The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, but Akhilleus found this new one that he says is easy to use.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Page Links
Wednesday
Jul172024

The Conversation -- July 17, 2024

Aamer Madhani of the AP: “President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing 'mild symptoms' including 'general malaise' from the infection, the White House said. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will 'self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.' The news had first been shared by Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group's convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear [as planned] because he tested positive for the virus."

Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Special Counsel Jack Smith formally filed notice on Wednesday that he will appeal a Florida judge's decision to dismiss the 40-count mishandling of classified documents and obstruction case against ... Donald Trump. The appeal, laying out Smith's argument for why the case should not be dismissed, is expected to land in coming weeks in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals -- an appeals court in Atlanta whose jurisdiction covers Florida." CNN's report is here.

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden said in an interview released on Wednesday that he would re-evaluate whether to stay in the presidential race if a doctor told him directly that he had a medical condition that made that necessary. Mr. Biden has said repeatedly that none of his doctors have told him he has a serious medical condition. Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the White House physician, wrote after the president's physical in February that Mr. Biden is 'a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.'... Mr. Biden also said for the first time that he had expected to 'move on' from the presidency and 'pass it on to somebody else' but decided to run again because he believed his 'wisdom' and experience would help heal the country's worsening divisions."

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "The Democratic National Committee is pushing back by a week its plans to nominate President Biden for re-election in a virtual roll call as the party's voters and many of its top officials continue to express discontent about heading into the general election with him atop their ticket. Top party officials announced on Wednesday that the virtual roll call for Mr. Biden would take place during the first week of August, an accommodation to Democrats who had protested about plans that would have started the voting as soon as next week."

Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Representative Adam Schiff of California said on Wednesday that President Biden should end his campaign, restarting a drip of opposition within the Democratic Party that had paused after the attempted assassination of ... Donald J. Trump over the weekend. Mr. Biden 'has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a senator, a vice president and now as president has made our country better,' Mr. Schiff, who is running for Senate, said in a statement to The Los Angeles Times. But, he said, 'A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.'" CNN's report is here.

Darlene Superville, et al., of the AP: "Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new poll, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that 'average Democrats' are still with him even if some 'big names' are turning on him. The new survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted as Biden works to salvage his candidacy two weeks after his debate flop, also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down slightly from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February."

Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments Wednesday in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump: ~~~

Eduardo Medina & Jeanna Smialek: "New details emerged Wednesday about the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump, as a county official ... Richard Goldinger, the district attorney of Butler County ... revealed that at least one local police officer had fired on the would-be assassin as shots erupted at a campaign rally. But it was uncertain if the local officer had hit the gunman, who was killed by Secret Service snipers, the agency has said." This is the pinned item.

Campbell Robertson: "Edward Natali, a Butler Township supervisor, said in a social media post that officers from the township's police department, originally assigned to traffic patrol, responded to reports of a suspicious person outside the Trump rally on Saturday. After a search, they heard reports that he was on the roof of a warehouse building. One of the officers hoisted another up to check, and the gunman turned his weapon on the officer, 'who was not in position to wield his weapon to defend himself,' Natali wrote. 'He fell to safety and was injured in the process.' The gunman fired at the former president immediately after this encounter."

Mark Walker: "The F.A.A. grants special permission to conduct drone operations in restricted airspace for improved emergency response and aerial intelligence. The area was restricted because Trump was appearing publicly.... The Secret Service did not seek to use drones to provide agents with aerial views of the rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, a spokesperson for the F.A.A. confirmed to The New York Times."

Glenn Thrush: "F.B.I. officials, speaking on a conference call with members of Congress, said that that the gunman's search history on his electronic devices included images of public figures -- including Trump and Biden -- along with dates of Trump appearances and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to a person who was on the call."

Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Local police alerted the Secret Service before ... Donald Trump's rally Saturday that they lacked the resources to station a patrol car outside a key building where a gunman later positioned himself and shot at Trump, according to local and federal law enforcement. Richard Goldinger, the district attorney in Butler County, Pa., where the Trump rally took place, said the Secret Service 'was informed that the local police department did not have manpower to assist with securing that building.' Goldinger's account was confirmed by a Secret Service official briefed on the incident...."

Dan Lamothe & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon on Wednesday declared an end to its sea-based humanitarian mission off Gaza, an effort that enabled delivery of millions of pounds of food and other supplies to the war-ravaged territory even as it faced near-constant setbacks and ultimately fell short of expectations.... Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the No. 2 officer at U.S. Central Command..., told reporters during a news briefing ... [that t]he operation will shift to the Israeli port in Ashdod, where personnel will continue to facilitate aid deliveries...."

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Former Donald Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro was released from a Miami federal prison Wednesday after completing his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the January 6 congressional committee. Navarro is expected to quickly travel to Milwaukee so he can appear at the Republican National Convention, where his former boss has been formally nominated as the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee."

Vice President Harris introduces us to J.D. Vance:

Hillbilly Elegy for Pregnant Women. Jessica Valenti in a Substack essay: "... JD Vance ... isn't just your run-of-the-mill anti-abortion Republican: he's a full-on trad husband, obsessed with forcing women in the home and calling anyone who disagrees 'childless cat ladies.'... This is a guy who opined for 1950s marriages and encouraged women to stay in abusive marriages.... Like so many men obsessed with the "trad" movement, however, Vance shrouds his old-school misogyny as concern for women's happiness -- or even a way to buck against capitalism[.]... The new VP candidate not only supports a federal abortion ban, but opposes rape and incest exceptions. When he was asked about abortion access for sexual violence in a 2021 interview, Vance replied that 'two wrong don't make a right.'... Over the last few weeks, Vance has been feigning moderation in interviews in a shameless attempt to show Trump he can toe the line." Read on down to the part about how the New York Times is helping Vance out by clipping a remark to make him sound as if he's against a national ban when he says the opposite.

Noah Berlatsky in Public Notice: "Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate this week, and a certain segment of the news media immediately rushed to declare the start of a new kind of working-class Republicanism.... [But] Vance's populism is a shallow, cynical branding exercise. Like his Republican brethren, and like Trump, his populism is paper thin; he views the working class with contempt and embraces policies that would entrench poverty and gut social mobility. Vance has benefited throughout his career from the gullibility of the mainstream media, which never tires in its search for a white working-class whisperer.... When he wasn't memoir-ing, Vance was a finance guy, establishing venture capital funds backed by right-wing billionaire oligarchs like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.... When your populism appeals to Peter Thiel, it's not really populism.... Vance has joined a Trump ticket dedicated to funneling money to oligarchs and crushing workers; his populist policies are a thinly veiled excuse to attack his political enemies; his memoir is an extended rant about his contempt for poor people." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Fake populism is a GOP substitute for or addition to fake patriotism & fake Christianism. At least since the heyday of Barry Goldwater & Richard Nixon, everything about the GOP "code" has been phony. The main event is always a fervent belief in oligarchy/kleptocracy. If the sideshows get a few updates and tweaks, so what? They work. They pull in the suckers.    

I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other. -- J.D. Vance to Steve Bannon, 2022 ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin in Politico Magazine: "... Donald Trump didn't just select a running mate here -- he doused political kerosene on the raging Republican fire over foreign policy. By tapping the 39-year-old Sen. J.D. Vance, one of the party's leading national security doves, Trump strengthened the hand of the isolationist forces eager to undo the hawkish GOP consensus that has endured since the Reagan era."

Brad Reed of Raw Story: "... some of ... Donald Trump's white nationalist supporters are unhappy with the choice [of J.D. Vance]. At issue is the fact that Vance's wife, Usha Vance, is the daughter of Indian immigrants, which [according to Newsweek] is leading some far-right influencers to be suspicious that he won't really be as tough on immigration as they hope. 'Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?' asked neo-Nazi podcaster and one-time Trump dinner guest Nick Fuentes recently."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler Pager & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans. He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, the people said.... The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to reform the high court. The potential changes come in response to growing outrage among his supporters about recent ethics scandals surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas and decisions by the new court majority that have changed legal precedent on issues including abortion and federal regulatory powers." (Also linked yesterday.) An AP News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course none of this can happen without Congressional approval, so nothing will happen unless the angels step in and re-elect Biden, and give Democrats solid majorities in the House & Senate for the next term.

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have declined more than 50 percent in the six weeks since President Biden used emergency measures to curb asylum access, the White House said Tuesday, highlighting the drop ahead of a Republican National Convention evening program whose planned focus was crime and security. The current volume of illegal entries is the lowest since Biden took office, with about 1,900 per day at the border during the past week, according to a White House fact sheet citing the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Those numbers are comparable to the final weeks of Donald Trump's term as president, CBP data show."

Presidential Race

Nandita Bose & Jarrett Renshaw of Reuters: "President Joe Biden promised Black voters on Tuesday that he was 'all in' to seek reelection on Nov. 5 and assailed Donald Trump's record as president, in his first political speech since his Republican rival's attempted assassination. Biden was greeted by chants of 'four more years' as he spoke to the NAACP's annual convention in Las Vegas, a major gathering of Black voters.... He scolded Trump for initially contending that former President Barack Obama was not an American citizen and for his reference to 'Black jobs' [which Trump claimed immigrants were taking] at the Trump-Biden debate on June 27." MB: Biden said he knew what "Black jobs" were: POTUS (Obama), VPOTUS (Harris) and Supreme Court Justice (Jackson). (Also linked yesterday.) Here's the Washington Post's report.

Biden Closes Ranks. Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "In the past few days, [President] Biden has started to privately convey a new message to Democrats: The conversation about my future is over, and I'm getting irritated that you're not realizing that. Biden has called several prominent allies individually to tell them to spread the word.... Biden is intent on shutting down dissent among Democrats in order to move forward and focus on defeating Donald Trump. And after hearing out his critics, he's tightening his circle to those he's relied on the longest -- and who support his path ahead."

Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "Leaders of the Democratic National Committee are moving swiftly to confirm President Biden as his party's presidential nominee by the end of July, according to four people.... The move would formalize Mr. Biden as the nominee at a moment when Democrats are torn over whether he should run again after his poor debate performance.... The process will effectively begin when the rules committee of the Democratic National Convention meets on a video call at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by another party group on Sunday. All of the more than 4,000 delegates are expected to begin casting their ballots as soon as Monday, a process that is likely to take about a week. After that, the committee is expected to quickly hold the roll call, a tradition that typically occurs on the convention floor but is being held virtually this year.... Under the party's rules, [Mr. Biden] can be replaced as the nominee only if he agrees to step aside and release his delegates." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Dozens of House Democrats are organizing a plan to speak out against their own party's effort to seal President Joe Biden's nomination sooner than originally planned, which they argue stifles the intense ongoing debate about his candidacy, according to a lawmaker involved in the effort. A drafted letter, circulated by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)..., offers the first public signal from Democrats since the weekend's attempted assassination on ... Donald Trump that scores of their own members remain deeply unsettled about the future of Biden's candidacy." (Also linked yesterday.)

Wipeout. Michael Schmidt & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who is running for Senate, warned during a private meeting with donors on Saturday that his party was likely to suffer overwhelming losses in November if President Biden remained at the top of the ticket, according to two people with direct knowledge of Mr. Schiff's remarks.... If Mr. Biden remained, not only would he lose to former President Donald J. Trump, he could be enough of a drag on other Democratic candidates that the party would most likely lose the Senate and miss an opportunity to win control of the House, Mr. Schiff said at a fund-raiser in New York." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Ferris of Politico: A House Democrat "who represents a swing seat and was granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said [Speaker Emerita Nancy] Pelosi asked detailed questions about congressional district-level polling and was 'very receptive' to concerns that [President] Biden couldn't win in November. The member ended the phone call with the distinct impression that Pelosi believed Biden should exit the presidential race.... The conversation described by this lawmaker is the latest example of Pelosi's behind-the-scenes role in guiding her party as it struggles to find its way through Biden's political crisis.... Many of her colleagues ... [believe] that Pelosi, having stepped down from leadership herself to make way for generational change, may be the best possible messenger to break through with Biden."

Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: "The last three weeks since President Biden wilted during the first presidential debate have uncorked a nervous energy that has stirred almost every major Democratic donor and their advisers, turning billionaires ensconced on summer vacations into crafty political animals. They're calling every major politician they know, encouraging them to call for Mr. Biden's removal. They're dangling money to members of Congress who say the right things, and withholding money from those who do not. And even the most reclusive donors are talking to reporters, sometimes on the record, about the turmoil within the party establishment.... Some of the wealthiest people in the world have been locked in a perpetual, almost academic examination of how much leverage they truly have to change Mr. Biden's mind."

New York Times reporters yesterday liveblogged Day 2 of the Republican National Convention. Here are a few items:

Nicholas Nehamas: "Vice President Kamala Harris called Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio to congratulate him on being selected as Donald J. Trump's running mate and to express her hope that he would participate in a CBS News debate against her, according to two Biden campaign aides...."

Jazmine Ulloa: "Nikki Haley wasn't invited to the Republican National Convention. But after Donald J. Trump ... was injured in an assassination attempt over the weekend, Mr. Trump's campaign called and asked her to come. Ms. Haley obliged...."

Simon Levien: "Democrats are rolling out 16 billboards and a mobile billboard around Milwaukee on Tuesday attacking the newly minted Trump-Vance ticket, the party's first paid ad campaign against the now-official Republican nominees."

Erin Griffith & Theodore Schleifer: "Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the influential founders of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, plan to support ... Donald J. Trump in November's election, they announced in a podcast on Tuesday. Mr. Andreessen and Mr. Horowitz plan to donate millions of dollars to political groups supporting Mr. Trump's campaign in their personal capacity...."

Adam Nagourney: "The men and women who were once the face of the Republican establishment -- among them a former president, two vice presidents and the most recent presidential nominee not named Trump -- are skipping the [convention], an acknowledgment of the extent to which the party has moved on from the days when it was known as the party of Ronald Reagan."

Chris Cameron: "Matt Brooks, the head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, excoriated President Biden for withholding arms shipments from Israel that included hundreds of high-yield bombs in an effort to curtail civilian deaths in the war in Gaza.... Now speaking is James Crawford, the leader of the Potawatomi tribe in Wisconsin, which runs a highly lucrative casino in Milwaukee. Crawford appears to be taking a largely nonpartisan stance in his speech."

Kellen Browning: "Kari Lake, the close Trump ally who is running for Senate in Arizona, opened her speech by going after her favorite two targets: the news media and her Democratic opponent, Representative Ruben Gallego, whom she often ties closely to President Biden, calling him Biden's 'Mini-Me.'... Lake also echoed a conspiracy theory that has been pervasive among R.N.C. attendees: that migrants are entering the country to steal elections."

Browning: "Eric Hovde, the Republican Senate candidate in Wisconsin, assailed the Democratic incumbent he is running against, Tammy Baldwin, saying that she had called the Biden administration 'one of the most successful in generations.' Each of these convention speeches from the Republican Senate hopefuls is seeming to double as a brief campaign pitch."

Michael Gold: "Dave McCormick, the Republican Senate candidate in [Pennsylvania], might be the first person to speak at the convention who was actually there. He applauded Trump's 'remarkable strength and resolve,' calling the assassination attempt 'a terrifying and unpredictable moment' and expressing thoughts for the families of the victims."

Ulloa: "Representative Jim Banks, who is running for a safe Senate seat in Indiana, spoke of being born in a trailer park and invoked his background as an Afghanistan war veteran to denounce the chaotic withdrawal from that country under President Biden."

Browning: "Tim Sheehy, a Navy veteran running in deep-red Montana against a resilient Democrat, Senator Jon Tester, is highlighting his personal ties to the state -- which have been heavily scrutinized."

Annie Karni: "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House whip, is speaking right now. His bid for the speakership was tanked by Trump.... Emmer later endorsed him for president, an example of how congressional Republicans most often end up bending the knee to Trump. Now he is on stage at the R.N.C.... Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, is outlining a hard-line immigration agenda that Republicans want to enact if they win back control of Congress as well as the White House.... Speaker Mike Johnson ... said in his speech tonight that 'our rights do not come from government, they come from God.'"

Ulloa: "On the floor, Republicans are dancing and clapping along as [J.D.] Vance enters the room."

Gold: "Donald Trump has just arrived, looking a bit more celebratory and uplifted than he did yesterday...."

Cameron: "Eight years ago, almost to the day, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas snubbed Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican convention after a heated primary battle.... Today, Cruz opened his speech with 'God bless Donald J. Trump.' Trump mouths from his seat 'thank you!'"

Gold: "The idea of national unity seems to be dissipating as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas insists that Democrats ignored the border in order to bring undocumented immigrants into the country to vote for them illegally -- a baseless theory that has no clear evidence.... Trump claps politely as Nikki Haley takes the stage to a mix of cheers and boos. He's not smiling and looks almost bored...." ~~~

~~~ Here's Sleepy Don Monday night, unable to stay awake at his own convention, even while acolytes praise him. Thanks to RAS for the link:

Cameron: "[The] kind of praise of Trump we just heard from Haley was surprising to watch."

Nehamas: "Since bombing out of the presidential campaign and returning to Tallahassee, [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis has leaned back into his role as a conservative culture warrior. His speech tonight is a recitation of his greatest hits, with attacks on vaccine mandates, 'gender ideology' and diversity, equity and inclusion programs."

Cameron: "Trump really sought to humiliate his two main primary opponents this year, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, and here they were effusively praising Trump and giving strong endorsements of his campaign. Primary rivals usually come around to unite behind the winning candidate, but this was a particularly acrimonious and toxic campaign...."

[MB: Some "everyday Americans"] spoke about how hard President Biden has made their lives. Then along came Sarah Huckabee Sanders & Ben Carson, a couple of Trump admin. officials who can still stand Trump.]

Karni: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida burst onto the national political scene over a decade ago with an expansive vision for his party in which the son of Cuban immigrants, a bartender and a maid, could reach the pinnacle of power in the United States. Now, he is standing onstage as the keynote speaker of the night after being passed over for vice president for a candidate who has made demonizing immigrants a defining feature of his message."

[MB: Lara Trump said some things. Man, am I glad I didn't watch so much as a second of this crap. BTW, there are fact checks interspersed among the other commentary.] ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post offers his assessment of the proceedings. "... Dark Rhetoric reigned. For the second night running, the GOP's purported effort to turn down the volume ran into the reality that is: Red meat sells.... If there's one speech that is likely to live beyond Tuesday night, it might be anti-crime activist Madeline Brame's. Brame, the mother of a veteran who was killed in New York City in 2018, used her time late in Tuesday's program to go after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg .. not coincidentally, the same prosecutor who brought the charges against Trump that resulted in him being found guilty on 34 felony counts. She accused Bragg of being too lenient on the men responsible for her son's death." ~~~

~~~ Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "On the second day of their 2024 convention, Republicans put a spotlight on immigration and crime, often relying on dubious or misleading statistics. Here are 12 claims that caught our attention."

Batty Boyz. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr apologised to Donald Trump on Tuesday, after Kennedy's son posted video and audio of a call between the two men in which Trump made bizarre remarks about vaccines and babies, as well as appearing to offer Kennedy some sort of political deal.... The call was apparently made before Trump and Kennedy's later meeting on Monday at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, reportedly to discuss the possibility of Kennedy endorsing Trump." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. As Ken suggests, it's impossible to say whose views about vaccinations are nuttier: Trump's or Kennedy's. (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Carol Leonnig & others of the Washington Post report more details on the security efforts at Saturday's Trump rally in rural Pennsylvania. Here's one bit: "The Secret Service counter-sniper who killed the gunman ... had him in his sights and was trying to assess whether he had a weapon and was a threat, the official said. Secret Service radio traffic had relayed that local police either spotted or were trying to find a suspicious man around that building. The counter-sniper was a veteran marksman who is considered a legend in the Secret Service because of his high ratings for accuracy at long distances. The counter-sniper who killed Crooks fired as soon as he saw Crooks lift a weapon, the official said. That counter-sniper killed Crooks in one shot, but seconds after he had fired at Trump, the official said." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times liveblog of developments Tuesday in the investigation of the shooting of Donald Trump is here. See yesterday's Conversation for some excerpts. ~~~

Julia Ainsley, et al., of NBC News: "Before a would-be assassin took aim at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, local police officers notified the former president's Secret Service detail that they were looking for a suspicious person in the area, a U.S. official told NBC News. The suspicious person, later identified as Thomas Crooks, 20, was first flagged to local police officers by rallygoers on their way into the event. The attendees reported they saw Crooks pacing and behaving strangely near the magnetometers, four officials told NBC News.... It is not clear what time the Secret Service was notified and whether it was before Trump took the stage.... The timing raises questions about whether other measures could have been taken to stop Crooks." (Also linked yesterday.)

Chris Christie in a New York Times op-ed: "Mr. Trump has the opportunity to rein in some of the worst rhetorical impulses of the Republican Party at its convention this week. He can point the party and its leadership in a new direction in the wake of the assassination attempt against him. Early indications are less than promising. Mr. Trump ... [selected] Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate.... Mr. Vance's first reaction to the assassination attempt against Mr. Trump was to turn directly to the current, flawed playbook: demonize the other side and lay the blame at the feet of the Democrats, as if they had pulled the trigger themselves.... Mr. Trump has become a victim of a culture that he manifestly contributed to making worse with his inflammatory and irresponsible language and actions."

Chris Buckley of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump ... said that Taiwan should pay the United States for defending it from China, a remark highlighting the uncertainties -- and high stakes -- of how he might handle the smoldering Taiwan Strait dispute if he should win a second term. Taiwan depends on political and military support from the United States to help resist pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as Chinese territory. Mr. Trump warned that Taiwan is perilously exposed to any attack from China and far away from U.S. protection, and signaled that he would take a more bluntly conditional approach to Taiwan."

** Ishan Tharoor of the Washington Post on how much J.D. Vance loves Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban. As you read J.D.'s remarks, you quickly realize this is treasonous stuff (where it's not merely goofy), and Republicans everywhere are cheering it.

Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "A Georgia appellate court on Tuesday scheduled oral arguments on Donald Trump's appeal of a state court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) to continue prosecuting the election interference case against the former president and several of his allies for Dec. 5 -- one month after the election. The date, announced in a brief written order, comes two months after the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal from Trump and eight co-defendants who have sought to disqualify Willis and her office amid claims that she had an improper relationship with Nathan Wade, an outside lawyer she appointed to lead the case."

The Lawless States of America, Ctd. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors have begun moving to drop charges accusing Jan. 6 defendants of obstructing Congress's confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results, offering new plea deals after the Supreme Court last month restricted the government's use of that count, according to court filings. Some beneficiaries include members of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who are not accused of other felony offenses, but whose leaders were convicted of conspiring to use force to oppose the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Those whose charges may be dropped are among a small core group of Capitol riot defendants who prosecutors alleged understood why Congress was meeting and who came not to protest but to block lawmakers from acting."


** Salvador Rizzo & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted Tuesday of taking bribes from three businessmen who showered him and his wife with cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz, an extravagant bounty for his help securing deals with foreign officials and trying to derail several criminal investigations in New Jersey. The jury in Manhattan federal court found the once-powerful New Jersey lawmaker guilty on all 16 felony counts. They include bribery, extortion, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt from 2018 to 2022, when Menendez was at the height of his influence in Washington, serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or as the panel's top Democrat.... The two co-defendants in the trial, real estate developer Fred Daibes and businessman Wael 'Will' Hana, were also convicted.... [Menendez's] team is expected to appeal, and legal experts say he could be helped by the Supreme Court's rulings in recent years narrowing the scope of federal bribery laws." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments. See yesterday's Conversation for excerpts.~~~

~~~ Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC News: "Democrats are turning up the heat on Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., as more senators call on him to resign, with some threatening to expel him after he was found guilty Tuesday on 16 federal counts.... 'I strongly reiterate my call for him to step down.... Now if only my Republican colleagues would apply the same standards to the convicted felon who is running for President of the United States as their nominee,' [Sen. Patty] Murray [D-Wash.] said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Deinst, et al., of NBC News: "The judge presiding over the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez indefinitely delayed the trial of the New Jersey Democrat's wife, Nadine Menendez, a co-defendant in the case who's undergoing cancer treatments, the court docket showed Tuesday. 'The trial of this matter is adjourned sine die,' U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein wrote in a brief ruling he signed Monday, using a Latin and legal term for without a date." (Also linked yesterday.)

Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "An exiled Chinese businessman who once had close ties to former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon was convicted of defrauding his online followers of more than $1 billion, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo, was charged last year with wire fraud and money laundering after using money from thousands of followers to support an 'extravagant lifestyle,' prosecutors said in their indictment.... In the March 2023 indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, prosecutors said Guo had 'led a complex conspiracy' to solicit funds that he used to pay for a yacht, luxury car and 50,000-square-foot mansion. He was convicted on nine of 12 counts after a trial that lasted about two months."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Peter Buxtun, a whistleblower who exposed and helped end the Tuskegee syphilis study, a four-decade experiment in which the U.S. Public Health Service used hundreds of Black men as human guinea pigs, died May 18 at a memory-care center in Rocklin, Calif. He was 86.... A former venereal disease investigator with the Public Health Service, Mr. Buxtun spent seven years trying to draw attention to the Tuskegee study, meeting with journalists, doctors, public health officials and anyone who would listen. His efforts, and the reporting that he inspired, brought widespread attention to one of the country's most notorious medical scandals, revealing how 399 Black men in the segregated South were exploited for a study in which their syphilis would be monitored but not treated."

Washington Post: "Claes Dohlman, an ophthalmologist whose research into diseased and damaged eyes led to the development of an artificial cornea that restored vision to thousands of patients considered unsuitable for transplant surgery, died July 14 at his home in Weston, Mass. He was 101."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (8)

I'm planning to vote Democrat regardless, but I was very affected on hearing that Biden gave a ridiculous response responding to Trump's classified documents case being dropped.

If that really reflects his 'thinking' on the matter, he's way, way out there already. I don't really care if Joe 'gives his all' and loses. I really don't want Joe playing by Queensbury rules.

This election is going to be Death by a Thousand Cuts for the country, dammit, and it shouldn't be this close.

Does no one remember the first Trump administration? Words fail me.

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered Commentergonzo

@gonzo: If this is the response you think is ridiculous, I don't agree. Biden gave a better summary of the genesis of Judge Aileen's decision than did a number of pundits I've heard on the teevee. If anything, I'm surprised he got that deeply into the bullrushes of Miss Aileen's brainswamp.

And, yes, I too will be voting for Biden, dead or alive. But I'm not happy about it.

July 17, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Thanks for the link. I read about it 3rd hand, commentator said Biden trailed off and couldn't complete a sentence.

Not what the video shows.

Sigh.. Thank you for throwing some light on this!

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered Commentergonzo

From the WaPo Hsu aticle above:

"... Those whose charges may be dropped are among a small core group of Capitol riot defendants who prosecutors alleged understood why Congress was meeting and who came not to protest but to block lawmakers from acting.”

Huh? If you knew what you were doing, impeding congress, you get off? If you thought you were doing something else, you don't?

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Planning for the future:

Ron DeSantis on college education and voters in Florida.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/684711-desantis-universities-voters/

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

JD Vance

"JD Vance follows many, many openly antisemitic, pro-Nazi, white supremacist, and gleefully misogynist accounts on Twitter."

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Fight Fight fight sneakers. A sucker born every minute. And they all follow this orange loser who profits off of everyone's suffering.

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Trae Crowder on JD Vance

July 17, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.