;)
The Commentariat -- September 16, 2017
Drew Harwell & Amy Brittain of the Washington Post: "On a weekend in early March, during one of seven trips by Trump and his White House entourage to the posh Palm Beach property since the inauguration, the government paid the Trump-owned club to reserve at least one bedroom for two nights. The charge, according to a newly disclosed receipt reviewed by The Washington Post, was $1,092. The amount was based on a per-night price of $546, which, according to the bill, was Mar-a-Lago's 'rack rate,' the hotel industry term for a standard, non-discounted price. The receipt, which was obtained in recent days by the transparency advocacy group Property of the People and verified by The Post, offers one of the first concrete signs that Trump's use of Mar-a-Lago as the 'Winter White House' has resulted in taxpayer funds flowing directly into the coffers of his private business.... It is not clear whether the invoice stemmed from a one-time occurrence or represented one of many Mar-a-Lago rooms that have been booked at government expense for presidential aides or other officials since Trump took office and began traveling there on a regular basis." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining, even in the face of a federal court order, to release a comprehensive list of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family's Mar-a-Lago resort during the two dozen days he spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year.... The refusal to disclose the full list of presidential visitors' names also brings renewed scrutiny to the president's private business empire and raises questions about why the administration would want to withhold information that could reveal possible conflicts of interest.... Mr. Trump visited Mar-a-Lago 25 times between his inauguration and the middle of May, when the club closes for the summer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jeff Howitz & Julie Bykowicz of the AP: "... Donald Trump's inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107 million for a ceremony..., and the committee pledged to give leftover funds to charity. Nearly eight months later, the group has helped pay for redecorating at the White House and the vice president's residence in Washington. But nothing has yet gone to charity. What is left from the massive fundraising is a mystery, clouded by messy and, at times, budget-busting management of a private fund that requires little public disclosure.... Tom Barrack, chairman of the private Presidential Inaugural Committee..., told the AP in June that 'a full and clean external audit has been conducted and completed' of the inaugural committee's finances, though the committee would not share a copy with AP or say who performed it. Two Trump associates familiar with efforts to sort out the financing said they were unaware of a completed third-party audit."
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "... Donald Trump demanded an apology from ESPN on Friday 'for untruth,' days after one of the sports network's highest profile employees called the president 'a white supremacist. 'ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming),' Trump tweeted Friday morning. 'People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!' Trump's tweets were the president's first comments on the dispute between the White House and ESPN's Jemele Hill, a black journalist who co-hosts 'SportsCenter.' "(Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Clio Chang of the New Republic: "... in essence, [Sarah] Sanders is the same as her predecessors. She lies. She thinks her job is to discredit the news media, not to answer the public's questions. Above all, she provides cover for her racist, despotic boss. The world was reminded of this fact on Wednesday, when Sanders said ESPN should fire Jemele Hill, a black female reporter, for calling Trump a 'white supremacist' and 'bigot' on Twitter.... It was a Trumpian mix of chilling authoritarianism, racial grievance, and personal vendetta that was delivered by Sanders with stony calm.... Her list of lies is lengthy.... This is why her placid gaze is so disturbing: It is the face of a White House whose deceptions and outrages have become all too normal." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'd just like to take a moment to congratulate CNN on its choice of sports commentators. Host Brooke Baldwin had on a couple of "experts" discussing the Jemele Hill case. So this white guy prefaced his remarks with this: "I believe in two things -- the First Amendment & boobs." I am on meds, & I wasn't in the room with the teevee or paying much attention, but I did not make a mistake here. The "expert" did not say "boos" or "boons" or "boules." He said "boobs." So, well, no wonder this guy is so fond of free speech & all. And this is why I leave sports news to Medlar. ...
... Update. Okay, here's John Aravosis of AmericaBlog with video. The "expert" is named Clay Travis, & he works for -- you guessed it -- Fox Sports. Baldwin cut short the segment. Mediaite has video of the full segment. For background, see Akhilleus's commentary (times two) & RAS's comment in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kevin Rawlinson, et al., of the Guardian: "An explosion that injured 22 people at Parsons Green underground station in west London was a terrorist incident, the Metropolitan police have said.... Police later confirmed the blast was from an improvised explosive device. Investigators have recovered what appears to be a circuit board from the scene and are examining it for clues. NHS England said 22 people were receiving treatment at three hospitals and an urgent care centre in Parsons Green. None were thought to be in a serious or life-threatening condition." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... The Guardian has live updates of developments here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Nolan McCaskill: "British officials rebuked ... Donald Trump on Friday for claiming that the individuals responsible for setting off explosives in the London subway had been 'in the sights of' law enforcement who failed to be 'proactive.' Prime Minister Theresa May reproached Trump for his rhetoric in the wake of what police are investigating as a terrorist attack that injured at least 18 people. 'I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,' she said. 'As I've just said, the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible.' Trump earlier on Friday had used the latest attack to offer tough talk on terrorism, and seemed to get out ahead of U.K. officials -- although it's unclear what information, if any, the president used to allege that the suspects 'were in the sights of Scotland Yard.' 'Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,' Trump tweeted early Friday morning. 'These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Martin Pengelly & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Trump claimed on Twitter that the terrorist attack involved 'sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard', despite no such information having been released publicly by police. He also blamed it on 'loser terrorists', promoted his travel ban and advocated a 'proactive and nasty' policy against Islamic State.... When the president tweeted, no suspect had been identified and no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the blast.... The broadcaster CBS disclosed the name of the bomber, Salman Abedi, citing US sources, at a time when British authorities were asking the media to withhold the information to protect the investigation. The New York Times then published detailed photographs of the bomb scene that had been taken by British investigators.... The security services that work under [the Foreign Office] will be infuriated by any sign that the US president has leaked intelligence information." Mrs. McC: According to TV reports, British commentators have accused Trump of once again leaking shared U.S.-U.K. intelligence. (Also linked yesterday.)
Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "... Donald Trump can be scattershot in his tweets, as seemed to be the case with the range of subjects he chose in the space of a few hours on Friday morning: Scotland Yard, 'loser terrorists,' ESPN, Barack Obama, the Internet, 'political correctness,' Americans who bring family members to this country. And yet this stream of invective had coherence, in that it could be classified as one long, sustained, distinctly Trumpist cry...." Sorkin does a fine jobs of connecting the dotty tweets & putting them into context.
THUD. Dana Milbank: "President Trump is killing me.... I went for my annual physical last month, and, for the first time in my 49 years, I had to report that I've not been feeling well: fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, even some occasional chest pain. My doctor checked my blood pressure, which had always been normal before: alarmingly high!... I arrived at a self-diagnosis: I was suffering from Trump Hypertensive Unexplained Disorder, or THUD.... I have a strong suspicion THUD is a widespread phenomenon.... It stands to reason that THUD is less pervasive in parts of the country that supported Trump: rural areas, the South, the industrial Midwest.... Indeed, they may be feeling much better, collectively, as a recent epidemic of Obama Derangement Syndrome subsides." Mrs. McC: I have a feeling Milbank is only half-kidding.
Drill, Baby, Drill. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is quietly moving to allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in more than 30 years, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, with a draft rule that would lay the groundwork for drilling. Congress has sole authority to determine whether oil and gas drilling can take place within the refuge’s 19.6 million acres. But seismic studies represent a necessary first step, and Interior Department officials are modifying a 1980s regulation to permit them. The effort represents a twist in a political fight that has raged for decades. The remote and vast habitat, which serves as the main calving ground for one of North America's last large caribou herds and a stop for migrating birds from six continents, has served as a rallying cry for environmentalists and some of Alaska's native tribes. But state politicians and many Republicans in Washington have pressed to extract the billions of barrels of oil lying beneath the refuge's coastal plain." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's all hope drilling doesn't start before Sarah Palin can hop in a helicopter & go shoot her some caribou.
Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "U.S. Army recruiters have abruptly canceled enlistment contracts for hundreds of foreign-born military recruits since last week, upending their lives and potentially exposing many to deportation, according to several affected recruits and former military officials familiar with their situation. Many of these enlistees have waited years to join a troubled recruitment program designed to attract highly skilled immigrants into the service in exchange for fast-track citizenship.... Margaret Stock, a retired Army officer who led creation of the immigration recruitment program, told The Washington Post..., 'It's a dumpster fire ruining people's lives. The magnitude of incompetence is beyond belief,' she said. 'We have a war going on. We need these people.'"
Dan Babwin of the AP: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions can't follow through — at least for now -- with his threat to withhold public safety grant money to Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities for refusing to impose new tough immigration policies, a judge ruled Friday in a legal defeat for the Trump administration. In what is at least a temporary victory for cities that have defied Sessions, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ruled that the Justice Department could not impose the requirements. He said the city had shown a 'likelihood of success' in arguing that Sessions exceeded his authority with the new conditions. Among them are requirements that cities notify immigration agents when someone in the country illegally is about to be released from local jails and to allow agents access to the jails. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the ruling a victory for cities, counties and states nationwide and 'a clear statement that the Trump administration is wrong.'"
Holas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Charles E. Grassley, facing what he sees as Justice Department stonewalling, is considering subpoenas to compel several witnesses to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and divulge what they know about President Trump's connections to Russia and his firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director. Mr. Grassley and the committee's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, have agreed that the witnesses are key to the committee's investigation and could compel them to appear despite apparent objections by the Justice Department and the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The witnesses include two top F.B.I. officials who worked alongside Mr. Comey James Rybicki and Carl Ghattas, as well as Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's former campaign chairman. Committee rules require Ms. Feinstein to sign off on subpoenas, and she has not made her position clear." ...
... Kelly Runs Interference against Rohrabacher. digby cites a Wall Street Journal report: "A U.S. congressman contacted the White House this week trying to broker a deal that would end WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's U.S. legal troubles in exchange for what he described as evidence that Russia wasn't the source of hacked emails published by the antisecrecy website during the 2016 presidential campaign. The proposal made by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.), in a phone call Wednesday with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, was apparently aimed at resolving the probe of WikiLeaks prompted by Mr. Assange's publication of secret U.S. government documents in 2010 through a pardon or other act of clemency from President Donald Trump.... In exchange, Mr. Assange would probably present a computer drive or other data-storage device that Mr. Rohrabacher said would exonerate Russia in the long-running controversy about who was the source of hacked and stolen material aimed at embarrassing the Democratic Party during the 2016 election.... Mr. Kelly told the congressman that the proposal 'was best directed to the intelligence community,' the official said. Mr. Kelly didn't make the president aware of Mr. Rohrabacher's message, and Mr. Trump doesn't know the details of the proposed deal, the official said."
Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Sen. Bill Cassidy Friday sought to rally support for the last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan he co-authored, saying he believes he's on the verge of winning the final votes needed to jam it through the Senate. Cassidy claims that as many as 49 GOP senators have expressed support but doesn't have a hard whip count with just days left to use a fast-track process allowing the bill to pass with a simply majority. And his search for the elusive 50 'aye' votes got harder Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul announced his opposition." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Halls of Academe. Nathan Heller of the New Yorker: "A chill has come early to Harvard this year. Last week, the university announced that President Trump's increasingly unhireable, unfrocked campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had been offered a perch as a fellow at its Institute of Politics, traditionally an aerie for politicos in between jobs....This week, Sean Spicer ... was also added to the I.O.P. roster.... Theatre and politics turn out to be easy bedfellows, even when private ideologies stand far apart.... [This week] Chelsea Manning would also be joining the bill.... Then, as if to cap off the week's appointments and disappointments, the Times printed the results of a recent Marshall Project investigation, revealing the Harvard administration's decision to reverse an admissions recommendation for Michelle Jones, a Ph.D. applicant released from prison.... Universities like to think of themselves as beacons of enlightenment. This week, though, Harvard staked out a future in the dark." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I agree with Dean Douglas Elmendorf on one thing: these fellowships are supposed to be "honorifics." Now I ask what "honor" Lewandowski & Spicer deserve. They were both paid liars, & Lewandowski was also a paid, violent bouncer. I'm not saying they should not be allowed to speak at universities, but the audience ought at least be offered rotten tomatoes. ...
... John Judis of the New Republic: "Michael Morell is in no position to pass judgment on Chelsea Manning. The former CIA director claims to have been outraged by the decision of the Harvard Kennedy School to appoint Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow. In response to his resignation, the school's president has rescinded Manning's appointment. I have to say that I'm outraged by the the school's decision. Let's weigh the moral balance here.... The issue isn't transgender rights. It's an issue of an administration having committed the most egregious actions in the world. You can say what you want about the Trump administration, but to date its sins pale before what the George W. Bush administration did in Iraq. Manning was one of the people who tried to expose those actions. Morell was complicit in those actions. But now Morell, with the support of the Kennedy School's chief bureaucrat, has the last word."
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.
It Ain't Just Facebook. Alex Kantrowitz of BuzzFeed: "Google, the world's biggest advertising platform, allows advertisers to specifically target ads to people typing racist and bigoted terms into its search bar, BuzzFeed News has discovered. Not only that, Google will suggest additional racist and bigoted terms once you type some into its ad-buying tool. Type 'White people ruin,' as a potential advertising keyword into Google's ad platform, and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'black people ruin neighborhoods.' Type 'Why do Jews ruin everything,' and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'the evil jew' and 'jewish control of banks.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Shari Fink & Amy Harmon of the New York Times: "The Florida nursing home where eight residents died on Wednesday after the building lost air-conditioning said Friday that it had repeatedly called the local power company and had been assured that help was on the way. The nursing home, according to its statement and interviews with its representatives on Friday, first called the local utility, Florida Power & Light, on Sunday afternoon after power to the air-conditioning system went out. The utility said that a representative would arrive on Monday morning, but changed its expected arrival time in subsequent phone calls to Monday afternoon, then Tuesday morning, then Tuesday afternoon, the nursing home said. The home's residents began dying early Wednesday morning. The nursing home, which is owned by Larkin Community Hospital, also said it spoke repeatedly with government agencies, including the Florida Department of Emergency Management, the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Health." The CEO of the community hospital that shares a building with the nursing home said she called Florida Gov. Rick Scott repeatedly.
Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than a dozen people were arrested Friday as hundreds of demonstrators in the St. Louis region marched into the night following the acquittal of a white former police officer who was charged with murder last year for fatally shooting a black driver after a car chase. Prosecutors charged Jason Stockley, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, with murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. According to the probable cause statement, Stockley was caught saying he was 'going to kill this motherf[uck]er, don't you know it' and was heard telling another officer to drive into Smith's slowing car. The court document, submitted by the St. Louis circuit attorney, said Stockley then approached Smith's window and fired five times into the car, hitting Smith 'with each shot' and killing him. In addition, prosecutors accused the officer of planting a gun on the victim: there was a gun found in Smith's car, but it was later determined to only have DNA from Stockley. Judge Timothy Wilson, the circuit judge who heard the case in a bench trial, acquitted Stockley on the murder charge as well as a charge of armed criminal action in a 30-page order released Friday morning.... Wilson said, he was not convinced that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley 'did not act in self-defense,' as the former officer had said." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: What would it take to get Wilson to get over his "reasonable doubt"? Say, a note taped to the gun that read, "Property of Jason Stockley, official plant gun"? A courtroom confession? Unless the feds charge Stockley with a civil rights crime, the guy is untouchable. Let's ask the U.S. attorney general what his plans are. Oh. Jeff Sessions. Asked & answered. ...
... Joel Currier & Christine Byers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty Friday of murdering a man while on duty. St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson's highly anticipated verdict found the white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black drug suspect, after a high-speed pursuit and crash.... Protesters began gathering immediately. They tried to get on Interstate 64, but were blocked by police.... Police pepper-sprayed a few protesters in the early afternoon as they tried to block police from traveling on Tucker Boulevard between Clark Avenue and Spruce Street. More than 100 police, many with batons and riot shields, were there." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kwegyirba Croffie of CNN: "Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of convicted sex abuser and former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, pleaded guilty Friday to all 14 counts of child sexual abuse against him. The Centre Country district attorney's office said the younger Sandusky, 41, entered the guilty pleas a week before his trial was scheduled to begin. The 14 counts included soliciting sex from a child younger than 16 and soliciting child pornography....The charges involve incidents with two girls, one in 2013 and one in 2016."
News Lede
CNN: "Tropical Storm Jose has strengthened back into a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm, which could bring rain and wind to the northeastern United States later this week. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was 550 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, early Saturday, according to the hurricane center.Jose remains out in the Atlantic Ocean and is moving toward the northwest, and that motion will bring it closer to the United States through the weekend. Just how far it moves west before turning to the north will tell forecasters a great deal about the likelihood of whether it will make landfall somewhere along the eastern US coastline."
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Reader Comments (10)
I'm with Millbank on THUD. My wife literally went thud and is now recovering from a mild concussion. Over the last few days I have taken her to a physical therapist and a neurology PA and I was stunned to find both of them to be fact-driven, completely competent, pleasant and caring people.
I appear to have adopted a "be highly suspicious of anyone you don't know" mentality since the election. And that's me in the privileged white male not-poor category. I felt almost euphoric in being able to let my guard down and enjoy the kind expertise of new people. I'll bet my cautious mental state is not even 1/10th of what people who don't look and live like me deal with in even the best of times.
You all remember, no doubt, the Glorious Leader's astounding brag from campaign days about being able to stand in Times Square, shoot people, and get away with it (we'll set aside, for a moment, what an incredibly inappropriate claim that is for a presidential candidate).
Well, that's not just grisly speculation on the part of the most unethical, immoral, law breaking candidate--now president*--in history. As long as he shot black people, especially if he were dressed as a cop, he'd have nothing to worry about. He could even shoot a guy then plant a gun on the dead man to "prove" self defense.
No worries. Trump's America.
@Nisky: Here's an exchange with two Asian Americans on growing up in the midwest vs Chinatown––two people that don't look like you and have also had to deal with their "stuff" even in the best of times.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/asian-american-midwest-chinatown_us_59b2e703e4b0b5e531063848?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
And I relate to your skepticism as well as the THUD: last checkup my blood pressure was way up, have had headaches, sleepless nights and a tenancy to put head in hands and weep. But now I have resigned myself to looney tune time and know that this will not be forever––will it?
Good luck to your wife––concussions can be brutal.
" ... shoot people, and get away with it (we'll set aside, for a moment, what an incredibly inappropriate claim that is for a presidential candidate)."
Coats has asked the question everyone should have asked after Trump bragged about this including the pussy grabbing, the McCain put down, the birther movement, etc, etc. What if Obama had said just one of these things? Just ONE–-that would have been it for Obama. Think about this for a moment–-it glares at you with such a ferocious kick.
"The First White President" indeed.
I teach hospitality management at a large midwestern state university. Rule number one of hotel management is that rack rate is for chumps. No reasonably smart consumer EVER pays rack rate. It would be interesting to compare the ADR (average daily rate) during the periods the tRump team are at Mar a Lago to the rack rate. It's bad enough that tRump is staying there at taxpayer expense, but the difference between the ADR and rack rate is theft from the taxpayers, pure and simple.
Another thing I teach in my facilities management class is that there are things known as critical systems and that they change depending on the property. There are a good number of dietetics students in my classes, so I spend time talking about managed care facilities and the sorts of systems that are critical in that environment that may not be critical in others. The HVAC system is just one of those systems. It's not critical in certain facilities, but it absolutely is in managed care facilities.
I also teach about how we quantify risk. We simply calculate the potential cost of a system failure and multiply by the likelihood that such a failure will occur. The odds of a lengthy power outage in a hurricane prone state like Florida are very high. The cost of an emergency generator are quite low relative to the cost of a failure of the HVAC system in a building full of senior citizens.
The nursing home can blame the utility all they want, but the fault is theirs. An emergency generator for a facility their size is less than $20,000, something that could easily have been included during the construction of a multi-million dollar property. The nursing home management knew this could happen, indeed that it was likely to happen, yet took no steps to mitigate the impact of the event. They should rot.
Detail from the AP article linked above is worthy of WT actual F?
Bush’s inaugural committee spent $2.5 million on its concert on the National Mall. Obama’s concert had 10,000 ticketed seats — twice the size of Trump’s — and cost less than $5 million, said Kerrigan, and was produced at a high enough level that HBO paid for the rights to telecast it.
“I couldn’t tell you how we possibly could have spent $25 million on a concert,” said Kerrigan.
@Diane: The answer to Kerrigan is simple. Put the orchestra up for the night in a trump hotel.
Cowichan: Best response ever!
I feel like I'm living in that moment before Dorothy arrives and the Wicked Witch of The West reigns supreme. Life , for the lollipop twins, musta' sucked.