;)
The Conversation -- August 22, 2024
Presidential Race
As Stephen Colbert says, "This is what locker-room talk is supposed to sound like": ~~~
~~~ Matt Viser & Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz formally accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday, in a night that was designed to introduce him to the country as a teacher and a football coach, a father and a husband, a former congressman and current governor who now could be the nation's No. 2.... He ticked through his biography: growing up in small-town Nebraska ('I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale'), joining the Army National Guard, and finding an occupation ('I fell in love with teaching'). He mentioned his run for political office, and the fertility treatments he and his wife relied upon.... The third day of the Democratic National Convention featured reproductive rights as a top issue..., and later in the evening included boisterous speeches from former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former president Bill Clinton and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) -- and a surprise appearance from Oprah Winfrey. They used GOP nominee and former president Donald Trump's age against him, and they spoke more pointedly of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. They fixed their attention on GOP vice-presidential nominee JD Vance."
The full transcript of Walz's acceptance speech, as delivered, via the New York Times, is here. Axios has an as-delivered transcript here.
New York Times reporters live-updated the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night. Here are some of their entries & partial entries: ~~~
Katie Glueck: "One month ago today, President Biden dropped out of the presidential race, setting off a stunning chapter in American politics that is still being written."
Maggie Astor: "The proceedings are underway. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey is speaking, starting his remarks with a tribute to Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, who died today.... Mini Timmaraju, the president of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All -- previously NARAL -- notes the recent news that Arizona and Montana will have abortion-rights referendums on ballots this November."
Jazmine Ulloa: "'Here is a fact: When Latinos vote, Democrats win -- now everyone believes it so I brought receipts,' María Teresa Kumar, founding president and chief executive of Voto Latino, shouts as she takes the stage, pointing to wins in western states like Nevada and Colorado since 2008.... Representative Tom Suozzi of New York has offered one of the most sweeping speeches on immigration we have heard at the D.N.C., where the issue has been almost invisible. He acknowledged the contributions of immigrants, as well as the challenges that come with building an inclusive nation that welcomes people from all walks of life and ethnicities."
Astor: "Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, who gave an energetic speech focused in large part on economic policies, has the potential to join a small group of Black woman who have served in the Senate."
Nicholas Fandos: "Representative Grace Meng of New York got bumped from Monday night's speaking slate when Democrats ran too far behind schedule. As one of the House's top Asian American Democrats, Meng has been an influential voice pushing her party to court fast-growing immigrant groups. But she focused her brief remarks on abortion rights...."
Maya King: "Remarks by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida focused on the themes Democrats have underlined this week to contrast their record with Republicans: reproductive rights and the Project 2025 policy plan proposed by Trump allies. After criticizing changes to Florida's school curriculum that call for middle schoolers to be instructed on the so-called benefits of enslavement, she said it was an example of the Project 2025 proposal in action."
Mitch Smith: "The Minneota attorney general, Keith Ellison, said Gov. Tim Walz had shared his horror after seeing footage of a Minneapolis police officer murdering George Floyd in 2020. Walz appointed Ellison to lead the prosecution of the officer who killed Floyd." ~~~
~~~ Chris Cameron: Ellison's "son, Jeremiah Ellison, is a member of the Minneapolis City Council and an uncommitted delegate for Minnesota. 'There are people watching tonight,' Ellison said. 'And maybe even here tonight who are not sure yet about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. If you want to know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues facing our country and the world, let me assure you: Kamala and Tim hear you. They listen. They care.'"
Nick Corasaniti: "Dana Nessel, the attorney general of Michigan, offered an extensive endorsement of Harris, referring to their battles to protect abortion rights in their respective states, and issued a threat to the Supreme Court: 'You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.'"
Nicholas Nehamas: "Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg -- the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American hostage in Hamas captivity -- received a sustained standing ovation as they took the stage. 'Bring them home,' the crowd chanted.... 'In a competition of pain, there are no winners,' Polin says about the loss of life among both Israelis and Palestinians. He calls for the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the 'suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.'"
Ulloa: "Representative Veronica Escobar of Texas, speaking now, has been a close ally of President Biden's and is expected to chair the convention on Thursday.... As a congresswoman from a border state, she has also been a key voice on immigration, perhaps Democrats' most significant political vulnerability as they head into November.... Representative Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California..., argues only Harris and Walz will fight for the American dream -- it's a powerful message for Latinos...."
Catie Edmondson: "Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut is telling the story of how an improbable deal on a sweeping immigration reform bill, which would have effectively mandated that the border be shut down to migrants altogether when numbers reach unmanageable levels, was scuttled earlier this year after Trump demanded the bipartisan effort be killed. 'It would have had unanimous support if it weren't for Donald Trump,' Murphy says."
Jonathan Weisman: "Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, Texas [-- San Antonio --], just finished attesting to his faith in Kamala Harris on the issue of the U.S.-Mexico border."
Ken Bensinger: "Carlos Eduardo Espina, an influencer who is speaking now..., [is] calling Donald Trump's policies on immigration 'downright un-American.' He cites Ronald Reagan to say that 'welcoming immigrants isn't a Democratic or Republican value, it's an American value.'"
Astor: Olivia Troye, a one-time adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, says, "'You aren't voting for a Democrat; you're voting for democracy.... You aren't betraying our party; you're standing up for our country.'"
Corasaniti: Geoff Duncan [R], the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, "received perhaps the loudest ovation I've heard so far tonight. His line directed at Republicans who don't vote for Trump -- 'You're not a Democrat. You're a patriot.' -- sent the arena into a frenzy."
Weisman: "A shocking, violent Jan. 6 video ended with the words 'If elected, he will never be held accountable.' The crowd broke into a chant of 'Lock him up.'"
King: "Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who led the congressional proceedings investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, tied the day's violence to the racial violence his father experienced as a Black man in the Deep South."
Edmondson: Aquilino Gonell, a Capitol police officer who was severely injured on January 6, said, "'I was assaulted with a pole attached to the American flag.... President Trump summoned our attackers, incited them. He betrayed us.'... Representative Andy Kim of New Jersey, who in the wee hours of Jan. 7 was captured in a photo kneeling alone in the Capitol Rotunda, picking up trash left behind by rioters who had stormed the building..., [says,] 'What I learned on Jan. 6 is that all of us are caretakers for our great republic.'"
Bensinger: "Olivia Julianna is the second social media influencer -- or content creator, as the D.N.C. is calling them -- to speak tonight.... A reproductive rights activist from Texas with a big social media following, she encourages those in Gen-Z to vote to make their voices heard, saying, 'If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.'"
Corasaniti: "Stevie Wonder called on the delegates to reject 'hate and division' to get to a 'higher ground,' a nod to one of his biggest hits, 'Higher Ground.' He then walked over to the keys for a performance of the song."
Astor: "Every night, the Democrats have sent at least one person out with an oversize replica of the Heritage Foundation's 'Project 2025' blueprint for a Republican presidential administration. Tonight, the comedian Kenan Thompson is taking a turn. 'You ever seen a document that can kill a small animal and end democracy at the same time?' he says. 'Here it is.'" ~~~
~~~ Corasaniti: "He likened Project 2025 to a lengthy 'terms and conditions' contract when downloading a new app...." [MB: It isn't easy to present a 900+ page in a way that will retain the attention of thousands of partygoers, but Democrats figured out how to do it. IMO, Thompson's bit -- in which he cited chapter and verse of the right-wing manifesto to a few individual Americans who would suffer from the consequences -- was quite funny.]
Jess Bidgood: "Mindy Kaling is onstage, where she jokes that she is the woman who 'courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian' in an online cooking video." ~~~
~~~ Alyce McFadden: "Kaling described a cooking video she made in 2019 with Kamala Harris, which has been watched more than 6.5 million times.... She said, Harris 'made sure that my daughter heard how good of a cook I am. She was complimenting me every step of the way." [MB: You can watch the video here.]
Bidgood: "There is a big cheer in the United Center as [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries almost (but not quite!) quotes Taylor Swift. 'There is no reason for us to ever get back together,' he says of Donald Trump."
Maggie Haberman: "Bill Clinton takes the stage, basking in the applause in the hall."
Bidgood: "'Let's cut to the chase. I am too old to gild the lily. Two days ago, I turned 78,' Bill Clinton says -- before pointing out that he is still younger than Donald Trump. It's a big applause line in here."
Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created about 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn't believe it. What's the score? Democrats 50, Republicans one. -- President Bill Clinton ~~~
~~~ Reid Epstein: "We can see the teleprompter from the press seats in the upper deck, and Bill Clinton does not appear to be sticking to the prepared remarks.... Clinton's extended riff that since the end of the Cold War, Democratic presidents have created 50 million new jobs while Republicans have created one million is a testament to just how many jobs were lost during the financial crisis that hit in the last year of George W. Bush's presidency and the pandemic that crushed the economy in Trump's last year."
Haberman: "If the delegates are upset with [Nancy] Pelosi's role in pushing [President] Biden to leave the race, they had a funny way of showing it: She was greeted by intense applause."
Weisman: "Anyone who watched the Herculean efforts of Nancy Pelosi to shepherd Biden's legislative achievements through Congress understands the humility involved in her giving the president credit for those laws."
Corasaniti: "Pelosi focused heavily on the Jan. 6 riot. Rioters that day sought to break into her office, threateningly shouting her name in the halls. The third night at the convention has focused heavily on Jan. 6, foreshadowing what will be common footage in attack ads this fall." [MB: Pelosi cited the national anthem in describing how Democrats saved the nation from Trump's insurrection & held the roll call certification early in the morning of January 7, giving "proof through the night that our flag was still there." The lyrics, as you know, come from a poem by Francis Scott Key, which he wrote after witnessing the British bomb Fort McHenry (in Baltimore) during the War of 1812. Pelosi's reference to an anthem commemorating the successful defense against a U.S. enemy puts Trump's treason in stark relief.]
Edmondson: "Lateefah Simon, who is speaking now, is the choice of the House Democratic leadership to replace Representative Barbara Lee, the veteran progressive lawmaker from the Bay Area."
Rogers: "Tony West, Kamala Harris's brother-in-law..., is also a key adviser to Harris."
Carl Hulse: "Catherine Cortez Masto, the Nevada senator now speaking, is a close ally of Harris from their time when both served as attorney general in their adjoining states."
Nehamas: "Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who was nearly picked by Vice President Kamala Harris to join her ticket, just belatedly took the stage."
Bidgood: "Amanda Gorman, the National Youth Poet Laureate, has begun speaking. She is set to deliver a new poem called 'The Sacred Scene.'"
Weisman: "A big Chicago roar for the city's own Oprah Winfrey." ~~~
~~~ Michael Grynbaum: "This surprise appearance by Winfrey was carefully kept under wraps by convention organizers (even as word began to leak out earlier this afternoon). For her rehearsal in the United Center, Winfrey wore a hat, sunglasses and a face mask, according to her friend Gayle King, who relayed the story on CBS. When she said hello to Nancy Pelosi, the congresswoman did not know who she was." ~~~
~~~ Bidgood: "Winfrey, one of the most famous women in America, made an explicit appeal to independent voters. [Winfrey said she was a registered independent.] This is an attempt to reach well beyond the Democrats who are gathered here, or who would show up at a Harris rally."
Bidgood: "Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland just stepped to the lectern. Moore, who was elected in 2022, is a devoted and energetic Harris campaign surrogate who is seen as a rising figure in his party."
Epstein: "Pete Buttigieg is introduced in the hall as 'former South Bend, Ind., mayor,' and not his current designation, the secretary of transportation."
Bidgood: "Wes Moore drew on his military service repeatedly during his speech -- he is an Army combat veteran who was deployed in Afghanistan. Now Pete Buttigieg has mentioned his deployment to Afghanistan. Both men are highlighting their military service at a time when Gov. Tim Walz, who is set to speak soon, has been attacked by Republicans over his own record of service in the National Guard."
Haberman: Sen. Amy "Klobuchar is extolling Walz's virtues, including his military service. This is a topic that the Trump team has spent weeks on, despite the fact that Walz is not at the top of the ticket." ~~~
~~~ Bidgood: "A hunter in a deer stand. A dad in plaid. Senator Amy Klobuchar's descriptions of Walz are a reminder of how Democrats are using him to try to offer an alternative to the hypermasculinity of Hulk Hogan and Dana White that was on display at the Republican convention."
Lisa Lerer: "Walz's football team just walked out to the high school fight song. They are now middle-aged men."
Corasaniti: "If there was any lingering doubt about the desire to promote Walz's rural roots, his walk-up song was 'Small Town' by John Mellancamp."
Haberman: "Walz is also underscoring why Harris felt confident in her choice. Shapiro's speech, with his Obama-esque affect, sounded very polished. Walz is folksy and compelling."
Rogers: "'I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks,' Walz says..., throwing in multiple football references. 'It's our job to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling.'" ~~~
~~~ Weisman: "Walz adds a bit of realism to the joy, trying to tamp down overconfidence that sometimes feels as if it's running rampant in the United Center. 'It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal,' he said, 'but we're on offense.'"
⭐Boomerang! Michael Bender, in a post from the NYT liveblog: "... Donald J. Trump's campaign saw an opportunity on Wednesday to further question Gov. Tim Walz's military record. But the attack backfired when a campaign letter contained some of the same types of blunders that it accused the Democrat of making. The Trump campaign released a letter on Wednesday morning signed by 50 Republican members of Congress, all of whom have served in the military, attacking Mr. Walz ... as unfit for office because of misstatements he has made about his service record.... VoteVets, a veteran group that typically supports Democrats, quickly pointed out that more than half of the 50 Republican members of Congress who signed the letter as retired service members had not actually served long enough to qualify for that designation. Military rules require 20 years of service or a medical exception to formally retire or otherwise be known as a former service member. The letter also included a higher rank for one lawmaker than the military recognizes, an error that even more closely aligns to Mr. Walz's misstatements. Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas was demoted postretirement to captain by the Navy after a Pentagon investigation found he had committed misconduct on the job, but the letter identified him as a retired rear admiral." ~~~
~~~ Update. Patrick Svitek of the Washington Post: "... Trump's campaign reissued the letter hours later after a Democratic veterans group raised issues with how it characterized the military experience of many of the lawmakers. [Besides more than half of the letter's signators falsely claiming to be military retirees,] the letter also included at least two GOP congressmen -- Reps. Ronny Jackson and Troy E. Nehls, both from Texas -- who have faced scrutiny over their own military records, including how they have portrayed their service. The revised letter removed the veterans' titles and all references to retirement.... Nehls has drawn criticism, including from fellow Republicans, for his use of a military badge that the Army revoked from his record last year. Nehls has denied accusations of stolen valor and said he disagrees with the revocation...."
Julie Bosman & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Chicago police arrested at least 55 people, including three journalists, at a protest outside the city's Israeli consulate on Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday as they prepared for a fourth day of demonstrations surrounding the Democrati National Convention. Police officials described the pro-Palestinian protest on Tuesday as violent and a threat to the city, and said officers tried to de-escalate the situation before making arrests. Several dozen demonstrators angry over the war in Gaza chanted, made speeches and scuffled with police officers in front of a downtown office tower that houses the consulate. The consulate was never breached."
Eat Your Heart (Assuming You Have One) Out, Donald. Katie Campione of Deadline: "The second night of the Democratic National Convention saw just a slight lift in viewership as 20.8M people tuned in across 12 networks, according to Nielsen. That's about half a million more than the first night, once again besting the audience for the Republican National Convention, which suffered from a steep decline to just 14.8M viewers in its second night."
Simon Levien & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump returned to form on Wednesday with an outdoor speech in North Carolina, where he insisted that he would not giveup persona attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris and continued to sow doubts about the integrity of the election in November.... He called former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 'crazy,' labeled Ms. Harris both 'stupid' and a 'Marxist or a communist' and said former President Barack Obama was 'nasty.'... As he insisted that he could end the war in Ukraine just by being elected, Mr. Trump portrayed his victory as a forgone conclusion that could be stymied only by electoral fraud.... 'Kamala and Biden have marched us to the brink of World War III,' Mr. Trump said.... Mr. Trump insisted that he would rid the military of 'woke' leadership and that he would demand the resignations of 'every single senior military official' involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal, in which 13 American service members were killed.... Mr. Trump, who while president banned transgender people from serving in the military, mocked transgender troops as unfit to serve." The reporters outline new security measures in place at the rally. The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Looks like a crowd of hundreds, Donald.
Isaac Arnsdorf, et al. of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump introduced a new premise for doubting the election results in advance on Wednesday, turning routine professional revisions of government economic statistics into a baseless allegation of political manipulation.... Without presenting any evidence, he accused the Biden-Harris administration of 'manipulating job statistics' and trying to prevent the disclosure of the updated figures until after the election.... 'There's never been any revision like this,' Trump said incorrectly, during a speech here that his campaign intended to focus on national security. 'They wanted it to come out after the election, but somehow it got leaked.'" Related stories on the revision linked in yesterday's News Ledes & below.
This Is Rich. Irie Sentner of Politico: "... Donald Trump responded Wednesday to the Obamas' heated criticism of him at the Democratic National Convention, casting their 'personal' attacks as reason to justify his own behavior. 'Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night taking little shots? He was taking shots at your president and so was Michelle,' Trump said at a campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina. 'You know, they always say, "Sir, please stick to policy, don't get personal," but they're getting personal all night, these people.'... Trump was responding to former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama';s speeches Tuesday night at the DNC, where they abandoned their 2016 call for their party to 'go high' above inflammatory insults and animated the convention with a venomous rebuke of the former president.... That's been a growing trend among Democrats, who started to stray from their political politesse after Trump won in 2016 and appear to have deserted it entirely this cycle as the Harris campaign issues snarky press releases, digs against its 'weird' competitors and couch jokes aimed at taunting Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance."
Trump v. Harris = Hate v. Hope. Marc Caputo of the Bulwark: "'This is just the way I am. I hate my opponent. I hate my opponents,' Trump told a confidant who advised the former president to consider backing away from calling the vice president 'stupid' or 'dumb' at their high-profile standoff in a few weeks, which he has done repeatedly. Trump explained to the confidant that he's treating [Vice President] Harris the same way he did Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. 'Hillary, Joe, Kamala. It doesn't matter. I just hate them.'"
Tatiana Tenreyro of the Hollywood Reporter: "Donald Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung seemed to take a shot at the Republican's Democratic rival in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, by using her campaign song, Beyoncé's 'Freedom,' in a social media post.... Despite concerns raised in the comments about potential copyright infringement, the video remained online until Tuesday night when The Hollywood Reporter noticed the post had been removed from the platform. Earlier on Wednesday, Rolling Stone had reported that Beyoncé's team threatened to send a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign over the use of the song, which they reportedly did not receive permission for.... This incident comes days after the former president and Republican nominee was called out by Celine Dion and Isaac Hayes' estate for unauthorized use of their music."
Kristen Holmes, et al., of CNN: "Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to suspend his campaign on Friday at an event in Arizona, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN. There are current talks between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's team and Kennedy's orbit for the independent candidate to endorse the former president and appear at Trump's Phoenix-area rally that same night, the source said.... Kennedy's campaign announced earlier Wednesday that he will make a speech in Phoenix, saying he would 'address the nation' Friday morning, but it did not share details of what he will be speaking about. Kennedy's speech will come days after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in a podcast interview on Tuesday that the campaign is considering whether to 'join forces' with Trump to prevent the 'risk' of Vice President Kamala Harris winning the election." The New York Times story is here.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. As the Worms Turn. Ann Laurie of Balloon Juice: "Having spent the last many years gleefully attacking Democrats and rewarding Republicans, Our Very Serious Mainstream Media cannot believe that the people in charge of the Democratic National Convention are treating them as a caste somewhere between Nuisance and Adversary[.]" It seems the DNC had reduced the number of seats for credentialed media AND the electrical connections were not to the New York Times staff's standards. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ The article by Max Tani, writing for Semafor is here. It is titled, "A friendly media grows grumbly in Chicago." MB: Frankly, I think this is a story with two sides, and the MSM may not be entirely wrong here. What seems to be upsetting them most is that "media access" now includes social media influencers, and these non-journos are taking up butt-space formerly allocated to the bona fide lords of the press and reliable interpreters of all they observe.
Ben Casselman & Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "A number of Wall Street investment firms obtained details about [a revised Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs] report -- which showed a large downward revision to job growth in 2023 and early 2024 -- at least 15 minutes before the information was posted on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. That head start could, at least in theory, have given in-the-know investors an opportunity to profit on the information before the public at large.... The episode was the latest in a series of incidents in which the agency provided information to investors that wasn't available to the general public.... In an email statement late Wednesday, Cody Parkinson, a Bureau of Labor Statistics spokesman, said the agency had notified the Labor Department's inspector general of the incident. He said the delayed release had been 'unintended,' but he did not explain the cause or how some people had received the data sooner." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Not sure how an employee could "accidentally" send a report to a few of his favorite friends.
Jessica Ogilvie & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “Lawyers for Hunter Biden sparred with prosecutors in federal court [in Los Angeles] Wednesday over what evidence should be allowed in his tax trial next month, giving a glimpse into what sordid details could be revealed about the lavish spending and sex life of the president's son while he was addicted to drugs.The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 5 and opening statements on Sept. 9, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said. Prosecutors and defense attorneys said they expect the trial to take up to eight days in court, plus two days for jury selection." MB: Luckily for Hunter, the trial will probably not garner the breathless coverage it would have received had his father still been a candidate for re-election.
And now we turn to the latest news about criminals & alleged traitors connected to Donald Trump & his crime organization: ~~~
~~~ There's This. Steven Myers & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "The Department of Justice has begun a broad criminal investigation into Americans who have worked with Russia's state television networks, signaling an aggressive effort to combat the Kremlin's influence operations leading up to the presidential election in November, according to American officials briefed on the inquiry. This month, F.B.I. agents searched the homes of two prominent figures with connections to Russian state media: Scott Ritter, a former United Nations weapons inspector and critic of American foreign policy, and Dimitri K. Simes, an adviser to ... Donald J. Trump's first presidential campaign in 2016. Prosecutors have not announced charges against either of the men. More searches are expected soon, some of the officials said...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So an advisor to Donald Trump might be a Russian pro-Russia influencer. I'm so surprised. ~~~
~~~ And This. Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Ever since Donald J. Trump issued a series of pardons and commutations as he left office, he and his allies have defended his administration's vetting of clemency candidates.... But the case of one of those convicts -- a New York drug dealer and predatory lender named Jonathan Braun, who had a history of violence and faced an array of other legal problems -- has stood out and raised doubts about how rigorous the vetting was. On Tuesday, the police on Long Island arrested Mr. Braun after he allegedly punched his 75-year-old father-in-law in the head. Mr. Braun struck his father-in-law twice as he tried to protect his daughter from Mr. Braun..., according to the Nassau County District Attorney's office. Mr. Braun's wife, according to court documents, told police that Mr. Braun had assaulted her twice in the past five weeks.... Mr. Braun was among a parade of convicts who used connections, money and influence to seek pardons from Mr. Trump, who ran an often ad hoc process for considering clemency requests, largely bypassing an established Justice Department system." Read on; the guy is a one-man crime spree. Oh, and that nice Jared Kushner was behind the commutation of his sentence. ~~~
~~~ And This. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The former lawyer for the Oath Keepers militia pleaded guilty on Wednesday to advising members of the far-right group to illegally delete their text messages after the violent mob attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. At a hearing in Federal District Court in Washington, the lawyer, Kellye SoRelle, admitted to charges that included tampering with evidence and illegally entering and remaining in a restricted area of the Capitol grounds. After Donald J. Trump lost the 2020 election, Ms. SoRelle, who is based in Texas, had close ties to the 'Stop the Steal' movement, which claimed that Mr. Trump had been cheated out of a victory in his run against Joseph R. Biden Jr. She also served as the general counsel of the Oath Keepers and had a romantic relationship with the militia's leader and founder, Stewart Rhodes, who was found guilty at a trial in Washington of seditious conspiracy for his role in the attack and sentenced to 18 years in prison." ~~~
~~~ And Finally a Bit of Attention to This. Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "... Donald Trump may have called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas that President Joe Biden's administration is currently negotiating. Now, experts are saying Trump may have committed a felony. Newsweek reported that two anonymous 'U.S. sources who were briefed on the call' confirmed to Axios that Trump spoke with Netanyahu. And according to the New Republic and PBS, the former president reportedly urged Netanyahu to reject the deal currently on the table. The Israeli prime minister's office has denied reports that Trump spoke with him, and the Trump campaign hasn't publicly commented on whether the call actually took place. A private citizen engaging in diplomatic conversations with foreign governments is a violation of the Logan Act of 1799.... However, no one has been successfully prosecuted under the Logan Act...."
~~~~~~~~~~
Florida Election Results. Andrew Atterbury of Politico: "Gov. Ron DeSantis' attempt to elect conservative-leaning school board members across Florida hit a snag Tuesday, as candidates backed by the Republican governor fell in several key races. DeSantis, who has made reshaping Florida's education system a top priority, endorsed 23 candidates ahead of Tuesday's election. And as of late Tuesday night, at least 11 appear to have lost. That is a notable downturn from 2022, when DeSantis saw a runaway success: Of the 30 he endorsed two years ago, just five lost."
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al.
The New York Times is live-updating developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war.
⭐Vivian Yee & Bilal Shbair of the New York Times: "The war in Gaza is taking children from parents and parents from children, undoing the natural order of things, rupturing the basic unit of Gazan life. It is making so many orphans in such chaos that no agency or aid group can count them. Medical staff say children are left to roam hospital hallways and fend for themselves after being rushed there bloodied and alone -- 'wounded child, no surviving family,' some hospitals label them. Neonatal units house babies whom no one has come to claim.... Using a statistical method drawn from analyzing other wars, United Nations experts estimate that at least 19,000 children are now surviving apart from their parents...."
News Lede
Washington Post: "The body of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been recovered from the wreckage of a sunken yacht off Sicily's coast, an Italian government official said Thursday, speaking on the condition of anonymity in keeping with protocol. The British-flagged Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members roughly half a mile from the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello when it encountered what authorities called a 'violent storm' about 4 a.m. Monday. Fifteen people were rescued shortly after the sinking and the body of the yacht's chef, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered during initial search efforts."
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Reader Comments (21)
digby
"Tim Walz spent 24 years in the Army National Guard. He retired to run for congress. Now they are swiftboating him which is totally expected. It’s what they do. But now they’ve exposed their own military lies. Vote Vets tweeted this:
If you’re looking for a textbook example of Stolen Valor, look no further than Donald Trump’s campaign and the 50 Veterans who signed this letter.
29 of the signatures come from Republicans who falsely claim they retired from military service.
The most egregious example is Ronny Jackson, the former Navy officer reduced in rank from Rear Admiral to Captain after retirement:
@RonnyJacksonTX – you were demoted from Rear Admiral to Captain – why are YOU committing stolen valor for claiming you’re a retired flag officer?"
Need 20 years of service to retire from active duty.
And this on Ritter, whom I remember as being absolutely right on Bush II's trumped up Iraq War.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/magazine/scott-ritter.html
A complicated guy, whose history provides many reasons (excuses) for him to be pee oed at the good ole USA...
Weird AND stupid.
While Tim Walz took to the stage in Chicago to talk about things that made him happy and proud, serving his country, his family, aiding others, helping Kamala Harris bring back joy and energy to national politics, JD Vance was whiffing on a hugely easy softball question. Asked what makes him happy, Vance snapped “Bogus questions from the media!”
Nice, JD. A softball question grooved right down the pike and you miss it entirely. And not just miss, but look sad and stupid while doing it. Here’s a perfect chance for him to make himself more relatable, less weirdly robotic and inhuman, and instead he blows it completely.
It’s the kind of question a smart politician would grab with both hands and dance around with. A chance to humanize himself without stepping on any rakes, no “gotcha” in sight, just an open ended invitation to make the moment your own. And what does he do?
“Fuck off, buddy, that’s a stupid question.”
I mean, just imagine what Walz would have done with a question like that. Oh wait. We just saw what he’d do. He was great.
Good pick, Fatty.
Racist AND stupid (and a total lie)
Fox liar and barking mad racist whack job, Maria Bartiromo, one of the primary reasons that propaganda operation had to fork out almost a billion dollars because of lies about voting machines, is back at it.
Repeating an uncorroborated story from a friend in Texas about huge lines of immigrants signing up to vote is exactly the sort of conspiracy theory Fox loves to propagate.
Of course this fantasy story was debunked almost instantly by officials in Texas, but no matter, she keeps spinning it.
But just think for a second about how stupid this is. You’re an immigrant family who has made a perilous journey, hundreds and hundreds of miles over dangerous, open country. You have kids. You need food, clean water, a place to stay, maybe medical attention, you don’t know anyone, don’t speak the language, have no money and no connections. What’s the first thing you do when get to America?
“Hey honey, I know the kids are starving, we have no place to sleep, we don’t speak English, we need to get you to a doctor to check out those sores on your leg, but forget about all that right now. Let’s get in line and sign up to vote. We’re here illegally, and we might get caught and sent back and have to deal with those roving rape and murder gangs back home, but the Democrats need us.”
Yeah. That’d be number one on my list too.
Fucking idiots.
@RAS: Sorry, didn't see your Vote Vets post before I linked the NYT post. You did find it first, though. The GOP's failed stunt would be an amazing cock-up if they didn't do this kind of thing all the time.
@Akhilleus: And speaking of amazing cock-ups, isn't Bartiromo supposed to be a "journalist"? She has a degree in journalism from NYU. I'll betcha a professor or two told her that you have to get corroboration of your stories before you publish/air them. At CNN & MSNBC, I hear on-air personalities say all the time, "CNN/NBC News has not yet corroborated this story," when they're talking about a highly plausible story from a usually-reliable source, not something they heard from the wife of a friend, as was Bartiromo's source. If Fox "News" were really a news outfit, the suits would have fired Bartiromo for her "report."
Marie,
Journalistic ethics is a big threefer no-no at Fox.
First No is journalism. They don’t even do Both Sides, never mind actual journalism. Second No is ethics. Huh? Whazzat? Oh! Thaaat. That shit is for Democrats.
Third No is the Big Combo: journalistic ethics. Break out the garlic cloves, the crucifixes, and the silver bullets…kill that monster!!
I read yesterday that staunch advocate of baseless bullshit propaganda, Jesse (Fetid, standing) Watters, is on the job.
Calling Barack Hussein Obama the evil Godfather of the Democrat (sic) Party, he announced his latest foray into (pardon) “Investigative” jernalizm. Yup. He’s gonna once and fer all PROVE that Barack Hussein (they still love to pull that double racist crap—African AND Mooslim) doesn’t have an American birth certificate. He sez he’s sending “Johnny”, his crack imvestigatin’ producer off to Hawaii to unearth that phony document.
I don’t know who this “Johnny” person is when he’s at home, so I looked him up. He’s some dude named Johnny Belisario, a twenty something, who five years ago was bagging groceries at a food store but now he’s a big time producer type at Faux. Nothing wrong with bagging groceries, I worked at a grocery store in high school. But it shows you the level of unprofessionalism of this place that they can’t attract experienced, veteran talent. So now they’re sending Paper or Plastic Johnny off to Hawaii looking for something no one has been able to find in 16 years.
I’m sure he’ll be successful. But here’s where it pays to work at Fox.
Even if you’re a complete fucking loser, they’ll let you go on the air and say shit like “The fact that Johnny couldn’t find Barack Hussein’z phony birth certificate is proof positive that the Deep State is hiding it!!!”
Another Peabody, fer sure.
@Akhilleus: Of course Johnny the
Bag ManBag Boy won't find Barack's birth certificate in Hawaii because if Kenya issued birth certificates for babies born in the bush -- which they don't -- little Barack's birth certificate would be at the Nairobi Center for Birth Records. Yup, Peebuddy fer sure. For brilliantly proving a negative. And maybe an Emmy for Jesse for best performance in a comedy series.Cheerio, mates! Oh, make that “Cheerios”.
Here’s something I totally missed (more on why I missed it in a bit).
Last week, when Fatty was doing his David Ricardo, famous economist thing at his uber expensive golf course in Bedminster (reg’lar guy place) to talk about eke-O-nomic stuff, he at one point became transfixed by a box of Cheerios. I kid you not. He stopped doing David Ricardo and morphed into Donald Retardo and said he was…get this…gonna take the Cheerios back to his “cottage” and “have some fun.”
Whaaaat??
I don’t wanna even guess what that means. He’s gonna have breakfast? Play house? Go all JD Vance on the box? What?
But just imagine if Joe Biden had done this, become hypnotized by breakfast cereal and announced he was going to “have fun with it”?
The Times would have “Titanic Sinks” sized headlines. The WaPo would cram a year’s worth of editorial and op-Ed pieces into one week on their site. The Journal would collapse in consternation at how unhinged he had become.
But it’s Trump.
Crickets.
That’s why I didn’t hear anything about it right after this event.
Oh, it’s just Donald. He’s gonna play house or something, but he told us he takes cognitive acuity tests daily and he ACES them! Doctors are amazed (that claim alone warrants a call to the guys in the white coats).
So, nothing.
And they wonder why they’re not getting the red carpet treatment at the DNC.
Okay, well…cheerio!
Cheerios have those tiny holes, like a miniature donut.
According to that porn star (prone star?) that Mr. Trump messed
around with, we can imagine what he would be doing to those
Cheerios.
I really do have a dirty mind!
Well, yes to Forrest Morris. (I'm seeing a bedtime ring toss.)
But on a more serious note, a real candidate for public office who for some reason had ordered his staff to lay out a vast array of grocery store products would have said somewhere in his remarks that of course all the nonperishables would be donated to the local food pantry. But not Trump. Helping people, even when it costs nothing but would momentarily make him seem like a decent person, is not something that occurs to him. No, he's going to go home and play with his Cheerios.
All of the speeches by Democrats that I've heard were great, and no
one called Mr. Trump a dumb bitch, like he's known to do.
Wonder when we'll hear Melania's speech supporting her wonderful
husband. Maybe when he comes up with enough money to pay her
off again. (I don't have proof of payoffs, just surmising).
@Marie: Not a problem about the article. I know how easy it is to double up without knowing it.
USA Today
"Chicago Police and the FBI are investigating if saboteurs placed bugs in a breakfast buffet prepared for delegates at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
One witness told USA TODAY the creatures appeared to be crickets while other reports suggested maggots.
The incident was the most recent example of ongoing efforts to disrupt the convention, including multiple bomb threats at hotels where delegates and other attendees are staying. Fox32-TV reported that the threats were made against at least three hotels."
Bomb threats are so common these days that they are barely back page newsworthy. Republicans have so warped our society that threats of mass violence barely register to journalists anymore. Mass shootings only make the local news unless they approach double digits. Trump benefits from the media's numbness to the violence while simultaneously encouraging the carnage and terror.
Saw that clip of Mango Monster and the Cherrios. At the time I was so amazed that he recognized those AS groceries at all. I don't know what he planned to do with the Cherrios, but he talked like they were from the 50s when he was a toddler and now vanished. Talk about out-of-touch-- every time he ventures into trying to identify with normal everyday citizens, he sounds like a lugnut. And his followers don't seem to mind that he is living on Planet XXX.
Really have enjoyed the DNC events and speakers. A lot of enthusiasm and happiness expressed sure makes a difference, especially since what little (30 minutes) I saw of that funeral/doomsday event after Kotex ear got (maybe) shot was horrifying. Lying is part of their schtick, since MM can't even talk about the weather without lying his face off, and we should no longer be "surprised." Maybe a memo should be sent to the mainstream media. Attention, supposed journalists: Lies and prevarications ahead. Take cover...
I should proofread my own stuff. Cheerios...X2
@Jeanne: Or as the queen (of England) would say, Cheery-O!
Jeanne,
Yeah, it did seem as if Fatty was on a different planet. And he is. Planet Moron.
He was stunned to find out that Cheerios were still in existence. I get that wealthy autocrats don’t do their own shopping. They have peons to do stuff for them, like picking up Big Mac meals to go, and moving boxes of top secret documents around so’s the FBI won’t find them.
Remember when Poppy Bush got hit with a question about the price of a gallon of milk and had no idea (this, while talking about “working man” issues)? But at least A. He wasn’t surprised that milk was still a thing, and B. He didn’t say he was going to take home a few quarts and play with them.
For a man who watches as much TV as TFG does he should know Cheerios is still around with all of their commercials playing all the time. But I guess since they have never sunk as low to have him as a spokesman it doesn't register that they continued to exist.
Want to your money into less money?
"Trump promotes family’s new crypto platform, ‘The Defiant Ones’"
A good sermon, I thought.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/22/tim-walz-democratic-convention-speech/
Not Both Sides…
Okay, I know this is a big night. We’re getting to hear the woman who could bring down the most vile, vicious, dangerous lying piece of dog shit in American history.
BUT (to employ the Both Sides media’s favorite qualifying conjunction), if corporate media has its way, we’ll be getting plenty of reasons that Kamala Harris has a lot to answer for (no three hour sit downs with Both Sides “journalists”) and hearing that poor Donald Trump is being unfairly treated by lib’rul Democrat schemers.
You think I’m exaggerating? (I know you guys don’t, but I do want to offer the latest example of why we can never trust these fucking people.)
So, I’ve been listening to the radio interview show Fresh Air for many years. It’s generally an excellent show. Love Terry Gross. Today I listened, slack jawed, to almost an hour of infuriatingly Both Sides balderdash, presented as a program looking at how Donald Trump weaponized the Justice Department and co-opted the FBI.
Okay, I thought, I could probably write this one, but okay, maybe I’ll learn something new.
What I “learned” was both sides do it. Both sides are to blame.
Here’s the guest:
“David Rohde is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who has worked for The New York Times, The New Yorker and other publications. He was twice kidnapped and held in captivity, covering conflict zones, once in Bosnia and once in Afghanistan. He's now the national security editor at NBC News. His new book is ‘Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, The FBI, And The War On Democracy.’”
New York Times, NBC…other corporate media both sides outposts…I should have known.
It was billed as a look at how the Orange Monster fucked with Justice and the FBI. You have to listen to about 25 minutes before you get to that, and then it’s all about Bill Barr. But get this…Barr, according to this fucking guy, was only doing what he thought was right when he put his fat ass on the scales of Justice to help an insurrectionist asshole. He was doing what he thought he had to. On the other hand…Jamie Raskin is a partisan “firebrand”, ie, someone who isn’t really trustworthy!
What the actual fuck?!?!
It gets worse. He says no one trusts the justice department now because Both Sides believe the other side is corrupt. But he has zero examples of how Democrats are at fault.
Oh…wait. Yes he does. He rips Democrats for daring to complain about Robert Hur’s horrific report on Biden. “When he said Biden was a little demented, he was just giving his honest opinion. Democrats were wrong to ATTACK him.” Hey. Asshole. That wasn’t his fucking job. He’s not a psychiatrist. He was tasked with saying whether or not Biden had willfully retained a couple of top secret documents. That’s it! His excuse for defending Hur is “See? Biden did terrible in that debate. So I’m right! Harrumph!”
He also defends Fatty attacking the FBI for searching Mar-a-Lardo.
“Well, Trump was right to be upset and claim he was being set up.”
Why?
J. Edgar Hoover did that sort of thing 70-80 years ago.
What?!?!?
J. Edgar Hoover!?
Why not blame yellow journalists from 1910? How ‘bout Nostradamus in the 16th century?
Sorry. I couldn’t make it all the way to the end. Several times he actually says it’s his job…his JOB!! to attack both sides equally. And he uses the expression “both sides” about four or five times.
And this guy has two Pulitzers.
But it’s not really Both Sides, is it? It’s give Trump and the traitors a pass and go after Democrats, blaming them for shit they have never done.
We can’t trust any of these assholes.
Not linking this crap. You can find it if you want. Just have a barf bag handy.