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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

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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Thursday
Oct052023

The Conversation -- October 5, 2023

Biden Builds the Wall, Ctd. Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "President Joe Biden said Thursday that he doesn't believe border walls work, even as his administration said it will waive 26 laws to build additional border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley amid heightened political pressure over migration.... The administration was under a deadline to use [the funds] or lose them.... Biden -- who, as a candidate, vowed that there will 'not be another foot' of border wall constructed on his watch -- defended the decision to reporters Thursday, saying that he tried to get the money appropriated for other purposes but was unsuccessful. 'I'll answer one question on the border wall: 'The ... money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn't, they wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can't stop that,' Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked whether he believes the border wall works, Biden answered, 'No.'"

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Last week, the Republican Party's leading presidential candidate proposed executing suspected shoplifters.... Trump's advocacy of extrajudicial killings was widely covered by newspapers and TV stations in California but generally ignored by the national press.... CNN and MSNBC mentioned it during panel discussions over the next few days. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS didn't report it at all. The New York Times wrote about it four days later, playing the story on Page 14 of its print edition. The Anaheim speech was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive rhetoric by Trump -- and a somewhat muted response by the news media to his repeated exhortations to violence....

"'Bombarded by a constant stream of deranged authoritarian extremism from a man who might soon return to the presidency, [journalists] have lost all sense of scale and perspective,' [Brian] Klaas wrote in the Atlantic last week, in a headline that felt both jarring and unsurprising: 'Trump Floats the Idea of Executing Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley.' Klaas continued: 'But neither the American press nor the public can afford to be lulled. The man who, as president, incited a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in order to overturn an election is again openly fomenting political violence while explicitly endorsing authoritarian strategies should he return to power.'"

Your Move, Judge Aileen. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump have again asked a federal judge to postpone until after the 2024 election his trial on charges of mishandling classified documents. In a court filing on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump's legal team proposed moving the start of the trial to mid-November from May 20, the date set by Judge Aileen M. Cannon. It was not the first time Mr. Trump has sought to push back the trial, in which he stands accused of illegally holding onto dozens of classified documents after leaving office and conspiring with two aides to obstruct the government's repeated effort to retrieve them."

Ella Lee of the Hill: "The judge overseeing former President Trump's fraud trial in New York Thursday issued an order barring Trump or any other defendants in the sweeping case from transferring any assets or creating a new entity to acquire them without disclosure first. The order, which came via the case's online docket, was delivered on the fourth day of the trial, which was prompted after Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for fraud, ruling that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) had proved the crux of her case. As part of that decision, Engoron ordered the selection of an independent monitor of Trump's businesses. On Thursday, Engoron said that appointed monitor -- former Judge Barbara Jones -- must be informed if the defendants intend to move their assets or create a new entity that isn't a defendant in the case to acquire them."

Congressman Has a Good Idea. Sahil Kapur & Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "A Democratic House member is asking Palm Beach County, Florida, to tax Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property at the rate the former president claims it is worth amid his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York.... Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., issued the request to Dorothy Jacks, Palm Beach County's property appraiser.... Trump has raged against [New York Judge Arthur] Engoron's ruling [that Trump committed fraud], insisting that his Florida resort is worth '50 to 100 times' what prosecutors in the New York civil case have said, or 'closer to $1.5 billion.' 'Between 2011 and 2021, you value the Mar-a-Lago property between $18 million and $28 million,' Moskowitz wrote in the letter to the Palm Beach County appraiser. 'Mar-a-Lago was listed as worth $490 million in financial documents given to banks,' he wrote. '... Will you be amending the property value in line with the Trump family's belief that the property is worth well over a billion dollars?'"

Uh-oh, Georgie. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "The accountant who oversaw the finances of Representative George Santos's political campaigns has agreed to plead guilty to one or more federal felony charges, according to court papers and an official with the Eastern District of New York. The accountant, Nancy Marks, has handled the finances of some of New York's most powerful Republicans over the years, and has been dogged by allegations of wrongdoing. She is expected to appear in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Thursday to formally enter a guilty plea, according to the court official.... It is unclear how the case against Ms. Marks will affect Mr. Santos, who in May was indicted and charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms." The AP's story is here. MB: Unclear, maybe, but looks a lot like a flip to me.

Note from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.): RINOs attacked & booed me. Send money. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Thankfully, Republican senators are a lot more thoughtful than the crass GOP clowns in the House. Here's a report on the philosophical musings of the junior senator from Oklahoma: ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Blanchet of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) accused Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of openly detailing his sexual experiences to fellow lawmakers in a bonkers interview with CNN on Wednesday....'He bragged about how he would crush E.D. [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with energy drinks so he could go all night. This is obviously before he got married,' Mullin told CNN's Manu Raju.... 'There's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him ― because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor that all of us had walked away, of the girls he had slept with,' Mullin said.... [Gaetz replied,] This is a lie from someone who doesn't know me and who is coping with the death of the political career of his friend Kevin. Thoughts and prayers.'... Mullin's claims arrive on the same day Marc Short, chief of staff for former Vice President Mike Pence, said Gaetz more likely came to Washington 'for the teenage interns on Capitol Hill' than to be a 'fiscal crusader.'"

Alabamy. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A federal court on Thursday ordered Alabama to use a new congressional map that could lead the state to elect two Black representatives for the first time in its history by creating a second district with close to a majority of Black voters. The order, the culmination of a nearly two-year fight over the Republican-dominated state's illegal dilution of Black voting power, could also lead to Democrats picking up another seat at a moment when control of the House of Representatives hinges on a thin conservative margin. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama signed off on a map that increases the percentage of Black voters in one of the state's six majority-white congressional districts to 48.7 percent, up from about 30 percent, while preserving the state's lone existing majority-Black district." The NPR story is here. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "A man with a handgun showed up at the Wisconsin Capitol demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Wednesday, was arrested, posted bail, returned to the Statehouse with a rifle and was taken into protective custody, according to police. The shirtless man had a holstered handgun and leashed dog with him when he appeared at the security desk outside of the governor's office Wednesday afternoon demanding to see the governor, according to a statement from the state police. An officer arrested him for openly carrying a firearm. The man was booked into jail and posted bail. He returned to the outside of the Capitol with a loaded AK-47 around 9 p.m., three hours after the Statehouse closed.... He asked to see the governor again. Officers ... asked to search his backpack. He agreed and they found a police baton, which they said violated state law...." The AP report is here.

Daniel Strauss of the New Republic (April 2023): For years, Clarence Thomas BFF (just ask Clarence) & billionaire Harlan Crow "was doling out donations and referring friends to No Labels, the outside group that claims to offer an avowedly nonpartisan approach to politics.... Between 2019 and 2021, Crow donated over $130,000 to No Labels.... Crow referred other donors to No Labels.... By 2021, Crow had steered nearly two dozen other donors to No Labels, the information provided to The New Republic shows.... No Labels has been torched by Democrats and Democratic-leaning groups, including the moderate Third Way, for mounting an effort that's almost bound to hurt Biden." Thanks to Jack M. & Ken W. for the link. TNR is subscriber-firewalled, but I don't have a subscription, and I was able to access the article through the link above, perhaps because it's an old story.

Ooh, AOC is so mean. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "President Biden canceled an additional $9 billion in student debt on Wednesday as repayments started up again this month after a three-year pause. The move affects 125,000 people who qualify under existing programs, including for public-service workers such as teachers and firefighters and for people on permanent disability, according to a White House statement.... The announcement comes as Mr. Biden tries to find workarounds to offer some debt relief after the Supreme Court struck down his more ambitious plan over the summer.... 'The money was literally about to go out the door, but Republican elected officials and special interests stepped up and sued us,' [the President] said [of his original plan]. 'The Supreme Court sided with them, snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars in student debt relief that was about to change their lives.'... The money [cancelled in this order] comes through 'fixes' the Education Department made to several debt relief programs, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program." A CNBC story is here. ~~~

~~~ Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "Here are five things to know as the monthly bills [for student loan repayment] arrive again[.]"

About Time. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden's dog Commander is no longer living in the White House after a series of biting incidents involving staff members and Secret Service personnel, according to a spokeswoman for Jill Biden, the first lady. Elizabeth Alexander, Dr. Biden's communications director, said the dog was no longer living with the first family.... The move came days after Commander, a 2-year-old German shepherd, bit a Secret Service officer. It was the 11th episode of 'aggressive behavior' by the president's pets, many of them involving Commander and the officers and agents who protect the president." An NBC News story is here.

¡Qué va! Biden Builds the Wall??? Valerie Gonzalez of the AP: "The Biden administration announced it waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction on Wednesday, marking the administration's first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency. The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing 'high illegal entry.' According to government data, about 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded so far this fiscal year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector which contains 21 counties. 'There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,' Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "There was a time, not that long ago, when the United States ... held itself up as a model of a stable, predictable democracy.... Instead, it has become an example of disarray and discord, one that rewards extremism, challenges norms and threatens to divide a polarized country even further.... The institutions that were already strained during Donald J. Trump's presidency now face a series of profound stress tests.... Outside the courtroom in New York on Wednesday, the former president proved undaunted by the gag order as he attacked the judge who imposed it. 'He's run by the Democrats,' Mr. Trump claimed. 'Our whole system is corrupt. This is corrupt. Atlanta is corrupt. And what's coming out of D.C. is corrupt.'... What is different now, according to some scholars, is that Republicans under Mr. Trump have directly attacked the foundation of the democratic system by refusing to accept an election that they lost and by tolerating if not encouraging political violence, most notably the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol."

Stephen Collinson of CNN: Kevin "McCarthy's short speakership underscored how the Republican Party in the age of Donald Trump has turned into one of the great forces of instability in American life, and potentially the world, with the ex-president dominating the 2024 GOP primary as he takes aim at a wrecking ball second term. A party that once defined conservatism as preserving a traditional sense of steadiness and strength has evolved over the last three decades into a haven for chaos agents, stunt politics and a perpetual ideological revolution that keeps driving it to new extremes. The party's willingness to accept the outrageous was also on display Tuesday in New York, where Trump ranted in a corridor outside a courtroom hearing his fraud trial and was slapped with a gag order for attacking a judge's clerk on social media.... In a party in which trying to break the cherished chain of peaceful transfers of presidential power, being criminally indicted four times and cozying up to some of the world's most bloodthirsty dictators is not a disqualification (see Trump), McCarthy's reluctant search for compromise [with Democrats] was unpardonable."

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: Speakers of the House "call the House to order; they allow members of Congress to deliver remarks in one-minute floor speeches; they decide whether there's a quorum to allow business to be conducted; they decide what bills get voted on; they appoint key House staff members.... Most recently, the past two House speakers have announced an impeachment inquiry into the sitting president. None of that can be done by the ... Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.).... Under ... rules [adopted after September 11, 2001], the temporary speaker can only preside over floor debate and voting about the election of a new speaker, said Charles Johnson, the former parliamentarian for the House during the [9/11] attacks.... Committees can probably continue holding hearings and votes without a speaker. But if they move legislation, there's no one to bring it to the floor. The speaker is also second in the line for president after the vice president. A temporary speaker does not fall in the line of succession, scholars say. So next up would be the acting president of the Senate, who is Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)."

Now that Kevin McCarthy is out as Speaker, we can expect more reasonable people to run for the job. Like these guys: ~~~

~~~ (a) Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday announced he would seek the Speakership." Great! Everything should go very smoothly. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ (b) Trump Won't Rule Out Accepting Speakership. Matt Dixon of NBC News: "'A lot of people have been calling me about speaker,' [Donald] Trump said Wednesday morning outside a New York City courthouse for the third day of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil fraud trial against him. 'All I can say is we will do whatever is best for the country and other Republican Party and people.... The current rules of the Republican House conference actually prohibit someone charged with a felony from serving in leadership. Trump is facing dozens of felony charges." MB: Time to change the rules! (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ (c) Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) formally threw his hat into the ring to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), pushing the need for unity in a letter to colleagues." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So you're a Republican member of Congress. Would you choose as speaker (a) the guy who, while a college wrestling coach, (allegedly!) covered for the team doctor who reportedly sexually abused numerous team members; (b) a twice-impeached, 91-times indicted, financial fraudster, rapist & compulsive liar; OR (c) a guy who used to pal around with KKK grand wizard David Duke? It's almost like a better choice is the guy over in the Senate who (allegedly!) accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, one of which is associated with a possible cover-up of his girlfriend's committing vehicular manslaughter (see links to stories below).

     ~~~ Marie: Did I mention that besides dumping their speaker, these yahoos did so without having any sort of plan -- as far as we know -- about how to replace him. So far it looks as if they're just going for holding vote after vote where GOP members vote for various candidates, with none receiving a majority, while Democrats all vote for Hakeem Jeffries.

Marie: Oh, call me the Oracle of D.C. As I speculated earlier Wednesday... ~~~

~~~ Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry's move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN. GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.... Sources close to Pelosi and Hoyer say it was retaliation for Democrats siding against McCarthy in voting to vacate the speaker's chair Tuesday. The unofficial offices are located near the House floor.... House Republican leadership also kicked Hoyer out of his Capitol hideaway office, his office confirmed to CNN on Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story, by Robert Draper, is here.

What Happened on National Kevin Day: ~~~

It's the Democrats' Fault. David Moye of the Huffington Post (Oct. 3): "... even though the Republican House is facing a dumpster fire to try to figure out who can get elected as the next speaker, GOP politicians and pundits decided the Democrats were at fault. Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary in the George W. Bush administration, seemed to accuse the House Democrats of masterminding [Kevin] McCarthy's political demise 'with the help of Matt Gaetz,' even though it was the other way around. Others [MB: including McCarthy himself and his designated temporary replacement, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)] chimed in with their own blame game." MB: I also saw clips of Fox personalities blaming Democrats; "You can't trust the Democrats," they told viewers.)~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Why, particularly for the past decade or so, has it consistently been up to Democrats to be the line of defense [against GOP bad behavior]?... In a letter to his colleagues, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) detailed occasions in which [Kevin] McCarthy had broken agreements or refused consensus. (He also reminded Democrats that [Matt] Gaetz's ability to seek McCarthy's ouster followed a rules change to which McCarthy had agreed.) Even when it came to Tuesday's question on whether he should get to serve as speaker McCarthy told his caucus in private and said publicly in an interview on CNBC that he wasn't going to reach a compromise with Democrats. There was just the expectation -- or McCarthy would later claim such an expectation -- that the Democrats would side ... with tradition and stability.... [Throughout his tenure,] McCarthy's party gave [Donald] Trump and his supporters space -- and encouragement -- to shred Washington and to undercut the functions of democracy."

This 400-pound Guy Working Out of His Basement Foments GOP Chaos. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "From [a] cavelike studio not far from where Congress meets, [Steve] Bannon, the former Trump adviser, has been stoking the chaos now gripping the Republican Party, capitalizing on the spectacle to build his own following and using his popular podcast to prop up and egg on the G.O.P. rebels.... With [Kevin] McCarthy's historic downfall this week, his wing of the party has claimed its most prominent trophy.... He is a vital part of a feedback loop of red-meat media hits and social media posts, online fund-raising and unfettered preaching to an often angry and fervently right-wing base that rewards disruptions and detests institutions.... For weeks, Mr. Bannon has been strategizing with Mr. Gaetz on the bid to take down Mr. McCarthy, offering himself up as a sounding board as Mr. Gaetz plotted his moves."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Facing a pileup of spending bills and a possible government shutdown, 20 Republican senators led by Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) say they will delay any legislation moving on the Senate floor that does not relate directly to funding the government. Scott circulated a letter at the Senate Republican lunch Wednesday warning Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that GOP lawmakers will not tolerate further delay to the annual appropriations bills, none of which has yet passed the Senate..., because they fear that letting the spending legislation pile up until December will inevitably lead to Congress passing another massive omnibus spending package."

** How Nadine Menendez Got a New Mercedes After Killing a Man with the Old One. Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "... in December 2018..., Nadine Arslanian, the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez, was zipping through the darkened streets of suburban New Jersey in a black Mercedes-Benz sedan [when she hit a pedestrian crossing the street].... The crash that ensued just after 7:30 p.m. killed the man, Richard Koop, 49, almost instantly. His body was thrown to the curb just steps from his home and badly mangled, according to the Bergen County medical examiner. After brief questioning, the police concluded that Ms. Menendez, who was alone in the vehicle, was 'not at fault.' She was released without a summons. What happened that night in the borough of Bogota outside New York City was not reported for years.... But now..., the episode adds a startling dimension to [the Menendez] scandal.... Prosecutors said in ... charging papers that Ms. Menendez needed a car so badly after a December 2018 'accident' that the senator, a Democrat, was willing to try to suppress an unrelated criminal prosecution for a New Jersey businessman in exchange for a $60,000 Mercedes convertible. [Emphasis added.]...

"Interviews, police reports, dashcam footage, audio of 911 calls and other records reviewed by The New York Times also raise additional questions about the inquiry into the collision itself, which was reported earlier Wednesday by The Record of New Jersey.... One witness at the scene said in an interview that officers appeared to know who Ms. Menendez was and treated her with striking deference. Police recordings captured the voice of a man who identifies himself as a retired police officer from a nearby department. He can be heard saying he came to the scene as 'a favor' to a friend whose wife knew Ms. Menendez.... The police reports indicate [Ms. Arslanian] was never tested for drugs or alcohol, and was allowed to leave the scene...." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Here are ABC News "highlights" of Day 3 of the Trump fraud trial.

AP Compares Trump to Putin & Li'l Kim. Michelle Price & Nicholas Riccardi of the AP: "From his earliest days in public life as a New York real estate tycoon, [Donald] Trump has favored language that makes him appear tough and scrappy, particularly when it comes to crime and retribution for his perceived enemies. But the rhetorical escalation on display in recent weeks is notable for its parallels to the hardline approaches that are hallmarks of authoritarian regimes that he has occasionally praised, such as the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin or North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. 'Violence is his political project now,' said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University. 'It is the thing, besides his own victimhood, that he brings up the most.'... Trump's words also can rile up his supporters and have direct consequences, most glaringly in the case of Jan. 6, 2021.... They can also rile up Trump's own party, which then incorporates the former president's vendettas and impulses into its own agenda."

Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "For more than a decade, friends conceded grimly, [Rudolph] Giuliani's drinking had been a problem. And as he surged back to prominence during the presidency of Donald J. Trump, it was getting more difficult to hide it.... Now, prosecutors in the federal election case against Mr. Trump have shown an interest in the drinking habits of Mr. Giuliani -- and whether the former president ignored what his aides described as the plain inebriation of the former mayor referred to in court documents as 'Co-Conspirator 1.'... The office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, has questioned witnesses about Mr. Giuliani's alcohol consumption as he was advising Mr. Trump, including on election night.... Mr. Smith's investigators have also asked about Mr. Trump's level of awareness of his lawyer's drinking as they worked to overturn the election.... The answers to those prompts could complicate any efforts by Mr. Trump's team to lean on a so-called advice-of-counsel defense.... Privately, Mr. Trump, who has long described himself as a teetotaler, has spoken derisively about Mr. Giuliani's drinking...." ~~~

     ~~~ Kelly Garrity of Politico: "... Rudy Giuliani vehemently denied having a drinking problem Wednesday, following a report [linked above] from the New York Times.... 'I do not have an alcohol problem. I have never had an alcohol problem,' Giuliani said during a press conference in Concord, New Hampshire in response to questions about the Times report. '[If] I have an alcohol problem, I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records,' Giuliani said, citing his various accomplishments and his job history as evidence refuting the report. 'Nobody could have achieved that if they did [have a drinking problem].... I was working 24 hours a day. It's a big damn lie,' Giuliani told reporters, who had gathered outside Merrimack County Superior Court to hear the former mayor announce his plans to sue President Joe Biden over a comment Biden made about him during the 2020 presidential race." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rudy was standing right in my path to Lowe's, so I'm thankful I decided against going to town to buy mortar mix yesterday, as I had sorta planned to do. Sometimes there's a reward for procrastination. ~~~

~~~ Most Frivolous Lawsuit Ever. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Rudy Giuliani sued President Biden for defamation Wednesday over his comments calling the former New York City mayor a 'Russian pawn' during a 2020 presidential debate." This is the same Rudy Giuliani who admitted he "mounted a sustained smear campaign against [two private citizens who were low-level election workers] by repeatedly accusing them of committing voter fraud to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia' and claimed the women were passing back and forth USB sticks passing around USB ports "as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine." Moreover, the evidence developed so far indicates Rudy did serve as what could accurately be characterized as a "Russian pawn," when he bought into false conspiracy theories pressed by pro-Russian Ukrainians, efforts that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "The Supreme Court appeared unlikely Tuesday to scuttle a federal agency set up to protect consumers from predatory lenders and other unlawful financial services practices as the justices considered a constitutional challenge backed by business groups. Both conservative and liberal justices seemed skeptical of the theory pushed by the plaintiffs that the mechanism allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, to be funded directly by the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional.... The legal question before the Supreme Court on Tuesday rests squarely on the conclusion reached by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in October of last year that the bureau's funding mechanism was unlawful. The court concluded that the funding structure, whereby Congress does not directly appropriate funding, runs afoul of the Constitution's directive requiring it to do so. That is despite the fact that Congress itself set up the CFPB and approved the current funding structure when it passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox weighs in: "By the end of the argument, even Justice Clarence Thomas ... appeared fed up with [former Trump solicitor General Noel] Francisco's inability to articulate a coherent argument [against CFPB funding]." (Also linked yesterday.)

Although "Justice" Clarence Thomas recused himself from a case brought by his former clerk John Eastman AND in which Thomas's wife Ginni was involved, Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams notes that Thomas thought it was fine to weigh in on a New York City rent-control case in which Thomas's benefactor Harlan Crow has a vested interest. Revolving Door Project executive director Jeff Hauser said, "Crow's industry lobbyist of choice, the National Multifamily Housing Council, filed an amicus brief urging the 2nd Circuit to take up the challenge to New York City's rent control law in 2021.... While the NMHC did not file a brief for the case before the Supreme Court, there should be little doubt that Thomas and his clerks are aware of NMHC's, and therefore Crow's, interest in the case." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

MEANWHILE, Thomas-Crow matchmaker Leonard Leo has determined he also is above following normative laws and practices: ~~~

~~~ Heidi Przybyla of Politico: "Judicial activist Leonard Leo is not cooperating with an investigation by Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb for potentially misusing nonprofit tax laws for personal enrichment, his attorney confirmed. David Rivkin, Leo's attorney, said in a statement to Politico that Schwalb has 'no legal authority to conduct any investigatory steps or take any enforcement measures' because Leo's multi-billion-dollar aligned nonprofits -- which poured millions into campaigning for the nominations of conservative Supreme Court justices and advocating before them -- were organized outside of D.C. Leo's consulting firm, CRC Advisors is registered in D.C. and his main aligned nonprofit, The 85 Fund, used a D.C. mailing address for at least a decade." (Also linked yesterday.)

Samantha Delouya of CNN: "On Wednesday, more than 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health providers, walked off the job, marking the largest health care worker strike in US history. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC, are represented by a coalition of eight unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser Permanente's total staff. The vast majority of the striking workers are in West Coast states. The strike began at 6 am local time, and will run through Saturday morning." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

** Republicans Are Killing You. Lauren Weber, et al., of the Washington Post: "Americans are more likely to die before age 65 than residents of similar nations, despite living in a country that spends substantially more per person on health care than its peers. Many of those early deaths can be traced to decisions made years agoby local and state lawmakers over whether to implement cigarette taxes, invest in public health or tighten seat-belt regulations, among other policies, an examination by The Washington Post found. States' politics -- and their resulting policies -- are shaving years off American lives.... Today, people in the South and Midwest, regions largely controlled by Republican state legislators, have increasingly higher chances of dying prematurely compared with those in the more Democratic Northeast and West, according to The Post's analysis of death rates.... [For instance,] many of [Ohio]'s [poor] public health outcomes are a direct result of political decisions..., experts say, pointing to differences in Medicaid and safety net funding, as well as tobacco taxes and highway safety laws between Ohio and its neighbors. They note that Republicans' stranglehold on the legislature, after defying repeated court orders to redraw state voting maps, has protected those politicians from the consequences of their votes."

Colorado. Déjà Vu All Over Again. Colleen Slevin & Jesse Bedayn of the AP: "On the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court victory this summer for a graphic artist who didn't want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples, Colorado's highest court said Tuesday it will now hear the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. The announcement by the Colorado Supreme Court is the latest development in the yearslong legal saga involving Jack Phillips and LGBTQ+ rights. Phillips won a partial victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 after refusing to make a gay couple's wedding cake.... The key issue in the case is whether the cakes Phillips creates are a form of speech and whether forcing him to make a cake with a message he does not support is a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech."

~~~~~~~~~~

Brazil. Diana Duran of the Washington Post: "More than 150 ... [pink river dolphins] have died in [Lake Tefé] in Brazil's Amazonas state, alarming scientists and wildlife advocates. The cause is unknown, but scientists say the likeliest culprit is extreme heat and drought, possibly linked to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon. The water temperature in Lake Tefé has reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit -- 59 degrees more than the average for a body of water in the Amazon -- and water levels have fallen dramatically. When the water is that warm, dolphins become disoriented, said Claudia Sacramento, head of the Environmental Emergencies Division at the governmental Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The loss of oxygen triggers an increase in their cell metabolism, and they die of asphyxia."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded on Thursday to the Norwegian novelist and playwright Jon Fosse 'for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.'"

Reader Comments (16)

R's on Sunday: "Dems are pedophiles"
R's on Monday: "Dems are socialists"
R's on Tuesday: "Dems are facists"
R's on Wednesday: "Why won't Dems help us?"

As Napleon Bonaparte once said: "Never interrupt your enemy
when he is making a mistake."

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Is bipartisanship over?
"Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus are weighing quitting the bipartisan group after Democrats opted against helping former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) keep his leadership position on Tuesday."
I saw one conservative outlet report this story using the story of the frog and the scorpion. Of course the Democrats were the scorpions in their telling of the story. The Right really does live in an alternate universe. Unfortunately much of the media likes to repeat many of the stories they hear around the campfire while they are visiting.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

The prospect of good SCOTUS news about the CFPB warms the morning cockles. Protecting voters and consumers both? A pittance maybe, but I'll take it from this Court.

And when I think about the display of how not to govern the House has been putting on since the R's took over, cliched as it is, I can't shake the image of adults and spoiled children that comes to mind. It may not explain much but it does fit very well.

The brats that can't get it together to govern can't because that's not what they are there for. They are not there to work; they are there to play war with one another, and as is often the case for children who like to fight, the play rapidly degenerates into squabbles.

And always, looking over their shoulders are those adult Dems who can't help but seem anything but censorious. No wonder it's all the Dems' fault.

I'm reminded of what I encountered long ago when I arrived at a university that amusingly called one of its rivals the University of Spoiled Children. For me, an element of that amusement was the projection--tho I don't think I knew that word at the time--it involved. Many of us were spoiled, too, and one of the signs that struck me of our own immaturity were the dorm conversations that often tended toward blaming parents for whatever problems or unhappiness we were experiencing in the academic pressure cooker that was our new home.

Tho' I had my own issues with my parents and often found fault with them, the prevalence of blaming parents for all one's problems was new to me.

Even then it seemed misplaced and somehow wrong, and I don't like it any better now.

And Matt Gaetz even looks like a little snot.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Both-sider Bloomberg:

Can't link it, but in an op-ed Michael Bloomberg blames Hakeem Jeffries for not coming to McCarthy's rescue.

I guess that to Mr. Bloomberg when the Mets lose to the Yankees, it's all the Yankees' fault.

In this case, I'd wager his focus on the stock market has him worried that it will plunge in reaction to the Rs' obvious dysfunction.

Do large dollar signs occlude some people's vision?

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Here's a New Republic piece on the latest attempt at faux bipartisanship: https://newrepublic.com/article/172059/no-labels-took-100000-clarence-thomas-buddy-harlan-crow?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

It's good to know that fellow citizens can be so easily had.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

Jack,

Wow! or Weird?

Was just about to link the same piece via Jim Hightower's Substack...

You beat me by mere seconds, but no harm done. I'm used to losing.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Brother, you said it.

Although, it bears pointing out that Napoleon, had he taken his own observation to heart, might not have ended up on St. Helena.

And now that I think of it, maybe the Fat Fascist, once he’s found guilty of all these charges, can be exiled to some penal colony in the middle of the ocean. Hopefully one that includes breaking rocks as daily meditation on one’s many transgressions.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"Contrary to how McCarthy’s defenders are behaving, men failing up is not a Constitutionally protected right.

The man made risky decisions and faced the natural consequences of them. I am not his mom, and my job is not to put pool noodles around hard corners for Republicans."

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I am a little freaked out that bipartisanship has been going on all this time and I never noticed. Is there a way to receive an alert? Perhaps Susan Collins can include it in her newsletter.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

Finally!

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203309716/alabama-2024-congressional-map

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Should Trump be nominated as Speaker of the House how many GOP members could find the courage to vote against him? For a majority of representatives it would be political suicide.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Then there's this House rule:

https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/donald-trump/what-house-rules-say-trump-serving-speaker-and-why-they-might-not-matter/536-91f5295b-abb7-4d9a-8084-1e11170437cb

Granted, it's only a House rule, easily ignored by Republicans who don't care about rules...

But by those who do care about rules (like most adults, even many in the Law 'n Order party) it would be a very bad look.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Yes, I was thinking about the rule regarding felony indictment. But rules aren't for republicans. After all, Alabama has a law that says a US Senator must be a resident of the state, and yet tuberville hasn't been booted out even though his residence is in Florida. Infuriating.

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@NiskyGuy: It isn't just a Senate rule or an Alabama law that requires a U.S. Senator to live in the state he represents. It's that pesky U.S. Constitution: "No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen."

Some reliable, interested party should get really clear on just where it was Mr. Potato Head was living on Election Day 2022. And if it was Florida, somebody with standing should sue to have him removed. It won't make a lot of difference, I suppose, because Gov. Kay Ivey, but just being able to thumb my nose at Tuberville would be some satisfaction.

October 5, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Trump disclosed classified info about nuclear subs to Mar-a-Lago members, others
"Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club -- an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists, according to sources familiar with the matter."

October 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS
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