;)
The Conversation -- August 1, 2024
Senate Republicans Ax Expansion of Child Tax Credit; Vance AWOL. Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans blocked legislation Thursday to cut taxes for working families and extend some corporate tax breaks, dooming a bipartisan compromise that the House had overwhelmingly approved and raising the stakes on taxes for this fall's elections. The $79 billion legislation would have expanded eligibility for the child tax credit, or CTC, among the lowest-income families and adjusted payments for inflation for the 2024 and 2025 filing years. It also would have bolstered certain business tax credits -- including deductions for research and development, interest expenses and investments in equipment -- that were limited in an effort to cap the total costs of ... Donald Trump's 2017 tax cut law.... [J.D. Vance, who pretends to support measures to encourage parents to bear more children,] missed Thursday's vote for a campaign event in Arizona and earlier in the week falsely accused Vice President Harris of opposing the child tax credit. The vice president supports the legislation, and the Biden administration issued a statement Thursday urging passage."
Here's a New York Times link to commentary by columnist Jamelle Bouie re: Donald Trump's appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention. (You have to turn on the audio.)
In today's Comments, Patrick reminds us that it isn't only Kamala Harris who turned Black:
~~~ Marie: What with Beyonce's song "Freedom" serving as a sort of soundtrack for Harris' presidential campaign, it's fair to say that the very good brain of Trump has discovered a conspiracy all us White people should greet with fear & awe. (It is possible that Trump got the idea that Harris "turned Black" from this SNL sketch and that he has Harris mixed up with Beyonce. Should we be surprised he can't tell the difference?)
** Jennifer Hansler, et al., of CNN: "A large-scale prisoner swap between the US and Russia is under way..., and it is expected to include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a number of Americans. The parties have agreed to a prisoner transfer and the prisoners are expected to be in the care of US officials, according to a senior administration official. The deal would end a nightmare that lasted more than five years for Whelan and more than a year for Gershkovich. Both men were designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained." ~~~
~~~ A CNN liveblog is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Curiously, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post is carrying so much as a hint of this story, fully 15 30 minutes after the first reports were published on other outlets. Forty-five minutes in here's a NYT liveblog report:
"A multicountry prisoner swap in Turkey on Thursday freed The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and at least one other American held in Russia, along with a leading Russian dissident, in the most far-reaching exchange between Russia and the West in decades, according to a statement by a Turkish security official that was also shared by the government media office. The exchange took place at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, and involved 24 adults who had been imprisoned in seven different countries, the official said. In addition to Mr. Gershkovich, the prisoners freed by Russia included Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine arrested in 2018, and the Russian dissident Ilya Yashin, the official said. The prisoners freed by the West included Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian assassin, the Turkish official said. The deal ... could deliver a diplomatic victory for President Biden, who has long pledged to bring home imprisoned Americans...."
[AND, as RAS quipped in today's Comments, "I guess we didn't need Trump after all."]
Katie Robertson: "Emma Tucker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, emailed staff to announce Evan Gershkovich's release. She said he would shortly get on a flight back to the United States, and she would travel to meet him when he arrives in Texas."
Katie Rogers: "In a statement, President Biden announced the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, calling it a 'feat of diplomacy.'... Biden added: 'I am grateful to our allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome -- including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon.'" [MB: IOW, take that, Trump, you blowhard SOS.]
Robert Jimison: "Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, celebrated the news of the release in a statement and stressed the need to continue advocating for other detained Americans. 'I remain concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking by his regime.'"
Ivan Nechepurenko: "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American broadcaster funded by the United States government, announced the release of its journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from the Russian prison."
Robertson: "Robert Thomson, the C.E.O. of News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, thanked the U.S. government for its efforts in releasing Evan Gershkovich in an email to News Corp staff members...."
Robertson: "Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom advocacy group, called on the international community to not tolerate Russia's practice of state hostage-taking."
Peter Baker: "The family of Marc Fogel, an American teacher imprisoned on drug charges in Russia, expressed disappointment that he was not part of the swap. 'It is inconceivable to us that Russian dissidents would be prioritized over U.S. citizens in a prisoner exchange,' they said in a statement."
Rogers: "President Biden just walked into the state dining room accompanied by family members of the released prisoners.... 'Their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free,' Biden says, adding that the former prisoners have left Russia and are on their way home. He says he and family members were able to speak with them from the Oval Office. He calls the multi-country release 'a feat of diplomacy, and friendship.'... 'It says a lot about the United States that we work relentlessly to free Americans who were unjustly held around the world,' Biden says, adding that 70 Americans who have been unjustly detained have been released during his administration.... This is a legacy moment for the president, who makes it a point to say this release was done at his request and that freeing Americans held abroad has been a policy focus since the beginning of his presidency."
Rogers: "Biden pulls the 12-year-old daughter of Aslu Kurmasheva to his side and asks the room to sing happy birthday to her. She turns 13 tomorrow. The little girl goes back to a relative and begins to cry.... Biden takes a question on Trump, who has claimed he could get prisoners released without a swap. Biden leans into the mic to answer that one: 'Why didn't he do it when he was president?' He asks before leaving the room."
"Twenty-four prisoners were freed on Thursday in a multicountry exchange in Turkey, marking one of the broadest exchanges between Russia and the West in years. Here's what to know about all of the prisoners who were exchanged in the swap."
Nechepurenko: "Russian state television has broadcast a video of the swap showing Evan Gershkovich sitting in a passenger seat in a Russian government plane."
Rogers: "At a White House news briefing, Jake Sullivan, the president's national security adviser, said that the U.S. 'completed one of the largest and certainly one of the most complex exchanges in history.'... This was vintage Joe Biden: Rallying American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters,' Sullivan says, emphasizing just how much this is a legacy play. Sullivan just choked up with tears. 'Today was a very good day.'... If you had not had Joe Biden sitting in the Oval Office, I don't think this would've happened,' Sullivan says. This remark, coming a week and a half after Biden announced he was ending his presidential campaign, does not sound like an accident....
"Sullivan gives some detail on what happened earlier today. Biden invited families into the Oval Office after the exchange was complete. Biden conducted two calls from the Oval, one with the three American citizens on the phone. He quickly turned the phone over to family members. He made a second call to the other group of released prisoners and let family members speak with them."
David Sanger: "Those who know Sullivan can tell you he is stoic, and rarely emotional. Today is an exception, a side of him one rarely sees.... Sullivan acknowledged that there was an earlier effort to make the release of Alexei Navalny part of a deal. But his death in February scrambled the negotiation, and the swap."
Rogers: "Sullivan says that Vice President Kamala Harris engaged with Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, at the Munich Security Conference to talk about the release of prisoners. Sullivan said that she was 'very much' a core member of 'the team that helped make this happen.'... Vice President Harris and President Biden will greet the released Americans tonight at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Sullivan said."
Baker: "Vladimir Kara-Murza, a permanent U.S. resident, is heading first to Germany but is expected back in the United States soon, Sullivan says."
Anton Troianovski: "Russian state television is showing President Vladimir Putin, on a red carpet on the tarmac, greeting the released Russian prisoners at Moscow's Vnukovo airport."
Christopher Schuetze: "Germany played a particularly crucial role in Thursday's prisoner swap by releasing a Russian assassin sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a former Chechen separatist fighter in Germany in 2019. Vadim Krasikov, the prisoner Germany released, was a Russian intelligence agent whom the Kremlin for years had sought to get back. Many believe him to be the most valuable Russian asset exchanged in Thursday's swap."
[Marie: I heard on the teevee that President Biden was on the phone working on the hostage exchange an hour before he put out the announcement he was ending his re-election campaign.]
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "'Weird' deprives the MAGA cult of the claim to speak for 'the people.'... Ultimately, it signifies normal Americans are laughing at them, something felon and ... Donald Trump loathes (as do all narcissists). If nothing else, it undermines his attempt to project power, invincibility and domination.... But reliance on 'weird' comes with serious potential downsides.... There is a long, sad history of writing off fascists as buffoons.... [Those who call Trump 'weird'] certainly must not downplay the threat to the most vulnerable Americans and the life-or-death implications of Trump's views.... Trump's misplaced vanity, narcissism and ignorance are laughable. But we should never forget that those very qualities make him impervious to shame and contemptuous of social norms and legal restraints.... Mockery is fine and serves a useful political and marketing purpose, but Vice President Harris and her team must be careful not to downplay the existential danger to the democratic experiment."
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Asked on Wednesday what he would do on 'Day 1' of a new presidency during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Mr. Trump said..., 'I bring energy way down, I bring, interest rates are down, I bring inflation way down.'... The president exerts no direct control over interest rates. The Federal Reserve sets a key policy rate, which then trickles out to influence borrowing costs across the economy, and the Fed is independent from the White House."
Arizona. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Abraham Hamadeh, an election denier who ran for attorney general in Arizona in 2022, won the Republican primary for the state's Eighth Congressional District on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Hamadeh, a former prosecutor in Maricopa County, defeated Blake Masters, another Republican who has supported ... Donald J. Trump's lies about the 2020 election. The victory by Mr. Hamadeh in the district, which encompasses suburbs north and west of Phoenix, came after an unusual last-minute turn in the race: Mr. Trump endorsed both candidates the weekend before the primary, effectively declaring that he had no preference for who won. Mr. Hamadeh emerges from a bitter primary fight, in which he and Mr. Masters lobbed harsh personal insults at each other as they tried to distance themselves from a field that also included Ben Toma, Arizona's speaker of the House, and Trent Franks, a former U.S. representative.... Mr. Hamadeh will most likely be favored this fall in his race against his Democratic opponent, Gregory Whitten, who did not face a primary challenger in the reliably Republican district."
Ronen Bergman, et al., of the New York Times: "Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official. The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran. Mr. Haniyeh was in Iran's capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard."
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Presidential Race
Taylor Giorno of the Hill: "The United Auto Workers (UAW) endorsed Vice President Harris on Wednesday in the upcoming presidential election. UAW President Shawn Fain praised Harris ahead of her planned appearance at a rally with union members on Aug. 7 and took aim at former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.... Fain and Trump have sparred publicly for months. Trump called for Fain to be fired during his speech at the Republican National Convention, and the UAW hit back on the social platform X, calling the former president 'a scab and a billionaire.' Last week, Fain praised Harris for walking the picket line with UAW workers in 2019, saying Trump, who was in office at the time, 'sure as hell wasn't on the picket line.' The UAW endorsement ended weeks of speculation as to whether the union would back Harris after President Biden, endorsed by the UAW in January, exited the race on July 21." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Old Fogies for Harris. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "Hundreds of golf carts ... supporting Vice President Harris's presidential bid [formed] a parade in The Villages, a Florida retirement community that has been a stronghold for ... Donald Trump's ... movement for nearly a decade.... The Villages Democratic Club ... expected to see around 250 people, but the attendance was at least double that. The unexpected show of support drew millions of views online.... On Sunday, the Villages MAGA Club ... announced it would host a golf cart caravan to support the Trump-Vance ticket." (Also linked yesterday.)
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump mocked Vice President Harris's heritage during a live interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention.... 'She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black. And now she wants to be known as Black,' Trump said. 'So I don't know, is she Indian, or is she Black,' he continued. 'She has always identified as a Black woman," [ABC newswoman Rachel] Scott interjected. '... I think somebody should look into [Harris' supposed change of race],' Trump said, criticizing Scott's 'hostile' and 'nasty' tone." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jonathan Weisman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris's identity as a Black woman on Wednesday in front of an audience of Black journalists, suggesting his opponent for the presidency had adopted her racial profile as a way to gain a political advantage.... Ms. Harris has long embraced both her Black and South Asian identity. She attended Howard University, a historically Black institution, and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's first sorority established for Black college women. Headlines from her earliest political victories dating back to the early 2000s highlighted both identities. Mr. Trump's remarks prompted gasps and jeers from the audience at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. The former president ... repeated falsehoods about a range of subjects and told the group that he was 'the best president for the Black population' since Abraham Lincoln.... He began the interview by denouncing one of the reporters on the panel, Rachel Scott of ABC News, as 'nasty' and 'rude' after she questioned him about racist statements he had made in the past...."
Of Course He Can't Handle the Truth. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Wednesday clashed with an ABC News correspondent at a convention of Black journalists, slamming her 'disgraceful' questioning after she asked why Black voters should trust him with another term. ABC News's Rachel Scott opened a question-and-answer session with Trump by citing his past comments spreading the birther conspiracy about former President Obama, his call for certain Democratic lawmakers to 'go back' to countries they came from and his meeting with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago. 'Why should Black voters trust you?' Scott asked. 'I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. A first question. You don't even say hello, how are you,' Trump said. 'Are you with ABC, because I think they're a fake news network, a terrible network. I think it's disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country, I've done so much for the Black population of this country.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mara Gay of the New York Times: "One reason Donald Trump may be afraid to debate Kamala Harris is that apparently all it takes to knock him off his game is a few tough questions from a Black woman.... Clearly rattled by the audacity of Black women tossing him sharp questions, Trump let his facade crumble and slipped into the racist, misogynistic tropes of his native tongue.... To win the White House in a razor-thin race, Trump lately has strained to do an impression of someone who likes Black people and respects women. The persistent problem with this strategy is that it doesn't hold up to reality." Gay publishes all of the question Scott asked that threw Trump off his game. For those of you who don't have a NYT subscription, I'll add it to today's Comments.
Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "In his half-hour sit-down with three journalists at NABJ..., [Donald Trump] unleashed his usual litany of falsehoods, ranging from a phony story about the ex-governor of Virginia executing a baby after birth to an absurd claim that he 'saved' historically Black colleges and universities.... Rather than repeat ourselves, we have provided links to previous fact checks at the end of this report. Instead we will focus on a fresh claim he made. When asked about pardoning people convicted of violence during the Jan. 6 attacks -- he said he would -- he resorted to whataboutism.... As part of his argument, Trump falsely claimed that 'nobody died' [as a result of the insurrection]. A Senate report said that 'seven individuals, including three law enforcement officers, ultimately lost their lives' in connection with the attack, four of them 'that day.'"
Colbert King of the Washington Post: "Trump was not speaking to [the people in the room] but to a MAGA audience beyond the Hilton Chicago that loves mocking people of color."
Marie: As a person of a certain age, I could not help thinking of another "Queens man" when I saw videotape of Trump opining on Kamala Harris' race: Archie Bunker. It took no imagination to hear Trump yelling "Stifle!" at the Black women questioning him.
Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris carefully hit back at ... Donald J. Trump after he questioned the legitimacy of her identity as a Black woman, saying on Wednesday that he had put on the 'same old show' of 'divisiveness and disrespect.' 'The American people deserve better,' Ms. Harris said at a convention of Sigma Gamma Rho, one of the nation's most prominent Black sororities. 'The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us '' they are an essential source of our strength.'... Ms. Harris's precisely calibrated rebuttal was perhaps an early indication of how she will respond to crude and racist attacks from Mr. Trump.... At a fund-raiser in Maine on Wednesday, Doug Emhoff, Ms. Harris's husband, said the former president's comments showed 'a lack of character' but were ultimately a 'distraction.'"
Lisa Lerer & Maya King of the New York Times: Donald Trump "has a history of using race to pit groups of Americans against one another, amplifying a strain of racial politics that has risen as a generation of Black politicians has ascended. The audacity of Mr. Trump, a white man, questioning how much a Black woman truly belongs to Black America was particularly incendiary. And it evoked an ugly history in this country, in which white America has often declared the racial categories that define citizens, and sought to determine who gets to call themselves what.... [Mr. Trump] implied [Vice President] Harris was deceiving voters and selecting an identity for political gain. He suggested to the predominantly Black audience that she was not one of them -- and to Indian Americans listening that she abandoned them, an assertion echoed by the onetime Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday.... And by calling attention to her background, Mr. Trump seemed to be relying on an old political tactic of exoticizing nonwhite candidates.... And across social media platforms, Trump supporters circulated questions about whether her race was mentioned on her birth certificate -- a throwback to the attacks they once leveled against [President] Obama."
Cleve Wootson & Sabrina Rodriguez of the Washington Post write about "the extraordinary nature of the current moment, when the first woman of color is running for president on a major-party ticket in a country whose history includes no women and one person of color serving as president." MB: But there's another element to this "extraordinary moment": that a woman of color is running against a privileged, old, overtly-racist White man. The test is not so much between the Lady and the Trump but of us -- specifically, the Whitey-White us -- as a nation. Their relative qualifications, policies & intentions aside, are we really going to pick the KKK guy? In 2024? A hundred-and-sixty years after the Civil War? At long last, have we no sense of decency?
Leigh Tauss of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance told reporters he thought Trump's controversial remarks questioning the racial identity of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris were humorous and doubled down by attacking Harris as a 'chameleon.' 'I thought it was hysterical,' Vance was quoted as saying, according to reporting from NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute." MB: I always enjoy getting JayDee's opinion on any subject because he is so insightful.
Calling Jews fools and suggesting they are bad or disloyal because of their political beliefs is not just some juvenile insult. It's an old antisemitic trope that goes back centuries, one of dual-loyalty. It's been used for a very long time to drive Jews out of their homes, to paint them as untrustworthy, to deny their basic dignity. -- Sen. Chuck Schumer, remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday ~~~
~~~ Al Weaver of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denounced recent remarks by former President Trump about Jewish Americans who vote Democratic as 'reprehensible and dangerous' Tuesday, arguing they are a clear example of 'unadulterated antisemitism.' Trump said in an interview that aired Monday that Democrats 'hate Israel' and that Jewish voters who support Democrats hate their religion." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Marianne LeVine of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump falsely accused Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) of being a 'proud member of Hamas' at a rally Wednesday night, lodging another insult directed at a prominent Jewish American. 'Chuck Schumer refused to shake the Israeli prime minister's hand,' Trump told his supporters in Harrisburg, Pa. 'Chuck Schumer has become a Palestinian. Can you believe it? He's become a proud member of Hamas.' In response, Schumer said in a statement: 'The lower [Trump] drops in polls, the more unhinged he becomes.'... Trump's comments come one day after he said on a radio show that [Vice President] Harris 'doesn't like Jewish people,' even though her husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish. Trump also appeared to agree with the radio host who described Emhoff as a 'crappy Jew.' Emhoff is a leading voice in the White House's efforts to combat antisemitism.... Trump has repeatedly claimed the Democratic Party 'hates Israel' and has previously said that 'any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.'" ~~~
~~~ David Moye of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump came under fire on Tuesday after the former president agreed with an interviewer who said that Vice President Kamala Harris' husband is 'a crappy Jew, he's a horrible Jew.'... Host Sid Rosenberg said 'they tell me that this Harris husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish,' describing the second gentleman as 'Jewish like Bernie Sanders is Jewish' and adding, 'He's a crappy Jew, he's a horrible Jew.' As Rosenberg attacked Emhoff's faith, the non-Jewish and not particularly religious Trump repeatedly said 'yes' to the attacks." MB: If anyone had the ability to assess the quality of faith of a person he does not even know, it sure as hell would not be Donald Trump. (Also linked yesterday.)
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A Justice Department watchdog criticized Attorney General William P. Barr for a 'chaotic and disorganized' response to the demonstrations spurred by George Floyd's murder in 2020 -- but found that he did not order the forced removal of protesters from a park near the White House. The four-year investigation covers one of the most polarizing moments of Donald J. Trump's presidency: his decision on June 1, 2020, to walk from the Rose Garden through Lafayette Park, which federal law enforcement officers had violently cleared of protesters, for a Bible-brandishing photo opportunity at a nearby church.... The clearing of the park by baton-wielding officers, some on horseback -- with a handful of Justice Department employees providing support -- was directed by the Park Police and the Secret Service, not the Justice Department, the report [said].... Still, the inspector general found that the attorney general, at Mr. Trump's urging, seemed eager to deploy the department's uniformed work force to prove he was willing to stand up to left-wing protesters he considered a threat to civil order." (Also linked yesterday.)
Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "The man accused of plotting the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and two of his accomplices have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and murder charges in exchange for a life sentence rather than a death-penalty trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prosecutors said Wednesday.... The defendants Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi reached the deal in talks with prosecutors across 27 months at Guantánamo and approved on Wednesday by a senior Pentagon official overseeing the war court.... The case had become mired in more than a decade of pretrial proceedings that focused on the question of whether their torture in secret C.I.A. prisons had contaminated the evidence against them."
Sad Sack Saga, Ctd. Dave Collins of the AP: "Rudy Giuliani has agreed to a last-minute deal to end his personal bankruptcy case and pay about $400,000 to a financial adviser hired by his creditors, avoiding a potential deep-dive into the former New York City mayor's finances that was threatened by a federal judge. The agreement was filed Wednesday in federal court in White Plains, New York. That came nearly three weeks after a judge there threw out Giuliani's bankruptcy case after criticizing him for repeated failures to disclose his income sources and to comply with court orders." MB: Let's see if Rudy forks over the cash.
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Louisiana. Richard Webster of Verite News, published by ProPublica: "On Thursday, a Louisiana law will go into effect that will make it a misdemeanor for anyone, including journalists, to be within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer if the officer orders them back.... Louisiana is the fourth state to enact a so-called police buffer law.... Journalists say the law will make it harder to document when police use excessive force.... On Wednesday, a coalition of media companies representing a couple dozen Louisiana news outlets, including Verite News, filed suit against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, State Police Superintendent Robert Hodges and East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, alleging the law violates the First Amendment."
South Carolina. AP: "The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal. All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling, opening the door to restart executions in a state that hasn't put an inmate to death since 2011. But two of the justices said they felt the firing squad was not a legal way to kill an inmate and one of them felt the electric chair is a cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty law is legal because instead of seeking to inflict pain, the choice between the three execution methods makes it appear that lawmakers are genuinely against inflicting pain and making the death penalty as humane as possible, Associate Justice John Few wrote in the majority opinion. As many as eight inmates may be out of traditional appeals. It is unclear when executions could restart or whether lawyers for death row inmates can appeal the ruling."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. The New York Times' live updates are here.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "For President Biden, the back-to-back assassinations of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and the political leader of Hamas in Iran have once again scrambled the geopolitical equation and revised the risk assessment.... Mr. Biden had hoped to use his remaining time in office to finally bring an end to the war in Gaza and perhaps even reach a paradigm-shifting deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel that would transform the region. Neither goal was made any easier by the targeted killings of the past couple days, at least not in the short term. But Mr. Biden's team vowed on Wednesday not to give up.... Biden administration officials said they were not informed in advance of the operation targeting Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas based in Qatar, who was killed in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in Tehran.... Mr. Haniyeh was among the Hamas negotiators in the cease-fire talks, but the major decision maker has been Yahya Sinwar, the group's commander believed to be hiding in Gaza."
Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "Israel's military confirmed Thursday that strikes on July 13 in southern Gaza had killed Mohammed Deif, the highest-ranking Hamas military commander to be slain by Israel during its war in Gaza.... The strikes killed at least 90 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry said, hitting an area that Israel had designated a humanitarian zone for displaced families. Israel said the attack targeted a 'Hamas compound' and was based on 'surgical intelligence.' The announcement of Deif’s killing comes after the Wednesday killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which heightened fears of a wider Middle East conflict and a major blow to cease-fire negotiations to end the war in Gaza. Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for Haniyeh's assassination, but Israeli officials have declined to comment on the operation."
Anika Seth of the Washington Post: "Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi were killed in an attack on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening. Local reporters in Gaza said two airstrikes landed in quick succession. The first struck near the Gaza home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, where people were gathering after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran early Wednesday. Several news crews and independent photographers went to the house, which lies west of Gaza City in the Shati refugee camp...." A missile hit the journalists' vehicle, killing them, as the were leaving the scene.
It Could Happen Here. Venezuela. Ana Herrero, et al., of the Washington Post: "Government security forces are detaining volunteer poll watchers who monitored the presidential election here Sunday, opposition leaders said, and President Nicolás Maduro is encouraging Venezuelans to report protesters who dispute the claim that he won. More than 1,000 people have been arrested and at least 16 have been killed in mass protests since the election, government officials and civil society groups said Wednesday, as Venezuelans continued to question the reelection of the authoritarian socialist."
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So here's the full question ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump -- via Mara Gay of the NYT, linked above -- that got the Grand Wizard all perturbed and forced him to call her nasty and rude and question not only her journalistic creds but also her whole news network's authenticity:
"A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States; that’s not true. You have told four congresswomen of color who are American citizens to go back to where they came from.
"You have used words like 'animal' and 'rabbit' to describe Black district attorneys.
"You’ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are stupid and racist. You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you: Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?"
Of course, the traitor media is backing Fatty’s racist and misogynistic reactions to being questioned by a black woman, describing him as “brave” for being there. Brave? Was he sitting down with wild animals?
Speaking of the media, naturally the traitor operations have been piling on Harris since a millisecond after Biden’s announcement that he was leaving the race. The rest of the corporate media have been, if not actually supportive, at least not outright hostile, but that should be changing any day now. Sure, they were moderately impressed at the velocity of Harris’ accession to the position of presumptive nominee, and all the money she piled up got their attention (money always does).
There were a few who sniffed that an open convention was the only way to do things “democratically”, meaning, of course, a sure fire way to introduce the sort of chaos and nuttiness many in corporate media relish. Plus, an open convention would certainly help Trump.
I’m guessing there’ll be a general swing toward animosity pretty soon now. “The border! Yeah! She didn’t fix it!” “And what’s with all the giggling anyway? Maybe Trump is right when he calls her a lightweight.” “How can liberals support her? I mean, she put people in jail. Liberals hate law and order!” “Maybe she’s not black after all. Let’s do a 50,000 word essay in the Sunday Times Magazine” “Now let’s go to coffee shops in Bumfuck, Iowa and ask MAGA hatted denizens what they think. We haven’t done that in about a month. Besides, Both Sides!” “People really don’t like her very much.”
And like that.
Naturally, the burning third degree spotlight won’t be trained on Trump. He gets a pass. I still have yet to see AG take him to task for promising to end democracy. But if he finds a speeding ticket in her past, you can bet there’ll be a feeding frenzy over that.
Because it ain’t corporate media unless Both Sides prevail, can’t be mean to that nice Donald Trump ALL the time. Gotta be mean to Democrats too.
Cuz that’s how we roll.
I guess we didn't need Trump after all.
"Russia released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a major prisoner swap with the US, according to people familiar with the situation.
The men, jailed in Russia on espionage charges they and the US deny, are en route to destinations outside of Russia. The US and its allies will return prisoners to Russia that they hold under the deal, the people said, asking for anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t yet public.
The Kremlin is also releasing dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza as part of the agreement, a European official said on condition of anonymity."
Brian Beutler
"The Coming Trump-Harris Double Standard
If past is prologue, journalists will try to prove their toughness by normalizing Trump and abnormalizing Harris
But here’s the critical difference between Harris and Trump: However Harris defines her issue positions in the year 2024, you can take them to the bank. Obviously circumstances can change in ways that require rethinking policy. But if she says no Medicare for all, she’s not going to win the election and spring a single-payer health-insurance plan on Congress when she takes office. However she’s evolved, the claim that she evolved will be credible.
In Trump’s case, the same claim is not credible. His well-established record of dishonesty is central to the true story of his agenda."
I’m sure Putin was fully aware of the deal to swap prisoners before the Gershkovich trial even began, but he let it go forward because fear of getting on the wrong side of a dictator is vital to maintaining iron fist control. Trump and the MAGA fans of authoritarianism understand this. That’s why they’ve all been promising revenge, retribution, imprisonment, deportations, concentration camps, show trials, and public executions of those they hate (Democrats).
This all comes straight out of the strongman-despot playbook. Fear, uncertainty, terror, violence, certainly the promise of violence, are ever present elements for political power in that arena.
But this is also why we’ve been seeing Fatty and his apologists pooh-pooh Project 2025, the end of democracy, and the Revenge of the Donald. Don’t want to scare non-MAGA types too much before the election. I read somewhere that some MAGA flack went on TV to try to say that it was ridiculous to think that Trump was interested in retribution and revebge. Ho-ho, how silly. Why Donald wouldn’t hurt a fly! Jesus. The fucking nerve of these people. Not interested? Christ, that’s all he talks about! “I am your retribution!” he screams at every one of his fascist hootenannies. He lives for getting even.
Oh, and about that business of how everything will be “fixed” the minute his fat ass is back in the White House, like the War in Gaza being over, Americans held in Russia being freed…I’m sure Putin has heard all of this bullshit too and there’s no way he wants anyone to think that he’ll free political prisoners just because Trump demands it.
Trump is HIS puppet, not the other way around.
Brian Karem, in a piece on salon.com looking at the multiple missteps, failures to launch, and falls off the high bar of the Trump/Vance shit show, comes up with a good one. Courtesy of Shady Vance, it must be said.
“Meanwhile, the GOP vice presidential candidate, JD “The Human Shape Shifter” Vance, was adhering to his barefoot and pregnant theme for American women on the homestead and his “childless cat ladies” dig that sounds more like he’s insulting Lindsey Graham than anyone else I know.”
Aunt Pittypat could not be reached for comment. He was taking Tinkerbell out for her salon day at the vet and restocking his supply of Meow Mix.
So sad that I didn't "get to" (read "make an effort to") go to the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg to hear the Lord High Muckymuck inform Mr. Schumer that he is a member of Hamas...that certainly would have made my day. As other grade school screeds go, he is certainly a stinkpot doodyhead. Muckymuck spent the entire day being hostile to black women, both at that conference and in passing against his probable competitor, so I am sure he was high as a kite (maybe literally) to get before his sweaty, screechy minions, where he can fabricate and pontificate to his "heart's" (what heart?) content. As my son says: no more racist/sexist dogwhistles-- now they just do it outright in public. And he is the leader of the racists, make no mistake. Fasten your seatbelts-- bumpy ride doesn't describe the complete train wreck that is TFG.
Now that Kamala has turned Black, it's time to recall that Beyonce went through that earlier.
Patrick,
Never saw that one. Hahaha. The difference is, these white people hide under desks. MAGAts get the guns out.
Jeanne,
Trump spent the entire day being nasty and insulting to black women?
Girl, this antebellum plantation massa has spent his entire life being mean and nasty to black women.
On the other hand, “stinkpot doodyhead”?
I like it.
@Akhilleus: What @Jeanne has taught us today is that to have a really superior grasp of idiomatic English, you have to start studying up in grade school. I have come across many a Latin- or Greek-rooted polysyllabic word in your rarefied commentary, and that's all very illuminating for those of us wanting in some book-larning. But "stinkpot doodyhead"? Never.
I'm afraid we're just too late to the feast.
Another worry
Alito may want to retire and like Sandra Day O'Connor before him he doesn't want to do it with a Democrat in the White House.
AK and Marie: Yep, I do know the fella we are discussing has been a racist since...well, childhood, which I fortunately do not know much about. He doesn't like people who were born black (especially women), or native American, or Muslim or Indian, or anything else, and makes it quite clear to everyone. For those like Kamala, who "just turned black," I guess it is a huge disappointment since he loved despising Indians (except Modi), but he can now make no bones about his racism. Remember Elizabeth Warren? She ran afoul of his enlarged lies too...no one is immune. Well, except him.
As for the lovely name I called him, I have no idea where that came from, I guess from some deep, dark recess from early in my life. But it is fitting for a schoolyard bully. Which he is and ever will be.
Headlines and ledes, covering for the GOP:
The lede for the NYT story on the Child Tax Credit bill is:
"The Senate rejected a bill on Thursday that would have restored lapsed tax breaks for businesses and expanded the child tax credit, as many Republicans in the chamber lined up against the bipartisan deal in hopes of gaining an advantage in bigger tax legislation expected next year."
"The Senate" axed it. Not "the Republicans". They just "lined up."
The NYT knows better. My question is, when their editorial policy is now "Trump is unfit", why do they allow these types of language, rather than go upfront with the fact that Rs are impediments to government.
Thankfully, the truly slow don't read the NYT and don't know/care about the CTC. But they still get the message from somewhere that "the government isn't delivering."