;)
The Conversation -- September 11, 2023
Marie: You know that old joke about the astronaut who came back from outer space and a reporter asked him if he had seen God. The astronaut replied, "Yes, and she's Black." Well, Donald Trump doesn't think that's funny, especially when it comes to his own Judgment Day: ~~~
~~~ Fin Gomez & Graham Kates of CBS News: "In a filing Monday, [Donald Trump's attorneys] argued that Judge Tanya Chutkan should recuse herself from the case for previous statements they say give the appearance of bias. They did not outright accuse Chutkan of being biased against Trump, but highlighted statements they claimed 'create a perception of prejudgment incompatible with our justice system.... Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying,' Trump's attorneys wrote in the filing.... Trump's filing highlights several instances during hearings related to defendants in Jan. 6 riot cases in which Trump's attorneys say Chutkan appeared critical of the former president.... The only case in which Trump has not sought a new judge or jurisdiction is one in which" he appointed the judge (Aileen Cannon). The New York Times story is here.
"The Big One." Marc Elias in Democracy Docket: Missing in the indictments of Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election: "Trump's audacious effort to enlist the U.S. Supreme Court in throwing out the election results in four key battleground states. At the time, Trump called the case 'the big one.' If successful, this one lawsuit would have disenfranchised more than 20 million voters across Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and changed the results of the election.... It was filed by the state of Texas, not gadfly lawyers. It was brought in the name of the state, signed by the state's attorney general with the support of the governor.... Other than the events that took place on Jan. 6, the Texas case was the most profoundly anti-democratic act in the post-election period. The use of state resources and official imprimatur to traffic in false information and overturn an election was a precursor to the fake elector schemes and Jeffrey Clark's attempt to use government resources to overturn Georgia's election results. Most importantly, the Texas case galvanized the Republican political and legal community behind Trump's plan to steal the election. Within two days, 17 other states -- represented by their state's lawyers -- filed a legal brief in support of Texas. Not to be outdone, 106 Republican members of Congress filed their own brief, also supporting Texas." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Elias doesn't say so, but the Supremes tnrew out the case: Emma Platoff of the Texas Tribune (Dec. 2020): "... the U.S. Supreme Court ... tossed out the Texas lawsuit that had become a vehicle for Republicans across the country to contest President-elect Joe Biden's victory. In a few brief sentences, the high court said it would not consider the case.... 'Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections,' the court wrote in an unsigned ruling Friday evening. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas indicated they would have allowed Texas to bring the case but said they would 'not grant other relief.' None of Trump's appointees indicated they saw any merit in the lawsuit."
** Heidi Przybyla of Politico: Citizens United "upended nearly 100 years of campaign spending restrictions." Before the decision came down, Ginni Thomas, Leonard Leo & Harlan Crow were ready for it, creating an organization where the initial goals were to block President Obama's agenda, mainly Obamacare. "From those early discussions among Leo, Thomas and Crow would spring a billion-dollar force that has helped remake the judiciary and overturn longstanding legal precedents on abortion, affirmative action and many other issues. It funded legal scholars to devise theories to challenge liberal precedents, helped to elect state attorneys general willing to apply those theories and launched lavish campaigns for conservative judicial nominees who would cite those theories in their rulings from the bench. The movement's triumphs are now visible but its engine remains hidden: A billion-dollar network of groups, most of which are registered as tax-exempt charities or social welfare organizations. Taking advantage of gaps in disclosure laws, they shield the identities of most of their donors and some of the recipients of the funds." They also hide whether or not some of the principals are "using charities for personal enrichment" and whether or not principals like Ginni Thomas are doing any work for the payments they receive. MB: If wingers are dumb, it might be because of inbreeding. This is a truly incestuous bunch.
Laurie McGinley & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a reformulated coronavirus vaccine in a bid to provide increased protection ahead of cooler weather -- even as the nation endures a late-summer uptick of covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. The shots, which target an omicron subvariant and were cleared for anyone 6 months and older, are manufactured by Moderna and by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off Tuesday, injections could be available in pharmacies, clinics and doctor's offices by the end of the week." This article is free to nonsubscribers. ~~~
~~~ Here's the FDA's press release.
Claire Fahy of the New York Times: "Mourners gathered in grief in Lower Manhattan on Monday, hugging each other and fighting back tears as they remembered their loved ones who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Attendees of the ceremony commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil sat on folding chairs and leaned against trees as flute music filled the air and relatives of those who died read their names aloud -- a ritual that has remained virtually unchanged for more than two decades. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with photos of their lost loved ones, while others carried posters or framed pictures. Many brought flowers and flags. The families were joined by a number of notable politicians, including Vice President Kamala Harris; Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York; Eric Adams, New York City's mayor; and Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Adams's two most immediate predecessors. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida ... also made a brief appearance. Mr. Adams, who was a police lieutenant at the time of the attacks, told CBS News ... that he had gone to ground zero that day, and was struck by the 'eerie stillness.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Uh, where was America's Mayor?
~~~~~~~~~~
Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Americans are looking back on the horror and legacy of 9/11, gathering Monday at memorials, firehouses, city halls and elsewhere to observe the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil. Commemorations stretch from the attack sites -- at New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- to Alaska and beyond. President Joe Biden is due at a ceremony on a military base in Anchorage."
Josh Boak & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden closed a visit to Vietnam on Monday by spotlighting new business deals and partnerships between the two countries and paying respects at a memorial honoring his late friend and colleague Sen. John McCain , who endured a lengthy incarceration during the Vietnam War. Biden met with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, who also accompanied the president to a quick drop by at a meeting of American and Vietnamese business leaders. Biden also sat down with President Võ Văn Thưởng, who hosted the U.S. president for a state luncheon of steamed codfish and Hanoian beef noodle soup. Biden spoke about strengthening Vietnam's semiconductor industry and his administration's commitment to an open Pacific."
Peter Baker & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden cemented a new strategic relationship with Vietnam on Sunday, bringing two historical foes closer than they have ever been and putting the ghosts of the past behind them out of shared worry over China's mounting ambitions in the region. During a landmark visit to Hanoi by the American president, Vietnam's Communist Party leadership formally raised the country's ties to the United States to the highest level in Hanoi's diplomatic hierarchy, equivalent to those it has with Russia and China. Mr. Biden said the breakthrough was 'the beginning of even a greater era of cooperation' a half-century after American troops withdrew. 'Today, we can trace a 50-year arc of progress in the relationship between our nations, from conflict to normalization,' Mr. Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. 'This is a new elevated status that will be a force for prosperity and security in one of the most consequential regions in the world.'"
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Congress is poised this week to dive into an epic fight over spending, as the Senate for the first time in years puts appropriations bills on the floor for debate and Speaker Kevin McCarthy tries to find his way out of a complex funding tangle that could ultimately threaten his leadership post. With less than three weeks remaining before government funding runs out on Sept. 30, Congress has not cleared any of its 12 annual appropriations bills, though there has been more progress than in the recent past. Given the rapidly approaching deadline, leaders of both the House and the Senate agree that a temporary stopgap funding measure will be needed to avert a government shutdown beginning Oct. 1. But that usually routine legislation is facing major obstacles in the Republican-led House, making its path to President Biden's desk unusually fraught." An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Kevin McCarthy is facing the greatest peril to his speakership since he clawed his way into the job eight months ago, with multiple factions of his party feuding and a looming revolt ahead during the battle to fund the government. Ultra-conservative members of the House GOP are talking in unsubtle terms about turning on McCarthy if he does not take a hard line in negotiations with the Senate and the Biden administration. More centrist Republicans, too, are increasingly fed up with McCarthy's efforts to placate the far right. They want him to stop giving ground to lawmakers they see as holding the party hostage to unrealistic demands."
AP: "The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is slamming a fellow Republican in the Senate for waging an unprecedented attempt to change Pentagon abortion policy by holding up hundreds of military nominations and promotions. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday that Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is 'paralyzing the Department of Defense.'"
Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "As three high-profile California Democrats vie to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press' that he would not appoint any of them to the seat, should it become vacant sooner than expected.... In his most direct comments on the matter yet, Newsom said in the interview with Chuck Todd ... that he would instead make an 'interim appointment' to replace Feinstein if necessary. '... I don't want to get involved in the primary,' Newsom said. 'It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don't want to tip the balance of that.'"
Nicholas Riccardi of the AP: "Attorneys for ... Donald Trump moved a lawsuit seeking to bar him from running again for the White House from state to federal court in the first step of what promises to be a tangled legal battle that seems destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. The liberal group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed the initial lawsuit on Wednesday in Colorado state court, arguing a Civil War-era clause prohibiting higher office for those who once swore an oath to the Constitution and then engaged in 'insurrection' prevents Trump from running in 2024. The initial state judge in Denver assigned the case recused himself for an unspecified conflict of interest, and then Trump's attorneys on Thursday moved the case to federal court -- asserting that the matter should be adjudicated at the federal level since it raises a constitutional issue. The plaintiffs in the case will argue it should first go back to state court, but both sides anticipate that ultimately the top echelons of the federal system will have to consider the issues the lawsuit raises."
Presidential Race 2024. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Donald Trump is conjuring his most foreboding vision yet of a possible second term, telling supporters in language resonant of the run-up to the January 6 mob attack on the US Capitol that they need to 'fight like hell' or they will lose their country. The rhetorical escalation from the four-times-indicted ex-president came at a rally in South Dakota on Friday night where he accused his possible 2024 opponent, President Joe Biden, of ordering his indictment on 91 charges across four criminal cases as a form of election interference. 'I don't think there's ever been a darkness around our nation like there is now,' Trump said, in a dystopian speech in which he accused Democrats of allowing an 'invasion' of migrants over the southern border and of trying to restart Covid 'hysteria.'... Trump's strong lead in the primary shows there is a market for his brand of strongman theatrics. Millions of voters trust and admire him and have been persuaded both by his false claims that he won the 2020 election and that the criminal indictments he is facing are an attempt to persecute him for his political views."
Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "In a polarized United States, what divides Democrats and Republicans the most ... is the issue of race, whether in regard to the backgrounds of the voters who make up the two parties' coalitions, or the conflicting agendas and priorities each side advocates in the pursuit of power.... Lilliana Mason of Johns Hopkins University writes in ... a report produced by the American Political Science Association (APSA)..., 'The process of social sorting allowed the Republican Party to represent the interests of "traditional" white, Christian America while the Democratic Party was increasingly representing those who were still struggling to overturn centuries of social inequality. This type of divide is not easily corrected -- Democrats and Republicans have opposing visions of who should hold power in American society and how much progress has already been made.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Sorry, I don't think a person is really a Christian if he's a racist any more than a person who displays a Confederate flag is an American patriot.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dixieland. Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "A number of state flags still commemorate -- in ways both obvious and oblique -- the bloody attempt to create a permanent slave society.... Three state flags -- for Alabama, Florida and Tennessee -- contain elements reminiscent of the battle flag and were adopted during the Jim Crow era but otherwise lack historical proof of an intentional link.... [In 2020,] Mississippi became the last state to remove the Confederate battle flag from its state flag.... Seven state flags, including Maryland's, have documented links to the Confederacy and white supremacy. Here they are, ranked from least to most obvious...."
New Mexico. Edward Helmore of the Guardian & Agencies: "A pro-gun group is suing the New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, in an effort to block a 30-day emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque's Bernalillo county issued last week after a spate of shootings."
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "Hurricane Lee continues to grow larger and its northward turn this week could eventually take it on a track that brings rain, wind and coastal flooding impacts to Bermuda, Atlantic Canada and eastern New England, but there remains a high amount of uncertainty in the forecast. The hurricane will send dangerous high surf and rip currents to the U.S. East Coast regardless of where it tracks over the next several days." ~~~
~~~ Washington Post: "Large and powerful Hurricane Lee is plowing across the Atlantic Ocean north of the Leeward Islands and there is an increasing likelihood that it will affect parts of eastern North America late this week. After it makes a hard turn to the north Wednesday, it could sideswipe Bermuda on Thursday before possibly bringing storm hazards to eastern New England."
Pennsylvania. AP: "Authorities say an escaped murderer who has eluded capture since breaking out of a southeastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance, stole a dairy delivery van, abandoning it miles away and remained at large. Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said Sunday that Danelo Souza Cavalcante stole the unlocked van which had the keys inside sometime Saturday night about three-quarters of a mile from the northern perimeter of the search area where hundreds of law enforcement officers had been searching for him.... The theft [of the van] wasn't noticed for hours, and in the meantime Cavalcante, 34, traveled more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville. Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday he went to an East Pikeland Township home of a person he had worked with several years ago and asked to meet with him, police said. The homeowner, who was at dinner with his family and didn't respond, called police after returning home and reviewing his doorbell video. Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, police said, Cavalcante went to the Phoenixville area home of another former work associate, who wasn't home, police said."
Morocco. AP: "People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake. The disaster killed more than 2,100 people -- a number that is expected to rise -- and the United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night's magnitude 6.8 quake. Amid offers from several countries, including the United States and France, Moroccan officials said Sunday that they are accepting international aid from just four countries: Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates."
Share Article
Reader Comments (12)
Like a broken clock, Trump is occasionally right.*
For instance, when he says stuff like there has never been a darkness in the country as there is now, he is 100% correct. And he’s the cause.
And instead of telling us how many voters admire strongman tactics and lies, reporters could make themselves far more useful by talking more about what an existential threat Trump’s authoritarian ethos poses and less about how much he is loved by the droolers, thank you very much.
*Unlike a broken clock, Fatty is right far less often than twice a day. More like twice a decade.
Stupidest man in Congress opens the pie hole and out comes…
Could there possibly be anyone as stupid—and weird, the same time—as Ron Johnson?
Yapping with a Fox loony about how climate change is not a problem, Johnson, out of the blue, sez “Oh yeah? And what about this?! Windmills are killing the whales!
Yeah! Right?
Umm…what? Windmills are killing the whales?
But there’s more! There was such a flood of stoopid in this exchange it’s hard to keep one’s head above water. According to the Fox loony, attempts to address climate change are racist! Yeah! How ‘bout them apples? Something, something, something equatorial Africa.
Okay…whenever you hear anyone on Fox complaining about supposed poor treatment of people in Africa, you know there’s something funny going on. Since when does anyone at Fox, or in the Party of Traitors, worry about Africa?
And not to be outdone by this whacko pronunciamento, ol’ Ron sez “Yeah, and we just spent $5 trillion on climate change…for NOTHING!”
They just make shit up on the fly. But then comes the bombshell about windmills murdering whales. And there’s no evidence produced about racist environmentalists, trillions of dollars, or killer windmills, it’s just bullshit thrown against the wall and weird-ass non sequiturs. I like peanut butter. Can you skate? Africans are being horribly treated. Windmills are killing whales.
And all of this is being presented as responsible, properly vetted information.
Jesus. No wonder confederates drool.
I’ve been thinking that all it would take to scuttle Dictator 2.0, would be for two or three states to keep that fat fuck off the ballot, per the Constitution. Look, he wasn’t impeached over his flagrant and serial violations of the Emoluments Clause.
He was given a pass on two other impeachments, he’s been indicted four times, so far, he’s a convicted rapist and proven con man, he stole secret documents and waved them around…but most egregiously, he incited an insurrection. Of all his constitutionally connected crimes, that one is undeniable. And according to legal scholars, it’s a clear enough violation that it doesn’t need to be proven in a court trial.
He should, by all rights, never be allowed to hold federal office again. Because should he be successful at stealing this next election, he will promise to uphold the Constitution, again, and seconds later will be pissing on it, again.
The problem, however, is that ultimately, it will come down to the Party of Traitor apparatchiks on the Supreme Court, and we all know what that means. Still, we should make them say it:
“The Constitution doesn’t matter if you’re one of us.”
@Akhilleus: Oh, how unfairly you disparage the Stupidest Senator! Ron Johnson is not just making up stuff. Oh, no. He is parroting what he heard on Fox Batshit "News." According to a Factcheck.org post from March of this year, both the esteemed environmentalist Jesse Watters & well-known oceanographer TuKKKer Carlson wailed about whales dying from exposure to wind farms.
There's another world out there, where the earth is flat (and whales could fall off it!) and libruls eat the Christian babies. Pardon me while I season my cast-iron skillet with Christco Best White Baby Fats I'm fixing up some white baby chitlins & and pan-fried baby back ribs for breakfast (too much?).
Here's one from SNL, an interview of trump voters, to cheer us up
on this gloomy Monday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0pO9VG1J8
Just when I thought that windmills merely stopped the wind from blowing, I now find out that they are our front line in the war against whales. Remember, we fight them there so we don't have to fight them here. Just imagining a whale crashing through the trees ringing my back yard gives me chills. Also, the lack of wind helps my golf game.
While some birds are killed by windmills, far more are killed by flying into glass buildings, and many times that number are killed by cats.
https://www.sierraclub.org/michigan/wind-turbines-and-birds-and-bats
Perhaps The Donald will start a new industry to generate electricity by forcing cats to run on treadmills. I have no doubt that millions of his adoring fans will rush to buy stock. Sounds like a moneymaker.
@D in Md: Ha ha. I've consulted Donnie Jr. and we've come up with a design for Trump Energy International, Ltd.'s state-of-the-art factories. Thousands of cats on treadmills. At each treadmill, a hologram of a bird dangles in front of the cat, just out of reach. This will encourage the cats to keep on truckin'. This has the advantage of increasing efficiency AND being exceptionally cruel.
I consulted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott about catnip or water breaks; he said no way. Anyhow, we put Eric in charge of running the ops, so all should go very smoothly.
Marie, a good plan but for one flaw:
-- Cats won't work for anybody.
Switch to dogs. They'll run all day and happy to do so.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) "likens Joe Biden to Osama bin Laden on 9/11 anniversary"
Teamwork, Patrick
The dogs can chase the cats while the cats are chasing the holographic birds. Maybe throw a mailman into the mix. How about Louie DeJoy?
Linking a story about a lower Manhattan commemoration of 9/11, Marie ponders Rudy’s 20. Well, lessee…10:30? Hmmm…’merica’s mayor was probably on his third martini by then, stumbling around his soon to be sold condo, Nixon-like, wondering why Jesus had given him over to his enemies and despairing (correctly) that the smirking crook and traitor he sold his soul for had no intention of paying for so much as a parking ticket or a Big Mac.