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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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Sunday
Nov122023

The Conversation -- November 12, 2023

In honor of our great Veterans on Veteran's Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave, than the threat from within. Despite the hatred and anger of the Radical Left Lunatics who want to destroy our Country, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! -- Donald Trump, in what was supposed to be a Veterans Day message ~~~

~~~ A paragraph for readers who can't handle the subtle nuances of Mein Kampf. -- Journalism Prof. Bill Grueskin ~~~

Please tell us if this reminds you of any earlier historical figure. -- Historian Michael Beschloss ~~~

The use of 'vermin' ... appears in history in chiefly in one context, and one context only.... [It is] straight-up Nazi talk, in a way [Trump has] never done quite before. -- Michael Tomasky of the New Republic ~~~

This vermin must be destroyed. The Jews are our sworn enemies, and at the end of this year there will not be a Jew left in Germany. -- Adolf Hitler, 1939

I apologize for underplaying this earlier today. Once again, argumentum ad Hitlerum is not a logical fallacy. -- Marie Burns

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin Freking & Stephen Groves of the AP: "House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his proposal on Saturday to avoid a partial government shutdown by extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2. The approach is unusual for a stopgap spending bill. Usually, lawmakers extend funding until a certain date for all programs.... The bill excludes funding requested by President Joe Biden for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. border with Mexico." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: All I can figure out is that Johnson's plan is to pass the buck to the Senate and President; if they don't approve the bill, Mike will blame Democrats for shutting down the government. ~~~

     ~~~ The White House statement, by Karine Jean-Pierre is here. Here's a piece of it: "With just days left before an Extreme Republican Shutdown -- and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader -- House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties." ~~~

     ~~~ AND. Olivia Beavers, et al., of the Politico: "It already seems unlikely the spending plan could pass the House, with the new speaker saying they would need Democrats to support it.... Johnson has told members he plans to bring the plan up for a floor vote on Tuesday, but its chances already seem bleak.... The Rules Committee is scheduled to consider the spending plan Monday, eventually deciding whether it can come to the House floor. One conservative on that panel, House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) already announced on X he would oppose the legislation, saying it amounted to a 'clean CR.'... Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) also posted on X that they would vote against the spending package. Johnson can only afford to lose four GOP votes if all Democrats oppose it, assuming full attendance.... Johnson told the House GOP that if this package fails to pass the chamber, he plans to bring a full-year stopgap spending bill to the floor. That package would include blanket cuts to non-defense spending, he said...."

Josh Gerstein of the Politico: "Donald Trump is endorsing an effort by news organizations to provide live television coverage of his trial on federal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In a bombastic legal filing submitted late Friday to the judge who's scheduled that trial to begin in March, Trump's attorneys argued he's the victim of political persecution by President Joe Biden's administration and should be allowed to use the platform of TV to showcase the proceedings’ unfairness. 'The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness. President Trump calls for sunlight,' defense attorneys John Lauro and Todd Blanche wrote." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

Paul Campos in LG&$: "Biden and Trump are going to be the choice people face next November not because of a dereliction of our political elites, but because that's what a democratic primary process in the two major parties is going to produce, by overwhelming consensus in both cases. The political elites would very much prefer otherwise.... The 'manifestly too old' thing about [President] Biden is at this point just completely weird Biden is barely older than Trump, and Trump seems vastly less coherent, even by his incredibly degraded standards.... In American presidential politics right now, the only thing that matters is whether you are doing what you can to advance Joe Biden's candidacy or Donald Trump's. There are no other choices. Anything that undercuts Biden's chances of getting re-elected is objectively pro-Trump. Thumb suckers about (76-year-old!) Joe Manchin as a middle way alternative are, at the margin, bad for Biden and good for Trump." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "I wanted to make a couple of follow-up points to Paul's excellent post ... because bad faith arguments like [NYT columnist Ross] Douthat's are going to become increasingly common, especially if some combination of Manchin and Romney decide to run a No Labels ratfucking campaign. Let's stipulate that, in an ideal world, it would be better to have a presidential nominee who was younger than 75. It should also be clear that given the actual alternatives in the 2024 election Biden's age should be absolutely, 100% immaterial: Manchin and Romney being the dream candidates for the 'Biden's age is entirely disqualifying' crowd is useful, because Manchin and Romney would both be over 80 by the end of their first term. Dreaming on Manchin and Romney makes it absolutely stark just how much bad faith is involved in the 'Biden, and only Biden, is too old to be president' argument.... Because age is immaterial to this particular race, the only reason to prefer Trump is because you prefer reactionary authoritarianism to liberalism. That's it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The only writer I've read who was willing to tell the truth about "Biden's too old" was Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times. She did this some time back. Biden is perceived as being too old because he garbles his words. All the time. Every other sentence. His sentences are coherent, for the most part, but his delivery is not. As in "The King's Speech" (which is based on a true story), Biden could learn to enunciate more clearly. He has chosen not to take the time to do that, and not to take the time to speak clearly. If he wants to be perceived as "not too old," the solution is simple: speak clearly. P.S. I'm not linking Douthat's column, but you can find it if you really want to read it.

Marisa Iati & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "The DeSantis campaign recently posted a thread of more than two dozen clumsy or confusing remarks by ... Donald Trump, positing that 'this is why his handlers won't let him debate.' Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, speaking to Jewish donors, mocked Trump for speaking positively about the leaders of China and North Korea, saying he is evidently 'confused' about which countries are American allies and which are adversaries. And the Biden campaign has also stepped up its posts about Trump's verbal fumbles, including a minute-long video compilation of various miscues. In press statements, it has slammed Trump for mispronouncing 'Hamas' and for musing aloud that the abbreviation for United States is spelled like the word 'us.' As Trump's Republican rivals face growing pressure to stop his momentum, while Democrats seek to neutralize concerns about Biden's age, the two sides are converging on a common argument -- that Trump's cognition has declined too far for him to lead the country again."

The Nastiest POS in the U.S. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump, on a day set aside to celebrate those who have defended the United States in uniform, promised to honor veterans in part by assailing what he portrayed as America's greatest foe: the political left. Using incendiary and dehumanizing language to refer to his opponents, Mr. Trump vowed to 'root out' what he called 'the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.... The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within,' Mr. Trump said Saturday in a nearly two-hour Veterans Day address in Claremont, N.H.... Here are some of the more notable elements of Mr. Trump's Veterans Day speech."

President for Life. Marie: Yesterday we linked to a WashPo story that cited Donald Trump's saying during a Univision interview,

"They [Democrats] have done something that allows the next party .. if I happen to be president and I see somebody who's doing well and beating me very badly, I say, "Go down and indict them." They'd be out of business. They'd be out of the election."

Trump's plan to break the knees of his political adversaries has gained at least some of the attention it deserves. But I haven't heard a single mention of Part 2 of what Trump says is the plan. To parse Trump's terrible syntax as best I can: Trump says here, "If I am elected president*, I will tell DOJ to indict anyone who is 'beating me very badly' in the next election." Now, I ask you, What "next election"? Should Trump win a second term, he would be term-limited out. Under the Constitution, he cannot run again; there cannot be another presidential election in which Trump is president*, he sics the DOJ on an opponent who is "beating me very badly." Ergo, it is obvious that Trump plans to run for a third term.


Mass Murder, Brought to You by the Federal Government. Ben Dooley of the New York Times: The "Lake City Army Ammunition Plant..., the federal site ... built during World War II ... in Independence, Mo., has made nearly all the rifle cartridges used by the U.S. military since it pulled out of Vietnam. In recent years, the factory has also pumped billions of rounds of military-grade ammunition into the commercial market, an investigation by The New York Times found, leaving the 'LC' signature scattered across crime scenes, including the sites of some of the nation's most heinous mass shootings. The plant, operated by a private contractor with Army oversight, is now one of the country's biggest manufacturers of commercial rounds for the popular AR-15, and it remains so even as the United States supplies ammunition to Ukraine.... Starting in 2012 with the massacre of 12 people at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., the rounds have been tied to at least a dozen mass shootings involving AR-15-style guns, including at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis -- and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.... Over the last two decades, the government has invested more than $860 million to improve and repair the plant and expand its capacity, according to Justine Barati, an Army spokeswoman.... The Defense Department argues that the public-private partnership is necessary for national security."

Pope to Bishop: "You're Fired." Ruth Graham & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis fired on Saturday a bishop in Texas who was one of his loudest American critics within the Catholic Church, a highly rare dismissal that appeared to reflect the growing rift between the Vatican and a more conservative wing of the church. The Vatican did not cite a reason for the dismissal of the bishop, Joseph Strickland, saying in a statement only that the pope 'relieved' Bishop Strickland from the governance of his diocese in Tyler, Texas. Bishop Strickland had significant ideological differences with Pope Francis. He was arguably the most prominent figure representing traditionalist American Catholics who see Francis as dangerously liberal on social issues like divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage, and on theological issues including his discouragement of the Latin Mass. Ultraconservatives in the United States have emerged as the financial center and media megaphone of the resistance to Francis' papacy."

~~~~~~~~~~

Virginia Political Races. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) will not seek reelection in Virginia's 7th District next year so she can run for Virginia governor in 2025, according to two people familiar with the Democrat's plans. Spanberger, who won a third term last year in one of the state's most competitive swing districts, will announce her gubernatorial bid very soon, according to the two, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the congresswoman had hoped to make her announcement a surprise."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Gaza's Health Ministry said its largest hospital, al-Shifa, was an 'open war zone' on Sunday, a day after the ministry's director general told The Washington Post that Israeli forces were 'striking us from all sides.' Israel denied that its forces were targeting or blockading al-Shifa. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, saying Israel would assert 'total security control' after the fighting ends. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt will open again on Sunday for 'foreign passport holders' whose names are on preapproved departure lists, Wael Abu Omar, a Gaza border official, told The Post." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here.

Wafaa Shurafa & Bassem Mroue of the AP: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against growing international calls for a cease-fire, saying Israel's battle to crush Gaza's ruling Hamas militants will continue with 'full force.' A cease-fire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, Netanyahu said in a televised address. The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would retain security control there. Asked what he meant by security control, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must be able to enter Gaza freely to hunt down militants." (Also linked yesterday.)

Megan Specia of the New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of people marched through central London in a huge pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday, a tense day in which the police battled with a small right-wing group to keep order on some city streets. The large march in support of the Palestinian cause coincided with Armistice Day, when Britain commemorates those who fought in World War I and subsequent conflicts, and followed days of debate about whether the protest should be allowed to go ahead. A spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police Service said by phone on Saturday afternoon that about 300,000 people had attended the march, making it one of the largest protests in Britain in recent years. Earlier in the day, a right-wing group clashed with the police near the Cenotaph, a war memorial close to the prime minister's official residence, shortly after a two-minute silence was held to mark Remembrance Day. Videos showed some people bursting through a cordoned-off area. By late Saturday, the police said that 126 people had been arrested."

Ukraine, et al. Shane Harris & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country's intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people.... The officer's role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine's military and security leadership to a controversial act of sabotage that has spawned multiple criminal investigations and that U.S. and Western officials have called a dangerous attack on Europe's energy infrastructure. Roman Chervinsky, a decorated 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, was the 'coordinator' of the Nord Stream operation..., managing logistics and support for a six-person team that rented a sailboat under false identities and used deep-sea diving equipment to place explosive charges on the gas pipelines. On Sept. 26, 2022, three explosions caused massive leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The attack left only one of the four gas links in the network intact as winter approached. Chervinsky ... took orders from more senior Ukrainian officials, who ultimately reported to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's highest-ranking military officer, said people familiar.... Chervinsky's participation in the Nord Stream bombing contradicts [President] Zelensky's public denials that his country was involved." (Also linked yesterday.)

Comments Off

Reader Comments (8)

Snowbirds voting in Florida? That's a suggestion from Ron DeSantis that to be a desperation move to get every possible vote. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/644027-desantis-snowbird-caucus/

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

@Bobby Lee: Sounds pretty harebrained. Most snowbirds don't come to Florida until after the Christmas-New Year's holidays. The Iowa caucuses are on January 15, so they can afford to take in the beauty of winter in Iowa for a couple more weeks before they make their trek south. And what makes Ron think they're more likely to caucus for him -- rather than Trump -- if they're on Marco Island instead of in Sioux City?

November 12, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Thanks to @Patrick for teaching me a new word yesterday: "crawthumper." I checked all the English-language translations of the NT (well, okay, that's a lie; I checked one), and none of them uses the word "crawthumper." But it's a great word with Biblical application! Thus, one of the more famous lines from the Sermon on the Mount could read, “And when you pray, you must not be like the crawthumpers." [Matthew 6:5]

November 12, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

More on mass murder: A review (so we don't have to read the book?)

Another consequence of the unholy alliance of capitalism and the paranoid style in American politics that Hofstadter identified seventy years ago.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/11/09/gun-country-andrew-mckevitt-review/

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Trump's corrupting influence,
"FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub on Thursday said her Republican colleagues have effectively put former President Donald Trump “in [a] category by himself” by refusing to investigate at least 28 instances where the agency’s professional staff determined that Trump or his family members likely violated regulations. In a statement, Weintraub revealed that there are at least 58 instances where the Federal Election Commission heard allegations against Trump. In at least 28 of those, staff at the Office of General Counsel determined that a criminal investigation was warranted—all of which went overlooked by Republican commissioners, who refused to approve any of Counsel’s recommendations against Trump. “My colleagues purport to be treating the former President and the current President alike, but the data is clear: At the FEC, Mr. Trump is in category by himself,” Weintraub said."

Trump's vision of America

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/12/opinion/ohio-abortion-republicans.html


I thought French makes an intriguing distinction between libertarian and libertine. Hadn’t thought of it.

My comment:

Interesting distinction here between libertarian and libertine, well-worth making and pursuing, tho' I've always associated libertarian with naïveté and egomania (ala the Randians, the bestselling writer and the politicians...) and libertine really isn't that far from narcissistic, a word and pathology we've become very familiar with over the last six or so years.

I do think you have nailed the consequences of especially the MAGA Republicans' libertine approach to politics. When it comes to pro-life issues, it just doesn't work in our current politics.

But even where the drumbeat of "what I want" does have political value, in the realms, for instance, of racial animus and gun worship, in the longer term the libertine approach is self-destructive.

I just hope the "I want it my way-er's" eventual crack up on the rocks of reality will leave behind a few survivors, even if some of them are libertarians.

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

The "X" at the top can be taken two ways.

As the Pretender says, he's the "fixer," on his way to put out the fire....or the Pretender looking his own work from a safe distance.

I'll go with the latter. Wonder how many others will do the same?

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Jennifer Rubin in today's WaPo writes a column that tasks the media with failing to cover the true political priority of today, the threats to democracy, instead staying with their comfort-zone horserace reporting.

This is one of several such pieces written by various folks over the past several weeks, and especially since the release of the "sky is falling" NYT poll last week ("DiJiT trouncing President Biden in swing states"). We need more of these in more venues and especially in network and cable primetime. The columnists are starting to produce them, but we need more from the editorial directors, to pay attention to the threat -- which is now fairly easy to document just by quoting our political threateners. And we need them in the news stories, not just op-eds.

The farce being played out in the House right now, for example, with reference to the appropriations and potential serial shutdowns, should be reported for what it is ... not "Washington screws up" but rather "Republicans can't dance. And want to kill you."

And, on the positive side, the press needs to pick up on "what has the gummint done for you lately", which ain't "nuthin." Compare that to the nonsense coming out of the House these days.

November 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick
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