;)
The Conversation -- March 2, 2024
Michigan GOP Convention(s). Neil Vigdor & Steve Friess of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump capped off a clean sweep of Republican delegates in Michigan on Saturday during a raucous convention, which further exposed a deep fissure in the state party that threatens to fester in one of the most important battleground states. Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner, amassed at least 90 percent of the vote in all but one of the state's 13 congressional districts against former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina.... A simple majority was needed in each district to win its share of delegates at the caucus-style event, giving Mr. Trump 39, to go along with the 12 that he won in Michigan's primary, which was held on Tuesday. Ms. Haley emerged from that contest with four delegates.... But a protracted fight over the state party's rightful leader spilled over into the proceedings, where an estimated 200 Republican stalwarts from about 20 of Michigan's 83 counties were denied credentials. Two other groups boycotted the event and held breakaway conventions, one more than 100 miles to the north in Houghton Lake, Mich., and another more than 50 miles southeast in Battle Creek, Mich."
Tara Copp & Seung Min Kim of the AP: "U.S. military C-130 cargo planes dropped food in pallets over Gaza on Saturday in the opening stage of an emergency humanitarian assistance authorized by President Joe Biden after more than 100 Palestinians who had surged to pull goods off an aid convoy were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops. Three planes from Air Forces Central dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals into Gaza at 8:30 a.m. EST (3:30 p.m. local). The bundles were dropped in southwest Gaza, on the beach along the territory's Mediterranean coast. The airdrop was coordinated with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, which said it had two food airdrops Saturday in northern Gaza and has conducted several rounds in recent months."
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** The Great Putin Puppet Show. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... the House Republicans' year-long attempt to impeach [President] Biden, it now seems clear, was based on a Russian disinformation campaign -- and House Republicans went along with it, either as useful idiots or knowing accomplices. The Republicans' star witness, Alexander Smirnov, has been indicted by a special counsel for fabricating the claim that Joe Biden received a $5 million bribe. He was apparently doing the bidding of Russian intelligence.... Before that, the Republican sleuths' other key witness, Gal Luft, went missing. It turned out he had been charged in a sealed indictment with arms trafficking and illegal lobbying work -- for China. He remains on the lam. Republicans have also relied on the accounts of one of Hunter Biden's former business partners, who was sentenced to prison for defrauding a Native American tribe, and of a convicted fraudster House investigators went to visit last week at a prison in Alabama.... They have produced nothing that shows Joe Biden was involved in any way in the businesses of his son.
"Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) and his House Republicans, some of them citing Russia's talking points, are blocking funds for Ukraine's war effort that the Senate passed overwhelmingly. Are they unwitting tools of Moscow? Or willing conduits? At the very least, they don't seem to care that they are serving as Vladimir Putin's pawns." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)
Bad News for Bribable Bob. Larry Neumeister of the AP: "A New Jersey businessman pleaded guilty Friday to trying to bribe U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, admitting that he gave the senator's wife a car to influence him and agreeing to a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to testify in the corruption case against the powerful Democrat. Jose Uribe, of Clifton, New Jersey, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to seven charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery from 2018 to 2023, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice and tax evasion. As he described his crimes in court, Uribe told Judge Sidney H. Stein that he conspired with several people, including Nadine Menendez, to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in return for her husband 'using his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates.'" The New York Times story is here.
The Trials of Trump & the Trump Gang
Can, Kicked. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida held a hearing on Friday to consider a new date for ... Donald J. Trump's trial on charges of mishandling classified documents, but made no immediate decision about a choice that could have major consequences for his legal and political future.... Several decisions Judge [Aileen] Cannon has reached in recent months about the pacing of the case have made it all but impossible for the trial to start in May[, as originally scheduled].... Judge Cannon's decision about whether to go with a July date, an August date or something later in the documents case could have an effect on the timing of the election case, as well. Mr. Trump attended the hearing on Friday....
"Under questioning from Judge Cannon, [prosecutor Jay] Bratt, for the first time, publicly asserted that if a trial was conducted in September and October, the government would not be violating a Justice Department policy against holding proceedings too close to an election -- a provision known as the '60-day rule.' He said that the policy forbade prosecutors from bringing new charges in the run-up to an election, but did not stop them from prosecuting an indictment that had already been filed." Feuer provides some examples of Cannon's not knowing WTF she was doing. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Maybe you remember way back to Thursday night when Trump's lawyers reportedly submitted a filing in this case asking Judge Cannon for an August 12 date to begin the trial. Oops, never mind. ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors are seeking to start in July, while Trump's lawyers say the trial should wait until after the election, or August at the earliest.... [Judge Aileen] Cannon was careful in her questioning to sidestep much discussion of the election calendar on Friday, even as Trump's lawyers brought it up frequently."
Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A judge in the Georgia election interference case against ... Donald J. Trump heard final arguments on Friday on a motion to disqualify the prosecutor who brought the case, Fani T. Willis, on the ground that a romantic relationship she had with a subordinate [Nathan Wade] created a conflict of interest.... Defense lawyers on Friday repeatedly asserted that the bar for disqualification should be relatively low, arguing that even the appearance of a conflict of interest should lead to Ms. Willis's removal from the case because her actions had undermined public confidence in it.... 'The defense has to show an actual conflict,' [Fulton County prosecutor Adam] Abbate said, adding that it had not done so in this case. [He cited case law to back up his assertion.] The question of whether the defense needs to show an actual conflict or just an appearance of one could prove pivotal.... [Judge Scott McAfee] said ... that he would rule within two weeks." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I listened to a chunk of the arguments, and I thought it was pretty clear the prosecutor's office had a far better case. The defense lawyers, if sometimes slick, seemed to be grasping at straws, especially since they provided no clear evidence that Willis had lied on the stand or in court filings. They hung their hats on the "appearance of impropriety," an appearance they largely conjured themselves & asserted without evidence. Willis, IMO, made a mistake in involving herself with another prosecutor, but -- as another Georgian has said -- the heart is a lonely hunter. In Georgia, romantic involvement, even marriage, is not unlawful or grounds for removal of attorneys, even those who represent opposing sides of a case.
Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a sentencing enhancement used against Jan. 6 defendants charged with felony obstruction, a decision that means that over 100 convicted rioters may have to be resentenced. The decision came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday when it upheld the felony conviction of a Jan. 6 defendant who stormed the U.S. Capitol, reaffirming a charge also lodged against ... Donald Trump that will soon be debated by the Supreme Court. It's not clear what benefit retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Larry R. Brock Jr. or any other Jan. 6 defendant will receive because of the ruling. Enhancements raise the range of suggested sentences judges must consider. D.C. judges usually sentence below those guidelines, and regularly make clear that their punishments would be the same without the enhancement. The ruling could have an impact in plea negotiations, eliminating one bargaining chip used by prosecutors when encouraging defendants to plead guilty without a trial. If the Supreme Court reverses or pares back the use of the obstruction charge, all of those cases would have to be reconsidered anew." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here.
Presidential Race
Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: "Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' on Friday that she doesn't know whether Donald Trump would follow the Constitution if elected president again. 'I don't know. I mean, you always want to think someone will, but I don't know,' Haley said."
Maine. Michael Shepherd of the Bangor Daily News: "U.S. Sen. Susan Collins voted for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, becoming only the third member of Congress to back the longshot challenger to ... Donald Trump. Collins, a longtime Trump skeptic who was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict him on a Democratic impeachment charge related to the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, backed Haley in a Friday statement in response to questions from the Bangor Daily News. She called Haley 'extremely well-qualified' to be the first female president."
Marie: Over the years, we have looked in wonder at the insane "opinions" of Trump and his followers, opinions that have no grounding in facts. Perhaps we should stop making fun of these wackos, and we should definitely stop being surprised. Although these people may be able to function in some situations that others with mental illnesses cannot, in general, I think they're suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. And that's not a joke. It's a thing. ~~~
~~~ However, in fairness to your run-of-the-mill Trumpbots, many may present as suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome when their symptoms result from reading only right-wing outlets and social media. For instance, the New York Post, a Murdoch owned-and-operated enterprise in running a story today sporting this headline: "Joe Biden got $40K from China funds, brother James admits in bombshell impeachment interview." I looked around the Internets and could find this story only on right-wing sites. According to the Hill, which is itself rather rightish (Feb. 21): "Republicans have specifically zeroed in on two checks James Biden paid his brother -- one worth $200,000 and another $40,000 -- that GOP lawmakers allege played a role in a bribery scheme. No evidence, however, has been provided to prove those claims, and the Bidens have described them as loan repayments.... '... They were short-term loans that I received from Joe when he was a private citizen, and I repaid them within weeks. He had no information at all about the source of the funds I used to repay him,' James Biden said in his opening statement."
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "The Biden administration issued new rules on Friday designed to prevent disasters at almost 12,000 chemical plants and other industrial sites nationwide that handle hazardous materials. The regulations for the first time tell facilities to explicitly address disasters, such as storms or floods, that could trigger an accidental release, including threats linked to climate change. For the first time, chemical sites that have had prior accidents will need to undergo an independent audit. And the rules require chemical plants to share more information with neighbors and emergency responders.... Former President Barack Obama had tried to strengthen the rules, proposing safeguards after a deadly 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas killed 15 people. The Trump administration rolled back most of those rules before they took effect, part of a slew of environmental and safety regulations that it unraveled."
New Covid Guidelines. Brenda Goodman of CNN: "People who test positive for Covid-19 no longer need to routinely stay away from others for at least five days, according to new guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Friday.... The agency says it's updating its recommendations for Covid-19 to bring them in line with its advice for other kinds of respiratory infections.... Namely, the CDC now says people who have Covid-19 should stay home until they've been fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and their symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. After that, it's fine to resume regular activities, agency experts say. But they recommend that people take additional precautions for the next five days -- including improving ventilation, masking and limiting close contact with others -- to lower the risk of spreading the virus."
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "The two largest pharmacy chains in the United States will start dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone this month, a step that could make access easier for some patients. Officials at CVS and Walgreens said in interviews on Friday that they had received certification to dispense mifepristone under guidelines that the Food and Drug Administration issued last year. The chains plan to make the medication available in stores in a handful of states at first. They will not be providing the medication by mail. Both chains said they would gradually expand to all other states where abortion was legal and where pharmacies were legally able to dispense abortion pills -- about half of the states. President Biden said in a statement on Friday that the availability of the pill at pharmacies was 'an important milestone in ensuring access to mifepristone, a drug that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective for more than 20 years.'" The Huffington Post's story is here.
Mystery at Sea. Katie Lillis & Evan Perez of CNN: "Commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska have found what officials are concerned could be another spy balloon and are bringing it to shore with them, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. FBI agents will meet the fishing vessel when it comes into port, which is expected to be sometime over the weekend. The bureau will then transport the unknown object to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed, as has been done with previous surveillance balloons. The fishmen shared photographs of the object with law enforcement upon encountering it, the sources said. All three sources emphasized that it wasn't clear exactly what the object was and that it may not be a balloon at all -- but that the FBI determined that it was similar enough in appearance to a foreign-government owned surveillance balloon that it warranted further investigation."
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Alabama. Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Washington Post: "The Alabama legislature voted Thursday to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from criminal or civil liability if embryos they create are subsequently damaged or destroyed. The fast action by both the House and Senate on bills to shield IVF came less than two weeks after the state's Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and that individuals could be liable for destroying them. The unprecedented decision, which gave fertilized eggs the same protection as babies under the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, threw IVF treatment in Alabama into turmoil. Within days, nearly every clinic in the state either suspended IVF or halted embryo disposal."
New York. Michael Hill of the AP: "A man who fatally shot a 20-year-old woman after the SUV she was riding in mistakenly drove into his rural driveway in upstate New York was sentenced Friday to more than 25 years to life in prison. Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death last April of Kaylin Gillis. She was riding in a caravan of two cars and a motorcycle that was trying to leave after pulling into Monahan's long, winding driveway while looking for a party at another person's house in the town of Hebron. 'I think it's important that people know that it is not OK to shoot people and kill them who drive down your driveway,' Judge Adam Michelini said. Apart from the wider deterrent effect, Michelini said it's important that Monahan remain behind bars rather than be free to harm more people."
Pennsylvania. Justine McDaniel of the Washington Post: "A 54-year-old Philadelphia man who spent nearly 30 years in prison was exonerated and freed this week. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office dropped all charges Wednesday against Daniel Gwynn and said that he had been wrongfully convicted of murdering a woman named Marsha Smith in 1994. Gwynn, who had maintained his innocence since his conviction and death sentence, was ordered by a judge to be released from a state prison on Wednesday, according to the district attorney's office, which announced the exoneration in a statement.... Gwynn's case is among dozens that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has sought to revisit; 41 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated under his administration, according to his office."
Wisconsin Congressional Map. Scott Bauer of the AP: "The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Democratic lawsuit that sought to throw out the battleground state's congressional maps, marking a victory for Republicans who argued against the court taking up the case. The decision leaves the state's current congressional district boundaries in place for the November election.... The court declined to take up the case. It did not give a reason in the unanimous unsigned order. Justice Janet Protasiewicz, whose election last year gave liberals a majority on the court, did not participate. There was a request for her to recuse, but Protasiewicz said she didn't participate because she wasn't on the court when the case was originally brought."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
CNN's live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Aid agencies have criticized US plans to drop food aid into Gaza. Oxfam said the plans "mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza.... There are growing international calls for an investigation into the carnage at the aid convoy. The UN says many survivors suffered gunshot wounds. Israel said its forces fired warning shots after seeing people trampled but witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire, triggering panic." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Saturday are here.
Marie: Early this morning ET, CNN International reported on air that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had made a "surprise announcement" that Israel would begin halting hostilities for two hours each day to allow for humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza. I haven't found a print story on that. Update: At 8:25 am ET, there's no mention of this on CNN's liveblog, either.
Alex Marquardt, et al., of CNN: "Ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire agreement to halt the fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza by Ramadan appear to still be on track, even after more than 100 Palestinians were killed on Thursday as they tried to access food in Gaza City, according to officials familiar with the discussions. US officials on Friday said there are no indications that the discussions had been significantly derailed but much hinges on an expected Hamas response to what has been discussed in Paris and Doha in the past week between the other countries involved: Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the US. On Thursday, a Hamas official warned the negotiations could be impacted.... On Friday afternoon, President Joe Biden called for an 'immediate ceasefire.' 'We're trying to work out a deal between Israel and Hamas on the hostages being returned and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least the next six weeks and to allow the surge of aid to the Gaza Strip,' Biden said during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni."
Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "The U.S. will begin airdropping humanitarian assistance into Gaza, President Joe Biden said Friday, a day after more than 100 Palestinians were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops. The president announced the move after at least 115 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 others were injured, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, on Thursday when witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire as huge crowds raced to pull goods off an aid convoy. Biden said the airdrops would begin soon and that the United States was looking into additional ways to facilitate getting badly needed aid into the war-battered territory to ease the suffering of Palestinians." (Also linked yesterday.)
Meh. Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "In the nearly five months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, igniting the most divisive foreign policy crisis of the Biden presidency, Donald J. Trump has said noticeably little about the subject. He criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, before quickly retreating to more standard expressions of support for the country. And he has made blustery claims that the invasion never would have happened had he been president. But his overall approach has been laissez-faire. 'So you have a war that's going on, and you're probably going to have to let this play out. You're probably going to have to let it play out, because a lot of people are dying,' Mr. Trump said in an interview with Univision a month after the attack. His main advice to Mr. Netanyahu and the Israelis, he said then, was to do a better job with 'public relations,' because the Palestinians were 'beating them at the public relations front.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: One of the most under-mentioned aspects of Trump's "America First" rhetoric is how it would -- or does -- shrink the U.S.'s power and influence around the world. As much as he portrays himself as a big man -- with cheesy digital trading cards to make the point -- his goal is to be the big man in a smaller and smaller pond. To "Make America Great Again," in Trump's "vision," is to shrink it. Isolationism is not only a version of "doesn't play well with others"; it is inherently defeatist.
Russia. Francesca Ebel, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Russians who risked arrest Friday to attend the Moscow funeral of opposition leader Alexei Navalny were thwarted by a huge force of riot police, deployed to ensure that President Vladimir Putin's charismatic rival was buried with as little fanfare as possible. But the throngs of supporters who braved the security presence sent a powerful message that many Russians still support Navalny's vision of a free, democratic Russia -- and showed his pivotal role as a man who fearlessly defied Putin from prison, even as the Russian leader led his nation into war with Ukraine and a new era of repression and intolerance."
News Lede
Weather Channel: "California's Sierra Nevada is on high alert as residents and visitors prepare for what is potentially the season's strongest storm. Snow totals are expected to be measured in feet, not inches, in many areas. Authorities and local services are taking significant steps to ensure safety and manage the anticipated challenges. Here's what's happening so far[.]"
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Reader Comments (8)
I'd love to see a list of those thousands of millionaires who didn't
file income tax, or haven't paid income taxes for a number of years.
I have a sneaking suspicion that a number of them live here on the
shores of Lake Michigan, those who buy 2 million dollar houses and
tear them down to build a 5 million dollar house. Italy must be
running out of marble to outfit all those gauche kitchens. Money
doesn't buy taste, just ask Donald Trump.
The Trump vin diagram
John Oliver on the pig butching scams.
Susanne Craig and Benjamin Weiser in The New York Times write "A moment of financial truth for Donald J. Trump... under pressure to find enough cash to stave off enormous asset seizures while he appeals judgments against him totaling at least $537 million..".
the least trustworthy of borrowers
Shane Goldmacher reports in The New York Times on the troubling "new poll by the New York Times and Siena College ... showing Mr. Biden's 43 percent support lags behind Mr. Trump's 48 percent in the national survey of registered voters."
Goldmacher continues:
"The poll showed that 53 percent of voters currently believe Mr. Trump has committed serious federal crimes, down from 58 percent in December. But viewed another way, Mr. Trump's current lead over Mr. Biden is built with a significant number of voters who believe he is a criminal"
Then more bad news:
"But over and over, The Times/Siena poll revealed how Mr. Trump has cut into traditional Democratic constituencies while holding his ground among Republican groups. The gender gap, for instance, is no longer benefiting Democrats. Women, who strongly favored Mr. Biden four years ago, are now equally split, while men gave Mr. Trump a nine-point edge. The poll showed Mr. Trump edging out Mr. Biden among Latinos, and Mr. Biden’s share of the Black vote is shrinking, too."
Granted, the election is still months away but how can it be that, at this point, a majority of citizens would vote for a criminal and deadbeat who is the least trustworthy of borrowers?
the 9-point edge
@Laura Hunter: My guess is that being a good president (or other high-profile public official) means getting bad press. When a president gets something positive done, it makes the news ... for one day and not necessarily on Page 1. When he does something, or is suspected of doing something negative, it can make the news for days and days and weeks and weeks. To wit,
Good Thing: How many people know that today, according to today's NYT, "The Biden administration issued new rules ... designed to prevent disasters at almost 12,000 chemical plants and other industrial sites nationwide that handle hazardous materials"? Bad Thing: Biden is old and maybe his memory isn't so good.
The average American voter will not even have heard that Biden has set some hazmat standards that Trump had undone -- that they will be safer because of Biden than they were when Trump was running things. They also won't remember that Biden passed his physical earlier this week and did not show any signs that his doctor thought warranted memory tests. Now that's a good thing. (Imagine if he had flunked it! That would still be at the top of the news.)
You may reasonably say, "But look at Trump! He makes the front page nearly every day, and it's usually very negative news having to do with criminality!" True enough, and that's enough for you and me. But Trump has spent his political career convincing millions of people that the mainstream media spew nothing but fake news, and he has spent the past several years arguing that the charges against him are persecutions more than prosecutions, ploys by his political enemies, starting with Joe Biden. So every day Trump's criminality makes the front page, for millions of people, that's a bad day for Joe Biden.
I think this dynamic explains the polls.
And the other dynamic is that we have a lot of people who are stupid a/o not paying attention. Many of those folks cannot perceive the disaster involved in their carelessness.
@Patrick: Well, yeah, that, too. (Wow, a sentence with every word followed by a comma! Okay, maybe not a sentence.)
DeSantis may be ganz kaput for 2024, but that doesn't mean he's out of politics. Floridians have him for the next two years, and as the link shows, he's changing the political landscape down here. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/662978-new-state-guard-graduates-more-than-double-the-size-of-gov-desantis-private-army/