;)
The Conversation -- January 14, 2024
Olivia Alafriz of Politico: "President Joe Biden had a blunt message after voters in Taiwan elected a new president Saturday: 'We do not support independence' for Taiwan. Biden's words, delivered as he departed for Camp David, reinforced the administration's position to Taiwan's new president Lai Ching-te, who has faced strong opposition from China over his calls for independence. The administration has clarified that while it does not support Taiwanese independence, it favors dialogue between Taipei and Beijing and expects differences to be resolved peacefully and without coercion."
Sneha Dey of the Texas Tribune: "A woman and two children drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande, near the Eagle Pass park that Texas troopers have taken control over, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Saturday. State officers and National Guard members have been denying federal Border Patrol agents entry to the 47-acre Shelby Park since early this week. When Border Patrol agents received a call Friday evening from the Mexican government about the migrants in distress, Texas officials barred the federal agents from entering the area and providing aid, according to a DHS spokesperson. The Border Patrol officers made unsuccessful attempts to contact the Texas Military Department, National Guard and Department of Public Safety via telephone about the distress call. When the officers went to the park entrance to verbally notify the state, Texas Military Department personnel denied them entry, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said in a written statement. 'Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant (Border Patrol) access to the migrants -- even in the event of an emergency -- and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,' Cuellar said in the statement on X.... U.S. Custom and Border Protection condemned the state actions in a statement to The Texas Tribune." Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "Texas officials told the Supreme Court early Saturday that the state is 'working promptly' to ensure US Border Patrol agents have access to a boat ramp used to launch patrol boats into the Rio Grande, a day after the Biden administration complained to the court that the state had effectively blocked agents' access to a key part of the US-Mexico border." Texas claimed it had no idea Border Patrol needed the boat ramp for "surveillance, patrol, and humanitarian rescue." MB: Really? Why not? Why, it's almost as if Greg Abbott didn't for one moment consider the consequences of his order to block federal access to a state park that borders the Rio Grande. As for "working promptly," I'd say not promptly enough. People died.
~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "John Kerry, President Biden's special envoy for climate, plans to step down by spring, ending a three-year run in a major diplomatic role that was created especially for him and which will face an uncertain future with his departure. Mr. Kerry, 80, has served as the president's top diplomat on climate change since early 2021.... On Wednesday, Mr. Kerry met with Mr. Biden in the White House to inform the president of his intention to resign, according to one person familiar with the meeting. On Saturday, his staff learned of his decision at a hastily arranged meeting.... [Mr. Kerry] is widely expected to get involved in the 2024 presidential campaign to help raise awareness of Mr. Biden's work on climate change." The Guardian's story is here.
Rebecca Kaplan, et al., of NBC News: "House and Senate leaders have reached an agreement on a short-term spending deal that would avert a government shutdown in the next few weeks, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The deal would keep the government funded until March, buying legislators more time to craft longer-term, agency-specific spending bills, following the agreement last weekend to set the overall spending level for fiscal year 2024 at $1.59 trillion." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
Trump thanks Gambino Crime Family mobster, rat, and serial liar Sammy ‘the Bull’ Gravano, who confessed to 19 murders and countless kidnappings, armed robberies, burglaries & 1000s of other felonies, for vouching for him. Trump’s new character witness. pic.twitter.com/YuRW2ixIUt
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 13, 2024
~~~ Marie: So who do Republicans think is worse? A president* who cites a mob boss as a character witness or a president who wears a tan suit in August? On a serious note, Jim Acosta of CNN points out that Trump's putting a mobster in the same sentence as two judges overseeing his cases constitutes a threat; as in, "Yo, Judge, just to remind you, I have a professional killer on my side." Thanks to RAS for the link. Via digby. ~~~
~~~ Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "Gravano infamously turned on his boss -- the original 'Teflon Don,' John Gotti -- to become a witness for the government in the early 1990s, helping put Gotti behind bars until his death. Trump earned the same nickname during his political career.... From his new home in Phoenix, Arizona, Gravano has publicly admitted to being involved in 19 homicides, including 'a few' in which he personally killed someone -- explaining in a November interview with AZ Family, a local news station: 'When I'm ordered to kill, I kill.'"
Presidential Race 2024
Iowa. Colby Itkowitz & Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is polling at 48 percent in Iowa, maintaining his wide lead over his two main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Medicom poll released Saturday night.... The latest poll shows that former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has seized the No. 2 with 20 percent support over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 16 percent. The poll is widely considered an important benchmark ahead of the Iowa caucuses, revealing voters' preferences. The results are always widely anticipated, revealing who may be gaining momentum in the final days of the race." The Des Moines Register story is here.
Guns America Goes Postal. Nate Raymond of Reuters: "A federal judge in Florida on Friday ruled that a U.S. law that bars people from possessing firearms in post offices is unconstitutional, citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2022 that expanded gun rights. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of ... Donald Trump in Tampa, reached that conclusion in dismissing part of an indictment charging a postal worker with illegally possessing a gun in a federal facility.... [The] Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ... ruling recognized for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. It also established a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying restrictions must be 'consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.'... Mizelle said that while post offices have existed since the nation's founding, federal law did not bar guns in government buildings until 1964 and post offices until 1972. No historical practice dating back to the 1700s justified the ban, she said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Say, Judge, is it "traditional" to allow folks to carry guns into your courtroom? Is it traditional to surmise that your safety is more important than the safety of postal workers & customers?
~~~~~~~~~~
New York Congressional Race. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Republican nominee in a special House election to replace George Santos in New York provided a hazy glimpse into her personal finances this week, submitting a sworn financial statement to Congress that prompted questions and led her to amend the filing. The little-known candidate, Mazi Pilip, reported between $1 million and $5.2 million in assets, largely comprising her husband's medical practice and Bitcoin investments. In an unusual disclosure, she said the couple owed and later repaid as much as $250,000 to the I.R.S. last year. But the initial financial report Ms. Pilip filed with the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday appeared to be missing other important required information.... And despite making past statements that she stopped working there in 2021 when she ran for the Nassau County Legislature, Ms. Pilip reported receiving a $50,000 salary from the family medical practice in 2022 and 2023.... After inquiries from The New York Times, Ms. Pilip materially amended the statement on Friday."
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked 100 days of the war by saying 'nobody will stop' Israel's forces until their 'total victory,' while dismissing the case it faces at the International Court of Justice over allegations of genocide.... The head of the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said the IDF had approved plans to 'increase military pressure on Hamas,' focusing on the center and south of the Gaza Strip. 'We are operating freely in Lebanese airspace,' he added in a warning to Hezbollah.... [In Tel Aviv,] relatives of hostages Hamas took from Israel on Oct. 7 are holding a 24-hour rally to mark the 100th day of their loved ones' captivity and to demand that Israeli authorities secure their release. Organizers estimate that 120,000 people attended the start of the rally Saturday night...." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Sunday are here. CNN's live update are here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This remarkably brutal war is working out rather well for Bibi. It is difficult to remove a head-of-state during an active war; no one thinks there's much chance of Israel's gaining "total victory" over Hamas, particularly when Israel's method is anathema to Palestinians -- and to people all over the world. So the war -- and Netanyahu -- will always be with us.
Alex Horton & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "A search-and-rescue operation was underway Saturday after two U.S. Navy SEALs fell into the ocean while attempting to board a ship off the coast of Somalia, according to current and former officials.... One U.S. official with knowledge of the incident said it was unrelated to the recent U.S.-led strikes in nearby Yemen and the broader international mission to protect commercial vessels from militant attacks originating there. It was also unrelated to the Iranian seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the official said. U.S. Central Command, which coordinates military activities in the region, said the missing service members were Navy sailors and declined to provide additional information 'until the personnel recovery operation is complete.'"
Taiwan. Eric Cheung, et al., of CNN: "Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party pulled off a historic third consecutive presidential victory on Saturday as voters shrugged off warnings by China that their re-election would increase the risk of conflict. Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's current vice president, declared victory on Saturday evening while his two opposition rivals both conceded defeat." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ukraine, et al. Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "Ukraine's military prospects are looking bleak. Western military aid is no longer assured at the same levels as years past. Ukraine's summer counteroffensive in the south ... is over, having failed to meet any of its objectives. And now, Russian troops are on the attack, especially in the country's east. The town of Marinka has all but fallen. Avdiivka is being slowly encircled. A push on Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, is expected. Farther north, outside Kupiansk, the fighting has barely slowed since the fall.... For now, Ukraine is in a perilous position. The problems afflicting its military have been exacerbated since the summer. Ukrainian soldiers are exhausted by long stretches of combat and shorter rest periods. The ranks, thinned by mounting casualties, are only being partly replenished, often with older and poorly trained recruits."
News Lede
Weather, Weather Everywhere. CNN: "An ongoing Arctic blast enveloping much of the US will set the stage for impactful snow and ice to fall in parts of the South for the first time this winter as a new storm tracks through the region. The South storm will be the fourth in the last two weeks to threaten major impacts to areas east of the Rockies as a frenetic start to 2024 shows no signs of stopping. Damaging ice and wind combined with deadly results in Oregon Saturday. On Sunday, serious lake-effect snow was ongoing in Buffalo, New York; blinding snow squalls were possible across the Northeast; and strong winds were still kicking up snow and affecting travel in the Midwest." Otherwise, it looks like a nice day!
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Reader Comments (18)
“A federal judge in Florida on Friday ruled that a U.S. law that bars people from possessing firearms in post offices is unconstitutional, citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2022 that expanded gun rights.” …sez a Trumpy judge.
Interesting how Trumpy-PoT judges are all about precedence when it comes to the right to haul firearms around anywhere at anytime by anybody, a precedent set a whole year ago, but when it comes to a woman’s right to control her own body and decide on personal healthcare with her physician(s), a precedent since 1973, it doesn’t matter a whoop, neither does it matter when it comes to running off with top secret national security documents, a precedent since 1978.
If it’s something they care about (guns, guns, guns, and more guns), precedence, even if it’s in place a few hours, is a huge deal. Something they don’t give a shit about (women, national security), then precedence of a half century is no more important than, oh, a subpoena they don’t like. It can, and will, be completely ignored.
The Revenge of Rich Uncle Pennybags
I previously mentioned that one of the things PoT hacks and their media shills care most about is guns. Very true. But they also spare no effort when it comes to protecting the Richie Riches of the world. That includes avaricious and regulation hating bankers.
“Big banks have hired one of the country’s top trial lawyers and are preparing to sue the Federal Reserve — a nearly unthinkable challenge — if sweeping new industry regulations aren’t watered down.
Eugene Scalia, the son of the former Supreme Court justice and a well-known conservative litigator, is quietly drawing up a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed rules on behalf of the Bank Policy Institute, a trade group that represents JPMorgan, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and others, people familiar with the matter said. It would be the first time in recent memory that the industry has sued the Fed, and a departure from standard halls-of-power persuasion efforts that try to avoid antagonizing its chief regulator.
The stakes are high: Banks warn they’ll pull back from lending, particularly to small businesses and borrowers with lower incomes or credit scores.”
Did you get that? Try regulating us and we’ll sue. Then we’ll screw the little guys, even more than we do now.
Suing the Fed is pretty much unheard of, even for the top hatted Monopoly guys, the Rich Uncle Pennybags crowd.
It seems that there are some aspects of the proposed regs that need to be tweaked. My guess is that over a hundred years of experience observing how banks skirt oversight has produced an abundance of caution. But look at the history. Time and time and time and time again, gigantic financial problems (which always hurt the little guy, the rich guys always get bailed out) stem directly from bankers finding new ways around existing rules.
Now they’re saying “We’re done with regulators. We’re gonna sue so we can go about our business if unbridled avarice just as it suits us.
Oh, and if we fuck it up, again, get ready to bail us out.”
Again.
The mood of the Iowa voters has changed considerably during this
year's Iowa caucuses. It used to be that the discussions were about
things like taxes, healthcare and the like.
Now it's about civil war, world war III, etc.
I knew I should have started that bomb shelter business when I retired
from my landscaping business.
https://news.yahoo.com/ballot-iowa-fear-anxiety-hopelessness-
161731859.html?.tsrc=daily&uh_test=0_00
Akhilleus,
Since the days of St. Reagan especially, those moneybags have again gotten too big for their britches. That iconic posterior photo of the Pretender on the golf course pretty much says it all. As "D" reminded us some time ago when he quoted Bob Dylan, "Money doesn't just talk; it screams," or some such.
That why the new short term funding bills that will take the country into March are again only temporary. If the Right has its way, there will be time for at least three more funding deadline crises before November. More hostage taking. It's what the Right does, and it's what happens when you empower the wrong people by giving them weapons. Money and guns are both fungible. And the Right sure does have a lot of money.
Have been reading a history of the WPA and found temporary relief in Roosevelt's familiar words assailing the rich. Of course, he was accused of fomenting class war.
Well, yeah.
The Republican playbook:
1. Run up the debt with tax cuts for the rich and well connected
2. Blame socialism for the debt
3. Wait for a Democratic president
4. Blame them for the debt
5. Block their attempts to fix it
6. Call them failures
7. Use it to win next election
8. Rinse and repeat
"We are using every tool that can be used... The only thing that we're not doing is we're not shooting people who come across the border, because of course the Biden administration would charge us with murder."
-- TX Gov. Greg Abbott
Hey Greg, who would Jesus shoot?
Sammy the Bull has a fairly long bio in Wikipedia. In the section about his upbringing, it says he was a slow learner.
So, he's a proven liar (and other bad things) but also not too bright.
Of course he wears a red hat!
@ D
Reminds me of her ask the doctor segment in the old Rachel Maddow radio show, when before answering she made clear she was "not that kind of doctor."
Gregg Abbott is a practicing Catholic. He's just "not that kind of Catholic."
Texas can kill migrants even without shooting them. Women and children. Cruelty is the point.
"Texas "physically barred" Border Patrol agents from trying to rescue migrants who drowned, federal officials say
A woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday while trying to enter the U.S. near a section of the southern border where Texas National Guard soldiers have prevented federal Border Patrol agents from processing and rescuing migrants.
Federal officials and a Texas congressman said National Guard soldiers deployed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did not allow Border Patrol agents to attempt to rescue the migrants. Earlier this week, Texas National Guard soldiers abruptly seized control of a public park in Eagle Pass that Border Patrol had been using to hold migrants, marking the latest escalation in an intensifying political and legal feud between Abbott and President Biden over U.S. border policy."
Nice to see that the Orange Monster has the sneaking rat murdering hit man vote locked up.
So Sammy tried to get to Trump? Sure he did. Only problem was, he didn’t offer him enough money. Besides Fatty was already working with other Mafia crooks.
Just the idea that you’d trot out the word of a convicted murdering rat of a gangster says all you need to know about this disgusting excuse for a human being. A cheat, a convicted fraud, a liar, a convicted rapist, a traitor, and a stealer of government secrets, who now holds up an endorsement from a lifelong criminal and murderer as proof of his bona fides to be president.
Wow.
The cat apocalypse
Zeynep Tufekci, writing in the New York Times, describes her experiences attending trump rallies and "following his supporters' online political conversations " .... to try to understand "Why does trump have so much enduring appeal?" She attributes his appeal to charisma.
To me, everything about the orange monster - his picture, his voice, the whiny speaking style, his words, his boastfulness - provokes a nails on chalkboard reaction. Where exactly is his charm? Is charisma enough to enable these supporters to "believe that trump would do a better job than Biden on the economy, foreign policy, and Immigration? ... that trump would be feared by Vladimir Putin or smart enough to make a deal with him."?
Does charisma alone explain his supporters' beliefs that he was successful in business before sacrificing all for them? It left me depressed thinking a trump win in November is inevitable.
Ms Tufekci also notes "Authoritarian leaders project qualities that many voters — not just Trump voters — admire: strength, a sense of control, even an ends-justify-the-means leadership style." That line is particularly striking for me after reading Heather Cox Richardson's letter for 1/13/24 on Abbott's callous policies toward migrants (also discussed by RAS above^^ and by Marie^^). Will Abbott supporters shrug off the deaths of migrants who drowned yesterday as ends-justify the means?
Letters from an American for 1/13/24
Shared link to "The Appeal of an All-American Strongman"
Anyone who thinks that bank regulation and vigorous enforcement aren't necessary should read Bill Black's account of how the shady characters who were given free rein caused the S&L crisis, for which we all paid.
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Way-Rob-Bank-Own/dp/0292754183
Also, re the Tufecki piece in the Times, here's part of my reply:
When the reactionaries who adore Trump attend weekly services, do they pray to a touchy-feely god whose policies might change as a populace matures? Unlikely. In the Catholic Church in which I was brought up, the god to whom we prayed was all-powerful except for some reason against Satan.
While it's easy to be gobsmacked by Trump's boasting that he has the mobster-turned-rat endorsement, I'm sure many of his fans admire him for it. They think it's rather glamorous that Trump hangs out with mobsters. It's like from a movie! Frank Sinatra! Jack Kennedy!
And they find Gravano's endorsement to be proof that Trump can control not just the legal system that is so unfair! to him and to them but also professional criminals like Gravano.
Update: This is what Tufekci writes about in more detail: that Trump's bravado signifies authenticity & strength to the MAGA crowd. Apparently the fact that it's all dangerous, ignorant buffoonery doesn't bother them at all.
And the Pretender's adherents never take the next mental step to see all the signs that the tough guy that so admire has never taken a risk.
That he well earned the sobriquet "bone spurs," and that he was always insulated from consequence by the money his daddy left him and now by that he has bilked from his supporters, the same money that he now uses to hide behind the law that his public actions and words say he despises.
These people can't even recognize a chickenshit when they see one.
Marie: they don’t see buffoonery at all because they are uninformed and stupid. The discussion about 40 years of ignorance and poor education for those who can’t afford the best strikes a chord. The people who think Margarine Monster will “fix” the bread and green pea prices, and be able to price gas like years ago, are too dumb to get that the richest greedy CEOs love their profits and that Dreadful Don does not care about anyone. Meanwhile, they are washed in the blood of the lamb and Fox, soooo—idiots remain blissfully dumb and are super entertained by the flea circus that is the GQP. We won’t be seeing conversions from the people in that category. There is a piece in WaPo that talks about the Iowa people and how short a time it took to turn red from reliably blue. Depressing. I could not finish it.
I don't trust R's to tell the truth and will remain skeptical, but I'll take this to be good news.
https://thehill.com/elections/4408071-almost-half-of-haley-supporters-say-they-would-vote-for-biden-over-trump-iowa-poll/