's attacks, Milbank writes, "More revealing was who Trump didn't attack: Turkey and Russia. He said Turkey's invasion 'didn't surprise me.' He praised Turkey for being 'almost paid up' with NATO. He said Russia, Iran and Syria can be trusted to take over the fight against the Islamic State. Such incoherent rage, combined with confusion distinguishing between friend and foe, is uniquely disconcerting coming from the most powerful man in the world. Trump once worried that 'the world is laughing at us.' Now the world is staring at us, mouth agape."

A Meeting in the Basement. Josh Lederman of NBC News: "Lawmakers plan to grill Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland on Thursday about a private discussion he had with top Ukrainian officials in the White House in which he explicitly mentioned the Ukrainian gas company [Burisma Holdings] linked to Hunter Biden, amid negotiations over granting Ukraine&'s new president an audience with ... Donald Trump.... Sondland's meeting with the Ukrainians just steps away from the White House Situation Room came minutes after a larger West Wing meeting that included then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, who had been noncommittal about scheduling a meeting between Trump and new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sondland directly contradicted Bolton by telling the Ukrainians that in fact, Trump was committed to meeting with Zelenskiy on the condition he open a corruption investigation, two people told about the matter tell NBC News. Bolton abruptly ended the meeting.... Sondland then invited the Ukrainian officials to continue the conversation separately, escorting them to a private room in the White House basement, the individuals said. That's when Sondland was overheard discussing Burisma Holdings..., prompt[ing] Bolton to direct then-Trump Russia adviser Fiona Hill to report the situation to White House lawyers." ~~~

     ~~~ Screenwriters Alert: In this scene, the bumbling "diplomat" -- who bought his job with a million-dollar pay-for-play check to the president* -- ushers the group of confused Ukrainians to a dimly-lit secret room in the bowels of the White House basement. The "diplomat" tells the Ukrainians they have to get the goods on this kid, then finger his old man who wants to bring down the president*. If the Ukrainians don't come through, the "diplomat" warns, Russians might take over their country. But wait! The "diplomat" leaves the door ajar. Out in the hall, the sultry female former counterintelligence agent (yes, yes, she's wearing a short, clingy red dress) lurks. She overhears the "diplomat"'s threat! Disclaimer: Okay, maybe too corny for a movie, but not for real life.

~~~ The Idiot Abroad. Nicholas Fandos & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A former top White House foreign policy adviser told House impeachment investigators this week that she viewed Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, as a potential national security risk because he was so unprepared for his job, according to two people familiar with her private testimony. The adviser, Fiona Hill, did not accuse Mr. Sondland of acting maliciously or intentionally putting the country at risk.... Ms. Hill, the former senior director for European and Russian affairs at the White House, also said that she raised her concerns with intelligence officials inside the White House, one of the people said.... She said Mr. Sondland extensively used a personal cellphone for official diplomatic business and repeatedly told foreign officials they were welcome to come to the White House whenever they liked.... Ms. Hill also testified that Mr. Sondland held himself out to foreign officials as someone who could deliver meetings at the White House while also providing the cellphone numbers of American officials to foreigners, the people said. Those actions created additional counterintelligence risks, she said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Idiot at Home*. Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: "Gordon Sondland ... is overseeing a nearly $1 million renovation of his government-provided residence, paid for with taxpayer money, that current and former officials have criticized as extravagant and unnecessary. The work on the ambassador's home on the outskirts of Brussels includes more than $400,000 in kitchen renovations, nearly $30,000 for a new sound system and $95,000 for an outdoor 'living pod' with a pergola and electric heating, LED lighting strips and a remote-control system, government procurement records show. The State Department also has allocated more than $100,000 for an 'alternate' residence for Sondland for September and October, while work is performed.... The renovations at the E.U. ambassador's residence, which include $33,000 for handmade furniture from Italy, appeared driven by Sondland's lavish tastes rather than practical needs...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the best reason evah for Sondland's losing his job -- he won't get to stay in the "lavish" digs we paid for. If Sondland had a million bucks to donate to Donald Trump, he has a million bucks to donate to the refurbishment of the ambassador's residence. But Sondland is a cheapskate, a two-bit chiseling innkeeper like Trump. One reason to appoint the ultra-rich as ambassadors is that they can afford to keep up their temporary homes. In 1970, the publisher & U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., "Walter H. Annenberg ... spent $950,000 of his own money [that's almost $6MM in today's dollars] and $50,000 of the Government's to renovate" Winfield House, the ambassador's home in London. Then he decorated the walls "with works from his own collection and paintings by such artists as Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet." Winfield House itself came to be only because "Barbara Hutton, the American heiress to the Woolworth fortune..., donated the mansion to the United States Government...."

David Graham of the Atlantic: "From the start of his administration, the president demonized government employees, especially in foreign policy and intelligence. He attacked career officers as part of the 'deep state,' discarded their advice, and appointed Cabinet secretaries who alienated them. Now, as an impeachment inquiry rolls forward, Trump is harvesting wind from the ice he sowed. The White House's attempt at full obstruction of the inquiry has cracked because unlike Trump's loyalists, career officials and experts have been willing to defy invocations of executive privilege and testify to Congress."

Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A former top aide to Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, told impeachment investigators on Wednesday that he resigned because he was upset that the Trump administration had wrestled Ukraine policy away from career diplomats, according to three people familiar with his closed-door deposition to the House Intelligence Committee. In several hours of continuing testimony, Michael McKinley, who until last week was a senior adviser to Mr. Pompeo, described his mounting frustration with how politicized the State Department had become under President Trump.... He spoke of his frustration with Rex W. Tillerson, the former secretary of state, saying he had gutted the department, and praised Mr. Pompeo for his leadership. But Mr. McKinley said he was alarmed at how poorly diplomats were treated." (Also linked yesterday.)

MEANWHILE, Kurt Volker, who resigned as special envoy to Ukraine, also appeared on the Hill Wednesday for further testimony. (Also linked yesterday.)

Didn't Get the Memo. Heidi Przybyla & Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor left Kyiv, Ukraine on Wednesday for Washington D.C. after House Democrats requested he appear for a Tuesday deposition in the investigation into President Trump's alleged misconduct involving Ukraine, NBC News has confirmed. Taylor is a crucial eye witness to Trump&'s attempts to press Ukainian President for an investigation of Joe Biden's son Hunter, who sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company, Burisma."

Got the Memo. Lauren Egan & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper will not comply with a subpoena from House Democrats related to their impeachment inquiry, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Democratic leadership from the Department of Defense.... This is a shift from just days ago when Esper indicated he was willing to work with Democrats on the inquiry." (Also linked yesterday.)

Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "For months, investigators looking into Rudy Giuliani's business dealings in Ukraine have dug into everything from possible financial entanglements with alleged corrupt Ukrainian figures to counterintelligence concerns raised by some of those business ties, according to people briefed on the matter. The counterintelligence part of the investigation indicates that FBI and criminal prosecutors in Manhattan are looking at a broader set of issues related to Giuliani ... than has been previously reported.... The investigators in the Southern District of New York appear to have largely operated separately from what Trump's appointees at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, have pursued in recent months, and the investigation dates back far longer than what's been previously reported." ~~~

~~~ Perry Fingers Giuliani. Sanjana Karanth of the Huffington Post: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry reportedly called ... Rudy Giuliani earlier this year to address the president's concerns about alleged corruption in Ukraine. Perry told The Wall Street Journal, in an interview published Wednesday, that [Donald] Trump directed him this spring to seek out Giuliani, who pushed debunked conspiracy theories about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.... Perry said he contacted Giuliani as a way to set the stage for a meeting between Trump and newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the Journal. The energy secretary's meeting adds to a growing picture of Giuliani working with Cabinet officials to push Ukraine to launch investigations.... Perry's phone call with Giuliani reportedly came after a White House meeting in May after Zelensky's inauguration, according to the Journal. Officials at the meeting, including Perry and then-U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, encouraged Trump to meet the new president, but Trump said that they needed to work with Giuliani to resolve the lawyer's concerns about Ukraine. Perry reportedly understood those concerns to be related to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.... Perry told the Journal that some of the conspiracy theories that Giuliani related in their call included that Ukraine was responsible for a dossier on Trump's alleged ties to Russia, that Ukraine had Clinton's email server and that the country&'s government made up false evidence to send former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to jail.

Joe Valiquette of NBC News: "A Florida man wanted in a campaign finance case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani is in federal custody. Spokespersons for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan and the FBI confirm that David Correia was arrested after flying Wednesday to JFK Airport in New York City to turn himself in. Correia, 44, was named in an indictment with two Giuliani associates and another man arrested last week on charges they made illegal contributions to a congressman and a political action committee supporting ... Donald Trump. The two associates were arrested last week. Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, was also charged in the case. Kukushkin was arrested last week in San Francisco." (Also linked yesterday.)

Greg Miller & others at the Washington Post take a look at Mick Mulvaney's part in the Ukraine scandal. "... current and former officials ... said Mulvaney contributed substantially to the unfolding political crisis.... U.S. officials said Mulvaney met frequently with [U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon] Sondland and that details of their discussions were kept from then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and other officials who were raising internal concerns about the hidden Ukraine agenda. Mulvaney also tolerated meetings between [Donald] Trump and [Rudy] Giuliani at a time when Giuliani was brazenly declaring in interviews his intent to enlist Kiev in efforts to substantiate conspiracy theories about the 2016 election and ... [damage] Joe Biden. Perhaps most significantly, Mulvaney -- at the direction of the president -- placed a hold on nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine in the weeks before Trump used a July 25 phone call to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue Giuliani's agenda." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post digs deeper: "Mulvaney's private admission that the freeze in military aid was tied directly to Trump's demand for an investigation of 'corruption' becomes a lot more important. Because Mulvaney surely knew what 'investigate corruption' really meant, it strongly suggests Mulvaney knew that for Trump, the military aid -- which Mulvaney himself froze -- also turned on whether Zelensky carried out those investigations Trump wanted[; that is, the "investigations" of the 2016 election & the Bidens.]." Mrs. McC: This is exactly the language Jonathan Chait 'decoded" a couple of weeks ago, wherein "corruption" to the Trump Gang meant "2016 election & Bidens." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Lippman of Politico profiles NSC attorney John Eisenberg. Trump calls him "Mike": "John Eisenberg, the attorney who is emerging as a central figure in the Ukraine scandal, is a quiet and unassuming presence in a White House dominated by more colorful personalities.... As one of the longest-serving senior White House officials, and as the National Security Council's top legal adviser, Eisenberg has been privy to many of the Trump administration's most sensitive secrets.... It was Eisenberg to whom several alarmed White House officials turned when Trump urged Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. It was Eisenberg who then helped order the record of that call into a system used for ultra-secret classified information. And it was Eisenberg who .... consulted with political appointees at the Justice Department on how to handle a whistleblower's complaint about the Ukraine call.... Eisenberg's conduct is coming under scrutiny in the wake of [the whistleblower's] report...."

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Senate Republicans are preparing for a speedy impeachment trial that concludes before the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that he expects Speaker Nancy Pelosi to approve articles of impeachment as early as Thanksgiving, according to five people familiar with Wednesday's party lunch. McConnell then surmised that the Senate could deal with the trial by Christmas, concluding the impeachment proceedings before the Democratic presidential primaries begin.... McConnell's comments and PowerPoint presentation on Wednesday were in part an acknowledgment that impeachment is exceedingly likely to come to the Senate, and much of the discussion centered on the ins and outs of Senate procedure. McConnell told senators they would be unable to speak during the trial and that only the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the president's defenders and the House managers could talk, said one person familiar with the meeting."

Impeachable Trump. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "New data from Gallup released on Wednesday shows Trump's approval rating -- 39 percent -- is about where Nixon's was in the middle of 1973. The level of support for impeaching him and removing him from office, though -- 52 percent -- is essentially where Nixon's would have been right before he resigned in August of the following year.... The only time Americans have ever told Gallup they more strongly support impeaching and removing a president from office -- on Aug. 5, 1974 -- that president was gone four days later. Which is ... why it's so odd for Trump to be openly fighting with Republicans on Capitol Hill.... The one backstop Trump has against that happening is the support of Senate Republicans -- a group that is frustrated by his actions on Turkey and that Trump plans to keep loyal through threats."

A president with the power to obstruct his own impeachment through capacious grants of absolute immunity would be a president who is above the law. -- House of Representatives, in a court filing ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Lawyers for the House of Representatives on Wednesday accused ... Donald Trump of trying to 'obstruct his own impeachment' by claiming the authority to block his advisers from cooperating with congressional investigations. The allegation came in a stinging 66-page court filing as part of the House Judiciary Committee's bid to secure testimony from former White House Counsel Don McGahn, whom Democrats consider to be the star witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation."


Jennifer Hassen of the Washington Post now has a story on Trump's ambush of grieving British parents Charlotte Charles & Tim Dunn. See also Reuters story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Donnie Falsely Blames Boris for Jerry Springer Surprise. Harriet Alexander of the (U.K.) Telegraph: "Donald Trump claimed [Wednesday] that he tried to broker a meeting between Harry Dunn's grieving parents and the American woman who killed him, Anne Sacoolas, because Boris Johnson suggested he do so. Mr Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, arrived at the White House on Tuesday night to be told that Mrs Sacoolas was in the room next door. The couple refused to meet her.... Mr Trump later said..., 'I spoke with Boris he asked me if I'd do that, and I did it.'... Downing Street ... downplayed the idea they had suggested the encounter. A spokesperson noted that Mr Trump and Mr Johnson last spoke eight days ago, before the family had announced their intention to travel to the US. 'The Prime Minister asked the President to do all he could to help resolve this tragic issue. The President agreed to work on trying to find a way forward,' the spokesperson said.... The New York Times revealed today that the White House press corps had been assembled to capture the distraught parents' encounter with Mrs Sacoolas in a Jerry Springer-style 'reveal'." (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "Former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman says she stands by a tweet she deleted in which she compared ... Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. The Republican tweeted Hitler 'has nothing on' Trump. Whitman's tweet was in response to reports that a violent parody video depicting a likeness of Trump shooting and stabbing opponents and members of the media was played during a conference at his Miami golf resort."

Donald Trump, Serial Tax Cheat. Heather Vogell of ProPublica: "Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump's businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender -- and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings' property tax. For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.... A dozen real estate professionals told ProPublica they saw no clear explanation for multiple inconsistencies in the documents. The discrepancies are 'versions of fraud,' said Nancy Wallace [of] the University of California-Berkeley. This kind of stuff is not OK.'" Thanks to unwashed for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's probably a little unfair of me to call Trump a tax cheat, when he most likely also attempted to defraud lenders by exaggerating the values of the same properties. ~~~

~~~ William D. Cohan of Vanity Fair: Donald Trump is definitely manipulating the markets. The question is whether or not his friends are the guys cashing in -- to the tune of more than a billion dollars in a couple of instances -- on his tall tales. A "single Trump lie briefly inflated domestic markets by hundreds of billions of dollars. 'What this describes is, quite literally, market manipulation that constitutes criminal violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,' commented George Conway, the conservative attorney and Trump critic. Whether Conway is right or wrong is a matter of legal opinion, but given how fishy and coincidental the trading in e-minis seems to be these days, the SEC or CFTC would be doing a great service (and their job) for the American people by investigating who is behind these lucrative trades, and what they knew before they placed them. At the moment, what we're getting from them is an indifferent shrug."

Michael Wayland of CNBC: "General Motors and union leaders have reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract that could end the United Auto Workers' month-long strike against the automaker, the UAW said Wednesday. Details of the proposed deal were not immediately available. However, the union's roughly 48,000 members with GM are expected to receive raises and bonuses as part of the accord. The company's shares jumped by about 2.5% in morning trading." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Joe Biden went off on Elizabeth Warren's 'ridiculous' healthcare plan, and accused the Massachusetts senator -- as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) -- of 'playing Trump's game and trying to con the American people.' During a gaggle with reporters in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday afternoon, Biden spent a chunk of time slamming Warren on foreign policy, but he really ramped up the attacks when he was asked about Warren's continued refusal to explicitly acknowledge the tax implications of 'Medicare for All,' which was a big topic of Tuesday night's debate. Asked if he planned to 'press' Warren on the issue, Biden launched into several minutes of scathing comments."

Frank Rich: "... the shape of the Democratic field now seems crystal clear. Tuesday night seemed like a death knell for seven of the dozen candidacies on stage, including Joe Biden's. It's time for the actual contenders to go at it on a less cluttered field. Among the seven also-rans, the low-hanging losers are Beto O'Rourke, Julián Castro, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, and Tom Steyer (we hardly knew ye), the billionaire vanity candidate whose main attribute is that at least he is not Howard Schultz.

Democrats Who Might Lose to Trump Because of Voter Suppression Never Mention Voter Suppression. Matt Ford of the New Republic: "The candidates spent much of their time debating manufacturing and automation, trade policy, the opioid crisis, and other issues that would imact how Ohioans vote next year. But they devoted no attention to whether Ohioans would be able to vote at all. Moderators from CNN and The New York Times, who jointly moderated Tuesday's debate, didn't ask the candidates about the national surge in voter suppression and their plans to stop it. That marks the fourth consecutive debate where the topic went undiscussed. It's impossible to expect that the moderators and candidates can give appropriate attention to every policy area, of course. Climate change, for example, is still perennially under-discussed in the debates given its importance. But the omission of voter suppression still stands out precisely because of the direct impact it could have on the 2020 election. The issue is particularly salient in Ohio."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Daniel Boffey & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker have jointly announced agreement on a new Brexit deal despite the refusal of the Democratic Unionist party to give its backing. After weeks of negotiations that went deep into the early hours of Thursday morning and with mounting pressure to have legal text ready for EU leaders to read before a summit, the two leaders said an agreement was ready. The prime minister tweeted: 'We've got a great new deal that takes back control -- now parliament should get Brexit done on Saturday so we can move on to other priorities like the cost of living, the NHS, violent crime and our environment.'"

Comments Off

Reader Comments (20)

It's going to take some really good news today to offset the death of Elijah Cummings. He stood so tall for so much and so many.

"He will be missed" does not begin to describe this loss.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

John Lewis was 79. What a loss for all of us.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria

Oh, I'm wrong: I read 1940 for some reason. It as 1951. Sorry.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria

And Elijah Cummings. I need much more coffee.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria

In case Victoria took your breath away, as she did mine, John Lewis is still alive & serving in Congress.

October 17, 2019 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Mystery solved, at least for me. Error in first paragraph today on Elijah Cummings. He was elected to the HoR in 1996, not 1966. That allows for the 14 years in Marylands House of Delegates.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Great tribute video of Elijah, Marie. Thanks. The room just got a bit darker, and we will wait in hope that someone as strong and bright and courageous as Elijah will rise up and fill his position.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPeriscope

I’m not sure anything can offset the death of Elijah Cummings. Not while a lying, incompetent traitor shakes his baby rattle at the world.

I posted a few words from this song recently, here is another verse that came mind as I caught the middle of a report on NPR and was stopped cold realizing about whom they were speaking. A sad day for America.

When death has come and taken our loved ones
It leaves our home so lonely and drear
And then do we wonder why others prosper
Living so wicked year after year

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Bobby Lee: Thanks. In fairness to WUSA, they were the first to get up a print story, only minutes after the distressing news broke on Balto & D.C. TV. Oh, and I see they've since corrected their copy, but I'm giving you credit on the page.

October 17, 2019 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

“Measured, factual, and decisive”? I think the latest official liar for the Trump Debacle must have been talking about Nancy Pelosi. In no possible universe could a ranting, lying, weak-kneed buffoon be considered measured, factual, or decisive. More bad fiction from the Soiled House.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: Tho I'm not a fan of neatly rhyming poems, I like the sentiment behind this one, by Mary Frye (public domain):

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
(Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!)

It reminds me of part of the letter Civil War soldier Sullivan Ballou wrote to his wife Sarah a week before his death at Bull Run, made famous by Ken Burns:

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights … always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again …

October 17, 2019 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

And while the liars big, little, and fat bleat on about his greatness, Fatty sends a sycophantic theocrat and a sniveling teabagger to do something, something, something about a ceasefire in Syria, all in the embarrassingly transparent and vain attempt to stop a war criminal from pursuing his life’s goal of murdering Kurds, an attempt to slap a bandaid over the gaping obviousness of his cruelty, incompetence, and fecklessness.

“I’m taking care of it”. Yeah. Like Bush and Cheney took care of the Iraqis.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

As I sat down this morning at my computer, Joe, who had been at his for an hour earlier, said: "Elijah Cummings died." At first it just didn't register; who? I asked. When he repeated the name I suddenly saw the man that not too long ago gave one of the best speeches on moral character and humanity I had ever heard from a member of congress. The word "dead" and Elijah Cummings is just so hard to wrap your mind around. He will be noted forever as an exceptional human being and he will be missed terribly.

It isn't too far from Thanksgiving when presidents pardon a Turkey. I wonder whether this year that bird will recognize another of its kind, the fine feathered Turkey Turd who pretends to be a president––the one who is now embroiled in the Turkey-Kurd debacle and is about to be eaten himself.

Can we still say tick-tock?

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterP.D. Pepe

This is fitting: A story in the BBC on Trumps letter to Erdogan ends with a quote from a Turkish source "The president took the letter and threw it in the bin". That's "trash" to us colonials.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

That's right, PD, the clock is ticking. I wonder how long will take for His Lowness to send out a tweet disparaging Mr. Cummings (a la McCain) and demanding that the impeachment inquiry ends because of his death.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

It's probably a little unfair of me to call Trump a tax cheat, when he most likely also attempted to defraud lenders by exaggerating the values of the same properties.
I don't mean to minimize Trump's criminality, but I think this is normal practice for all "real estate developers" in America. We really need to restore the IRS budget to what it used to be when they were able to conduct audits and investigate suspected tax evaders. In fact we need to find a way to put pressure on all prosecutors to go after these types of criminals instead of people possessing a gram or so of marijuana. I'd also like to see a lot more effort put into prosecuting people who use powder cocaine. They're richer than the people who use crack.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterProcopius

Back when he was making a name for himself as a rough and tough Mafia fighter, Rudy Giuliani sent out subpoenas like they were invites to the Macy’s Day Parade. He had no problem having people handcuffed (even those later proven to be innocent—just to get his name in the papers) and perp walked out of their place of business. And those refusing to show up for a hearing or an interview got the same treatment.

This is how the Trump Crime Family scofflaws should all be treated. Send the Capitol Police to their offices and march them out in cuffs, Giuliani included, as well as the Pompous-eo and the half-pence. Anyone receiving a subpoena because they’ve refused to turn over documents to the congressional oversight committees, empowered by the US Constitution, should be compelled by whatever means necessary to produce the required documents and then sit their fat asses down and answer questions.

Do you think Giuliani, when told that some Mafia scumbag announced that his (Giuliani’s) investigation was phony and invalid and would therefore not have anything to do with it, would have said, “Well, okay. I guess we’ll try something else.”

Treat these crooks like the treasonous, lying scoundrels they are. They don’t get to say “These hearings are bogus” and refuse to cooperate. Cuff these pricks and drag them out to the paddy wagon.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Great. Drumpf promises to inflict further pain and suffering on foreigners by locking them up in a detainment camp in Miami in June.

Who would want to do that?

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

A greedy asshole?

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Sorry, what I meant to imply was what G7 official would want to participate at the conference in Miami in June, when the humidity and temperatures are oppressive. They all should just decline to attend.

October 17, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed
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