;)
The Conversation -- June 6, 2024
Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... at no point since June 6, 1944, has the unshakable US leadership of the West and support for internationalist values been so in question. Democracy is facing its sternest test in generations from far-right populism on the march on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.... Trump's 'America First' philosophy has taken deep root in the Republican Party that once prided itself on winning the Cold War. The ex-president tried to overturn US democracy to stay in power four years ago. And some GOP figures led by the ex-president now appear to have more empathy for Putin than liberal European democracies that the United States rebuilt after World War II. And the monthslong delay in funding Biden's most recent aid package for Ukraine raised doubts that Washington will always stand up for democracy in Europe and against aggression by autocrats."
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Thursday ordered former Trump political adviser and right-wing podcaster Stephen K. Bannon to report to prison by July 1 to begin serving a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress after an appeals court in May upheld his conviction. Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to lift the hold on his sentence arguing that no substantial legal questions remain over Bannon's two-count conviction for refusing to provide documents or testimony to a House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack after a panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Bannon's appeal on all grounds." The ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Looks as if Steve-o has devoted too much effort to fighting his conviction and not enough energy to finding out if he will be allowed to wear multiple shirts under that orange jumpsuit. But yes, yes, of course I'm sad and the prisons are overcrowded and this was a nonviolent crime and so on and so forth.
Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Hallie Biden, a former girlfriend of Hunter Biden and widow of his brother, Beau, took the stand on Thursday, telling jurors that she saw him buy, stash and smoke vast amounts of crack cocaine in the fall of 2018 when he claimed to be drug-free on a firearms application.... Ms. Biden said she discovered the gun at the center of the case when she was rifling through Mr. Biden's vehicle the morning after he showed up at her house.... Prosecutors then showed surveillance video of her tossing the gun only to return later and frantically try to recover it.... The sheer amount of unflattering evidence assembled by [special prosecutor David] Weiss is intended to prove that Mr. Biden knowingly lied when he claimed not to be taking drugs when he bought the handgun. But it has, in the view of even some Biden family critics, moved far beyond that goal -- into a publicly humiliating trial of the president's troubled son for an offense that, while a crime, is seldom prosecuted as a stand-alone charge for someone with no prior criminal record who has been sober for years."
New York. Corey Kilgannon of the New York Times: "Rex Heuermann, who was arrested last summer and has been accused of murdering four women in the Gilgo Beach serial killings on Long Island, was indicted Thursday on murder charges in the deaths of two more women. Mr. Heuermann, 60, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges in connection with the first four women's deaths, has remained in jail for nearly a year awaiting trial. In the meantime, investigators turned to the six other victims -- four women, a man and a toddler -- whose remains, like those of the first four women, were found along Ocean Parkway by Gilgo Beach."
How low can they go? It may surprise you. ~~~
~~~ Pennsylvania. Leo Sands of the Washington Post: "Two former law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol from rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection were jeered by state GOP lawmakers as they visited Pennsylvania's House of Representatives on Wednesday, according to several Democratic lawmakers present. Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and former sergeant Aquilino Gonell were introduced on the floor Wednesday as 'heroes' by House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) for having 'bravely defended democracy in the United States Capitol against rioters and insurrection on Jan. 6.' As the two men -- both of whom were injured by rioters on Jan. 6 -- were introduced, the House floor descended into chaos. According to Democratic lawmakers, several GOP lawmakers hissed and booed, with a number of Republicans walking out of the chamber in protest."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
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Cleve Wootson, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden will join world leaders in Normandy on Thursday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a somber setting where he plans to draw a link between the historic fight to defeat the Nazis and the modern-day battles against authoritarianism.... While Biden is not likely to name Trump during his remarks, he plans to offer an unequivocal endorsement of the global order that the Republican front-runner has trashed.... Such a message is particularly relevant given the war in Ukraine, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who pointed out that the NATO alliance has expanded during Biden's term.... The president, who arrived in Paris on Wednesday morning and spent the day behind closed doors, began his visit to Normandy by greeting World War II veterans who participated in the D-Day landings, including some who are more than 100 years old. He will also give brief remarks at the D-Day Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony, where he plans to compare World War II's fight against tyranny to the modern-day effort to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on Ukraine. Later Thursday, Biden will join first lady Jill Biden for a wreath-laying at the Normandy American Cemetery. Finally, the Bidens will attend the International Ceremony at Omaha Beach, where several top dignitaries ... are also expected to pay tribute to the troops who helped carry out the largest naval, air and land assault ever." ~~~
~~~ The AP has live updates of events here. CNN has live updates here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: D-Day coincided with the U.S.'s becoming recognized as the "leader of the free world" and of the country's striving to be worthy of its position. It is quite possible that this 80th anniversary of D-Day will mark the end of that era. We can save ourselves this November, or we can implode into the narrow bigotry and autosarcophagy of Trumpism. I don't know what's going to happen. For some of us, 2024 is the cliffhanger of our lives.
Valerie Gonzalez & Elliot Spagat of the AP: A "sense of uncertainty prevailed among many migrants [attempting to enter the U.S. illegally] after [President] Biden invoked presidential powers to stop asylum processing when arrests for illegal crossings top 2,500 in a day. The measure took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Wednesday because that threshold was met. Two senior Homeland Security Department officials confirmed the first deportations under the new rule took place Wednesday.... Migrants who express fear for their safety if they are deported will be screened by U.S. asylum officers but under a higher standard than what's currently in place.... Mexico has agreed to take back migrants who are not Mexican, but only limited numbers and nationalities. And the Biden administration doesn't have the money and diplomatic support it needs to deport migrants long distances, including to Ecuador and India."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked action on legislation to codify the right to contraception access nationwide, a bill Democrats brought to the floor to spotlight an issue on which the G.O.P. is at odds with a vast majority of voters. All but two Republicans present -- Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine -- voted against advancing the legislation. Democrats, who unanimously supported it, were left nine votes short of the 60 they would need to take up the bill, which would protect a reproductive health option that many voters worry is actively at risk of being stripped away." CNN's report is here.~~~
~~~ Marie: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said, "... Democrats ... are fear-mongering in the name of politics." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), appearing on MSNBC, said what Ernst means is that Republicans' contraceptive policies are so scary that any efforts to highlight those frightening policies amount to fear-mongering. BTW, for once, the headlines are along the lines of "Senate GOP blocks bill to guarantee access to contraception," as opposed to the usual, "Senate Democrats fail to pass bill to guarantee access to contraception."
Marie: A number of GOP senators pretend to be stupid, posing as ignoramuses when it comes to basic economics, science, public policy issues, international relations and even common tenets of decency. Their pretenses are necessary in order to advocate for laws that help their client-masters (at least in the short term) but hurt the rest of us. Sen. Potato Head is not like these hypocritical senators. Nope. He's genuinely stupid: ~~~
~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) made the incredible claim that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin 'doesn't want Ukraine' on Steve Bannon's War Room Wednesday, exclaiming that Putin already has 'enough land' to be satisfied.... When Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he was explicit about his desire to absorb Ukrainian territory."
Nicholas Liu of Salon: "GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, placating Donald Trump and the right-wing of his caucus, appointed Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, to fill two open slots on the House Intelligence Committee, granting MAGA loyalists regular access to sensitive, highly classified government material. The selection of Perry, who is the target of a federal investigation over his and Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election, has set off alarms even among Republican politicians who see him as spoiled goods. Five anonymous lawmakers who opposed Perry's appointment told Politico that he was 'all but ineligible,' especially in light of the lawmaker's efforts to block the FBI from probing his phone records. The Intelligence Committee has oversight over the FBI.... In 2022, a Department of Defense investigation found that [Jackson] had gotten regularly drunk and abused subordinates during his service as rear admiral. Although the Navy demoted him to captain, Jackson continues to refer to himself as an admiral on his official bio." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: These two jokers could not get security clear to be night watchmen at a landfill. They are walking national security risks who should never be given access to U.S. and our allies' secrets. Our intel agencies do require oversight. But the decision-makers inside those agencies likely are smart enough not to cooperate with subversives like Perry and Jackson. ~~~
~~~ Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees..., told MSNBC on Wednesday that Johnson's appointment was 'a very bad decision for our country' that shows the speaker is 'pandering to the right.... Neither of these two gentlemen is qualified for the intelligence committee. Neither should ever be near the intelligence committee. And it's going to make cooperation between our counterintelligence operations and the intelligence services and the Congress much more complicated.'..."
Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "A trio of GOP-led House committees wrote to the Justice Department on Wednesday recommending that President Biden's son Hunter and brother James be charged for making false statements to Congress during Republicans' long-running impeachment inquiry into the president. In a 65-page letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Republican chairmen of the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees -- Reps. James Comer (Ky.), Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jason T. Smith (Mo.), respectively -- outlined what they say is 'overwhelming evidence' that Hunter Biden and James Biden should be prosecuted for false statements and perjury about their business dealings while Joe Biden was vice president.... The criminal referrals are likely to be the culmination of a years-long investigation by House Republicans, who have tried and failed to prove that Biden was involved in and personally benefited from his son's and brother's foreign business dealings while he was vice president.... House Republicans returned to Washington this week promising to more aggressively target the Biden administration after a New York jury found [Donald] Trump guilty last week of falsifying business records...." ~~~
~~~ ** Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Republican allies of Donald J. Trump are calling for revenge prosecutions and other retaliatory measures against Democrats in response to his felony conviction in New York.... Prominent G.O.P. leaders in and out of government have demanded that elected Republicans use every available instrument of power against Democrats, including targeted investigations and prosecutions.... Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to Mr. Trump who still helps guide his thinking on policy, blared out a directive on Fox News after a jury found Mr. Trump guilty.... Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief strategist to Mr. Trump, said in a text message to The New York Times on Tuesday that now was the moment for obscure Republican prosecutors around the country to make a name for themselves by prosecuting Democrats.... And Senator Marco Rubio of Florida ... wrote on X that President Biden was 'a demented man propped up by wicked & deranged people' and it was now time to 'fight fire with fire' -- using flame emojis to represent the fire....
"On social media, there has been an explosion of violent rhetoric and threats against the judge in the New York criminal case, Juan M. Merchan, and the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, who brought the charges against Mr. Trump.... Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a close Trump ally who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter this week demanding testimony by Mr. Bragg and one of his top trial lawyers in the case, Matthew Colangelo.... Mr. Jordan this week also proposed barring federal law enforcement grants from going to Mr. Bragg's office and to the office of the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga.... But the more extreme calls for not just oversight scrutiny and political obstructionism but revenge prosecutions are coming from former senior Trump administration officials and people close to the former president who are expected to play even larger roles in a potential second term. Their message is often apocalyptic.... Jeff Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official who has been indicted in the Georgia election case..., has called for 'brave' district attorneys in conservative areas to file lawsuits in federal court against people involved in criminal cases against Mr. Trump, under federal laws that allow people to seek monetary damages from government officials who violate their constitutional rights." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Obviously, they see nothing wrong with what they're saying. These are very warped human beings.
Brakkton Booker of Politico: "Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) was on the defensive on Wednesday as Democrats attacked him for comments he'd made the night before praising Black families under the era of racial segregation in America. 'During Jim Crow the Black family was together,' Donalds said during a Black GOP outreach event in a gentrifying part of Philadelphia on Tuesday, and criticized decades-old policies from former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson for promoting a culture of dependence. 'During Jim Crow, more Black people were -- not just conservative, because Black people always have always been conservative-minded -- but more Black people voted conservatively.' The remarks prompted a blitz of attacks from Biden allies.... 'It has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow,' Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in remarks on the House floor, listing other aspects of that era -- from lynching to the suppression of the Black vote. 'How dare you make such an ignorant observation? You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.'" Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: One would think that if Byron found himself a'wondering how fine life was under Jim Crow laws, he might have asked his parents or other elders in his own family about it before waxing nostalgic about the horrors and suppression he never had to endure. Nitwit. But GOP veep candidate? Perfect.
National Crime Blotter
Trump Can No Longer Shoot Someone on Fifth Avenue. Lola Fadulu & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "The Police Department is seeking to revoke ... Donald J. Trump's license to carry a concealed weapon after his conviction in his New York hush-money case.... Mr. Trump had a concealed carry permit in New York and had three pistols registered under the permit.... Two of them were turned over to the Police Department's License Division around the time Mr. Trump was charged in April 2023 with 34 counts of falsifying business records.... The third pistol had already been legally transferred to Florida. It is unclear whether it is still in Mr. Trump's possession. Under federal law and state law in New York and Florida, people with felony convictions are barred from possessing a firearm. The Police Department will complete an investigation that is likely to lead to the revocation of Mr. Trump's concealed carry permit...." CNN's report is here.
** Georgia Court Halts Election Interference Case. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday stayed the criminal election interference case against ... Donald J. Trump until an appellate panel could resolve the matter of whether the district attorney in Fulton County should be disqualified from prosecuting the case based on a conflict of interest. In a one-page order, the court stated that any movement at the trial-court level pertaining to Mr. Trump and eight other defendants who have appealed a ruling allowing the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis, to remain on the case was 'stayed pending the outcome of these appeals.' Earlier this week, the appellate court set a tentative date for oral argument of Oct. 4. Legal experts expect the appeals will take months to resolve." (Also linked yesterday.)
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's classified documents case abruptly changed the proceeding's schedule on Wednesday, reshuffling the timing for hearings on an array of important legal issues. The move by the judge, Aileen M. Cannon..., reflected the substantial number of unresolved legal motions she is juggling. Last month, Judge Cannon scrapped the case's trial date.... Judge Cannon kept in place a hearing she had set for June 21 to discuss a motion by Mr. Trump's lawyers to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Jack Smith, the special counsel named to oversee the prosecutions of Mr. Trump, was illegally appointed to his job. Similar motions have been rejected in cases involving other special counsels, including Robert S. Mueller III, who investigated connections between Russia and Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, and David C. Weiss, who has brought two criminal cases against Hunter Biden, President Biden's son."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "lies about the F.B.I. being prepared to kill him during the search of Mar-a-Lago took his attacks on the justice system and the rule of law to another level.... According to court papers, there was little drama as they hauled away a trove of boxes containing highly sensitive state secrets in three vans and a rented Ryder box truck.... Even though the court-authorized warrant was executed while he was more than 1,000 miles away in the New York area, the former president in recent weeks has repeatedly promoted the blatantly false narrative that the agents had shown up that day prepared to kill him, when the instructions in fact laid out strict conditions intended to minimize any use of deadly force.... Mr. Trump's warped version of the Mar-a-Lago search has also triggered a new legal battle between his lawyers and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith.... It remains unclear how Judge [Aileen] Cannon will rule on Mr. Smith's request [to rein in Mr. Trump]. In a prickly preliminary ruling, she temporarily rejected the move on procedural grounds last week. Mr. Smith then refiled his request to her after going through the necessary procedural steps. He repeated his assertion that Mr. Trump had lied and that 'the F.B.I. took extraordinary care to execute the search warrant unobtrusively and without needless confrontation.'... [Trump's] mischaracterizations provoked the ire of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who rarely inserts himself into the cases filed by Mr. Smith...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Good News! The New York Times lets on that Donald Trump is liar.
Tracey Tully & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times report on the latest developments in the federal bribery case against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Wednesday, an F.B.I. agent testified about a flurry of text messages and other communications among the senator's wife Nadine Menendez and a couple of New Jersey businessmen, culminating in a seven-minute phone call between Sen. Menendez and one of the businessmen. The prosecution attempted to show through the testimony & exhibits that the senator was involved in trying to quash a fraud investigation against the businessmen and negotiating bribes for his efforts. The payoff: a Mercedes for Mrs. Menendez who had wrecked her own vehicle when she struck and killed a pedestrian.
Eileen Sullivan, et al., of the New York Times: "Two of Hunter Biden's former romantic partners, his ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend, provided vivid and gut-wrenching testimony on Wednesday about his out-of-control addiction to crack in the weeks and months before he claimed to be drug-free on a federal firearms form. Relaying their divergent experiences with President Biden's son, the two women -- Kathleen Buhle, his wife of 24 years, and Zoe Kestan, whom he met in 2017 -- painted a composite portrait. They depicted a family man who was both falling into an abyss of addiction and living a lavish, party-hopping high life in New York and Los Angeles." ~~~
~~~ New York Times reporters liveblogged developments Wednesday in Hunter Biden's criminal trial in Delaware. NBC News live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "For nearly four years, Republicans have delved into the darkest corners of Hunter Biden's life, seeking to tie his troubles to his father, President Biden. But as the younger Biden stands trial in Delaware on gun charges, the case's glaring political contradictions have rendered the G.O.P. largely mute, from ... Donald J. Trump on down.... The baseless claim that the Biden Justice Department is running a political persecution of Mr. Trump is somewhat undermined by the department's prosecution of the president's son. It is also hard to make much of allegations that Hunter Biden lied about his drug use to purchase a handgun when your party is sponsoring legislation to ease gun-purchasing restrictions for veterans struggling with mental illness, not to mention the case before the Supreme Court that could allow domestic abusers to buy firearms." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race
Yes He Can. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump says he is prepared to prosecute his political enemies if he is elected this fall.... Mr. Trump, if he wins the presidency again, would gain immense authority to actually carry out the kinds of legal retribution he has been promoting. The Justice Department is part of the executive branch, and he will be its boss. He will be able to tell its officials to investigate and prosecute his rivals, and Mr. Trump, who has made no secret of his desire to purge the federal bureaucracy of those found insufficiently loyal to his agenda, will be able to fire those who refuse.... Mr. Trump's musings on his planned prosecutions ... have the effect, partly incidental and partly calculated, of undermining faith in the integrity of the criminal justice system, a development that could have profound effects in a nation where the rule of law has been foundational.... In effect, Mr. Trump's candidacy is becoming a referendum on what kind of justice system the country believes it has now and wants to have in the future."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The chief of staff to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will step down, the Pentagon said Wednesday, months after she drew criticism for not informing the White House and Congress of Austin's emergency hospitalization last winter. Kelly Magsamen will depart at the end of June, Austin said in a statement expressing gratitude for her service over 3½ years. She has served beside him since the beginning of his tenure.... Austin called her 'the chief architect of every initiative I have launched.' His statement did not indicate why Magsamen, who was traveling with Austin in France on Wednesday, was leaving."
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone, a solvent in many products used by both consumers and workers, ranging from arts and crafts supplies to paint remover, that is linked to serious health effects. The chemical, also known as NMP, is used to make semiconductors and lithium ion batteries, and is also found in plastics, paints and consumer cleaning products. It has been found to cause miscarriages, reduced male fertility and damage to the liver, kidneys and immune and nervous systems. If finalized, the E.P.A.'s rule would ban some commercial uses of NMP, such as in automotive and cleaning products, and limit the concentration of NMP allowed in some consumer products, such as glue. It would also establish safeguards, including requirements for protective equipment, for workers exposed to NMP." (Also linked yesterday.)
Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's "successive explanations -- in a statement, an interview with Fox News and letters to Congress -- have raised additional questions, and in some cases conflicted with known facts. Alito has yet to fully explain some key aspects of the controversy.... Here are the major discrepancies in Alito's telling and what he still has not fully answered." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "It's quite [something] to get scooped when the story has sat in your notebook for 3½ years.... This very scenario played out in recent weeks for The Post.... Nine days [after Jodi Kantor of the New York Times reported to the Alito family's flying an upside-down U.S. flag at their home in support of the insurrection], The Post disclosed that then-Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes, who has since retired from The Post..., spoke to Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, about the flag.... 'I was not aware that an upside-down flag was a symbol of "Stop the Steal,"' recalls Barnes.... [Still,] the Alitos received deference to which they were not entitled." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wemple points out that "Barnes started working as The Post's Supreme Court reporter in 2006, joining a group of D.C. journalists -- holders of the court's 'hard passes' -- who have been criticized as institutionalists prone to cozying up with the ultra-powerful people they cover." However, Wemple argues that "Barnes broke free of the tyrannical high court docket to do accountability stories"; i.e., actual reporting. In his critique, Wemple does point to a number of mitigating factors that work toward acquitting Barnes and his editors of journalistic malpractice, but it seems clear to me -- as it seems to be to Wemple -- that Barnes was far too willing to take the Alitos' word for the cause and meaning of the upside-down flag, without even contacting the neighbors with whom they said they were spatting. If that's journalism, then those winger "journalists" who "reported" that Joe Biden had tried to assassinate Donald Trump during the Mar-a-Lago search should get awards.
Christian Davenport of "the Washington Post: "Boeing's Starliner spacecraft finally carried a pair of astronauts into orbit Wednesday, a key milestone in the company's troubled quest to provide NASA with a spacecraft capable of flying crews to the International Space Station. An Atlas V rocket, operated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, lifted off from its pad at 10:52 a.m., lighting up the sky of Florida's Space Coast in what was heralded as a triumphant beginning to a test of how the spacecraft operates with a crew on board." (Also linked yesterday.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Why That Didn't Work Out. Benjamin Mullin & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Weeks before the embattled executive editor of The Washington Post [Sally Buzbee] abruptly resigned on Sunday, her relationship with the company's chief executive became increasingly tense. In mid-May, the two clashed over whether to publish an article about a British hacking scandal with some ties to The Post's chief executive, Will Lewis, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions.... The interaction over the [hacking case] was not the primary reason for her resignation. Ms. Buzbee had already been mulling her future at The Post because of a plan by Mr. Lewis to reorganize the newsroom that he laid out to her in April, the people said." MB: Lewis came from the Rupert Murdoch School of "Journalism," so it's hardly surprising that he couldn't abide a real journalist.
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Georgia. Khristopher Brooks of CBS News: "The Georgia plant where General Mills produces cereal and trail mix is run by a 'Good Ole Boy' network of White men who have spent decades wrongfully demoting and hurling racial slurs at Black workers, eight current and former employees allege in a federal lawsuit filed this week. The class-action suit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, accused General Mills of violating federal civil rights laws, as well as state and federal racketeering laws."
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Israel/Palestine, et al. Wafaa Shurafa & Samy Magdy of the AP: "An Israeli strike early Thursday on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed more than 30 people, including 23 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school.... Witnesses and hospital officials said the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known by the acronym UNRWA. The school was filled with Palestinians who had fled Israeli offensives and bombardment in northern Gaza, they said."
Ukraine, et al. AP: "Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and a fuel depot in Russian border regions, officials in the targeted areas said Thursday, in Kyiv's ongoing effort to disrupt the Kremlin's war machine and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought further Western support in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. Zelenskyy was due to join world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, at D-Day commemorations in France on Thursday. On Friday, he was due to meet with French officials. Zelenskyy's trip came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could provide long-range weapons to other countries so that they could strike Western targets. That threat came after NATO allies said they would allow Ukraine to use weapons they deliver to Kyiv to attack Russian territory."
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Reader Comments (16)
Byron Donalds: "During Jim Crow, ...more Black people voted conservatively."
Huh? My understanding was that a significant part of Jim Crow was keeping Black people from voting, or having any sort of wealth or power, conservative or otherwise.
R's seem to no longer have a problem with facts of any kind, pesky or otherwise.
Helluva way to run a country.
@NiskyGuy: I have no intention of getting into Donalds' head, but it's possible he has heard that many Southern Blacks voted Republican back in the day. That is true, not because they were conservative-minded folks happy to live under Jim Crow laws, but because most Southern Democratic politicians were racist segregationists, while quite a few Republicans, at least on a national level, were less racist. The civil rights legislation of the 1960s would not have passed without Republican support, and it was Southern Democrats who filibustered the bills.
The art of being a Republican politician involves taking a fact and shape-shifting it until it fits into your handy Winger Ideology Pack o' Lies.
June 6. 180 degrees from Jan. 6. The antithesis of ideologies. June 6, the beginning of the culmination of our fight against hatred, racism, and fascism, and against a dictator who despised democracy, rule of law, Justice, and bedrock American principles, who weaponized the institutions of the state and the courts into instruments of corruption, who whipped up his followers with lies, bigotry, fear, ignorance, and promises of violent vengeance against their hated enemies.
Jan 6, the beginning of the culmination of the fight FOR hatred, racism, fascism, in support of a dictator who despises democracy, rule of law, Justice, and bedrock American principles, who weaponized the instruments of the state and the courts into instruments of corruption, who whips up his followers with lies, bigotry, fear, ignorance, and promises of violent vengeance against their hated enemies.
The choice couldn’t be clearer. This isn’t an argumentum ad Hitlerum, this is a statement of facts.
One could easily expect, today, the anniversary of D-Day, a post by a certain fascist monster, a post wondering why we got into WWII in the first place. I mean, what was it all about?
In fact, had this particular fascist monster been around back then, there’d have been no need for D-Day. There was a deal to be made and he’d have made it. The war would’ve been over in 24 hours. Hitler would’ve stopped the war, but only for Trump.
He wanted a few things, so okay, make a deal. Give him Europe and the Jews, and the war would be over. No Omaha Beach, no Market Garden, no Battle of the Bulge—what was that anyway, a weight loss program? Besides those Nazis were very good people.
Then we could all go back to pussy grabbing, grifting, and more great deal making just like that. Principles? Too messy. Who needs ‘em? MAGA!
One of the idiots in Congress
"Tommy Tuberville Tries to Argue Putin Has No Interest in Ukraine
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) argued Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin—who ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 while declaring that the country has no claim to independence and that its people are “connected with us by blood”—doesn’t actually want Ukraine because he already has “enough land.”
“He doesn’t want Ukraine. He doesn’t want Europe. Hell, he’s got enough land of his own,” Tubervile insisted. “He just wants to make sure that he does not have United States weapons in Ukraine pointing at Moscow.”"
MoviePass fraud.
They changed passwords so users couldn't use or cancel their service. They have emails of them discussing the scam, but they only have to promise to not do it again and didn't even receive a fine. This an actual rigged system that doesn't punish the fraudsters with jail time. One FTC commissioner thought the pinky promise not to steal from customers again was too much.
How much we’ve lost…
Sen. Potato Head sez “He just wants to make sure that he does not have United States weapons in Ukraine pointing at Moscow.”
Can you imagine a right wing senator coddling a Russian dictator who’s worried about American weaponry?
Not long ago, an American politician who counseled being nice to a Russian leader whose goal in life was to destroy the United States would be pelted, persecuted, pilloried, pissed on, and pitch capped.
Now he’s invited on Fox as an expert on foreign relations and considered a hero to the MAGAts.
Dictator coddling has become de rigueur in Magastan. They get a lot of practice.
Florida
"Anonymous Statewide Grand Jury targets Fauci, public health officials for causing overdoses during COVID-19 pandemic
While the nation responds to the historic spectacle of a Manhattan jury convicting an ex-president of criminal activity, a statewide grand jury in Florida is moving under cover of secrecy toward a political reckoning on behalf of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis loyalists appear to be guiding 18 unidentified Floridians to make a case against the federal government’s pandemic policies. The grand jury’s deliberations are confidential; its public work product looks alarming.
In a report filed on May 21, the Tampa-based grand jury investigating “any and all wrongdoing related to the COVID-19 vaccine” tags federal public health officials with responsibility for an unspecified number of drug overdoses.
The grand jury report makes this bizarre, convoluted argument: Early in the pandemic, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases rejected Ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment; some desperate sufferers believed it was a “miracle drug” the government was lying about; because most doctors didn’t dare prescribe Ivermectin, patients obtained it on their own but didn’t know how to use it. Some of them overdosed.
Therefore, the jury concluded, public health officials who trashed Ivermectin caused the overdoses. “This was a profound failure of public health messaging,” the jury’s report says.
“We lay every overdose that occurred at the feet of those who authored this campaign of vilification [Fauci],” the report states"
Of AI’s and FU’s
Trump became President* with a huge helping hand from Russian troll farms set up by Putin to screw with American democratic institutions and to handicap America itself by ensuring the victory of an ignorant puppet. That was eight years ago. Now?
“Now imagine that a large-scale state-owned A.I. capable of imitating millions of people simultaneously was deployed across multiple social media sites to imitate reporters, government officials, scientists, politicians, and average people, all with the purpose of subtly convincing users to alter their perception of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
It would be literally millions of times more effective than the clumsy efforts of Putin’s St. Petersburg Internet Research Agency troll farm that convinced enough Americans in six targeted states to vote for Trump that they appear to have helped hand him the 2016 election.
That project took hundreds of people and hundreds of thousands of man-hours (and went quiet during Russian holidays). Today, an A.I. running at scale could accomplish the same thing, appearing as hundreds of thousands of “people” with an A.I.-configured supercomputer and a few hundred kilowatts of electricity, all without taking a minute off for a coffee, bathroom, or holiday break.”
Restricting the use of AI requires ethical restraint and a commitment to transparency and responsibility, none of which could, in any possible universe, be ascribed to the forces of chaos, both domestically and abroad, supporting Donald Trump.
And guess what else?
“This fall may well be the first big national test of this ‘new internet,’ and, like the Internet Research Agency’s interventions in 2016, could well lead to a disaster, including Trump’s election.
Republicans in the House and Senate are committed to preventing any legislative action around this issue…”
It’s a big FU from the PoT about AI.
Surprised? Not I.
It’s been on hiatus for some time now (funny bone’s been in a cast) but what the hell. Time once again for.. Bad Limericks!
Of MAGA sons and daughters
Few are considered odder
Than that Florida “judge”
Who for Honesty won’t budge
She makes Justice her own Cannon fodder
As Trump’s legal troubles prevail
And his threats far exceed the known pale
His MAGAts in kind
All show their behinds
And into the maelstrom we sail
The media looks to both sides
As investigations by traitors abide
The Congress they slow
And got nothin’ to show
But stupidity, both deep and wide
(Okay, not the best, but that funny bone still in rehab.)
Trumpskievsky probably thinks today is a holiday for his highness.
Not D-Day, but Donald-Day.
Don't forget his glee of Flsg Day falling on his birthday.
…also…
Douchebag Day
Dumbass Day
Daffy Day
Dickhead Day
Debauchery Day
Dazed and Confused Day
Delusional Day
Depraved Day
Decrepit Day
Doxxing Day
Diddler’s Day
Defamation Day
Dictator’s Day
Devious Day
Debacle Day
Devoid of Humanity Day
Disgraceful Jailbird Day
Lots more…
“He’s satisfied with what he has…”
Isn’t this what Neville Chamberlain said about Hitler, right before he invaded Poland?
As Marie points out, some traitors pretend to be stupid, some aspire to stupidity, some have stupidity thrust upon them, and some are genuinely stupid, born that way and never recover.
Vide Potato Head.
An article in the NYT about a recall petition for a county clerk in Nevada is entertaining but scary, interesting but banal, and illustrative of the rot in judgment caused by disinformation, fundamentalism, and the right's campaigns to remove, demoralize, and overburden local election officials.
There is brief accounting in the article for the fact that the election clerk's RWNJ antagonist gets her "ammunition" from radio and chat groups dedicated to monkey-wrenching voting, by legal methods that tie up the system when pushed to the limit (e.g., triple-hand counts of votes, pushing clerical staff to the edge of exhaustion against certification deadlines; submission of "information requests" citing a variety of regulations and codes which require time-consuming checks and voluminous production of arcane minutiae; challenges to each action by clerks as they perform their duties; etc.)
If you assume that that antagonist in the article is just one of many that are receiving instructions on how to scourge the electoral systems of Deep State riggers, you can imagine that those people are like human bots persuaded to gum up the system while believing that they are cleansing it. And once the general populaton gets the feeling that the system has been mucked up, regular voters lose faith in the process and the meaning of their votes.
That is a major goal of the wrecker bots. And it is right out of the Authoritarian Handbook. And various Cassandras have been warning about just that for years now. But it persists, like rust, never sleeping and always, inexorably, weakening the structure.
And ... the people in this Nevada county live in almost-ghost towns on the edge of the desert, and isolated houses. They all pretty much know one another, but in the past twenty years about half of them have come to distrust the other half. I believe RW talk radio is the probable immediate cause, playing on aging querulousness, limited diversity, and underlying Old Testament self-righteousness. This cast of characters is like something out of an old Twilight Zone episode.