;)
The Commentariat -- September 19, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: " A former schoolmate of Brett Kavanaugh's accuser wrote a Facebook post saying she recalls hearing about the alleged assault involving Kavanaugh, though she says she has no first-hand information to corroborate the accuser's claims. 'Christine Blasey Ford was a year or so behind me,' wrote the woman, Cristina Miranda King, who now works as a performing arts curator in Mexico City. 'I did not know her personally but I remember her. This incident did happen.' She added, 'Many of us heard a buzz about it indirectly with few specific details. However Christine's vivid recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true.'... King has since taken down her Facebook post, which NBC News verified as having appeared on her account." ...
... Frank Thorp, et al., of NBC News: "Republican lawmakers on Wednesday appeared poised to move ahead with a confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is accused of sexually assaulting a woman while they were in high school, if the woman does not participate in a Senate hearing to air the allegation.... [Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck] Grassley ... said that no law enforcement investigation was warranted and that the invitation for her to testify on Monday 'still stands.' The chairman responded to Ford's lawyers Wednesday afternoon in a letter in which he said again that FBI involvement is not needed and that the Senate doesn't have the power to authorize such an investigation.... He said Ford would need to submit her biography and prepared testimony by Friday at 10 a.m. if she intends to testify Monday." ...
... Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, another former classmate of Brett Kavanaugh's denies attending a party like the one described in the allegation made by Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her three decades ago when they were teenagers. Patrick J. Smyth attended Georgetown Prep -- an all-boys school in North Bethesda, Maryland -- alongside Kavanaugh. Both men graduated in 1983.... Eric Bruce, who is representing Smyth, authored a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the committee. CNN has obtained a copy of the letter, which includes a quote from Smyth denying seeing any 'improper conduct' from Kavanaugh." ...
... Maria Caspani of Reuters: " A growing number of Americans said they opposed ... Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, as the candidate's confirmation hearings took place and as he fended off a sexual assault claim, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. The Sept. 11-17 poll found that 36 percent of adults surveyed did not want Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court, up 6 points from a similar poll conducted a month earlier. Only 31 percent of U.S. adults polled said they were in favor of Kavanaugh's appointment."
John Solomon & Buck Sexton of the Hill: "President Trump in an Oval Office interview with Hill.TV launched one of his most ferocious broadsides to date against Jeff Sessions, suggesting the attorney general was essentially AWOL and performing badly on a variety of issues. 'I don't have an attorney general. It's very sad,' Trump told Hill.TV in an extensive and freewheeling interview Tuesday from the Oval Office.... 'I'm so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me. He was the first senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be attorney general, and I didn't see it,' he said. 'And then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly. I mean, he was mixed up and confused, and people that worked with him for, you know, a long time in the Senate were not nice to him, but he was giving very confusing answers. Answers that should have been easily answered. And that was a rough time for him.'" ...
John Solomon & Buck Sexton: "President Trump in an exclusive interview with Hill.TV said Tuesday he ordered the release of classified documents in the Russia collusion case to show the public the FBI probe started as a 'hoax' and that exposing it could become one of the 'crowning achievements' of his presidency. 'What we've done is a great service to the country, really,' Trump said in a 45-minute, wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office." ...
... Chris Strohm of Bloomberg: "Donald Trump has demanded the 'immediate declassification' of sensitive materials about the Russia investigation, but the agencies responsible are expected to propose redactions that would keep some information secret, according to three people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department, FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence are going through a methodical review and can't offer a timeline for finishing, said the people, who weren't authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive matter."
*****
What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep. -- Brett Kavanaugh, in a speech in March 2015 ...
... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Wednesday that it is 'very hard for me to imagine anything happened' between Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault when both were teenagers. Trump praised his Supreme Court nominee as 'an extraordinary man' with 'an unblemished record' and said what he is experiencing is 'unfair.' But the president also said that Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, deserves to be heard at a Senate hearing scheduled for Monday. 'If she shows up and makes a credible showing, that will be very interesting, and we'll have to make a decision,' Trump told reporters as he left the White House for North Carolina to survey hurricane damage. Lawyers for Ford alerted the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies, a request Republicans are resisting. Trump told reporters that Kavanaugh has been investigated by the FBI six times and suggested it is unnecessary to do so again." ...
... The Case of the Reluctant Witness. Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The woman who has accused President Trump's Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault has so far failed to respond to requests from the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify at an extraordinary public hearing on Monday, raising doubts about whether she plans to attend -- and whether the session would go on without her. Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday that he had sent several requests to lawyers for the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, to testify along with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.... The mysterious silence from Dr. Blasey and her lawyers was another turn in a drama that has gripped the Capitol since Thursday.... Dr. Blasey, thrust suddenly into a spotlight that she never sought, has been inundated with vulgar email and social media messages, and even death threats, according to a person close to her.... Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, are clashing over the scope and shape of the hearings. Mr. Grassley said Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey would be the only witnesses, prompting pushback from top Democrats, who are demanding an F.B.I. investigation to search for additional witnesses or evidence, and to avoid the specter of a 'he said, she said' debate.... One possible witness is a friend of Judge Kavanaugh's, Mark Judge, who Dr. Blasey said was in the room with Judge Kavanaugh when the assault occurred. Mr. Judge had told the Judiciary Committee that he does not remember the episode and has nothing more to say...." ...
... The story has been updated: "The woman who has accused President Trump's Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault threw into doubt plans for an extraordinary Senate hearing to air her accusations, charging on Tuesday that some senators have already made up their minds and insisting that the F.B.I. investigate first. Speaking through her lawyers, Christine Blasey Ford did not explicitly rule out appearing next Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify along with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. But echoing Senate Democrats, she said an investigation should be 'the first step' before she is put 'on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident.'... 'If she does not come on Monday, we are going to move on and vote on Wednesday,' Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a member of the committee, told Fox News on Tuesday evening." ...
... Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "The woman who has accused Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee -- a demand that came as President Trump and Senate Republicans increasingly rallied to the defense of the embattled Supreme Court nominee.... The two-page letter does not explicitly say she will not attend if there is no FBI probe.... Though Kavanaugh's confirmation prospects looked shaky earlier this week after Ford's allegations became public, senior Republicans on Tuesday were increasingly determined to press forward with his nomination." ...
... ** Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: MSNBC reported on-air that Blasey Ford's attorney has said Blasey Ford will not appear before the Judiciary Committee on Monday. So that's a big win for Trump unless something changes. As Josh Marshall points out, top Republicans, including Susan Collins, have presented the planned Monday hearing as a take-it-or-leave-it "opportunity" for Blasey Ford. I agree that an investigation is necessary, but sometimes you have to make do with what you get, even if that's appearing before Chuck Grassley & Orrin Hatch without a couple of cream pies to throw at their mugs. So if the on-air report is true, shame on Blasey Ford & her attorneys. Unless Blasey Ford's lawyers are coordinating their moves with Democrats on the committee & they plan to allow her to testify whatever the eventual circumstance, I'm disgusted with all of them. ...
... Rebecca Shabad, et al., of NBC News has a well-explained story on the state of the impasse. It does not specifically state that Blasey Ford refuses to testify Monday, but that's pretty much the effect. Chuck Grassley is standing his ground that no FBI investigation is necessary. Sen. Dianne "Feinstein, meanwhile, criticized the FBI and White House on Tuesday for 'failing to take even the most basic steps' to investigate Ford's allegation. 'What's worse at that time, President Bush asked the FBI to do its job and perform an investigation looking into Anita Hill's allegations, which it did. Now, under the Trump administration, Republicans want to do even less by blocking any investigation into Dr. Ford's allegations,' she said. 'I'm disappointed the FBI and White House are failing to take even the most basic steps to investigate this matter.'" ...
... AND Margaret Hartmann, as she always does, writes another helpful post on where things stand. Apparently Republicans have settled on a mistaken-identity defense: "they believe Ford was assaulted, but she's wrong about Kavanaugh being the perpetrator[.]" Hartmann notes that Blasey Ford "knew Kavanaugh in passing before the party, which makes it harder to believe that she simply misremembered the identity of the man who attempted to rape her." ...
... Burgess Everett & Elan Schor of Politico: "Republicans are already taking shots at Ford.... Their conduct could determine not just the public's perception of their party but whether Kavanaugh wins the 50 votes needed to sit on the high court.... Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) questioned Ford's motives.... Graham questioned why she waited months after contacting The Washington Post and her Democratic representative in Congress to go public. He also expressed skepticism about some of the details of her story, including why she took a lie detector test administered by a former FBI agent." ...
... Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post: "Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are considering having their aides question Christine Blasey Ford should she testify about her sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... There's a reason for this unusual move: Every Republican senator on the committee is male, and aggressive questioning of Blasey could backfire for them. If they use their aides, they would be able to rely on female staffers.... Three Democratic sources familiar with the committee's planning told HuffPost that this proposal was under consideration, although so far it's not clear whether Blasey and Kavanaugh will testify." Mrs. McC: Everett & Schor reported that Republicans also were considering having a female attorney question Blasey Ford. ...
... Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago has not yet confirmed her appearance at a public hearing the GOP is planning next week as of midday Tuesday, according to top Republican senators. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that his staff has reached out to Christine Blasey Ford's camp several times since the California-based professor came forward with her story of a high-school-era assault by ... Donald Trump's high court pick. Although Ford's lawyer said that her client would be open to 'a fair proceeding,' it remains unclear whether she would agree to a planned hearing on Sept. 24 that Republicans have set up to help save Kavanaugh's nomination." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump falsely charged on Tuesday that Democrats had sought to time a sexual assault allegation against his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, to obstruct his confirmation, siding with the judge as he called for a swift process for airing the accusation on Capitol Hill. 'I feel so badly for him that he's going through this,' Mr. Trump said of Judge Kavanaugh.... 'This is not a man that deserves this.'... 'Why didn't the Democrats bring it up then?' Mr. Trump said Tuesday during a news conference at the White House with President Andrzej Duda of Poland. 'Because they obstruct, and because they resist. That's the name of their campaign against me -- they just resist and they just obstruct.' It's a shame,' he added, 'because this is a great gentleman.'... Mr. Trump, himself the subject of sexual misconduct allegations that he has denied, mischaracterized Democrats' role. They took their cue from Dr. strong> Blasey, who was not willing to go public with her accusation until this past weekend.... Mr. Trump, who has been uncharacteristically restrained about the matter in his public statements and on Twitter, said he felt 'terribly' for Judge Kavanaugh and did not address his feelings about the alleged victim, Dr. Blasey, to whom he referred as 'the woman.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wow! See how compassionate & even-handed Trump can pretend to be. Never mind that his fake compassion is for a man who has been accused of sexual assault; Trump says the guy has an "impeccable record." One does feel a certain awe for a party that manages in one fell swoop to sully all three branches of government. ...
... Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "According to sources, several factors are at play. White House advisers are worried that more damaging information about Kavanaugh could come out. Two sources told me the White House has heard rumors that Ford's account will be verified by women who say she told it to them contemporaneously.... One source says Ivanka Trump has told her father to 'cut bait' and drop Kavanaugh. Another reason Trump hasn't gone to the mat for Kavanaugh is that he's said to be suspicious of Kavanaugh's establishment pedigree. '"He's a Bush guy, why would I put myself out there defending him?"' Trump told people, according to a former White House official briefed on the conversations. Trump also has expressed frustration with White House counsel Don McGahn, who aggressively lobbied for him to choose Kavanaugh, a source said. But the threat of losing the House and Senate seems to have helped convince Trump not to go scorched-earth on Ford. If Trump antagonizes women voters, it could increase the odds Republicans would lose both houses in Congress. 'Trump knows the Senate is not looking good,' an outside adviser said. 'It's all about the impeachment, he knows it's coming.'"...
... MEANWHILE. Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Former President George W. Bush is standing by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... Bush told Politico in a statement on Tuesday: 'Laura and I have known and respected Brett Kavanaugh for decades, and we stand by our comments the night Judge Kavanaugh was nominated.'" ...
... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump said Tuesday the FBI doesn't want to investigate sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 'I don't think the FBI really should be involved because they don't want to be involved,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Poland's president. Trump said he hasn't spoken to his pick for the Supreme Court since Sunday, when The Washington Post published Christine Blasey Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a high school party in the 1980s. Trump indicated that he has made a point not to speak with Kavanaugh because he expected to be asked about any conversations with the judge." Mrs. McC: Funny how he wants "complete transparency" of secret investigative documents regarding his own case, even at the expense of national security & possibly the very lives of informants, but when it comes to charges of sexual abuse by a privileged white man, nothing doing. ...
... Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "In April 2014, Kavanaugh gave a speech to the Yale Law School Federalist Society in which he recalled drinking and partying in law school. The speech recalls innocent hijinks, but in light of the accusations now leveled against him, they provide context to Kavanaugh's partying, though they happened several years after the alleged attack would have taken place." Levy provides excerpts of the speech. ...
... Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Christine Blasey Ford's claims that Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers while he was drunk have drawn attention to a speech he gave four years ago in which he discussed heavy drinking at Yale Law School -- and to an offhand remark about his high school days that he made during another speech.... In one episode, he described taking a bus with his classmates to Boston for a Red Sox game and a night of barhopping, which ended with the students 'falling out of the bus onto the front steps of Yale Law School at about 4:45 a.m.'" Kavanaugh also described another such incident in the same speech. And Stevens reports on the March 2015 speech in which Kavanaugh laughed off his Georgetown Prep capers. Mrs. McC: Not only do his recent remarks back up one aspect of Blasey Ford's account -- that Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker -- but they suggest he has not changed his views on that. He still thinks it's funny. What about now? Does he still binge-drink? Will a senator ask him about that? ...
... The Other Reluctant Witness. Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "A key witness in Ford's decades-old allegation, Kavanaugh's high school classmate Mark Judge, said Tuesday he would prefer not to testify. Judge, who Ford says was the third person in the room when Kavanaugh assaulted her, said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that 'I have no more information to offer the committee and I do not wish to speak publicly regarding the incidents.'... GOP lawmakers are vowing to proceed regardless [of whether or not Ford appears] on Monday, as Democrats slam what they describe as a rushed process designed to push Kavanaugh through to confirmation." ...
... John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The No. 2 Republican in the Senate on Tuesday sharply questioned the credibility of the woman who has accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, as GOP leaders indicated they will limit witnesses at next week's hearing to just the Supreme Court nominee and his accuser. Speaking to reporters, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said..., 'The problem is, Dr. Ford can't remember when it was, where it was, or how it came to be,' Cornyn told reporters at the Capitol late Tuesday morning. When asked whether he was questioning the accuser's account -- which Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied — Cornyn said, 'There are some gaps there that need to be filled.' His comments came shortly after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) outlined a plan to limit testimony at Monday's planned hearing to that provided by Kavanaugh and Ford -- which brought cries of protest from Democrats. They insisted that other witnesses also be called, including Mark Judge, a Kavanaugh friend who Ford said witnessed the assault." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Blasey Ford Told Her Story to a Friend in 2017. Julia Sulek of the Mercury News: "In an interview Monday with this news organization, [Rebecca] White..., one of Blasey Ford's neighbors and a good friend..., said that Blasey Ford had told her about the alleged assault -- without naming Kavanaugh -- in late 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement and long before Kavanaugh was a Supreme Court nominee. Last year, White had added her own #MeToo story about being raped as a teenager to a Facebook post. 'She reached out to me afterward, supporting me and my story and that she had something happen to her when she was really young and that the guy was a federal judge,' White said. 'She said she had been assaulted. She said hers had been violent as well, physically scary, fighting for her life.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Since Sen. Upchuck Grossly won't allow other witnesses to come forward, I sure hope Democrats bring up White's attestation during the hearing Monday -- if there is a hearing Monday. ...
... No, It's Not a "He Said/She Said." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... Georgetown University law professor David Super notes, federal law explicitly says these previous statements are not regarded as hearsay, or unreliable, when they are used 'to rebut an express or implied charge that the declarant recently fabricated it or acted from a recent improper influence or motive in so testifying.' That's exactly what Republicans are implying -- often gently and without expressly calling Ford a liar. 'Calling it "he said, she said" implies that both accounts are uncorroborated,' Super said. 'But these prior consistent statements are corroboration. And with so many complaining about the lateness of the charges, they are at least implying recent fabrication. That makes her prior consistent statements not hearsay. Even a court would consider them.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mimi Rocah & four other former federal prosecutors make the same point in an NBC News opinion piece: "... prosecutors look for corroborating evidence -- and there are strong indications already that Ford is telling the truth about her attack.... A Senate hearing, if it indeed occurs, is not enough.... Rather, there must be a thorough, unrushed investigation by the FBI or by another independent investigator and a full and fair public hearing, including all relevant witnesses and not just Kavanaugh and his accuser.... There is no legitimate reason to rush a confirmation vote. Confirming Kavanaugh under the current circumstances would undermine both his legitimacy and the integrity of the Supreme Court." ...
... Brian Beutler of Crooked: "Facing the real prospect that their long-sought fifth anti-abortion Supreme Court justice might go unseated, and President Trump's growing legal exposure, the Republican Party is charging into election season with a two-fronted disinformation campaign, in a desperate effort to salvage conservative control not just of the Court, but of Congress and the White House as well. Specifically, they are maximizing confusion about whether Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a 15 year old girl when he and she were both high school students, and about the legitimacy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. And they are advancing both goals with naked abuses of power. In the Senate, Republicans believe the path to confirming Kavanaugh now runs through preventing the public from reaching consensus about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school.... Trump has ordered the Justice Department and the Director of National Intelligence to breach Mueller's investigation by declassifying and disclosing sensitive counterintelligence information...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Margaret Hartmann of New York: "While President Trump declassifying documents 'at the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency,' may sound like routine presidential behavior, the directive announced by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday afternoon was actually a dramatic escalation of his attempts to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller.... This is the first time a president has released information about an ongoing investigation into members of his campaign and administration over the objections of intelligence officials.... The materials won't immediately be made public. In a classic Trumpian move, the administration made the announcement before giving the Justice Department specific instructions about what it's supposed to release, according to the Washington Post. The department responded with a statement saying it will review the information to ensure it doesn't release anything that would put 'national security interests' at risk." (Also linked yesterday.)
Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Nearly a dozen lawyers now assist President Trump in contending with two federal investigations, one in Washington and one in New York, that could pose serious threats to his presidency and his businesses. But the expanding legal team is struggling to understand where the investigations could be headed and the extent of Mr. Trump's legal exposure. The lawyers have only a limited sense of what many witnesses -- including senior administration officials and the president's business associates -- have told investigators and what the Justice Department plans to do with any incriminating information it has about Mr. Trump, according to interviews with more than a dozen people close to the president. What is more, it is not clear if Mr. Trump has given his lawyers a full account of some key events in which he has been involved as president or during his decades running the Trump Organization." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "In a tell-all memoir, the pornographic actor Stormy Daniels details salacious descriptions of her time with Donald Trump, wonders if he is fit to be president and claims he offered to cheat for her in his reality TV show.... [Mrs. McC: Sorry, I'm going there:] She describes Trump's penis as 'smaller than average' but 'not freakishly small'. 'He knows he has an unusual penis,' Daniels writes. 'It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool.... I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart.... It may have been the least impressive sex I'd ever had, but clearly, he didn't share that opinion.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Paul Sonne & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "After months of pushing for a permanent U.S. military presence in Poland as a bulwark against Russia, the Polish president offered President Trump a new incentive tailored to his real estate sensibilities: naming rights. 'I would very much like for us to set up a permanent base in Poland, which we would call Fort Trump,' Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday in a joint news conference at the White House.... Trump smirked and raised his right eyebrow before pursing his lips as he appeared to consider the possibility of an American military base in Poland emblazoned with his name. Though the Polish president's naming proposal appeared to be in jest, Trump said Poland was willing to make a 'very major' contribution if the United States were to establish a permanent military presence in the nation."
Trump's War on Christmas. Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Trump administration seems confident that consumers will not feel pain from its escalating trade war with China. 'Because it's spread over thousands and thousands of products, nobody's going to actually notice it at the end of the day,' Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Tuesday, when asked about the administration’s latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports. But a pain-free trade war with China is nearly impossible. For American consumers, prices have already risen on some products that the administration targeted for tariffs this year -- most notably, washing machines, which were subjected to steep tariffs in January.... Tariffs on thousands of products are 'death by a thousand cuts,' said David French, the senior vice president for government relations for the National Retail Federation, which opposes the administration's approach. 'In the aggregate, household budgets will feel the impact.'... The initial effect of the new $200 billion round of tariffs will be felt just ahead of the holiday shopping season in the United States, when Americans will be looking to stock up on gifts."
Our Most Incompetent President Ever. Jonathan Chait: "President Trump frequently posts short videos online of him attempting to appear presidential -- i.e. he is shot with professional lighting, he discusses the kinds of normal subjects presidents customarily address, he is not engaging in obstruction of justice at that very moment, etc. Unfortunately, Trump subverts the effect by declining to use any kind of script for his appearances. Even a polished, articulate speaker would struggle in such circumstances, and Trump is comically inarticulate. In his latest video, Trump comments on Hurricane Florence. 'This is a tough hurricane,' he proclaims, 'one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water.' Whether Florence is also wet from other standpoints is a question the president did not address." Read on for more laughs.
"The Trump Administration Gives the World One More Reason to Lose Faith in America. Washington Post Editors: "Another milestone in America's retreat from global leadership passed Monday when the Trump administration announced that it will cap refugee admissions next year at 30,000, by far the lowest ceiling since the current program was established in 1980. The total is just over a third of the number admitted in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration. Judging from the current year, even that paltry goal may overstate actual admissions, as officials use bureaucratic means to cripple the program. In announcing this abdication, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it should not be misread as 'the sole barometer of America's commitment to vulnerable people around the world.' That's a fair point. A 'barometer' would include a raft of other programs and initiatives the administration has used to intimidate, deter, remove, oppress and, in some cases, terrify other groups of vulnerable migrants, including many who aspire to enter this country or who are already here: Thousands of Central American parents and children forcibly separated as a means of dissuading their compatriots who might follow."
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Tuesday passed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government running through Dec. 7, aiming to avert a government shutdown and put off a fight over funding for President Trump's border wall until after the midterm elections. The short-term bill came attached to a massive budget package containing full-year 2019 funding for the Pentagon as well as for the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments. GOP leaders designed the package to combine key Republican and Democratic priorities in an attempt to garner overwhelming bipartisan support. The package also aims to satisfy Trump's desire for more military spending. The 93-to-7 vote came less than two weeks ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline when government funding will expire unless Congress and Trump intervene.... The House is expected to take up the bill next week, but it remains uncertain whether Trump would sign the measure."
Michelle Lee & Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Advocacy groups pouring money into independent campaigns to impact this fall's midterm races must disclose many of their political donors beginning this week after the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in a long-running case. The high court did not grant an emergency request to stay a ruling by a federal judge in Washington who had thrown out a decades-old Federal Election Commission regulation allowing nonprofit groups to keep their donors secret unless they had earmarked their money for certain purposes. With less than 50 days before this fall’s congressional elections, the ruling has far-reaching consequences that could curtail the ability of major political players to raise money and force the disclosure of some of the country's wealthiest donors.... The ruling last month by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell will be challenged on appeal. But in the immediate, the decision forces major groups on the left and the right to scramble and reassess how they plan to finance their fall campaigns."
Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: "Four men who were repeatedly sexually abused as children by a religion teacher at a Catholic church in Brooklyn received a $27.5 million settlement from the Diocese of Brooklyn on Tuesday, in one of the largest settlements ever awarded to individual victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The settlement comes two weeks after the New York State attorney general announced a statewide civil investigation into sex abuse within the Catholic Church and its cover-up by church leaders."
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New York Times: The Carolinas contend with the second "500-year-flood" in two years.
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Reader Comments (16)
Looks like the threats and pre-hearing attacks and insults by “responsible” senators anxious to “hear all sides” have worked. Ford is understandably concerned that she will be Anita Hilled for daring to open her mouth about their anointed choice for the court (although what did she expect?).
Looks like Rape Boy Kavanaugh will be rammed onto the court just in time to start knocking off all sorts of “settled law”. Good job Confederate assholes. Too bad for her, too bad for us, and really very bad for America. Another unqualified Trump hack is headed for a lifetime of excruciatingly terrible decisions designed to do everything possible to change the nature and direction of the American Experiment. Here comes legal support for fascism, racism, and misogyny.
A black day indeed.
@Akhilleus: I'm afraid you're right. Laura Coates, a former prosecutor who is a CNN analyst, said this morning that the Supremes have "loaded up" this year's docket with important cases in anticipation of having a fifth conservative to knock off that "settled law" you mention. Having a four-four court would put a helluva a crimp in that plan.
I'm just disgusted with all of this. I certainly don't blame Blasey Ford for not wanting to be railroaded -- or "Anita Hilled," as you put it -- but she'll be doing a tremendous disservice to millions of young women if she doesn't. Of course this is really entirely the fault of our Republican "leaders," but it sure would have been nice to see a Joan of Arc come to the rescue of the country's young women. Reportedly Blasey Ford was happy to wear a pink pussy hat to protest Trump but I guess she isn't all that into being burned at the stake.
I guess I must admit that I'm too confused as to why Ford went to the great lengths of getting a polygraph test by an FBI agent if she wasn't planning on facing these monsters head on. To prove to herself that it indeed happened, and isn't just a recurring nightmare?
And call me paranoid, but I wouldn't doubt that Bannon and his Breitbart extremists conjured up a few of the alleged death threat calls to scare her off. It's right down his alley. But then, the current crop of Conservative die-hards wouldn't need any prodding to go lone wolf extremist for the Cause. Then again, maybe it's always been that way. The only difference being they're marching in our streets without their hoods on now, with presidential* support.
In the film "Harold and Maude" Vivian Pickles, who plays Harold's mother, after encountering another fake suicide attempt by her son–-this time in her bathroom where Harold has strewn blood (fake) stains on mirrors and walls while he, himself is lying on the floor with a bloody gash on his neck, cries "This is just TOO MUCH!" Yesterday after reading the day's news and learning that Trump's penis has a "huge mushroom head–-like a toadstool" I let out a Pickles "this is just Too Much!" and sounded just like her.
This whole Kavanaugh charade is being so badly handled ( and by the way when Trump says he "feels badly" about his buddy Brett along with feeling "terribly" someone should tell him that unless his tiny fingers have lost their feeling, and that may very well be the case, it's "I feel bad" is the correct usage here. Of course given his need for all things "bigly" he may indeed feel "sadly" for a whole lot of things.) Ms Ford has been showered with vile tweets, and death threats, has to take her family to another location. You bet she needs to make sure she's armored well before facing those Republican congress critters. I, too, would insist on an FBI investigation before I faced that crowd. Those like Hatch ( my disgust with this man knows no bounds) has already discredited her.
Sally Field was interviewed by Amanpour last night and discussed her sexual abuse by her stepfather which she claims has had a direct impact on her whole life. And also on PBS the Weinstein documentary was aired for the second time. Bottom line: Women who have been sexually abused, no matter how long ago, live with it for the rest of their lives.
I once had a discussion with a male friend of mine who had been mugged coming out of the Yale bookshop one evening, his wallet stolen, his face and body bruised. This incident effected him to such an extent he had to suspend his teaching at a private school for a week. I recall how tremulous his voice became when he was describing this incident––this man, who was always in control. Years later his wife told me he still had nightmares about this incident.
There are all kinds of abuses, but the ones done physically do the kind of damage that burrows into the psyche like a stubborn burr.
@PD Pepe: Great comment! Maybe the reason Trump can't properly form an English sentence where "feel" is the verb is that "feel" is a "copulative verb" and Trump has that penicular toadstool problem.
About "feeling bad/badly" - no one says it better than Kirk Douglas in "A Letter to Three Wives"
Trumpy the Great?
I wanted to briefly revisit an excellent comment Victoria made at the end of yesterday's thread in response to one of mine that included a reference to Charlemagne.
My comment should have been a bit more fleshed out, I think. I noted that Charlemagne was illiterate but meant that more as a nod to his ability to overcome what he must have seen as a shortcoming on his part. I do think that most students of the middle ages recognize that he is known as The Great (Carolus Magnus) for a good reason. I don't doubt at all that he should be reckoned a genius.
It also strikes me that another admirable medieval king with the cognomen "the great" was also interested in education and the arts, Alfred the Great of England. Both he and Charlemagne championed education and reading and opened their countries to the vast wonders of the world. Neither was a solipsist or congenital liar, and neither were threatened by factual information. Rather, they sought to expand learning and knowledge, something our current "leader" does not.
As Charlemagne surrounded himself with scholars and artists, Trumpy dismisses anyone he feels could be a threat to his own sense of assumed superiority (I'm pretty sure a White House janitor caught doing the Times crossword puzzle during a break would be fired on the spot--especially if black).
It may be that only Trumpy himself, his sycophantic leeches, and nepotistic little brats believe that there should be a "great" after his name.
History will not.
Hell, today does not.
Trumpy the Weak, Trumpy the Pussy Grabber, Trumpy the Small, (Trumpy the Toadstool? Ewww...), Trumpy the Stupider Even Than He Looks, or Trumpy the Fascist, but never "the great".
JoannieB,
Hahahaha...I forgot about that scene. Great movie, by the way.
Kirk, in this movie, plays an English teacher who decides to give an obnoxious advertiser for one of his wife's radio soap operas his demonstrative opinion on proper usage.
Great cast too. And a killer script by Joe Mankiewicz who went on to write "All About Eve". "Fasten your seatbelts..."
Oh, and I'm filled with reassurance about Kavanaugh to hear that The Decider, the actual worst president in American history (Trump has yet to start a war killing, maiming, and displacing millions, or blowing up the world economy, but there's still time...) is down with his boy Brett.
Rather like getting a recommendation from Count Dracula on a good drink to go with dinner.
Guess what water is?
I won't say we've seen it all now, because you know what happens when you say stuff like that.
BUT...
We've seen Nazi Trumpy, Ignorant Trumpy, Misogynist Trumpy, Racist Trumpy, Best Words Trumpy, Like, Really Smart Trumpy, Draft Dodger Trumpy, Build a Wall Trumpy, Obama Hater Trumpy, Emoluments R Us Trumpy, and more, but I don't think we've ever seen Empirical Trumpy.
Commenting on Hurricane Florence, the Glorious Leader, in a videotaped statement released to make him look like he knows something, was, well, a washout
.
But he did remind the world that...hold on to your rain hats, kids...water is wet.
Yup, but some water is even wetter. Wettest? Wettest-er? Wettest-er-est?
"...one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water."
Oh, the standpoint of water. Gotcha. Well, I guess we're not going to hear about wetness from the standpoint of igneous rocks, or, say, Hostess Cupcakes. But hey, mark that in your book. Water is wet. But some is wettest-er.
Okay, I know trying to speak extemporaneously can be tough, but it doesn't have to be tough AND stupid. Besides, video cameras have this wicked cool feature. You can stop and shoot it again if you say something moronic.
"Wettest we've ever seen. From the standpoint of water." Okay, well, I guess you're gonna need that extra-absorbent Bounty this time.
You know how Junior (another Big Brain) is always whining about people trying to make daddy look stupid?
Hint to Junior. He doesn't need help.
One other bit of Trumpian Stupidity...
Trump now sez that he should have fired Comey the "day I won the primaries".
Um...not sure he knows this, but winning the primaries doesn't make you president or give you any power to hire or fire anyone. The best he could have done was to call Comey on the phone and ask him if he had Prince Albert in a can.
Yeah, he may have tried to correct this later, but it was too late. Stupid was out of the bag.
Again.
@Akhilleus: Huh. If Trump had fired Comey the day he won the primaries, Hillary Clinton would probably be president because righteous Comey would not have been around to announce he was reopening the e-mail! investigation 10 days or so before the general election.
Okay, one more then I'm done.
Here's useful take on whether or not Kavanaugh's "youthful indiscretions" and other more recent situations in his life, whether that be attempted rape or gambling or questionable money problems or hundreds of thousands of dollars in baseball tickets(?) or simply a feeling of elite white Christian country club privilege could possibly affect his ability to reach reasoned and just decisions as a Supreme Court justice (Fox types tell you there's no correlation, an opinion they would flip faster than Li'l Randy if the nominee were a Democrat, a woman, or a minority).
This is from Tom Sullivan on Digby's Hullabaloo page:
"Brett Kavanaugh cannot be held responsible for the failures of society. At issue is whether an allegation of sexual assault at 17, if true, is a valid window into his character as an adult nominated for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court for life.
Long before being elected president for 8 years, George W. Bush spent his boyhood growing up in West Texas. A childhood friend recounted from those days:
'We were terrible to animals,' recalled Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. A dip behind the Bush home turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out.
'Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them,' Mr. Throckmorton said. "Or we'd put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up.'
As president decades later, that boy authorized torturing people."
Any questions?
Marie,
The number of people deserving of lifelong opprobrium in the Elevation of Trump wouldn't be able to fit onto a New York City subway car.
Dear, dear Akhilleus: You just gave me the best laughs ever with your water, water everywheres and Mr.Throckmorton's remembrances of frog annihilation. Bless you sir,–- I'd throw you some roses but I'm afraid they all died in the last storm, plus––always a plus–-you digging up the old flicker, "Letter to three Wives" ( something for Trump to watch on rainy nights) good call Joannie B!
PD,
Thanks. And yes, LTTW is an excellent movie.
One final thought about how the predisposition for tormenting and killing small animals in Dubya's youth developed into a passion for torturing and breaking adult humans (then lying about it).
The Decider only got to persecute and afflict human beings for five or six years.
Rape Boy Kavanaugh will be able to inflict pain and suffering on Americans for the rest of his life.