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.”

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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."

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The Conversation -- July 30, 2024

Sad News. Meredith McGraw & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Paul Dans, who directed The Heritage Foundation's controversial 2025 Presidential Transition Project, or Project 2025, is stepping down from his role in August.... Dans' departure does not mean the project, which has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats as well as Donald Trump, is shutting down. The work of Project 2025 -- which includes policy and personnel prescriptions for a Republican administration -- will continue...." ~~~

Never before has a figure with Roberts's depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new future for conservatism. We are now all realizing that it's time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon. -- J.D. Vance, forward to soon-to-be-published book by Project 2025 leader Kevin Roberts ~~~

     ~~~ According to MSNBC, the Daily Beast is reporting that Trump forced Dans' resignation. And the Trump campaign issued a statement Tuesday "welcoming the demise" of the project. As we know, Trump continues to have a hard time pretending he knows nothing about Project 2025 considering that Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation, who says he headed up Project 2025 has written a new book with a forward by J.D. Vance.

Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel wars are here. "Israel carried out a strike in Beirut on Tuesday night, retaliating for an assault that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend. The Israeli military said it had targeted a commander whom it blamed for the attack, fueling Western concerns that Israel's long-running conflict with the powerful Lebanese militia Hezbollah could escalate further."

Senate Passes Child Protection Bills; House Remains Dysfunctional. Cristiano Lima-Strong of the Washington Post: "The Senate overwhelmingly passed a pair of bills to expand online privacy and safety protections for children on Tuesday, delivering a major win for parent and youth activists who have clamored for action against tech companies they say are endangering the well-being of kids. The legislation, approved 91-3, would force digital platforms to take 'reasonable' steps to prevent harms to children such as bullying, drug addiction and sexual exploitation, and it would broaden existing federal privacy protections to include kids and teens 16 years old and younger. The bills -- the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, referred to as COPPA 2.0. -- represent the most significant restrictions on tech platforms to clear a chamber of Congress in decades.

"Proponents of the measures hope Senate passage will amplify calls for the package to be taken up in the House, where the bills have garnered bipartisan support but negotiations publicly unraveled last month amid infighting between House Republican leaders.... Odds for passage in the House this year appear dim.... The House broke early for its annual August recess last week without rescheduling a markup for the bills."

Jarrett Renshaw & Nandita Bose of Reuters: "Vice President Kamala Harris will tour battleground states next week with her vice presidential candidate, two sources familiar with the planning said on Tuesday, a sign the selection process for her running mate is coming to a close.... The short list of candidates under consideration include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. On Monday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer both indicated they were both out of the VP sweepstakes." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Navarro of CBS News: "As soon as this Thursday, delegates in the Democratic Party will hold a virtual vote to select their new nominee. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to run unopposed. Here's more on what it means and how the vote will work[.]... The vice presidential candidate does not have to be nominated at the same time as the presidential nominee. Harris must pick a running mate by Aug. 7 to comply with Ohio's current ballot deadline, which remains in effect. Harris' team is planning to finish the vetting of the VP field and expects her to pick her running mate by that date, according to a source familiar with the plans."

Eileen Sullivan & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The acting Secret Service director told senators on Tuesday that the agency failed on July 13 by not having a countersniper focused on the roof where a would-be assassin fired eight shots at ... Donald J. Trump, injuring him and others and killing a rally attendee. While Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the acting director, provided a more complete account of what happened that day than his predecessor did a week ago, he failed to answer a critical question about that day: Who was supposed to be watching that roof?... Mr. Rowe said he went to the site of the shooting in Butler, Pa., and ... climbed onto the building and laid on the roof so he could see the direct line that the shooter ... had to Mr. Trump. 'What I saw made me ashamed,' Mr. Rowe told a joint hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees. 'As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.'"

Reid Epstein & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "The race to define Vice President Kamala Harris began in earnest on Tuesday, with both her campaign and .. Donald J. Trump's team unveiling television advertisements that aim to explain her biography to voters in battleground states. Ms. Harris's new ad, her first since becoming the party's de facto nominee, labels her as 'fearless' while leaning into her time as a local and state prosecutor.... Mr. Trump's new ad, meanwhile, attacks her as being weak on the border. It suggests that she is responsible for millions of border crossings and a quarter-million deaths from fentanyl, which the ad says occurred 'on Harris's watch.' It closes with a new Trump tagline for Ms. Harris: 'Failed. Weak. Dangerously Liberal.'... Ms. Harris was not responsible for overseeing border security. Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Harris campaign, said in a statement that Mr. Trump had been responsible for Republicans in Congress walking away from a bipartisan immigration agreement.... The new ads will cost tens of millions of dollars and run in [battleground] states." ~~~

"Tech Bro Elegy." Paul Krugman of the New York Times: J.D. "Vance's ascent has, to a significant degree, been powered by a small group of technology billionaires with Peter Thiel, who poured millions into Vance's 2022 Senate race, at the center.... [Vance] pitches himself as a champion of working-class America. But behind his cynical culture-warring -- behind his professed allegiance to Everyman totems like Mountain Dew -- he's closely tied to a tech-sector ethos that's anything but populist.... So, what do [the immensely wealthy tech bros who support Trump-Vance] have in common? To start, right-wing political leanings.... Some right-wing techies have also descended into conspiracism. Leading the pack, Elon Musk.... Tech-bro support for Trump and Vance also seems to have a lot to do with one specific issue: cryptocurrency.... The truth is that Bitcoin, which was introduced 15 years ago, an eon in tech time, remains economically useless: A 2022 survey found that transactions involving crypto assets 'are seldom used for payments outside the crypto ecosystem.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Maddow posited last night that Trump "policy" is whatever his latest billionaire "friend" is for. So that's how he ended up with a sudden admiration for J.D. Vance & Bitcoin.

~~~~~~~~~~

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden, warning that the country's courts were being weaponized as part of an 'extreme and unchecked' conservative agenda, said on Monday that he would push for legislation that would bring major changes to the Supreme Court, including term limits and an enforceable code of ethics on the justices. Mr. Biden detailed his plans in a speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, his first public engagement since announcing his decision to end his presidential campaign last week.... In a social media post, Speaker Mike Johnson [R-La.] called the plan 'dead on arrival' in the House. (Mr. Biden later said onstage that Mr. Johnson's 'thinking is dead on arrival.')... Mr. Biden said, 'They're planning another onslaught attacking civil rights in America.' His remarks were met with support from others in his party, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who said she was a partner in the effort and would take up Mr. Biden's proposal in her campaign."

Presidential Race

Edward-Isaac Dovere of CNN: "Kamala Harris' plan as a running mate was to brush past JD Vance as nothing but a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. But now that she's the presumptive Democratic nominee, her campaign is seizing on the Ohio senator as a major liability, looking to her own vice presidential selection process and the contenders' public auditions to drive home the point. Vance's elevation ... is giving Harris a new opportunity to go after Trump. The message is not just that Vance is 'weird,' as the vice president said at a fundraiser this weekend, or that he has objectionable views, advisers said; it's that the Ohio senator shouldn't be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and that Trump picking him raises more questions about the top of the ticket. The strategy is also a way to put Trump's age in focus, now that President Joe Biden is not part of the conversation, by highlighting how close Vance could be to occupying the Oval Office if something were to happen to a 78-year-old president." (Also linked yesterday.)

"White Dudes for Harris." Rebecca O'Brien & Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "On Monday night, the string of identity groups backing [Vice President] Harris [for president] reached its bizarre, and perhaps inevitable, apotheosis with the inaugural meeting of the aptly named 'White Dudes for Harris.' 'What a variety of whiteness we have here,' marveled Bradley Whitford, the 'West Wing' actor, his tongue firmly in cheek as he opened his remarks to the 60,000 or so attendees who had gathered on a live video call to show their support and raise money for Ms. Harris's nascent presidential campaign. 'It's like a rainbow of beige.'... The speakers included two white dudes on the shortlist to be Ms. Harris's running mate -- Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg -- as well as the singers Josh Groban and Lance Bass and the actor Mark Hamill. Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina was there, in a suit and tie, and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois was too, cracking jokes about JD Vance.... Kicking off the White Dudes call was, of course, the Dude, the actor Jeff Bridges, abiding in a comfortable-looking chair....

"'They should give it a more fitting name like: Cucks for Kamala,' Donald Trump Jr. posted on X, using a term popular in some far-right circles for a weak or submissive man. ([Democratic organizer Ross] Morales Rocketto sighed. 'For whatever reason, the Republican Party has really leaned into being creeps.')"

Jonathan Cooper of the AP: "Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted endorsements from mayors of border towns in swing-state Arizona Monday as she looks to blunt the impact of Republican criticism of her handling of illegal border crossings. Harris' campaign said she was backed by the mayors of Bisbee, Nogales, Somerton, and San Luis, as well as by Yuma County Supervisors Martin Porchas and Tony Reyes. The mayors were elected without party affiliation but represent left-leaning communities. Porchas and Reyes are Democrats." ~~~

~~~ It Ain't Just Democratic Mayors. John Giles (R), the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, in an Arizona Republic op-ed: "The Republican Party with Trump at its helm continues down the path of political extremism, away from focusing on our fundamental freedoms. Now more than ever, we need leaders who will put country over party.... In Arizona, we have faced the brunt of misinformation, election denialism and an erosion of trust in our justice system.... Significant reforms to immigration and border policies that would have addressed the crisis at our southern border were blocked by Trump because he didn't want the problem solved. He wanted to exploit it for personal political gain.... It will take Arizona Republicans, independents and Democrats standing together against a far-right agenda. Let us put country over party by voting to stop Trump and protect our democracy." Giles writes that Trump made a joke of infrastructure week, while Biden & Harris brought money & improvements to Mesa.

Maeve Reston & Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "Seeking to capitalize on an outpouring of enthusiasm and an influx of cash, Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania sought Monday to draw a contrast between Vice President Harris and Donald Trump, warning a packed gymnasium [in Ambler, Pa., outside Philadelphia,] that he would strip more freedoms from a vast swath of Americans.... The governors spent the afternoon blasting Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, as self-interested, out-of-touch and destructive.... 'While he's hugging the flag, he's taking away our freedoms,' Shapiro said. 'It's not freedom to tell our kids what books they can read.... It's not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies.... It's not freedom to tell people they can go vote -- but he's going to pick the winner.'"

Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "Vice President Harris's campaign is doubling down on its attacks against former President Trump, accusing him of backtracking on the next presidential debate. Campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement ... that Harris will be at ABC's Sept. 10 debate 00 to which Trump and President Biden had both previously agreed -- regardless of the former president's attendance.... Harris said last week she's 'ready to go' for a debate and accused Trump of backpedaling after he has suggested he may not want to participate in the established ABC debate. Her campaign also cast Trump as 'scared' to have the debate. Trump told reporters Tuesday he would 'absolutely' debate Harris but signaled he may not be willing to participate in the ABC event. His campaign said Thursday it would not agree to a general election debate with Harris until Democrats formally decide on their nominee." ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Monday said he would 'probably' end up debating Vice President Harris ahead of November's election, but he left the door open to backing out.... Trump listed off reasons for him not to participate even as [Fox host Laura] Ingraham warned it would allow his critics to say he's scared. Trump pointed to his lead in national and battleground state polls, though those surveys show a close race. He also argued the public knows where both candidates stand on the issues. 'The answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,' Trump added. 'Also, I don't like rewarding fake news -- They're going to make tens of millions of dollars with this debate. I don't like ABC.'"

Donald Trump's Very Bad Week. A.B. Stoddard in the Bulwark: "IT MUST BE HARD TO TRANSITION from martyr anointed by God and positioned to win in a blowout to jealous old whiner grumbling about the misunderstood relevance of Hannibal Lecter.... Within days, the vice president had captivated the nation, united her party, upended the campaign, raised record sums, tied up the race in polling, and seen a bounce in her favorability ratings. In the same stretch of time Trump had backed out of a debate, watched JD Vance become a meme, fielded concerns about what a failure it was to pick Vance, and seen his own approval rating erode under Harris's attacks.... Enraged by Harris's surge, Trump is flailing about for any attack to use on her." (Also linked yesterday.)

Behind Closed Doors. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), privately told donors that running against Vice President Harris instead of President Biden made the race more challenging.... 'All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,' Vance said about Biden's withdrawal on July 21, according to a recording of his remarks at a Saturday fundraiser in Golden Valley, Minn. 'The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because ... Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.' Publicly, the Trump campaign has insisted that Harris replacing Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket has not changed the race, arguing that she shares responsibility for public dissatisfaction with Biden's leadership. Vance told reporters on July 22, a day after Biden dropped out of the race, that there was no difference in running against Harris vs. Biden."

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "It would be strange for Democrats to attack the Republican presidential ticket for being 'weird' if it weren't true. But those men are getting weirder by the day." Last week, Vance stood behind very offensive things he has said about women and families. "The normal thing would have been for Vance to recognize that he said some dumb things and now regrets them. But being Trump's wingman means never having to say you're sorry -- actually, never being allowed to say you're sorry.... Since last fall, at campaign rallies [Trump] has been regularly telling that nonsensical story about a boat, a battery and a shark. When it was pointed out that the whole thing makes no sense and critics laughed at Trump's ignorance of basic physics, he insisted on his self-proclaimed infallibility. It's 'actually not crazy' and 'sort of a smart story,' he told one crowd.... Trump also cant stop talking about 'the late, great Hannibal Lecter.'..."

~~~ Marie: When they've got nothin', they put out slurs that are inherently racist, sexist & dehumanizing: ~~~

~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump said Vice President Kamala Harris reminds her of a designer bag that was 'literally a trash bag.'... 'It reminds me of -- there was a bag that a very famous designer designed,' she said. 'This was several years ago, and it literally was a trash bag, but they sold this thing for like $2000 thinking that people will actually buy it. It's a similar situation with Kamala Harris. Nobody was interested in Kamala Harris even several months ago.' The bag Trump referred to appears to be the Men's Trash Bag Large Pouch in White made by Balenciaga. And it can be yours for a cool $1,950."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Margaret Sullivan of the Guardian in a Substack essay: "This past Friday, Trump urged Christian voters in West Palm Beach, Florida to vote, but told them it would be the last time they'd need to bother.... The New York Times, among many news organizations, was slow to focus on this, though they eventually added these startling remarks to their original coverage of the speech. Later, they published a separate story focusing on the 'it will be fixed' comments.... A few days earlier, on Fox & Friends, Trump went so far as to tell the faithful not to bother to vote even now. 'My instruction -- we don't need the votes. We have so many votes.' And a week ago, at another rally, Trump put it this way: 'In four years, don't vote. I don't care. But we'll have it all straightened out, so it'll be much different.'... Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the scholar of authoritarian movements..., warned: 'Media: This should be *the* A1 story. I have studied dictatorship for years and this is it -- "you won't have to vote anymore.: Trump will never leave office if he wins in November.'... I urge news decision-makers to take Trump's authoritarian desires very seriously." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Turns out we may not have to wait till 2028 (or 2026) to watch Trump upend election results: ~~~

     ~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Dozens of election conspiracists are serving in positions around the country that could help determine the outcome of this year's presidential election, according to a new report. Rolling Stone and American Doom identified at least 70 individuals working as county election officials in swings states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania who questioned the validity of Donald Trump's 2020 election loss or refused to certify results, including at least 22 who refused or delayed the certification of election results in recent years. 'I think we are going to see mass refusals to certify the election,' said Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias. 'Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is not random "weird" information. Rachel Maddow pointed last night to a number of times Trump has told his followers they didn't need to vote even in this election. Maddow says that pro-Trump local elections officials will refuse to certify election results, so gumming up the works that state election outcomes cannot be legally determined.

Devlin Barrett & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "The gunman who tried to kill ... Donald Trump conducted internet searches related to power plants, mass shooting events and the attempted assassination this year of Slovakia's prime minister, FBI officials said Monday, offering new details about what they described as the gunman's 'careful planning' for the attack.... He used aliases and at least some encrypted communication accounts to purchase firearm supplies and materials to build explosive devices, the officials said.... He carried a backpack and an AR-style weapon with a collapsible stock, an enhancement to weapons that makes them more compact." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Hannah Rabinowitz & Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "Donald Trump has agreed to sit for a victim interview with the FBI, which is investigating this month's attempted assassination, an agency official said Monday. Victim interviews are a routine part of criminal investigations, but are voluntary." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Sasha Pezenik, et al., of ABC News: Beaver County, Pa., SWAT team members at the rally during which Donald Trump was shot told ABC News "they had no contact with the agents on Trump's Secret Service detail.... The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Secret Service agents have complained they were not made aware of the warnings [that there was a suspicious person in the crowd]." (Also linked yesterday.)


Joan Biskupic of CNN: "The Supreme Court began the year poised to build on its 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and to deliver a new blow to abortion access. In January, the court took the extraordinary step of letting Idaho enforce its ban on abortion with an exception only to prevent the death of a pregnant woman, despite an ongoing challenge from the Biden administration arguing that it intruded on federal protections for emergency room care. No recorded vote was made public, but CNN has learned the split was 6-3, with all six Republican-nominated conservatives backing Idaho, over objections from the three Democratic-appointed liberals. But over the next six months..., a combination of misgivings among key conservatives and rare leverage on the part of liberal justices changed the course of the case." Read on for details.

No Honor Among Drug Lords. Alan Feuer & Natalie Kitroeff of the New York Times: Circumstances leading to the arrest by U.S. officials of he arrest of Ismael Zambada García, the last remaining godfather of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, were more dramatic than originally told. "Mr. Zambada García, one of his country's most wanted men, had come down from a hide-out in the mountains last week and was ambushed in the Mexican city of Culiacán at what he thought would be a friendly meeting with [El Chapo's son, Joaquín] Guzmán López, according to three federal law enforcement officials.... Mr. Guzmán López then forcibly flew Mr. Zambada García in a Beechcraft King Air turboprop across the border, where he was apprehended by U.S. federal agents, the officials said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Venezuela. Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times: "Protests broke out Monday in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, with hundreds of young people marching through the streets furious over a presidential election in which the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro, declared victory despite widespread accusations of fraud, officially proclaiming the election decided without releasing the full vote counts. The United States and countries around the world denounced the official results of Sunday's vote, which did not appear to match statistical estimates based on partial counts and other data that showed the president losing by a wide margin. By Monday afternoon, the Venezuelan government announced it had kicked out the diplomatic missions of seven Latin American countries that had condemned the official electoral results. The opposition leader, María Corina Machado, announced on Monday evening that her movement had received paper tallies from 73 percent of the country's voting stations and refuted the government's claims. Those tallies showed that Mr. Maduro's opponent, Edmundo González, had received 3.5 million more votes than the president."

News Lede

New York Times: "William L. Calley Jr., who as a young Army lieutenant during the Vietnam War was the only American convicted in the murder of hundreds of unarmed, unresisting Vietnamese civilians in the atrocity known as the My Lai Massacre, died on April 28 in hospice in Gainesville, Fla, according to Social Security Administration records. He was 80.... Nearly 56 years after the killings of as many as 500 women, children and older men by Americans who attacked with automatic weapons, grenades and bayonets; raped girls and women; mutilated bodies; killed livestock, and burned the village, My Lai (pronounced Mee Lye) still reverberates as one of the worst outrages of a brutal and divisive war."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (14)

Newsweek

"Newsweek observed that the White Dudes for Harris X account had been temporarily suspended after the group held a star-studded virtual call on Monday night that raised more than $4 million.

It is not clear why the account was suspended, but it appeared to have been restored as of the early hours of Tuesday. The automated message when the account was suspended read: "X suspends accounts which violate the X rules."

Mike Nellis, who is involved in the organization, shared an update on Tuesday explaining that while the X account is live again, it still remains suspended."

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Weird GOP

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

@RAS: It isn't clear from the part of the (firewalled) Newsweek report why X suspended the account. So I checked to see if I could find the story elsewhere, and sure enough, the Independent had an article -- that also didn't make it clear why the account was suspended.

But I do think that Democratic members of Congress should demand to know what's going on here. Funny how this little "accidental" "technical difficulties" situation favors Republicans. I wouldn't think anything of it -- except Elon Musk.

July 30, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@Marie: I think the fact that there has been no reason for the suspension is why it is newsworthy. Under Elon Musk's control X has made a habit of temporarily suspending, usually journalists, people who's views he doesn't agree with for no actual violations of their policies. It just illustrates once again how much power is in the hands of a small number of truly awful tech bros and the potential they have for screwing with anyone not on their side. It was only a day ago that Musk was promoting a doctored video of Harris to his millions of followers.

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Pete Souza posted a photo of Dump’s perfectly formed and “healed” ear on Twitter and was so snarled-at that he closed his account. He was Obama’s photographer and I follow his Instagram. He is used to backlash but said this was horrible. They said he was thrown off by Musk but it is a lie. I am pretty worried about the strength of the opposition, like Maddow and Elias, and what is being planned.

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

Like many of you, I’ve been peppered with calls for donations to help Harris and the Democrats keep the fascists from taking over the country. I don’t usually have the dough to do that, but this time I
am. But my sense is, they already have (taken over, that is). Just look at the Trump judges and the Supreme Crooks, and the way the corporate media goes after Democrats but gives the traitors every benefit of the doubt. “Ooooh…both sides!!!”

We certainly need to be on guard against the thousands of election scammers and vote stealers being sicced on the nation by the Orange Monster and his Heritage/Federalist democracy-hating gestapo operatives.

But calls to help take back the House from Bible Mike, Harridan MTG, Handjob Bobo, and the lawless firm of Jim’N Gym have me worried.

If serious, honest, public servants who believe in the Constitution, ethics, democracy, morality, fairness, America, and the rule of law come into power, what will become of the weekly impeachment hearings? Where will we go to hear outrageous, self-serving lies every day?

C’mon! Stoopid, illegitimate, hyper-partisan, Trumpified bullshit hearings that waste millions of taxpayer dollars keep the corporate media engaged. If we get a government that works, is honest, doesn’t threaten to murder people out of favor, what would we do for entertainment??

Sheesh.

I guess I’ll just have to enjoy finish binging my way through “Gilmore Girls”. Will Lorelei and Luke EVER get Together?

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Squarespace is screwing around with postings again.

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Never mind…

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: I know. I've complained to them again. Close to 50% of the times I update the daily drivel (which is a couple of dozen time sa day), Squarespace loses my work. It's a pain.

July 30, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Marie,

Sorry. I know it’s a royal pain.

I might try that last post again.

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Like many of you, I’ve been peppered with calls for donations to help Harris and the Democrats keep the fascists from taking over the country. I don’t usually have the dough to do that, but this time I
am. But my sense is, they already have (taken over, that is). Just look at the Trump judges and the Supreme Crooks, and the way the corporate media goes after Democrats but gives the traitors every benefit of the doubt. “Ooooh…both sides!!!”

We certainly need to be on guard against the thousands of election scammers and vote stealers being sicced on the nation by the Orange Monster and his Heritage/Federalist democracy-hating gestapo operatives.

But calls to help take back the House from Bible Mike, Harridan MTG, Handjob Bobo, and the lawless firm of Jim’N Gym have me worried.

If serious, honest, public servants who believe in the Constitution, ethics, democracy, morality, fairness, America, and the rule of law come into power, what will become of the weekly impeachment hearings? Where will we go to hear outrageous, self-serving lies every day?

C’mon! Stoopid, illegitimate, hyper-partisan, Trumpified bullshit hearings that waste millions of taxpayer dollars keep the corporate media engaged. If we get a government that works, is honest, doesn’t threaten to murder people out of favor, what would we do for entertainment??

Sheesh.

I guess I’ll just have to enjoy finish binging my way through “Gilmore Girls”. Will Lorelei and Luke EVER get Together?

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

It worked…yay!

July 30, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Outright lies.

As the Senate, controlled by an actual, functioning, serious party (ie Democrats) pass child protection bills, Shady Vance indulges in the usual Party of Traitors pastime, blatant lying, this time about Kamala Harris’s supposed hatred of families and children.

“In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, Vance said, ‘I think a lot of parents and a lot of non-parents look at our public policy over the last four years and ask, ‘How did we get to this place? How did we get to a place where Kamala Harris is calling for an end to the child tax credit?’”

In fact, the exact opposite is true. Harris and the Democrats…and ONLY Democrats, pushed for an expansion of the child tax credit. Shady Vance’s party tried to kill it.

“Facts First: Vance’s claim that Harris is calling to end the child tax credit is false. In fact, it is the opposite of reality: Harris has called for years to increase the child tax credit. As vice president, she has advocated for the permanent adoption of the enhanced child tax credit that was temporarily in effect in 2021 under a pandemic relief law – a law that was signed by President Joe Biden after it was passed by Congress with only Democratic support.”

Of course, he lied about this on Fox where PoT liars are never challenged or fact checked.

Expect a lot more of this crap.

July 31, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Wouldn’t you expect the idiot who claims to have the best words to know something about words in general?

Fatty went on Fox in an interview with Laura Ingraham and said “I don’t want pronouns!”

“I” is a pronoun. Funny, in’it?

Moron.

July 31, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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