;)
The Conversation -- April 11, 2024
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The substance of the state visit of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was focused on finding ways to counter China, but the style of the dinner was all about highlighting a capital city that owes its springtime resplendence, in large part, to the diplomatic overtures of the Japanese [the 3,000 cherry trees Japan gave to the U.S. in 2012]." Includes some great photos. ~~~
~~~ Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "Japan is giving the United States 250 cherry trees to replace more than 100 that will be torn up during construction around the Tidal Basin in Washington, the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Wednesday. The gift honors the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which the United States will celebrate in 2026, Mr. Kishida said at a White House ceremony welcoming him for a state visit."
To the Moon, Fumio! Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan announced a range of moves on Wednesday to further enhance military, economic and other cooperation between the two longtime allies as part of the president's efforts to counter China's aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region. During a pomp-filled state visit honoring the visiting Japanese prime minister, the president said the United States and Japan would create an expanded defense architecture with Australia, participate in three-way military exercises with Britain and explore ways for Japan to join a U.S.-led coalition with Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Biden also announced that the United States would take a Japanese astronaut to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program, which would be the first time a non-American has set foot on the moon." (Also linked yesterday.)
No, Mike, Donald Trump is not your friend. He is not anybody's friend. ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Right-wing House Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation to extend an expiring warrantless surveillance law that national security officials call crucial to gathering intelligence and fighting terrorism, dealing Speaker Mike Johnson a stinging defeat after ... Donald J. Trump urged lawmakers to kill the bill. In an upset on the House floor, the measure, which would extend a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as Section 702, failed what is normally a routine procedural test. On a vote of 228 to 193, 19 House Republicans, most aligned with the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, joined Democrats in opposing its consideration. Such defections were once considered unthinkable but have become increasingly common as the hard right has rebelled against G.O.P. leaders. It was unclear how Republicans would attempt to move forward.... Complicating matters, Republicans had bundled a procedural measure to open debate on the bill with an unrelated resolution condemning President Biden's border policies, all but ensuring that no Democrats would vote to advance the package." (Also linked yesterday.)
** Kayla Guo of the New York Times: "... roughly 6 million women ... went to work during World War II, memorialized by the now iconic recruitment poster depicting Rosie the Riveter, her hair tied back in a kerchief, rolling up the sleeve of her denim shirt and flexing a muscle beneath the slogan, 'We can do it!' More than eight decades later..., around two dozen other so-called Rosies -- many of them white-haired and most wearing the red with white polka dots made famous by the poster -- ... gathered at the Capitol ... to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of their efforts.... During the war, women were desperately needed to fill jobs vacated by men who had left to serve in the armed forces.... 'These enterprising and patriotic women answered the call to serve on the home front during World War II, and forever changed the role of women in the work force,' Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a lead sponsor of the legislation [which passed in 2020], said during Wednesday's ceremony."
The Trials of Trump & the Trump Gang, Ctd.
Desperate Measures. Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Lawyers for Donald J. Trump have spent this week seeking to stave off the former president's trial on charges that he covered up a sex scandal. They tried again Wednesday. Again, they failed. In Mr. Trump's latest last-minute bid to delay a trial that starts Monday, he filed a civil action in an appeals court against the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan. It sought to delay the trial while the appeals court reconsidered several of the judge's rulings. A single appellate court judge, Ellen Gesmer, promptly rejected Mr. Trump's request. Mr. Trump can now have his action heard by a full panel of five appellate court judges, but it would be nearly impossible for the court to act before the trial begins. The episode underscored Mr. Trump's increasing desperation to delay the trial, and his scattershot approach to doing so." A Reuters story is here.
Brennan Center for Justice (April 5): "A group of 15 founding era historians ... have filed a brief [with the Supreme Court] challenging Trump's claim of immunity.... The historians' brief argues that Trump's claim of criminal immunity would transform the presidency into a monarchy -- exactly what the Framers of the Constitution sought to avoid.... The Framers instead understood presidents to be accountable to the people and to the laws, and explicitly recognized that criminal prosecution would be one way among several to hold them accountable. The brief also rebuts Trump's assertion that a president can be prosecuted only after being impeached. That assertion, the historians explain, is inconsistent with the historical understanding of impeachment as a political remedy completely separate from the criminal remedy of prosecution. It is also inconsistent with the long record of prosecutions or threats of prosecutions of officers who were not impeached -- including President Nixon, who accepted a pardon to avoid prosecution despite having resigned before impeachment could proceed. Finally, the brief notes that even if there is some immunity which may attach to the president for certain 'official' acts, the Framers never contemplated that immunity would attach for the acts President Trump stands accused of: the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election. If presidents were granted such immunity, then incumbents could interfere in the transfer of power. And the Framers gave the incumbent president no role ... in the election of the next president, in order to guard elections against executive meddling." ~~~
~~~ Here's the brief, via the Court.
No, Mike Allen, Donald Trump is not your friend. He is not anybody's friend. ~~~
Because Trump, Weisselberg Is Back at Rikers. Kate Christobek, et al., of the New York Times: "Allen H. Weisselberg, Donald J. Trump's longtime financial lieutenant, was sentenced Wednesday to five months in the Rikers Island jail complex for perjury, capping a legal saga that has now landed him behind bars twice. The sentence, handed down by a state court judge in Manhattan, came just five days before Mr. Trump is to go on trial in the same courthouse on accusations that he covered up a sex scandal. Mr. Weisselberg was not charged in the same case as Mr. Trump, but he would not be headed to jail if not for his former boss's own troubles: Prosecutors set their sights on Mr. Weisselberg after he refused to turn on Mr. Trump." The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump has to be in Manhattan next week to sit for his first criminal trial. Do you suppose he will take the bus to Rikers to visit his loyal factotum? Yeah, I didn't think so, either.
Presidential Race
Steve Contorno & Kate Sullivan of CNN: "Donald Trump said Wednesday he would not sign a national abortion ban if elected president, reversing a promise the former president made as a candidate in 2016 and stood by during his first term in the White House. His latest shift on abortion is a remarkable position for a Republican presidential nominee and it is illustrative of Trump's desire to make one of his greatest political liabilities disappear. It follows a lengthy statement released Monday in which Trump expressed states and voters should decide how and when to restrict abortion but left unclear how far he would take that approach. Appearing on a tarmac in Atlanta ... [and] asked if he would sign a national abortion ban if it passed Congress, Trump shook his head. 'No.'... 'Donald Trump owns the suffering and chaos happening right now, including in Arizona, because he proudly overturned Roe -- something he called "an incredible thing" and "pretty amazing" just today,' Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said. 'Trump lies constantly -- about everything == but has one track record: banning abortion every chance he gets.'" MB: You just gotta trust in Trump. (Also linked yesterday.)
Trump Is Still the King of Chaos. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "After storming to the Republican nomination, Trump is again the epicenter of controversy ... as he blazes a trail of disruption through Congress, immigration and national security policy, reproductive health care and the nation's top courts.... His volatile personality, loyalty tests, rampant falsehoods, thirst to serve his political self-interest and the aftershocks of his first term are compromising attempts to govern the country." With examples.
Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? Top News in the NYT, April 11, 2020: "As he grapples simultaneously with the most devastating public health and economic crises of a lifetime, President Trump finds himself pulled in opposite directions on what to do next. The bankers, corporate executives and industrialists plead with him to reopen the country as soon as possible, while the medical experts beg for more time to curb the coronavirus."
Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "George Riley Jr., a Republican Party of Florida executive director, issued an apology this week after it was revealed that he trashed a hotel room after an employee there observed him 'under the influence.' The Tampa Bay Times revealed that Riley Jr. last week was reported missing by his family after he had seemingly disappeared without notice. It turns out that Riley was staying at the Hampton Inn in Kissimmee, Florida, where he would be kicked out of his room for 'excessive drinking and damage caused to the room' during his stay. In particular, employees said they found the room in total disrepair upon inspecting it as Riley had 'urinated and vomited throughout,' which required the hotel to pay for a deep cleaning.... After being ousted from the hotel, Riley went missing for another two days before he was finally picked up this past Friday by the Osceola County Sheriff's Office." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ We Have a Tie! S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "One of Donald Trump's county campaign chairs in New Hampshire lost his job as a police officer [in about 2006] after threatening to kill his colleagues in a shooting spree, murder the department chief and rape the chief's wife in retaliation for his suspension over his relationship with a high school girl, according to a newly released report from an internal affairs investigation. Jonathan Stone, who is currently a second-term state representative, was announced as Trump's Sullivan County chair by his campaign on June 27, 2023. The coup-attempting former president first came to know Stone during Trump's 2016 run, when Stone gave him an inscribed AR-15 assault rifle at a campaign stop.... Stone ... opened a gun shop after losing his job as a police officer...." The state supreme court released investigative records last week as a result of a press lawsuit.
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Arizona GOP State Legislators Block Bills to Repeal Abortion Ban. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Democrats, who have criticized the decision resurrecting a 160-year-old abortion ban that has no exceptions for rape or incest, quickly tried to push bills through the Republican-controlled state Legislature that would repeal the ban.... But Republican leaders in the Senate removed one bill from the day's agenda on Wednesday.... In the other chamber, a Republican House member who has done a political about-face and called for striking down the law made a motion to vote on a Democratic repeal bill that has sat stalled for months. But Republican leaders quickly put the House into recess before any vote could be held. Democrats on the Senate floor jeered as their Republican colleagues filed out of the chamber." (Also linked yesterday.) An ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Watch what they do, not what they say. ~~~
Steve M. has the background on how the Arizona supreme court got packed with "justices" who are so fond of the territorial code against women. The New York Times story is here.
~~~ Arizona Senate Race. Kari Finds Her Inner Emily Litella. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Kari Lake, the leading Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona, was quick to denounce the state Supreme Court's ruling upholding an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions in the state. The law is 'out of step with Arizonans,' she said in a statement. She called on state lawmakers to 'come up' with a 'solution that Arizonans can support.' But Ms. Lake, an ally of ... Donald J. Trump and a 2020 election denier, had voiced enthusiastic support for the law less than two years ago, when she was in the midst of a scorched-earth campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. Asked then what she thought of the ban, she said she was thrilled it existed and called a 'great law.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Virginia. Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "A 6-year-old boy who shot and wounded a teacher at Virginia's Richneck Elementary School last year should have been unenrolled after choking a different teacher, but basic lapses by administrators allowed him back, according to a special grand jury report released Wednesday. The breakdown was one in a long line of failures by school administrators to act on warnings about the boy before he sneaked a gun into the Newport News school and opened fire on Abigail Zwerner, a first-grade teacher, the special grand jury wrote.... The panel found a school so poorly protected that it was vulnerable to a 'probable massacre' in an active shooter situation, officials who kept secrets from parents and a lack of help for the young shooter.... The 11-member panel also recommended a criminal probe of a high-ranking member of Newport News Public Schools for allegedly obstructing the investigation into the shooting, after key pieces of evidence -- the boy's disciplinary files -- went missing. The special grand jury reserved its harshest judgments for Richneck's former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, who it found was warned three times on the day of the shooting that the boy had a weapon but failed to do anything. It indicted her on eight charges of child abuse, possibly the first time an administrator has been charged in connection with the handling of a school shooting, experts said."
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Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israeli military said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza, describing them as military wing operatives. The killings threaten to complicate negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal. Hamas has told negotiators it is unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages matching the criteria needed for a ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known. A day after criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct of the war in Gaza, US President Joe Biden touted an 'ironclad' commitment to Israel's security in the face of Iranian threats. UNICEF said one of its vehicles was hit by 'live ammunition' while waiting to enter northern Gaza from the south. The incident came as Israel's defense minister said his government planned to 'flood Gaza with aid,' and that US pressure played a role in the decision." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here.
Ukraine, et al. Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The top American military commander in Europe warned on Wednesday that Ukraine could lose the war with Russia if the United States did not send more ammunition to Ukrainian forces, and fast.... Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the head of the Pentagon's European Command, told the House Armed Services Committee..., who is also NATO's top military commander, said Ukraine's allies had provided much of the equipment and arms that Kyiv needed to combat the larger Russian military, including all donated fuel and 90 percent of its tanks. But the United States gives Ukraine most of the two critical munitions that are in shortest supply: artillery shells and air-defense interceptors. 'If we do not continue to support Ukraine, Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and will run out of air defense interceptors in fairly short order,' General Cavoli said. 'Based on my experience in 37-plus years in the U.S. military, if one side can shoot and the other side can't shoot back, the side that can't shoot back loses.'"
News Lede
New York Times: "O.J. Simpson, who ran to fame on the football field, made fortunes as a Black all-American in movies, advertising and television, and was acquitted of killing his former wife and her friend in a 1995 trial in Los Angeles that mesmerized the nation, died on Wednesday. He was 76. The cause was cancer, his family announced on social media."
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Reader Comments (13)
Well, that settles it.
Fatty is immune. 20, 30 generals, 15 historians with expertise in the era of the founders who crafted the constitution, all say there is no way Trump can be ruled immune?
Listen, no one, and I mean no-buddee, tells Medieval Sam and Coke Can Clarence what to do. This outpouring of support against the Orange Monster’s claim of kingly, lifetime immunity in all cases, including rape, treason, murder, and bad spray tans pretty much guarantees the Supremes will rule the other way.
Oh, not that ALL presidents have immunity (that would mean Biden as well as any future Democratic executives as well), but that Trump has at least some kind of immunity for “official acts”, so acting as a kindly tour guide for “peaceful patriots” visiting the Capitol will be ruled as falling under that limited immunity brolly, natch.
Hey, I dunno how these frauds will rule, but you can bet there’s steam coming out the ears of a bunch of them, like cartoon characters reacting badly to something they hate.
These guys are black robed monarchs. No one tells them what to do. Sam is already digging into the complete works of Yorick, 12th century magistrate from Dildoshire, a fiefdom position of great importance, looking for precedence in the area of immunity for liege lords.
Clarence doesn’t bother with bullshit research. He and Gin KNOW what’s right. It comes to them in dreams while on free vacations to billionaire resorts.
The strange case of money man Allen.
I have no idea what Fatty has on Allen Weisselberg or if it’s just loyalty on his part that is sending him once again, to prison to protect his dirty boss, but such a sacrifice, no matter how misplaced, is still loyalty, a quality as alien to Trump as basic human decency.
Yet again, that preening fat fuck is the beneficiary of entirely unearned largesse, something he by now expects as his due as a superior being. But were Weisselberg to keel over with a heart attack while standing next to Trump, that bloated monster would criticize his loyal friend for making him look bad, and step over his prone figure to depart for the nearest McDonalds.
Comeuppance needs to be legendary. I’m talking epic.
In a story about more crazy from the Chaos Party, we have this:
“As Mike Johnson stares down a serious threat to his speakership, he’s taking steps to show alignment with the most powerful figure in the Republican Party: Donald Trump.
Johnson has made plans to trek down to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to appear at a joint news conference with the former president to deliver remarks on ‘election integrity’ - a topic Trump cares deeply about.”
No! No no no no no!
Trump “cares deeply” about election integrity?
Trump cares deeply about lying about election integrity. The quotes around the term election integrity are fine, but it’s a very subtle form of eyebrow raising likely picked up by only a small percentage of readers.
This is the sort of crap that will get this dangerous piece of shit elected again. The writer wants to indicate that he gets (wink-wink) that Fatty doesn’t give a nasty rodent’s posterior about election integrity, but doesn’t want to come right out and say it.
The piece goes on to refer to how much ring/ass kissing Bible Mike is expected to serve up as he treks to the Fat Fascist’s gaudy mausoleum in Florida for an audience with the Pope Smallhands.
But just as an aside, has there ever been a single instance in which a private citizen has wielded so much power over national and international events? All on his own, a private citizen is determining the fate of millions of people in Ukraine, just to soothe his own ego. Of course it helps that his party is stocked with traitors and cowards.
I don’t really care if Bible Mike survives the current assaults by do-nothing loser and serial Qanon freak MTG, fuck him and the elephant he rode in on. But I do care about Ukraine. That one fat private citizens, and a handful of extremist liars in Congress are helping a foreign dictator garrote an ally of the United States. If more chaos turns control of Congress back to the sane party, great. I just hope it’s in time.
Reporting like this, however, makes that possibility less and less likely.
More good ideas…
A Trump PoT toady in New York has a plan: Deputize nuts who own guns.
That’s right. In Nassau County, which already has 2,500 police officers, the new plan is to give badges to anyone with a gun who shows up and takes some kind of “course”. The idea is for these “depatties” to show up when there’s a ‘mergency”.
Like what? Black guy spotted walking down the block? Holy shit! Get the gun nuts!
Not only that, taxpayers will be forking over money to these people. I mean, seriously kids, who do you think is going to line up for this sort of thing? For every well meaning, upstanding citizen, you’ll get 20 George Zimmermans, and worse.
Party of Traitors. Always with ideas guaranteed to get someone killed.
@Akhilleus: I'll give this to Donald Trump: he is the single most successful gangster in American history. For all of his failures, his crude skills as a Mafia-like don are well-honed. There is not a single I-talian mobster who has wielded more than a tiny fraction of the power Trump has.
What I don't understand is why Republicans have not been able to band together to oust him. The Turtle, for instance, is as sly as they come, but he drew in his head and hid in his shell, even when Trump attacked Mrs. Turtle. There isn't a GOP senator who doesn't think that he himself would make a better president* than Trump -- and they're not all as stupid as Sen. Potato Head. And yet and yet.
Party of Traitor chicanery has been going on a long time.
It’s instructive to look at the background of Fatty’s demand for total, kingly immunity. And it started, as so much current right-wing skullduggery began, with Richard Nixon…AND Lewis Powell.
In days of yore, the Tricky One, famous for his retaliatory fury, had an Air Force contractor fired for blowing the whistle on massive cost overruns in a Pentagon program. Per Wikipedia:
In 1968, [A. Ernest] Fitzgerald reported a $2.3 billion cost overrun in the Lockheed C-5 aircraft program.[5] As a congressional witness before the Joint Economic Committee, he rejected the advice of Air Force officials and testified with candor and transparency about billions of dollars in avionics program cost overruns and other technical problems.
In response to Fitzgerald's testimony, President Richard M. Nixon directed that he be fired. It was reported that Nixon told aides to 'get rid of that son of a bitch.' In executing the president's order, Fitzgerald was ultimately terminated by Defense Secretary Melvin Laird.”
Fitzgerald sued. Nixon claimed total immunity. A trial court and an appellate court found against that claim. But guess who sided with Nixon?
Ta-da! The Republican controlled Supreme Court. Big surprise! The decision was 5-4. All five voting for Nixon’s immunity were Republicans (Berger, Rehnquist, O’Connor, Stevens, and Powell).
“‘We consider this immunity a functionally mandated incident of the President’s unique office, rooted in the constitutional tradition of the separation of powers and supported by our history,’ Justice Lewis Powell wrote for the majority. He added that this immunity extended to the ‘outer bounds’ of a president’s official duties.”
Wingers, in response to criticisms of the immunity power grab, sniffed that there were other protections against an out of control executive, such as congressional oversight and impeachment. We’ve seen how well that worked out. They have a smart-ass answer for everything.
This is the same Lewis Powell, by the way, whose infamous memo provided a roadmap for institutional power grabs and Republican rat fucking that have been turbocharged by the current traitors. Powell, you will recall, was also appointed by Nixon. Oh, and don’t miss that little bit about the “outer bounds of a president’s duties”, a linchpin phrase that Fatty and his mouthpieces have glommed on to as an umbrella under which they claim insurrection is now a reg’lar presidenty type duty.
So a Republican Supreme Court gave a Republican President immunity. Guess who didn’t get it? A Democratic President. Another Republican Supreme Court ruled that Bill Clinton would be granted no such protection. Hmmm…funny how that works.
So the chicanery and skullduggery go way back.
And I’m less and less inclined to think the current Republican controlled Supreme Court will go against the latest horrible Republican (ex) president.
@Akhilleus: a technique most often used in areas west of the Mississippi River, sometimes referred to by its Latin name, "posse comataters" (sometimes hyphenated for clarity, "posse coma-taters").
The method had the advantage of getting rid of a lot of deadwood at one time, as it didn't necessarily matter which side of the so-called "law" on which the fallen fell. Featured in the TV series "Deadwood."
Coma-taters…haha. Good one. (Sounds like the constant state of Sen. Potato Head.)
Also, “Deadwood”. A great series, cut short too soon. Excellent good guy and an even better bad guy. Guess the producers drew aces and eights in that poker game.
Thomas Edsall in the New York Times wrote about that most successful of gangsters yesterday noting "Donald Trump has added something to the practice of extracting money from major donors: fear.
...
Just as Trump has cowed congressional Republicans — many of whom privately voice strong criticism of him — with the threat of MAGA-driven primary challenges, he has turned himself and his agenda into weapons of intimidation for businesses seeking to survive and thrive in a second Trump administration."
Fear and Money
Will there come a time when we aren't confronted with his words and image multiple times daily?
Laura,
It would be amusing, if it weren't so deadly to democracy, to think of all those immensely rich people who are cowering in fear that someone will take some of their stuff.
Ken - I agree it would be funny if it weren't so deadly to democracy. And it feels more like the funny bits in a horror movie before the disaster starts fully unfolding. And if it were fiction, we wouldn't believe it!
LMAO, Only the Best
"There are multiple Jeremy Rosenbergs in New York City, as former President Donald Trump’s attorneys found out Tuesday after they sent a subpoena to the wrong one.
[Trump's lawyers] sought to subpoena the Jeremy Rosenberg who was a supervising investigator in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Instead, according to court filings revealed Tuesday, the subpoena went to another Jeremy Rosenberg living in an $8 million Brooklyn home.
“I don’t have any files for you,” the apparently bemused Brooklynite wrote back, according to a filing from the former president’s legal team.
He added: “PS – The phone number you provided was disconnected.
“PPS – I’m keeping the fifteen dollars,” he added, referencing the money Mr Trump’s lawyers had sent him to help pay for sending the documents.
Mr Blanche had complained earlier this week that the man that he believed the former investigator Mr Rosenberg had displayed a “flippant and dismissive approach” to his subpoena “despite ample experience with the criminal justice system that should have instilled in him respect for this process and a criminal defendant’s rights”.
But in fact, Mr Trump’s lawyers had simply served court papers on the wrong man, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote."
Another Republican who likes only some subpoenas: the ones he likes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/11/leonard-leo-subpoena-senate-supreme-court-gifts/