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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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Oct122023

The Conversation -- October 12, 2023

** Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Emily Brooks & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Thursday dropped out of the race for Speaker, just one day after he won the Republican nomination for the role. Scalise narrowly prevailed in a secret ballot internal GOP election on Wednesday, but it was clear almost immediately that he would struggle to get the 217 votes needed on the House floor."

Chaos Party Still in Chaos. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana scrounged on Thursday for the support to be elected speaker as Republicans balked at rallying around their party's chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.... Supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, said they were not giving up.... Adding to the drama, [Donald] Trump weighed in on Thursday against Mr. Scalise, arguing that he was unfit for the post because he is battling blood cancer.... Some Republicans were already discussing the possibility of dumping Mr. Scalise and rallying around an alternative candidate who would be able to unite their ranks in a way that he has been unable to." CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "In fact, resistance against Mr. Scalise's speakership appeared to have grown, with lawmakers newly declaring on Wednesday evening that they were irrevocably opposed to voting for him.... Here's a broad overview of the factions not yet sold on Mr. Scalise."

** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat charged last month with taking bribes in exchange for lucrative political favors, faced a stunning new accusation on Thursday -- that he conspired to act as an agent of Egypt even as he served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Manhattan federal prosecutors filed the fresh charge against Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, as well as a third defendant, Wael Hana, accusing them of conspiring to have the senator act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department. The prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes' residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible that the government says was given to them as a bribe. The charge ... is certain to intensify pressure for him to resign from office. It accuses him of violating an explicit prohibition on public officials serving as agents of foreign powers and appears to be the first time a sitting senator has been charged under the World War II-era Foreign Agents Registration Act." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story is here. Politico's story is here. The updated indictment, via Politico, is here.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday, Ronald McAbee, 29, was found guilty of taking part in that assault on the West Terrace of the Capitol, the site of intense violence where in minutes multiple police officers were swarmed and beaten while trying to block a tunnel into the building. McAbee, a sheriff's deputy at a rural Tennessee jail at the time, was on medical leave on Jan. 6 because he had fractured his shoulder in a car accident six days before. McAbee pleaded guilty last month to assaulting another police officer, Carter Moore, in the tunnel. But he insisted at trial for the assault of Wayte that he was trying to protect the officer and alert police to the body of an unconscious protester. McAbee was found guilty on five charges, including assaulting, impeding or resisting an officer and civil disorder, as well as three related to having a deadly or dangerous weapon: his reinforced gloves."

Michael Crowley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran's access to $6 billion in funds recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal between Washington and Tehran that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from Iran last month. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told House Democrats on Thursday that Iran would no longer have access to the funds, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money was under close supervision and strict conditions that it be used only for humanitarian purposes. The move comes amid harsh criticism, mainly from Republicans, that the Biden administration gave Iran access to a vast sum that freed up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas before its attack on Israel over the weekend."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times sounds an alarm: "... even if ... the rise and fall of Kevin McCarthy ... ultimately ends like any other Republican congressional drama in Washington over the last decade, something different and important has already happened: The right wing didn't just bring down a House speaker -- its members also made a credible bid at claiming the gavel for themselves. A founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Jim Jordan, won 99 votes in the House Republican conference vote Wednesday, good for about 45 percent of congressional Republicans.... The swelling congressional support for Mr. Jordan ... might ... herald the emergence of a new, alternative Trumpist governing elite -- one authentically loyal to Donald J. Trump's pugilistic brand of politics, and one that would pose a fundamental challenge to what remains of the beleaguered Republican 'establishment.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For what it's worth, I think this was apparent on January 6, 2021, when eight Republican senators (out of 50) and 139 representatives (out of 218) voted to challenge certain state results -- and that was after the bloody insurrection. That's nearly 2/3rds of House Republicans.

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian & Agencies: "A senior US politician said Israel had received an official warning from Egypt of a possible attack from Gaza three days before Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault on Saturday. Michael McCaul, the chair of the US House foreign affairs committee, speaking after an intelligence briefing to senior members of Congress, said it was not clear at what level the warning was given. 'We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,' McCaul, a Republican, told reporters on Wednesday. 'I don't want to get too much into classified [details], but a warning was given. I think the question was at what level.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Republicans in Disarray, Ctd.

Lisa Mascaro & Kevin Freking of the AP: "Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public floor vote.... In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader.... The House was gaveled into a brief session, then broke indefinitely, with next steps uncertain.... It's an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, moving into a second week without a House speaker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' main story on the House chaos caucus' failure to select a speaker is here. I'm leaving up the link to yesterday's liveblog because it offers some details that don't appear in the new, main story.

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments yesterday in House Republicans' attempts to choose a candidate for speaker: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Luke Broadwater @ about 12 noon ET: "House Republicans, deeply divided over who should lead them, gathered in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to try to choose a nominee for speaker. Should they unite around a candidate, a vote could come on the House floor as early as Wednesday afternoon, but that possibility was looking increasingly unlikely."

Broadwater @ about 12:15 pm ET: "Republicans are now voting on whether to select Scalise or Jordan as their nominee for speaker. The winner needs 111 votes."

Catie Edmondson @ about 2:45 pm ET: "It's impossible to overstate how unusual the scene playing out now is. For decades, the status quo was that a House speaker would be easily elected, in one vote, after the party that controlled the House nominated them. Kevin McCarthy's speakership was the first in a century to break that convention. Every speaker since 1923 has been able to clinch the gavel after just one vote."

Robert Jimison @ about 2:55 pm ET: "Not only is the House paralyzed until a new speaker is officially installed but the process of filling other positions in Republican leadership, such as majority leader and majority whip, are also largely on hold until the decision on speaker is finalized."

Broadwater & Annie Karni @ about 3:15 pm ET: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support [113 to 99] on Wednesday to become his party's choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker. Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party's candidate, Mr. Scalise's fate was thrown into doubt. Several G.O.P. lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker. Republicans delayed a vote of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon so the party could regroup.... 'I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,' said Representative Marjorie Taylor Green[e]...."

More fun reads throughout. Marie: Not casting any asparagus on Miss Margie & cohort, but they do not play well with others. It's obvious that over the years many members left their caucus -- where they voted for a speaker's candidate who failed to get the majority of the party's vote -- and went out onto the House floor and voted for a speaker who was not their first choice. IOW, they stuck together as a party so the House could get down to business. ~~~

~~~ NBC News live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans used to consider themselves the orderly party, the one that assiduously adhered to the rules and respected the will of the majority. But the traditional rule book has been thrown out the window when it comes to the extraordinary tumult in the House. In what would have been unthinkable in the past, numerous House Republicans on Wednesday refused to honor the results of their internal election of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana for speaker -- historically a given. They threatened a mutiny on the House floor that had factions of the party in open conflict amid the unrelenting chaos on Capitol Hill. After the weekend assault on Israel by Hamas, House Republicans had clamored for unity to allow lawmakers to get back to business and rush assistance to the nation's closest ally in the Middle East. Just days later, they were back at one another's throats...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These last two chaotic speakers' elections are another manifestation of Republicans' antipathy to democratic principles. With "normal" order, the person who wins the majority of votes in caucus is the party's nominee for speaker. But not anymore. In these last two speakers' election, a minority of Republicans have opted against majority rule & dictated conditions making it impossible for the House to conduct its usual business, where a majority of the entire House should determine the content of bills.

Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice reviews some of wingers' stated reasons for refusing to unite behind Steve Scalise, continuing what Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) charitably called "kind of a shit show."

** David Firestone of the New York Times outlines why Salise & Jordan are both even worse than McCarthy. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Fandos & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: "A clutch of Republican House members from New York began pushing on Wednesday to expel ... Representative George Santos, amid mounting federal charges that he defrauded donors and lied about his campaign finances. The group of six New York freshmen announced plans to swiftly introduce an expulsion resolution to try to capitalize on a spate of new charges against Mr. Santos and a vacuum in House Republican leadership.... As the House's most extreme form of punishment, expulsion requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, a barrier so high that it has only been cleared five times in the institution's history -- making it far from clear if the move was little more than a messaging exercise by Republicans preparing to defend swing seats next year. House Republicans repelled an earlier attempt by Democrats to expel Mr. Santos in May...." (Also linked yesterday.)


Fani Willis Stands Up to Gym Jordan. Sara Murray of CNN: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to provide House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan with any additional information about her investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies as well as any interactions with the Justice Department, according to a new letter obtained by CNN. 'A charitable explanation of your correspondence is that you are ignorant of the United States and Georgia Constitutions and codes, Willis wrote in her letter to Jordan, an Ohio Republican, Wednesday.... A more troubling explanation is that you are abusing your authority as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary to attempt to obstruct and interfere with a Georgia criminal prosecution.'... Willis previously provided information about the federal funding her office receives. But she has rebuffed Jordan's demands for information related to her investigation and copies of any communication between the district attorney's office and federal executive branch officials, particularly anyone at the Justice Department."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: Donald Trump's claim last week that he has absolute immunity from prosecution "does not look promising for Mr. Trump and his lawyers.... [Trump's] motion cited the 1982 precedent, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, at least 40 times over 52 pages. But that decision merely held that a former president is immune from lawsuits in civil cases -- ones from private litigants seeking money -- and then only if the suits concerned conduct 'within the "outer perimeter" of his official responsibility.'... Other Supreme Court precedents seem to be of no help to Mr. Trump. In Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the court unanimously allowed a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton to proceed while he was in office, discounting concerns that it would distract him from his official responsibilities. That was also a civil case.... And more recently, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7-to-2 margin in Trump v. Vance in 2020 that Mr. Trump had no absolute right to block the release of his financial records in a criminal investigation."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump lashed out at the special counsel, Jack Smith, on Wednesday, accusing his office of violating Mr. Trump's due process rights by seeking to obtain a guilty verdict against him before Election Day in the two federal cases he is facing 'no matter the cost.' The lacerating comments were contained in court papers in which the lawyers reasserted their request to delay, until after the 2024 election, Mr. Trump's trial in Florida on charges of mishandling classified documents.... [Trump's lawyer Christopher] Kise all but asserted that the [two federal] prosecutions had been filed against Mr. Trump in an effort to cripple his chances of being re-elected."

Michael Sisak & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans using financial statements that a court has since deemed fraudulent, a retired bank official testified Wednesday at the former president's New York civil fraud trial. Trump's 'statements of financial condition' were key to his approval for a $125 million loan in 2011 for his golf resort in Doral, Florida, and a $107 million loan in 2012 for his Chicago hotel and condo skyscraper, former Deutsche Bank risk management officer Nicholas Haigh testified. But although the bank didn't conduct its own full appraisals of Trump's properties, it sometimes gave sizable 'haircuts' to the values he'd placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said."

Presidential Race 2024

Get a Dictionary, You Nincompoops! Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump is arguing to a judge in Colorado that he was not required to 'support' the Constitution as president, reported Brandi Buchman from Law & Crime. The argument came as he seeks to dismiss a lawsuit filed in the state by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeking to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment. The Insurrection Clause of the amendment prohibits those who have 'engaged in insurrection' against the United States from holding a civil, military, or elected office unless a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate approve. But Trump's lawyers are arguing that the specific language of the Constitution argues that this requirement only applies to people in offices who are bound to 'support' the Constitution -- and the presidency is not one of those offices. 'The Presidential oath, which the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment surely knew, requires the President to swear to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution -- not to "support" the Constitution,' said the filing by Trump's attorneys."

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump chanted 'Barack Hussein Obama' and said the U.S. capital 'looks like shit' during a bizarre rant in Florida on Wednesday.... During the same campaign rally, Trump tore into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused Netanyahu of stealing credit for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani." ~~~

     ~~~ Loose Lips. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Trump suggested the story [about the capture of Soleimani] wasn't previously known. 'They'll say, "Oh, it's classified information." Well, maybe it is, but I don't think so,' he added. ... Earlier in his speech, Trump complimented the Iran-aligned Hezbollah, which on Sunday attacked Israeli positions from the north in what it described as being in solidarity with the 'Palestinian resistance.' 'You know, Hezbollah is very smart,' Trump said. 'They're all very smart.'"

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed that had the 2020 presidential election not been 'rigged' against him, Israel would not have been attacked by Hamas over the weekend. The election was not rigged."

Filip Timotija of the Hill: "'The Young Turks' founder Cenk Uygur announced on his show Wednesday that he will run for president as a Democrat, directly challenging President Biden." Uygur says he has lawyered up & will go to the Supreme Court on account of one little problem:~~~


Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Several members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed prepared on Wednesday to reinstate a South Carolina voting map that a lower court had ruled was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., for instance, seemed unpersuaded by the lower court's findings and reasoning. He said the evidence that Republican state lawmakers had used race as the predominant factor was circumstantial and consistent with something that is legally acceptable: trying to achieve the partisan goal of creating a district with a distinct conservative tilt.... Justices across the ideological spectrum agreed that the Supreme Court may only overturn the lower court's findings if they were ruled to be clearly erroneous, a demanding standard.... But several conservative justices indicated that they were prepared to rule that the lower court had committed a clear error." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I wish John Roberts would just come right out & say he's a racist. Or, at the very least, admit he doesn't want Black people to have equal voting rights because they tend to vote Democratic. ~~~

     ~~~ An Outcome in Search of a Justification. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority spent Wednesday morning seemingly hunting for a reason to uphold a South Carolina congressional map that everyone agrees was gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.... Under the Supreme Court's precedents, federal courts are not allowed to hear lawsuits challenging partisan gerrymanders -- that is, maps drawn to benefit one political party or the other. But federal courts may hear challenges to racial gerrymanders.... [AND] When a trial court determines that a legislative map is an impermissible racial gerrymander, the Court said in Cooper [v. Harris (2017)], the lower court's 'findings of fact -- most notably, as to whether racial considerations predominated in drawing district lines -- are subject to review only for clear error.'... But ... all six of the Court's Republican appointees appeared determined to find some way to uphold South Carolina's gerrymander."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "The United Automobile Workers union expanded its strike against Ford Motor on Wednesday evening, calling on 8,700 workers to walk off the job at a critical plant in Kentucky. The plant makes some of Ford's most profitable offerings, including the Super Duty version of its F-Series trucks and the Ford Expedition, a full-size sport utility vehicle."

~~~~~~~~~~

Oklahoma. Ken Miller of the AP: "The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial. An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial. Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff's comment about a prosecutor's genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV. Soderstrom ... was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November...." MB: Yeah, well, Oklahoma voters tend to make bad choices.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday of the Israeli war are here: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, as the Israeli military said its troops were massed at the border with Gaza 'making preparations for the next stage of the war.' Mr. Blinken was also set to travel to Jordan and meet with other regional leaders.... The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was scheduled to meet with Mr. Blinken on Friday.... On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged in televised remarks to 'crush and eliminate' Hamas.... Israel continued to pummel the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip with airstrikes of a magnitude and intensity not seen in past conflicts with Gaza. Hamas is holding in the enclave about 150 hostages taken during the weekend incursion." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here. The AP's live updates are here.

Matthew Lee & Aamer Madhani of the AP: At a roundtable of Jewish leaders, "President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22." ~~~

     ~~~ Phillip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden yelled while addressing the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, noting that he made sure to educate all of his children on the horrors of the Holocaust. On Wednesday, the president addressed the conflict while speaking to a group of Jewish community leaders by reiterating the United States' support for Israel and condemning anti-Semitism.... Biden then began screaming when he mentioned how he would make all of his children and grandchildren visit concentration camps in Europe to teach them about the significance of the Holocaust." ~~~

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senior U.S. officials have stepped up their efforts to lead Western governments to use hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian central bank reserves to help Ukraine.... The intensifying push to use the assets for Ukraine comes as U.S. and European governments that support Kyiv encounter new domestic political roadblocks for their plans to send taxpayer money to the war effort, although officials insist the matters are unrelated. The Kremlin has an estimated $300 billion frozen in various bank accounts throughout Western countries, but experts have warned that simply taking that money would face legal challenges and pose major financial risks."

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "In a private phone call Tuesday, President Joe Biden urged Israel's prime minister to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel sets out to destroy Hamas in reprisal for the deadliest attack the country has suffered in the last 50 years, two Biden administration officials and a former official told NBC News. The Biden administration is coordinating with other countries on a plan that would offer safe passage out of Gaza for civilians who risk getting caught in the crossfire in the densely populated coastal enclave, administration officials said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put out a statement on Wednesday blasting what he called Israel's 'serious violation of international law' in cutting off services to Gaza.... 'Right now, the international community must focus on reducing humanitarian suffering and protecting innocent people on both sides of this conflict. The targeting of civilians is a war crime, no matter who does it. Israel's blanket denial of food, water, and other necessities to Gaza is a serious violation of international law and will do nothing but harm innocent civilians,' Sanders continued, adding: 'The United States has rightly offered solidarity and support to Israel in responding to Hamas' attack. But we must also insist on restraint from Israeli forces attacking Gaza and work to secure UN humanitarian access. Let us not forget that half of the two million people in Gaza are children....'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know what it is that makes "leaders" think that fighting barbarism against civilians with barbarism against civilians will resolve conflicts.

Dan Williams, et al., of Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Israel formed an emergency unity government on Wednesday as it pounded Gaza to root out Hamas and deployed forces north of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, where the militants said they were still fighting after their cross-border assault. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form a war cabinet with former defence minister and centrist opposition party leader Benny Gantz and focus entirely on the conflict, a joint statement from Gantz's National Unity party said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States has collected multiple pieces of intelligence that show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel, information that has fueled U.S. doubts that Iran played a direct role in planning the assault, according to several American officials. These key Iranian officials did not know the attack was coming, according to the intelligence. The United States, Israel and key regional allies have not found evidence that Iran directly helped plan the attack, according to the U.S. officials and another official in the Middle East." (Also linked yesterday.)

Yuval Harari in a Washington Post op-ed: "The real explanation for Israel’s dysfunction is populism rather than any alleged immorality. For many years, Israel has been governed by a populist strongman, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a public-relations genius but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over the national interest and has built his career on dividing the nation against itself. He has appointed people to key positions based on loyalty more than qualifications, took credit for every success while never taking responsibility for failures, and seemed to give little importance to either telling or hearing the truth. The coalition Netanyahu established in December 2022 has been by far the worst. It is an alliance of messianic zealots and shameless opportunists, who ignored Israel's many problems -- including the deteriorating security situation -- and focused instead on grabbing unlimited power for themselves.... The way populism corroded the Israeli state should serve as a warning to other democracies all over the world."


Ukraine, et al.: The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

Tom Friedman's perspective often seems superficial to me, and sometimes even wrong, but his column yesterday and even more directly his interview on Morning Joe seems on point to me:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/opinion/israel-hamas-.html?smid=url-share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xbdr5PYtp4

I am surprised that the MJ interview has been hidden from the official MSNBC record, not making the 38-minute highlights clip or an independent clip. The above clip is a hand-held reproduction that might vanish.

As I see it, the kernel of his argument is that Netanyahu was more interested in protecting himself than protecting Israel, and this should sound familiar.

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

"Israel was warned by Egypt of potential violence three days before Hamas' deadly cross-border raid, a US congressional panel chairman has said.

House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul told reporters of the alleged warning.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu described the reports as "absolutely false"."

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

5th circuit fan fiction
"Supreme Court rejects two lower court rulings to allow Texas execution to proceed
The high court's move, over the objection of the three liberals, came a day after a dissenting Fifth Circuit judge published a fake majority opinion in Jedidiah Murphy's death penalty case."

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Potatohead slips down the stairs.

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this report, but I have trusted Seymour Hersch to get things right since Vietnam. He asserts that Netanyahu chose Hamas as the Palestinian ruling class that he could best control and that through the years Hamas received funding with Netanyahu's approval.

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/netanyahu-is-finished/comments?utm_source=substack%2Csubstack&publication_id=1377040&post_id=137880462&utm_medium=email%2Cemail&isFreemail=false&comments=true&utm_campaign=email-half-magic-comments

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

@Jack Mahoney: Access to the Hersch piece is subscriber-firewalled. Re: Hersch: he broke extremely important stories in the Vietnam era & continued to do credible investigative work thereafter. However, I think he cracked up about 10 years ago, and I don't believe any of his current-days stories if & until a more reliable journalist writes something similar.

October 12, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@RAS: Slip-sliding Away. Following the usual standards by which we choose political "leaders" in this great land of ours, it appears that up until now, Tommy Tuberville was a plausible candidate for president* or at least defense secretary, should Trump, et al., fail. But he is smashed potatoes now that -- again by the usual standards -- you have proved him incapable of performing the top job or any job close to it. Thanks for this vital heads-up.

October 12, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Montgomery County Maryland is "very liberal" by most measurements, and has a high proportion of professionals and academics. It has many well-established and practising Jewish communities, of all types, ultra-conservative to reform reformed. Many Jewish families have teachers and students in the Montgomery County Public School System (MCPS), which consistently places many schools on "best in the nation" lists (for whatever those are worth).

A few Jewish organizations have been complaining loudly that MCPS leadership has not adequately addressed the horror and threat of the Gaza invasions. MCPS has put out several statements that in essence condemn terrorism and remind parents that the schools have mental health assistance if needed, and that students in particular should be wary of social media claims. A few Jewish high school student organizations say that MCPS is thereby telling them to restrict speech.

Schools have been "locked down" for years for anti-active-shooter purposes.

This issue has been on the local TV news for two days now, and the link here is to a local on-line county source. The piece is relatively long.

My personal view is that MCPS needs to ensure that its students and staff are safe while in their care, which includes attention to mental health observation, but that there is no benefit and potential harm in MCPS taking actions or making statements that go beyond condemnation of terrorism. MCPS should give teachers (HS and MS) fact sheets to moderate potential class discussions, but can't really have an "MCPS-approved" policy position beyond condemnation of terrorism and war crimes (which is going to get REALLY dicey this week).

The Jewish community in Montgomery County is generally pro-Zionist but anti-Likhud. It also has a relatively high proportion of descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors. Most are acutely aware that anto-Semitism never sleeps, and can flare up from the least-expected sources on no notice. Many associated with the schools are clearly concerned about local danger, and think that MCPS can do more to avert the potential.

This is a clear example of how far the problems of Israel-Palestine permeate our own society.

Should a school system promulgate a policy on the Gaza invasions?

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

In a Palm Beach rally Donald Trump lambasted Florida governor Ron DeSantis on his flailing campaign and personal disloyalty to him, telling him to forget about running in 2028, because "I can never forget".

If Trump were to win in 2024 I doubt anyone will have to worry about the 2028 elections. There won't be any.

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

I have been reading "Hitler's American Model" by James Q. Whitman, which among other things shows how efficaciously racism has been used, notably in the United States, to promote more egalitarian feelings among members of the favored race, which might otherwise split along economic lines: From the Chinese with Uighurs to South Africans with the non-white population to today's populist European and American parties whose campaigns are based primarily on racial and sexual resentment, all have all used this easy tool to allay dissension among the troops. In such an affirmatively racist environment, individual racist behavior is less necessary, allowing each individual a layer of comfortable denial. The issue, of course, when someone like Hitler uses Jews and Romani and gays in order to promote solidarity among Aryans is that each disfavored group has to be either oppressed (like black Americans) or wiped out (like so many Native Americans). It is not for me to judge, but there seems to be a version of this approach echoing through a segregated but seemingly egalitarian Middle Eastern country.

October 12, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney
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