;)
The Conversation -- February 24, 2024
The South Carolina Repubican presidential* primary is today.
Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The Russian authorities have transferred the body of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said on Saturday, ending a grim battle for custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will get a funeral that the public can attend."
Shocking News! As Akhilleus pointed out this morning, digby has dug up documentary evidence of the right's opposition to "recreational sex" (what one might call "normal sex"). Now Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has let on that President Joe Biden AND Jill Biden are regular practitioners.
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Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "The United States on Friday unleashed its most extensive package of sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, targeting Russia's financial sector and military-industrial complex in a broad effort to degrade the Kremlin's war machine. The sweeping sanctions come as the war enters its third year, and exactly one week after the death of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, for which the Biden administration blames President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... Announcing the sanctions on Friday, President Biden reiterated his calls on Congress to provide more funding to Ukraine before it is too late." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Lemire & Matt Berg of Politico: "The bulk of the sanctions were already in the works for the invasion anniversary, though a few were added this week to target those involved in Navalny's death at an Arctic penal colony.... The Treasury Department will impose additional price cap sanctions that will make it more costly for Russia to get around sanctions, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters in a Thursday night call previewing the sanctions.... In December, Politico reported that Moscow has been successful in skirting some oil sanctions imposed by G7 nations and the European Union." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Luke Broadwater & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, ... strode to the Senate floor ... [and] said ... a document in the F.B.I.'s possession ... could reveal 'a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.' But what neither Mr. Grassley nor any of the other Republicans who amplified the claims said in their breathless statements was that F.B.I. officials had warned them repeatedly to be cautious about the accusation, because it was uncorroborated and its credibility unknown.... Over the next few months, Mr. Grassley's quest to make public the allegation -- laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 -- became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats' treatment of ... Donald J. Trump.... All that the form proved, federal law enforcement officials explained, was that a confidential source had said something, and they had written it down. And now federal prosecutors say the claim was made up. But the cautions Republicans received from the start about the materials did not stop them from repeating the unverified allegation hundreds of times over many months, in official settings and interviews on right-wing media outlets." Read on. A condemnation of the impeachment-Biden gang. ~~~
~~~ Jordain Carney of Politico: "Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a vulnerable purple-district incumbent ..., estimated that as many as 30 House GOP lawmakers may be currently opposed to impeaching the president because they haven't seen evidence of any crime. Private briefings to update members on the investigation haven't swayed those holdouts, and Republicans know it only gets politically riskier to try to impeach Biden as they head deeper into an election year -- possibly giving the president a polling boost even if they succeed.... Conservatives [MB: i.e., far-right Trump cultists], however, are still hoping to eke out new momentum from next week's scheduled deposition of Hunter Biden and a March hearing with Special Counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents.... [Republicans] had hoped impeaching [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] would be an easy way to vent anger about Biden's handling of the southern border; instead, it became the latest warning sign that the GOP's so-far thin case against the president is going nowhere." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It bears remembering that when Democrats voted (twice) to impeach Donald Trump, they did so after he had committed obviously impeachable offenses. Republicans, on the other hand, have knocked themselves out searching vainly for crimes Mayorkas & Biden might have committed.
~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. They Can't Handle the Truth. Michael Grynbaum & Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, a few hours after the credibility of a key source boosting Republican efforts to impeach President Biden collapsed in spectacular fashion, the Fox News host Jesse Watters ... [said,] 'It's a smear job.'... in [the right-wing] worldview, news of [Alexander] Smirnov's deceptions was merely part of a conspiracy to protect Mr. Biden at all costs.... Miranda Devine, a columnist for The New York Post, dismissed Mr. Smirnov as a 'straw man' and said the evidence against Mr. Biden remained 'overwhelming.' Maria Bartiromo, on Fox Business, described the Justice Department's filing as 'an intimidation tactic' and accused the government of 'taking this guy down.'... Kimberley Strassel, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal's opinion section[, wrote,] '... it's the F.B.I. that ought to have to explain the steaming pile of trash.'... Margot Cleveland, a correspondent at The Federalist, a right-leaning online outlet, argued that David C. Weiss, the special counsel who has been investigating Hunter Biden and who charged Mr. Smirnov last week, is the guilty party."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee notes that "A majority of House Republicans, including so-called 'moderates' like Rep. Michelle Steel, are endorsing legislation that advocates for a nationwide abortion ban. The 'Life at Conception Act' would also impose similar restrictions on IVF and fertility treatments as the Alabama ruling at the national level. According to a new report from Business Insider, the House version of the 'Life at Conception Act' -- introduced last year -- dismisses the IVF exception that has been included in newer Senate versions of the bill text, going a step further to restrict reproductive rights for families across the nation." The release republishes the Business Insider story. Speaker Mike Johnson is one of the cosponsors. ~~~
~~~ He Was For It Until He Was Against It. Josh Marshall of TPM: "Sen. Steve Daines (R) of Montana heads the Senate Republican campaign committee, which today sent out a memo to all its candidates instructing them to vigorously defend IVF fertility treatments which the Alabama Supreme Court just effectively outlawed in the state.... But Sen. Daines himself recently cosponsored (along with numerous Senate colleagues) a law based on precisely the same theory used by the Alabama court. Senate bill S.99, introduced in early 2021 and cosponsored by Daines, claims that all homo sapiens, born and unborn are entitled to the full protections of the 14th amendment. While the bill states that law does not 'require' the 'prohibition' of IVF it states very clearly that it requires the full panoply of constitutional rights for embryos. To quote the law, it holds that the term 'human person' applies to 'each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including [from] the moment of fertilization.'" More on the IVF ban linked under "Alabama" below.
Adam Reiss, et al., of NBC News: "A clerk in New York has officially entered a more than $464 million fraud judgment against ... Donald Trump and top executives at his company -- an amount that will grow by over $111,000 a day until it's paid. The action starts the clock on the amount of time Trump has to file an appeal and to post a bond for the award. If he does not do so, the New York attorney general's office will be able to begin collection proceedings against Trump and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case. The vast majority of the $464,576,230.62 judgment -- $454,156,783.05 of it, to be exact -- is against Trump and his companies. The rest of the judgment is against his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who've been running the Trump Organization since 2017, and former top executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marcy Wheeler parses Trump's defense for stealing, hiding & retaining classified documents, as laid out in filings to Judge Aileen Cannon this week: "First..., Trump intended to take those boxes and boxes of classified documents.... And..., because Trump stole those boxes and boxes of classified documents while he was still Commander-in-Chief, he has immunity from prosecution for doing so."
** Georgia. Uh-oh. Dinged by Pings. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "According to cellphone data submitted to court Friday, Nathan Wade visited Fani Willis' home at least 35 times before she hired him to be the lead prosecutor in Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case. Willis had previously claimed that their romantic relationship didn't begin until after Wade was hired into the case, and the filing raises new questions as to the truthfulness of her claims. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the data seems to contradict testimony from Willis last week, in which she said he had visited her condo in Hapeville no more than 10 times before he was hired in November of 2021. The data also shows that he arrived late at night at her home and left early the next morning, long before she said their romantic relationship began. Both Wade and Willis testified that he did not spend the night at her Hapeville condo.... The filing includes an affidavit from Charles Mittelstadt, a longtime investigator for defense attorneys, who used a subpoena to obtain the data from AT&T, and then used the online tool CellHawk to track Wade's movements." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The AP story, by Kate Brumback, is here. Brumback reports it was Wade, not Willis, who testified that he had visited Willis' neighborhood fewer than 10 times before she hired him as a special prosecutor. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: So I'm right back to where I was before Willis testified: she must recuse herself. Fast. Maybe you can think of a good explanation for Wade's cellphone pings -- "I was baking cupcakes in Fani's kitchen"; "I had another girlfriend in Hapeville"; "I kept my cell in Fani's briefcase" -- but I can't. Update: Barbara McQuade, speaking on MSNBC, said these data "don't prove anything at all," just that Wade was in the vicinity of Willis' home, so he might have been at a nearby restaurant or nightclub near Willis' home. Okay then. ~~~
~~~ Update 2. Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has filed her official response to ... Donald Trump's allegations that she and special prosecutor Nathan Wade lied on the stand about their relationship.... Willis is now alleging ... that not only do the latest allegations 'not prove, in any way, the content of the communications' or that the two were in the same place at the same time, but that Trump may have broken the law in obtaining the data used to make the allegations. 'Moreover, the state questions whether Defendant Trump legally obtained cell site location information, which is generally only obtainable after a finding of probable cause and issuance of a search warrant,' read the filing...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: After I read the original stories on the cellphone pings, I too questioned whether or not the records were legally obtained. So naturally I consulted the Internet, where I learned that, generally speaking, the service provider owns the records. Trump's investigator swore that he obtained the raw data under a subpoena to AT&T. I did not find what Georgia law says on the subject, but unless it's unlawful for AT&T to release cellphone data to a private investigator, it looks as if the records were lawfully obtained.
Presidential Race
Trump Makes Racist Appeal to Black Republicans. Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former President Trump sought to appeal to Black voters on Friday night in South Carolina by repeatedly citing the 91 felony charges he faces and comparing them to unfair treatment from the criminal justice system toward minorities in America.... He also cited his mug shot in Georgia -- taken last summer after he was charged for trying to overturn the state's election results -- as a reason that Black voters would gravitate toward him in November. Trump said he now saw Black Americans wearing mug shots on their T-shirts. 'When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is number one,' Trump said. He added that the Black population 'embraced it more than anyone else.' He also said: 'I'm being indicted for you, the Black population.'... 'Joe Biden and the radical left have abandoned everything Black Americans care about,' Trump said, calling Biden a 'racist' and attacking him for the 1994 crime bill." The New York Times story is here. MB: And at the dentist, he asks for the watermelon-flavored mouthwash. ~~~
~~~ Marie: In fairness to Trump, when he says, "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world," it's because he is so flat-out ignorant he doesn't know what racism is.
Joe Sommerlad of the Independent: "Donald Trump appeared on stage more than 90 minutes late in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday night, where he delivered a speech that was as wild as it was incoherent. The Republican presidential front-runner appeared flushed and visibly exhausted as he arrived to address the National Religious Broadcasters' (NRB) International Christian Media Convention, tripping over simple words like 'evangelical' during an address littered with verbal miscues and false claims. At various points, Mr Trump declared that he had made 'Israel' the capital of Israel during his presidency (presumably confusing the decision to move its US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem), said that he planned to close down the Department of Education and praised the Capitol rioters, whom he again characterised as political prisoners and referred to as 'the J6 hostages', for their 'tremendous spirit'." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: You know, I read stories this morning about the same speech in the NYT, WashPo & AP. No mention of Trump's confusion & incoherence. Yet they sure made a big deal a couple of weeks ago when President Biden said (once) "Mexico" when he meant "Egypt." What gives?
Believe What They Say. Alex Woodward of the Independent: "Far-right activist and prominent 'Pizzagate' influencer Jack Posobiec hailed the 'end of democracy' at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where prominent Republicans and GOP officials trotted out January 6 conspiracy theories and downplayed the attack on the US Capitol to overturn 2020's election results. 'Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely,' Posobiec said during a panel moderated by former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon on Thursday. 'We didn't get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this, right here,' he added." (Also linked yesterday.)
Wisconsin. What? Unethical? Felonies? You Don't Say! Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "The [bipartisan] Wisconsin Ethics Commission this week found probable cause that [Donald] Trump's Save America committee and several state and local Republican officials committed felonies and recommended several district attorneys investigate and prosecute them, according to records released Friday. The commission's investigation centers on the 2022 primary race between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the most powerful Republicans in Wisconsin, and Adam Steen, a political newcomer who embraced Trump.... The commission alleges Steen, Steen's campaign and three county Republican parties arranged to sidestep campaign finance laws by having donors give money to one of the county parties, which would then steer it to Steen's campaign or his vendors, according to the records released Friday." A Wisconsin Politics story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "A Democratic consultant who worked for a rival presidential campaign paid a New Orleans magician to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall that is now at the center of a multistate law enforcement investigation, according to text messages, call logs and Venmo transactions the creator shared with NBC News. Paul Carpenter says he was hired in January by Steve Kramer -- who has worked on ballot access for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips -- to use AI software to make the imitation of Biden's voice urging New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in the state's presidential primary. 'I created the audio used in the robocall. I did not distribute it,' Carpenter said in an interview in New Orleans, where he is currently residing."
** Jonathan Edwards & Maria Paúl of the Washington Post: "The National Rifle Association and its former CEO were found liable Friday after the New York attorney general's office sued them, saying they misspent millions of dollars on extravagant perks. A New York jury found that Wayne LaPierre, who led the NRA for three decades, squandered millions on vacations, private jets and expensive clothes, and said he was liable for $5.4 million in damages. Jurors also determined that the NRA failed to include or misrepresented information in tax filings and broke New York law by not adopting a whistleblower policy.... New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who had sued in 2020 over allegations that the group violated state law governing how charities registered in New York can operate, hailed the verdict as 'a major victory.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. The AP story is here.
Odysseus Has Landed -- Sideways. Jackie Wattles of CNN: "The Odysseus lunar lander is sideways on the moon, Intuitive Machines, the company that built the vehicle, said during a news conference Friday. The revelation comes after Intuitive Machines had initially described Odysseus, also called 'Odie' or IM-1, as 'upright' in an update posted to the social media platform X just after the historic mission made its touchdown on the lunar surface Thursday. But the company's CEO, Steve Altemus, said data later showed that the spacecraft was likely tilted on its side after having caught one of its feet on a lunar rock."
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Alabama. Elizabeth Wolfe, et al., of CNN: "A bipartisan effort is underway in the Alabama House and Senate to draft 'clarifying' legislation that would 'protect' in vitro fertilization treatments following the court's ruling, state legislative sources told CNN. Alabama House Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would establish fertilized human eggs stored outside a uterus are not considered human beings under state law. Republican state senators are soon expected to file similar legislation, one source said, but they were unsure of the exact timing.... Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall ... on Friday ... said he 'has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,' in a statement from Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm not sure any of these efforts protects IVF clinics, doctors, patients & facilities from prosecution. First, the basis of the state supremes' ruling was the state constitution, (although it referenced state laws), and laws must comply with the constitution. Second, just because this one AG says he won't prosecute, that doesn't mean that county prosecutors couldn't bring charges or that future AGs could not do so. When old men start messing with women's parts, there will be trouble. Too bad Sam Alito, medieval enthusiast, didn't figure that out (or didn't care). ~~~
Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory. -- Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker, concurring opinion ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Alito and his conservative colleagues did not just open the door to new abortion restrictions; they took aim at broader rights to bodily autonomy and personal freedom while laying the groundwork for the divisive notion of fetal personhood -- an idea that, for all the court's talk of democracy, is fundamentally incompatible with any modern notion of equal citizenship.... The [Alabama supreme court's] majority's decision was possible only because of Dobbs, since to free states to outlaw abortion is also to free them to touch an even larger set of rights and freedoms.... The goal of the anti-abortion movement was not to return the question to the states but to outlaw the practice, as well as roll the clock back on reproductive freedom writ large.... A standard that ties personhood to the moment of conception -- the creation of a single-celled zygote -- is a standard that may well make it illegal to take any form of birth control that alters the hormonal balance of the patient to reduce the odds of pregnancy.... The main effect of fetal personhood is ... a profound attack on the dignity and equality of women."
~~~ And the Lord Spake. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Friday broke his silence on the Alabama Supreme Court's declaration that frozen embryos are entitled to legal protection, distancing himself from the staunchest abortion opponents in calling on the state's Legislature to 'act quickly' to protect in vitro fertilization treatments, which he said should remain legal in every state. The remarks, after days of silence on the topic, come as he seeks to contain damage from the ruling, which has highlighted divisions in the Republican Party between those who say life begins at conception and those who want to protect reproductive services like I.V.F. 'We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America,' Mr. Trump said in a statement...."
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** Europe/North America. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary on Friday declared an end to a monthslong spat with Sweden over the expansion of NATO, saying that a visit by his Swedish counterpart had rebuilt trust and paved the way for the Hungarian Parliament to vote on Monday to ratify the Nordic nation's membership in the alliance. 'We are ready to fight for each other, to give our lives for each other,' Mr. Orban said at a joint news conference in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, with the visiting Swedish leader, Ulf Kristersson. Hungary has been the last holdout in formally endorsing Sweden's NATO membership." (Also linked yesterday.)
Israel/Palestine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
John Hudson & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a reversal of the Trump administration's position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Friday, saying they are 'inconsistent with international law.' The decision -- which was also announced at the White House -- was in immediate response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion, according to a U.S. official, one of several who discussed the decision on the condition of anonymity under administration rules. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans late Thursday for approval of 3,000 new settlement homes after Israeli police said Palestinian gunmen opened fire near the existing Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five. The expansion plans, he said, were part of 'deepening our eternal grip on the entire Land of Israel.'"
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Reader Comments (5)
NYT gaslighting:
digby
The Hunter Biden story has done a total 180 but the MSM is in denial from Dan Froomkin's Press Watch. (Editors must have reporters exhaustively fact checking every possible angle. You know, the way they did with Whitewater, Dumbya clearing brush for freedom while 9/11 warning lights flashed, [Dick's crack staff was privy to those same warnings, btw] Judith Miller's war, hot leaks from Scooter to print in time for Dick to cite on Press the Meat, warrantless spying on American citizens by Dick-n-Dumbya--story spiked in the run-up to 2004 election for "National Security" ... but her EMAILS!!!, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera)
The Professional Left Podcast The "No Fair Remembering Stuff" episodes cover NYT atrocities in some detail.
a more relevant than ever bonus from yesteryear
and another chestnut from the incomparable archives of The Daily Howler
And here they come…
The fear that the Dark Ages finger waggers are coming after birth control next isn’t based on idle speculation. And they won’t just be wagging fingers…they may be waving legal opinions with the force of law behind them.
Far-right MAGA loony Chris Rufo, Heritage hero and racist-misogynist warrior , is on the warpath, along with many others newly emboldened by both Hit Man Sam Alito and Col. Tom Parker, god’s man on the Alabama Supreme Court, to make birth control of any kind illegal. Their goal is to put a stop to “recreational sex”.
I am not even kidding.
“Recreational sex is a large art of why we have so many single-mother households…the point of sex is to create children.”
This isn’t just whack job blather, this is now an official Heritage Foundation policy goal, the same Heritage Foundation that will be staffing a second Trump administration.
And don’t think this Christopher Rufo is some kook no one pays attention to. His CRT attacks were the direct antecedent to a Trump order to kill DEI initiatives in the federal government. Rufo is also a trusted stalwart in the DeSantolini anti-woke mob.
And forget about the pill and condoms and diaphragms…these puritanical bedroom snoopers will likely want to ban the rhythm method since that’s just another scheme used by sex crazed sluts to have sex without getting pregnant, ie Recreational Sex.
The Handmaid’s Tale could become a policy handbook for MAGA judges.
The Divine Jokester's plan.
Make sex sinfully fun, and watch those poor creatures couple madly. Then send all the sinners to perdition.
Call it a Divine Comedy.
What a hoot!
Trump and Fox News know what Black people like, sneakers.
For so long, there has been the angle provided that this was also about THE BABIES. Well, if they (the MONSTERs on the right) are going for anyone trying to advance the possibilities that one can add to their families or inititiate their families by in vitro fertilization, then how is that thinking about THE BABIES? I know and everyone should know that THE BABIES have nothing to do with it. These reprobates don't care about THE BABIES; they only care that women are re-reduced to secondary status, and should be condemned, jailed and thrown away on the dust heap of history if they don't lick the (bleep) of the incels and spurn sexual partners that are anti-women. It is simply that. And good luck, since most women are disgusted by these people. Can you imagine any sane educated woman looking forward to a tryst with either of the Dump Juniors...? Why, I believe I could go out on the street and find any ten women, and if I so much as mentioned that Junior and Eric wanted a relationship with them, they would run screaming into the night. Men are behaving badly, regretting it, mouthing off about it, and being rejected. THAT IS IT!! And the medieval Supreme Court is full of those guys! Think of the three uglies appointed by Fatty...
In our town, there is a person arrested or charged or sentenced who is a sexual predator EVERY bloomin' day. Who are these men? They are not all uneducated ogres. They are often elected officials. They are often teachers and other people who interact with young people. They are family members. They are judges. They are workers. I think most of the ignorant MAGAs we hear about who are total pigs are these people. Rejected by women. Wonder why they are what they are. Do I care? No. I want them sentenced and in prison for the rest of their lives. Guess what?! Guess which ex-pres is also a sexual predator? It is all soooo disgusting.