New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”
To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.
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OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, but Akhilleus found this new one that he says is easy to use.
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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.
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."
Here's what the workers who put food on our tables are doing today. Uh, Happy Labor Day.
Afternoon Update:
Someone in the Trump Regime Still Can Be Embarrassed. Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would reconsider its decision to force immigrants facing life-threatening health crises to return to their home countries, an abrupt move last month that generated public outrage and was roundly condemned by the medical establishment. On Aug. 7, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, without public notice, eliminated a 'deferred action' program that had allowed immigrants to avoid deportation while they or their relatives were undergoing lifesaving medical treatment.... On Monday, the [Department of Human Services] said in a statement that while limiting the program was 'appropriate,' officials would 'complete the caseload that was pending on August 7.' The statement said that deportation proceedings had not been initiated against anyone who had received the letter. However, it did not say whether it would continue to grant immigrants extensions to stay in the country.... When asked for clarification, an agency official said..., 'Whether a very limited version of deferred action will continue forward at U.S.C.I.S. is still under review....'"
Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump spent Labor Day morning by sending out a series of tweets attacking what he calls the Fake News media. While Category 5 Hurricane Dorian slowly makes its way to the South Atlantic coast of the United States, dangerously threatening coastal areas from Florida, north to the Carolinas..., he first attacked a report published Sunday night by The Washington Post [also linked below], that claimed Trump aides privately, and anonymously, admit that it was a' lost summer' for the White House as President Trump got lost in a sea of controversial distractions.... He then appeared to go after the entire institution of the free press..., taking a page from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in calling out the 'LameStream Media' who he sees as having gone 'totally Crazy!'" ...
... Well, that's SOP, but how did Trump celebrate great American workers on Labor Day? ...
... Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday lashed out at American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) President Richard Trumka a day after the labor union leader criticized Trump's trade deal in a Fox News interview. Trump, in a Labor Day morning tweet, claimed that Trumka doesn't share the same critique of Trump's trade deal when 'he is with me at the White House.... Just watched AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on @FoxNews and thought to myself how different he is on TV tan he is when he is with me at the White House. Likes what we are doing until the cameras go on,' Trump tweeted. The president targeted the AFL-CIO head after Trumka said that unions were not ready to back the president's 'unenforceable' replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."
Hong Kong. Greg Torode, et al., of Reuters: "Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she has caused 'unforgivable havoc' by igniting the political crisis engulfing the city and would quit if she had a choice, according to an audio recording of remarks she made last week to a group of businesspeople. At the closed-door meeting, Lam told the group that she now has 'very limited' room to resolve the crisis because the unrest has become a national security and sovereignty issue for China amid rising tensions with the United States. 'If I have a choice,' she said, speaking in English, 'the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology.' Lam's dramatic and at times anguished remarks offer the clearest view yet into the thinking of the Chinese leadership as it navigates the unrest in Hong Kong, the biggest political crisis to grip the country since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989."
Danica Kirka of the AP: "British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonshot down the notion that he wanted an early election to secure Brexit, insisting Monday that it wasn't the way to get a deal done. Johnson decried parliamentary action set for Tuesday that is meant to delay Britain's departure from the European Union, arguing that it would 'chop the legs' out of the U.K. position. He spoke moments after lawmakers posted a copy of the proposed bill on Twitter, making clear that they would press the government to seek a delay if there's no deal."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Trump's Lost Summer." Philip Rucker & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "The two months between Independence Day and Labor Day offered a fresh and vivid portrait of the president as seen by Trump's critics -- incompetent, indecisive, intolerant and ineffective.... Privately, many of the president's advisers and outside allies bemoan what they consider to be a period of missed opportunity and self-sabotage.... Some White House aides and outside Trump allies ... describ[e] an administration in which the president has crashed through the remaining guard rails. Trump could have worked strategically to solidify his position and broaden his appeal. Instead, his words and actions this summer served to further divide the country and to harden public opinion about the ever-polarizing president." ...
... ** Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "The prudential argument, against impeachment, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ... seems to favor still, is that the crucial thing for those who resist Donald Trump -- stipulating in advance that he's an autocrat at daily war with the basic premises of liberal democracy -- is to win elections in 2020. The only meaningful defeat is a political defeat.... The principled case [for impeachment] ... is summed up in three words: Trump's a crook.... The task of holding Trump accountable becomes more urgent for a simple reason: he's getting worse.... There is another, pragmatic reason to pursue impeachment.... Trump is a dangerous and unfit President.... The normalization of Trump and Trumpism -- allowing those things to be defined merely as a political problem needing a political cure -- degrades democracy."
We don't even know what's coming at us. All we know is it's possibly the biggest. I have -- I'm not sure that I've ever even heard of a Category 5. I knew it existed. And I've seen some Category 4's -- you don't even see them that much. But a Category 5 is something that -- I don't know that I've ever even heard the term other than I know it's there. That's the ultimate, and that's what we have unfortunately. -- Donald Trump, at a briefing with officials at FEMA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sunday ...
... Devan Cole of CNN: "In September 2017, nearly eight months into Trump's presidency, Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded outside the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, affected at least nine US states. That same month, Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory of Puerto Rico, leaving behind an island that is still struggling to recover. Last October, Hurricane Michael, which was originally designated as a Category 4, barreled into the Florida Panhandle as the third Category 5 hurricane to blast the US since Trump.... Trump has previously indicated several other times that Category 5 hurricanes are unprecedented weather events that either he or others had never heard of or witnessed. In the days between the landfalls of Hurricane Irma and Maria, he said he 'never even knew' they existed.... In October 2017, Trump claimed nobody has ever heard of a (Category) 5 hitting land,' and earlier this year, he again said he had never heard of a hurricane of that intensity.... The US has seen a number of Category 5 storms in recent memory -- including Hurricane Katrina in 2005...."
"It Could Have Been Worse." First Responders, law enforcement, the police, the FBI, Governor Abbott, incredible the job they did. It is tragic. But they did it an incredible job under the circumstances. Another very sick person, so I just want to thank you everybody involved.... As bad as it was, it could have been worse, but it was certainly bad, very very sad situation.... Background checks, I will say that for the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five, going back even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. -- Donald Trump, to reporters, Sunday ...
... David Edwards of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump on Sunday sought to downplay the mass shooting that left at least seven dead near Odessa, Texas.... When pressed on gun legislation, Trump argued that improved background checks would not have stopped any of the recent mass shootings." Mrs. McC: I guess we should look at this as an encouraging sign of Trump's mental acuity. True, he can't remember Cat 5 hurricanes Irma & Maria from two years ago (he does "remember" all the billions he thinks he "gave" to ungrateful Puerto Ricans), but he can remember a mass shooting that occurred a month ago (no doubt because unpatriotic Democrats are still nagging him to take away everybody's guns). ...
... Likely [Trump will] dust off the DVD of an old speech blaming [the Odessa shooting] on 'mental illness'. -- Bobby Lee, in a comment Sunday morning
For the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five (shootings) going back even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. So it's a big problem. It's a mental problem. It's a big problem. -- Donald Trump, hours later ...
... Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to 'stop the menace of mass attacks.' He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership and seemed to cast fresh doubt on the merits of instituting more thorough background checks for gun purchases." (Also linked yesterday.) More theories on the causes of mass shootings linked under Beyond the Beltway beltway. Mrs. McC: Denialism, it turns out, leads to very creative, albeit delusional, ideas.
Sir Donald Recalls. Justin Wise of the Hill: "PresidentTrump on Sunday targeted actressDebra Messing after she called for publicizing the list of donors who are reportedly attending a Beverly Hills fundraiser where the president is slated to appear.... 'I have not forgotten that when it was announced that I was going to do "The Apprentice," and when it then became a big hit, helping NBC's failed lineup greatly, @DebraMessing [-- then a star of 'Will & Grace' --] came up to me at an Upfront & profusely thanked me, even calling me "Sir,"' Trump said on Twitter. "How times have changed!'" ...
... The Tell. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: How we know that never happened: Trump claims Messing called him "Sir."
Ioan Grillo of the New York Times: "... eight Mexican citizens [were] among the 22 people who died in the [El Paso] attack, in which a man named Patrick Crusius is accused of shooting shoppers in a Walmart with an AK-style rifle. Most of the other victims were Americans of Mexican descent.... Mexico';s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard..., has called for terrorism charges to be filed against Mr. Crusius and has said Mexico may ask for his extradition here.... The massacre indeed looks to be a political act designed to sow terror and hate.... But even without such charges, prosecutors and the police need to make clear that the case is a political crime of terror rather than the random act of a madman.... It is certainly terrorism when a person or group murders innocent civilians in the name of a political or religious cause. The El Paso shooting appears to fit this definition to the letter." Mrs. McC: Grillo never specifically mentions Trump's direct contribution to white supremacist violence. But he might as well have accused Trump of inciting terrorism. ...
Tim Craig of the Washington Post: "Sitting in lawn chairs plopped in the middle of train tracks, two coal miners smoked and chewed tobacco to pass the time. There's been little else to do here for the past four weeks, except wave at motorists who honk in support of these homegrown heroes waging a national struggle over workers' rights. Since Chris Rowe and Chris Sexton were laid off from their mining jobs this summer along with 300 co-workers, they have been camped out ... in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, blocking a train car full of coal from going to market. Their protest is against coal company Blackjewel, which halted operations in July without settling its final salary obligations to ... an estimated 1,800 ... workers across the country. But it's also become a declaration against corporate bankruptcy laws that they say deprioritize workers' interests.... Trump won 85 percent of the vote [here].... At the camp, there is an informal policy against speaking about Trump or partisan issues, underscoring the president's continued popularity in areas where the local economy has continued to suffer." The protest has been going on since July 29. "The Labor Department has sought an injunction to prevent Blackjewel from moving the rail car, which is estimated to have about $1 ;million in coal, according to local media reports." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2020
Mark Leibovich of the New York Times: "'How badly do you want to be president?' Joseph R. Biden Jr. was asked after a recent speech in Prole, Iowa. The answer to such an inquiry would appear self-evident in the case of Mr. Biden, who began his running-for-president routine more than three decades ago; in other words, very badly, one would assume.... Remarkably, after all this time, Mr. Biden stumbles to come up with a clear answer.... Mr. Biden's campaign has been jackhammering home the premise that he is best suited to winning a general election against an incumbent who must not be re-elected.... Clearly, other candidates have far more identifiable 'whys' attached to their enterprises." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If the only candidates running in 2020 were a former Republican (Jim Webb, Lincoln Chaffee), a handsome milquetoast former governor (Martin O'Malley), (a socialist Bernie Sanders) & a single-issue professor (Lawrence Lessig), then, yes, we would welcome good ole Joe. But there are a half-dozen solid candidates in the race, any of whom has the potential to beat Trump. Yo, Joe, you should go.
Don Junior Concerned about Biden's Ethics. Eric Levitz of New York: "This week, Donald Trump ... made clear that increasing off-season bookings at the Trump National Doral Miami Golf Club was one of the United States' top objectives at the [G-7] conference.... Trump's proposal would effectively compel foreign governments to make direct contributions to his family fortune, while also awarding his one of his properties exceedingly valuable international exposure. It could also put world leaders at unnecessary risk: Trump's resort is adjacent to one of Doral's busiest intersections, and its lobby was the site of a firefight between an armed man and police last year. Meanwhile..., foreign heads of state would ostensibly be descending on South Florida near the start of hurricane season. In other news from the weekend, Joe Biden's younger brother's former business partners accused ... [Joe]'s sibling of promising them special favors from a Biden campaign and/or presidency, as part of a broader 'fraudulent scheme to bankrupt them and steal their business models.'... [A] lawsuit [brought by the partners against James Biden] does not allege any wrongdoing on Joe Biden's part, nor does it indicate that the former vice-president had any awareness of his brother's unseemly offers.... Nevertheless, for stalwart champions of ethics in government like Donald Trump Jr., the allegations against James Biden raise serious questions about his older brother's fitness for office."
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. Video Games! Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: David Turner, "the mayor of Odessa, Texas is saying that red flag laws, or any other gun regulations wouldn't have stopped the [Odessa] gunman from killing seven people and injuring 22 others.... 'But you do realize there was a shooting and the mass shooting in El Paso not too far ago, far away, just about a month ago,' [MSNBC's Kendis] Gibson [said to Turner in an interview]. 'Again, with an assault rifle. This is an assault rifle. Isn't there something common in all of this?' 'Yeah. I think it's a problem of the heart, to be honest with you,' Turner explained. 'We have so many violent video games.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Whether the gunman had mental health issues, or watched too many video games (there's no published evidence of this, so far), or a "problem of the heart" or was upset he got fired (likely the proximate inspiration for the murderous rampage) or whatever, the one reason he was able to kill & maim & terrify so many people was that he had an assault rifle. Every political reporter should ask every gun-loving politician why individual Americans need assault weapons. And, no, "people like to go to the shooting range" is not a need. ...
... Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer (R) declared that he wouldn't vote for any gun control measures several hours after a series of deadly shootings in his state led to at least seven deaths on Saturday. Schaefer posted a screed on Facebook railing against 'red flag' laws, universal background checks, mandatory buybacks, or bans on AR-15s, claiming that 'none of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.' The Republican lawmaker's proposed solution to mass shootings? Prayer. 'YES to praying for victims. YES to praying for protection. YES to praying that God would transform the hearts of people with evil intent,' he wrote. Schaefer also suggested that 'discipline in the homes' and men not leaving their families would also prevent gun violence. 'YES to God, and NO to more government intrusions,' he concluded." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: My favorite part of Schaefer's post: "I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period." Schaefer has elevated five old guys on the Supreme Court to gods, because it is they, not a supernatural being as Schaefer writes, who gave his fellow Texans the "right" to amass arsenals in the name of the Second Amendment. Very sacrilegious, Matt. And here I thought the god to whom Matt prayed commanded, "Thou shalt not kill."
... Steve M. checked out Breitbart comments, and found some more interesting "causes" of mass shootings, especially the Odessa shooting. Here's his summary: "Transsexuals, porn, critiques of toxic masculinity, and immigrant doctors killed those people in Texas -- except the shooting was probably a staged incident, because it didn't take place in Chicago."
News Ledes
AP: "The bodies of four people killed by a raging fire that swept through a dive-boat off the Southern California coast were recovered Monday as authorities said more than two dozen others remained missing and feared dead. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll says the four bodies had injuries consistent with drowning. Searchers continued to look for more than two dozen other people who were aboard the vessel Conception, which burned while anchored off Santa Cruz Island.... The Coas [Guard] said the vessel was believed to have carried 38 people, including five crew members who jumped off the boat soon after the fire ignited before dawn."
Washington Post: "At least 5 people are dead after Hurricane Dorian's catastrophic assault on the Bahamas, the prime minister said Monday." At 5:30 pm ET, this is a breaking news story. ...
... The Miami Heraldfront page links to numerous hurricane-related stories. The paper is providing free, unlimited access to all of its stories as Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida....
... New York Times live updates are here. "Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas overnight, with the eye of the storm lingering over Grand Bahama Island early Monday.... Early images and video emerging from the Abaco Islands, which were hit especially hard overnight, showed scenes of devastation as the powerful, slow-moving storm churned its way through the islands. The footage showed roofs torn from houses and cars and debris bobbing along inundated streets battered by strong winds and heavy rains." ...
... "The [Washington] Post has removed article limits on coverage of Hurricane Dorian to make these stories available without a subscription."
For the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five (shootings) going back even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. So it's a big problem. It's a mental problem. It's a big problem. -- Donald Trump, Sunday
See Bobby Lee's comment in today's thread. ...
... Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to 'stop the menace of mass attacks.' He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership and seemed to cast fresh doubt on the merits of instituting more thorough background checks for gun purchases."
Tim Craig of the Washington Post: "Sitting in lawn chairs plopped in the middle of train tracks, two coal miners smoked and chewed tobacco to pass the time. There's been little else to do here for the past four weeks, except wave at motorists who honk in support of these homegrown heroes waging a national struggle over workers' rights. Since Chris Rowe and Chris Sexton were laid off from their mining jobs this summer along with 300 co-workers, they have been camped out ... in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, blocking a train car full of coal from going to market. Their protest is against coal company Blackjewel, which halted operations in July without settling its final salary obligations to ... an estimated 1,800 ... workers across the country. But it's also become a declaration against corporate bankruptcy laws that they say deprioritize workers' interests.... Trump won 85 percent of the vote [here].... At the camp, there is an informal policy against speaking about Trump or partisan issues, underscoring the president's continued popularity in areas where the local economy has continued to suffer." The protest has been going on since July 29. "The Labor Department has sought an injunction to prevent Blackjewel from moving the rail car, which is estimated to have about $1 million in coal, according to local media reports."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Trade Wars Are Good & Easy to Win." Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Trump's trade war with China entered new territory on Sunday as his next round of tariffs took effect, changing the rules of trade in ways that have no recent historic precedent and driving the world's two largest economies further apart. American tariffs on foreign goods had already climbed higher than any time since the 1960s before Sunday, when the United States imposed a new 15 percent tariff. The levies on food, clothing, lawn mowers and thousands of other 'Made in China' products come as the president prepares to tax nearly everything China ships to America. The move will bring average tariffs on Chinese imports to 21.2 percent, up from only 3.1 percent when Mr. Trump came into office, according to data from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. China has responded by raising barriers to American companies and their products, while easing them for other nations.... China, which had long been America's biggest trading partner, dropped to third place in the first half of the year, behind Mexico and Canada.... [Peterson research] shows that the trade war is entering a period of rapid escalation." The Guardian story is here. ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This is what you get with international relations by threats, lies, petulance & clueless bravado. If Trump's goal is to increase Treasury receipts -- after having ballooned the deficit with a huge tax cut for corporations & rich Americans -- then tariffs are not going to do it. Treasury won't see a rise in tariff receipts if Americans can't afford to buy anything. Trade wars are bad & everybody loses. America Last. #MAGA, my ass. Baby ain't gonna get a new pair of shoes.
Now That Dorian Is Not Expected to Hit Miami or Mar-a-Lago.... Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trumpvisited his private Virginia golf club for several hours Saturday as Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Southeast coastline. Trump traveled by helicopter from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to his property in Virginia. The president gave the impression as he left the White House on Friday that he would spend Saturday at Camp David with experts monitoring what has developed into a powerful Category 4 storm."
The Trump "Presidential"* Grift. Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: "When President Trump decided to keep ownership of his company and continue to do business with foreign governments, he said nobody could stop him. But voters could trust him to police himself, he said. 'I will be leaving my great business in total,' Trump said, pledging to do more to keep his roles separate than was required of him in the Constitution. 'There are lines that we would never cross, and that's mixing business with anything government,' said Eric Trump, one of two Trump sons who would be taking over day-to-day control of the Trump Organization. Over time, [Donald] Trump has repeatedly crossed that line, routinely visiting his properties and talking them up on television and Twitter. The most overt example came last week, when Trump said he was likely to award next year's Group of Seven summit to his company's Doral golf resort in Florida -- a plan that would direct millions of dollars to benefit his own business.... Lawsuits alleging he is violating the Constitution by taking money from foreign and U.S. governments have stalled in the courts. Congressional Democrats have been stymied in their role overseeing the executive branch. And Republicans have expressed little interest in reining him in."
The Trump "Opportunity Zone" Grift, Ctd. David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: "President Trump has called it 'the hottest thing going,' a multibillion-dollar tax break designed to channel investments into poor neighborhoods, leading to new housing, businesses and jobs. The tax benefit allows people to delay paying taxes on profits from stocks or other investments for years. To qualify, they have to direct their untaxed gains into federally certified regions known as opportunity zones. Profits on those investments are then tax-free.... The most visible impact so far has been to set off a feeding frenzy among the wealthiest Americans. They are poised to reap billions in untaxed profits on high-end apartment buildings and hotels in trendy neighborhoods, storage facilities that employ only a handful of workers or student housing in bustling college towns.... Here are four high-profile beneficiaries of the tax break who have personal or professional connections to Mr. Trump.... Anthony Scaramucci...; Richard LeFrak..., a longtime confidante of Mr. Trump's and a major campaign donor...; the Kushners...; Chris Christie." The story provides details on the investments of each of Trump's buddies cited.
Marcy Wheeler has a good piece in the New Republicon the DOJ inspector general's report on Jim Comey's leaked memos. "It turns out Comey didn't fare too well when his own standards were applied to him." But Wheeler's main contention is that the IG "piled on the accusations against Comey to provide basis for a headline-grabbing censure, even where there was no basis for prosecution. Indeed, Trump made the most of the inspector general's rebuke, asserting that Comey had been 'thoroughly disgraced and excoriated' by the report's conclusions." Wheeler compares Comey's actions with those of Dubya's AG Alberto Gonzales who "had some of the most sensitive information in government wrapped inside two envelopes marked Top Secret at either his home or a briefcase he didn't always lock." The DOJ did not prosecute Gonzales. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I think there are two important things to keep in mind here: the first, as Josh Marshall pointed out in a post I linked yesterday, Comey was acting as a whistleblower. The other is that he had a big whistle to blow: within weeks of taking office, the POTUS* violated his oath to uphold the Constitution when he attempted to persuade Comey to end an investigation into possible criminal activity by a top government official (Michael Flynn), an investigation in which Trump himself was implicated in still more impeachable offenses. The Congress & the American people had a right to know this timely. Congress should have impeached & convicted Trump forthwith. Of course, that would have left us with a terrible president (pence), but at least he would have been a conventional terrible president on the order of Dubya. (And, true, pence's chances of being re-elected probably would have been greater than Trump's.) ...
... MEANWHILE. Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani accused former FBI director James Comey of trying to 'frame' the president after the publication of an inspector general report found that Comey's handling of memos was in violation of FBI policies. 'In a case involving the President of the United States, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that what Comey was trying to do was to frame Trump,' Giuliani said on John Catsimatidis' radio show that aired Sunday. 'Law enforcement officers that frame people ... they're horrid.' He later said that Comey 'orchestrated' the investigation by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller." Mrs. McC: See, Rudy, "frame" does not equal "report what he did."
John Bowden of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to take up legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases following a shooting Saturday in Texas in which five people were killed. Schumer tweeted that the Senate should take up H.R. 8 in response to the shooting, which would expand background checks to gun purchases between private individuals and require a licensed firearm dealer take possession of the weapon during the process." See yesterday's News Ledes for context.
Presidential Race 2020
Justin Wise of the Hill: "Numerous Democratic presidential candidates spoke out Saturday after a gunman in West Texas killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others. Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D) called the situation 'f[uc]cked up' at a campaign stop in Virginia and tweeted the same thing afterward."
Harry Enten of CNN: "A new national Quinnipiac University poll finds that former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg all lead ... Donald Trump by significant margins in potential 2020 matchups.... No incumbent president has ever polled this poorly against his likely challengers at this point in the campaign."
Orion Rummler & Gigi Sukin of Axios: "The third round of Democratic debates will be held on Sept. 12 in Houston, Texas, with 10 candidates on the stage." The report provides the "standing chart" of where candidates will appear on the stage. Biden & Warren are at center-stage.
Zach Montellardo of Politico: "The fourth Democratic presidential primary debate will be held on Oct. 15 and 16 in Ohio, according to a memo the Democratic National Committee sent to presidential campaigns. The memo, which was obtained by Politico, says the second night will only be held if necessary. The DNC has previously said it will not have more than 10 candidates on stage at a time."
Jessica Gresko of the AP: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsbur said Saturday she's 'alive' and on her way to being 'very well' following radiation treatment for cancer. Ginsburg, 86, made the comments at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. The event came a little over a week after Ginsburg disclosed that she had completed three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas and is now disease-free."; The Washington Post story is here.
Lenny Bernstein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Sackler family, which grew into one of the nation's wealthiest dynasties through sales of the widely abused painkiller OxyContin, could emerge from a legal settlement under negotiation with its personal fortunes largely intact, according to an analysis reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the discussions. Under a novel plan to bankrupt their company, Purdue Pharma, and resurrect it as a trust whose main purpose would be to combat the opioid epidemic, the Sacklers could raise most, if not all, of their share of the $10 billion to $12 billion agreement by selling their international drug conglomerate, Mundipharma, according to the documents and those close to the talks. Yet the proposed settlement -- built on the projected value of drugs not yet on the market -- offers gains for both sides if the company and more than 2,000 cities, counties, states and others that have sued Purdue and the family can craft a deal."
So the Internet has been spending the entire week having good fun at [Bret Stephens's] expense, because he was taking himself way too seriously. And then he had to find a way to take himself that much more seriously, by using his column space in the New York Times to call me, a Jew, a Nazi. -- Prof. David Karpf, comment to the WashPo, Saturday
That Bret Stephens column that not-so-subtly references Dave Karpf should be retracted. It knowingly slanders Karpf in the Paper of Record, likening a mild Twitter insult to the stuff of Nazis, and all because he got his feelings hurt. Children shouldn't have @nytimes columns. -- Jamil Smith in a tweet, Friday ...
... Hannah Knowles of the Washington PostreviewsBedbug Stephens' excellent argumentum ad Hitlerum. See yesterday's Commentariat for more. "Conservatism" means having a thin skin, a vile disposition & a poison pin. For a Never-Trumper, Bedbug is very Trumpy.
Beyond the Beltway
Arkansas. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Time was running out for Debra Stevens. But the 911 dispatcher didn't seem concerned. 'Somebody save me!' Stevens screamed as the water level crept up inside her car, which was stranded in floodwater. 'I don't know why you're freaking out,' the dispatcher, Donna Reneau, responded. '"I';m going to die,' Stevens cried later. 'Yeah, I know,' Reneau said. Stevens did die, but only after the dispatcher told the Fort Smith, Ark., woman to 'shut up,' chastised her for worrying that the phone call would cut off and berated her for driving into water -- water the frantic flood victim swore she had not seen. 'Well, this will teach you,' Reneau can be heard saying in audio of the call released this week by Fort Smith police.... Police have launched an internal investigation but said that Reneau -- who submitted her resignation earlier in August and was on her last shift when Stevens's call came in, according to the Southwest Times Record -- will probably not face formal repercussions for the way she treated Stevens in the woman's last minutes alive.... Stevens's SUV was swept off the road and into trees by flash flooding last Saturday as she delivered papers for the Times Record, police said." See also the linked Times Record story.
For men who are allegedly so 'proud' of being straight, they seem to show real incompetence at attracting women to their event. Seems more like a 'I-Struggle-With-Masculinity' parade to me. -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in a tweet ...
... Boston, Mass. Sarah Betancourt of the Guardian: "A controversial 'straight pride' parade in Boston on Saturday drew more than 1,000 counter-protesters and a few hundred supporters. The rightwing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was 'grand marshal' of the event, for which a group calling itself Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) acquired a permit in June.... Guarded by hundreds of Boston police officers and berated with yells of 'Nazi scum', the rightwing group made its way to Boston city hall for a speaking program. Students pressed their noses against windows of Emerson College dorms, next to signs reading 'Be gay' and 'No need for straight pride'. The school is known for its large LGBTQ student body and inclusivity.... Thousands of people videotaped the marchers and exchanged chants as a float with giant letters saying 'Trump built the wall' moved down the streets.... Despite denying being anti-LGBTQ, the organization allowed several people to the mic to complain about 'LGBTQ curriculums in public schools' and children being gay. People clad in Maga hats and 'How can I offend you?' shirts cheered. Some featured speakers had ties to a far-right organization, the Proud Boys, which has incited violence." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: "Trump built the wall"? So besides being obnoxious bigots, the "straight pride" people are delusional, too.
Texas. Justin Wise of the Hill: "A slate of new Texas laws that loosen regulations for firearms went into effect Sunday after a month in which the state experienced multiple mass shootings. The bills, which were passed during the 86th Texas legislature, ease restrictions surrounding access to guns on school grounds and churches, among other provisions."
Way Beyond
Hong Kong. Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have descended on Hong Kong's international airport, blocking roads and filling a bus terminus, in the latest wave of political unrest to hit the city. Less than 24 hours after protesters and police clashed in running battles on Saturday, demonstrators attempted to paralyse the airport, a major regional hub, on Sunday." ...
... Simon Gardner & Jessie Pang of Reuters: "Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday and pro-democracy protesters threw petrol bombs in the latest in a series of chaotic clashes that have plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades. Police fired round after round of tear gas and protesters took cover behind umbrellas between the local headquarters of China's People's Liberation Army and the government. Protesters also threw bricks dug up from pathways at police. Many shops and restaurants in protest areas popular with tourists were shuttered...."
U.K. Donna Ferguson, et al., of the Guardian: "From Bodmin to Berlin, Bristol to Oxford, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales on Saturday to vent their fury at [PM Boris] Johnson's plan to suspend parliament.... Demonstrations more than 1,000-strong were seen in cities including Manchester, Newcastle and York.... The anger was particularly vocal in London. Outside Downing Street, demonstrators chanted 'Shame on you'.... A sizeable group had brought Trafalgar Square to a standstill by sitting in the road."
News Ledes
New York Times: "The 36-year-old man who terrorized two West Texas towns with an assault-style rifle Saturday had been fired from his trucking job a few hours before he led the authorities on a chaotic high-speed chase that ended with his death and the deaths of seven others. Along a 15-mile stretch between the sister cities of Midland and Odessa..., he indiscriminately fired on motorists and police officers with an AR-15-style rifle while driving.... On Sunday, the authorities continued to collect evidence from more than 15 crime scenes, scattered along highways, car dealerships and shopping malls, marked by police tape, bullet-riddled cars and a wrecked postal van the gunman had hijacked. The authorities initially refused to name the gunman on Sunday, wanting not to give him 'any notoriety for what he did,' said Michael Gerke, the police chief of Odessa. But they later issued a statement identifying the gunman as Seth A. Ator, of Odessa.... The chief said it was not immediately known whether the gunman had legally purchased the rifle." ...
... The AP story identifying the killer is here. ...
... AP: "The death toll in a West Texas shooting rampage increased to seven Sunday as authorities investigated why a man stopped by state troopers for failing to signal a left turn opened fire on them and fled, shooting more than 20 people as he drove before being killed by officers outside a movie theater. Odessa police spokesman Steve LeSueur said that at least one person who was shot remained in life-threatening condition Sunday. Authorities say the gunman was a white male in his 30s, but police have not released a name or possible motive."
Weather Channel: "A hurricane warning has been issued for a portion of Florida's east coast as Dorian crawls over the northwestern Bahamas as a Category 5. The dangerous hurricane is still a threat to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. Dorian made its first landfall on Elbow Cay, in the Abacos of the northwestern Bahamas, at 12:40 p.m. EDT Sunday. It then made a second landfall on Great Abaco Island near Marsh Harbour at 2 p.m. EDT Sunday. Maximum sustained winds remain at 185 mph, putting Dorian in a tie for the second-highest sustained wind speed among all Atlantic hurricanes.... The northwestern Bahamas are still taking the brunt of Dorian's eyewall." The Weather Channel's front page, with links to related stories, is here. ...
... The Miami Heraldfront page links to numerous hurricane-related stories. The paper is providing free, unlimited access to all of its stories as Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida. Dorian has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane as it is about to make landfall in the Bahamas. New York Times live updates are here. ...
... "The [Washington] Post has removed article limits on coverage of Hurricane Dorian to make these stories available without a subscription."
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate (August 29): "If one were to consider, again, the articles of impeachment against the three sitting presidents who have historically faced impeachment proceedings, not only has Trump clearly achieved all of them — he actually now achieves most of them in under a week. Every week.... Donald Trump has committed multiple impeachable acts this week alone. There are the emoluments clause violations in attempting to grift the G-7 into paying his resort fees, the promises to pardon lawbreakers who help him build his wall, the threats to sitting members of Congress, and the persistent refusal to honor lawful subpoenas. These are abuses of power, obstruction of justice, and defiance of subpoenas." ...
... Beginning at about 50 seconds in, Joy Reid does a good job of summing up Trump's week that was:
~~~~~~~~~~
Reality Chex is back. The whole site was down for about 24 hours, and I had a helluva time getting Squarespace to fix the problem, one that was apparently fairly simple for them to fix once they decided to quit dicking around & take a look at it. I apologize for the inconvenience to everybody. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his planned trip to Poland this weekend, saying he wanted to remain stateside as a potentially major hurricane takes aim at Florida. Vice President Mike Pence will take Trump's place in Poland, where Trump was scheduled to attend a commemoration event for the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. 'To ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm, I have decided to send our vice president, Mike Pence, to Poland this weekend in my place, Trump said from the White House's Rose Garden at an [unrelated] event.... 'It's something very important for me to be here. The storm looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed.'" Thanks to MAG for the heads-up. ...
... Julia Ingram of the Miami Herald: "... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago and Trump Doral resorts in South Florida are within reach of the path that the National Weather Service was predicting Thursday evening.... Some [people] questioned on social media whether the decision to cancel the trip [to Poland] was tied to the president's resorts' locations within the cone.... Others voiced concern that if either resort was hit by the storm, Trump would exploit those damages to reap benefits from insurance. In 2005, the president said he received a $17 million insurance payout for damages to Mar-a-Lago, but the Associated Press found little evidence that the damage matched the price tag.... Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell drew attention when she tweeted Thursday that she was 'rooting for a direct hit' on Mar-a-Lago. On Friday, she deleted the tweet, apologizing 'to all it offended.' She instead posted another tweet saying she wished she could believe Dorian would 'shake up Trump's climate change denial.'" ...
... Kaitlin Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trumpwill spend the weekend at Camp David monitoring Hurricane Dorian instead of traveling to Poland as planned, but he'll be doing it without a permanent FEMA administrator or a confirmed secretary of Homeland Security.... Trump has warned..., oddly, [the storm] was going to hit 'dead center' -- but it's unclear what he was referring it would hit 'dead center' of. He has multiple properties in Florida, including his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach -- directly in the projected current path of the storm.... On Friday, Trump approved an emergency declaration for the state of Florida." ...
Wow! Yet another big storm heading to Puerto Rico. Will it ever end? Congress approved 92 Billion Dollars for Puerto Rico last year, an all time record of its kind for 'anywhere.' -- Donald Trump, August 27, in a tweet
Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night. Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest! -- Donald Trump, August 29, in a tweet ...
... Joseph Zeballos-Roig of Business Insider: "As Hurricane Dorian neared Puerto Rico and Florida this week, the difference in ... Donald Trump's messaging has been extremely stark. Trump approved a disaster declaration on Tuesday to better coordinate federal and local response efforts. But he took to Twitter that same day to trash the island's dire financial situation. Then he attacked the mayor of San Juan, and later scolded the island for being ungrateful for the federal aid its received -- from its own government.... As Hurricane Dorian barreled towards the Florida coast -- currently projected to make landfall as a major hurricane -- Trump's message veered in the opposite direction: The full might of the American government stands ready to help. And he urged Floridians to follow the instructions of state and local governments."
... Rebecca Morin of USA Today: "Puerto Rico's leading newspaper slammed ... Donald Trumpin a front-page headline that went after his repeated false claim that the U.S. has given Puerto Rico $92 billion for hurricane recovery. El Nuevo Día, which traditionally publishes its articles and newspapers in Spanish, printed an English version of its front page on Friday. 'Mr. President: Your Numbers Are Fake,' the headline reads. 'Although some politicians in Puerto Rico have indeed mismanaged funds and have let their constituents down, Mr. Trump's claims about the amount of money that has actually been assigned to the island are incorrect,' read the the front page."
Trump Blithely Tweets Highly-Classified Image. "I cannot tell a lie; I snapped it with my little iPod. Shane Harris & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "In a tweet Friday, President Trump revealed a detailed aerial image of an Iranian launchpad, an unusual disclosure that may have confirmed the United States is violating Iran's airspace to spy on its missile program. Some imagery experts, examining the angle and very-high resolution of the image, said it may have been taken by an aircraft, possibly a drone.... The image Trump tweeted Friday is almost certainly highly classified, experts said, and bears markings that resemble those made by intelligence analysts.... What Trump shared on Twitter appears to show a camera flash and a person's shadow, leading to speculation that Trump or one of his aides may have snapped a picture of the image using a cellphone.... Hours before posting the image of the Iranian launchpad, he sent several tweets ridiculing former FBI director James B. Comey for sharing memos about his interactions with Trump, some of which were determined to contain classified information.... One memo he shared with his attorneys was later determined to contain information that was classified as confidential, the lowest level of secrecy." CNN's story is here. ...
... David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "As pictures from commercial satellites of a rocket's smoking remains began to circulate, President Trump denied Friday on Twitter that the United States was involved. It was an unusual message because the Iranian government had neither acknowledged the accident nor blamed the United States. His tweet ended with an apparent taunt: 'I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened' in the fiery accident. But Mr. Trump also included in his tweet a high-resolution image of the disaster, immediately raising questions about whether he had plucked a classified image from his morning intelligence briefing to troll the Iranians. The president seemed to resolve the question on Friday night on his way to Camp David when he told reporters, 'We had a photo and I released it, which I have the absolute right to do'.... A glare on the photograph suggested someone may have used a cellphone to take a picture of the image as it was displayed on a tablet computer, which is how classified images are often shown to the president during security briefings."
... Twitter Amateur Hour, Ctd. "Trump Spends Morning Mistakenly Adding Question Marks to Tweets." Jonathan Chait: "Should General Motors move back to America again? Do many people like the idea of giving capital-gains owners another tax cut? Should President Trump get the time back he lost to the Deep State investigating his corrupt relationship with Russia? Normally, Trump would answer questions like this with a resounding 'yes.' This morning, he phrased all of them as questions[.]... Possibly, in keeping with his new self-style image as King of the Jews, he has decided to adopt a Talmudic style of phraseology, presenting ideas as questions to be sorted through rather than his traditional exhortation. More likely, he has somehow mistakenly entered question marks in place of his trademark exclamation point." ...
Where's Mr. Mustache? John Hudson & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... national security adviser John Bolton's ... opposition to the diplomatic effort in Afghanistan has irritated PresidentTrump, [senior U.S.] officials said, and led aides to leave the National Security Council out of sensitive discussions about the agreement. The sidelining of Bolton has raised questions about his influence in an administration that is seeking a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well as an ambitious nuclear deal with North Korea and potential engagement with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Bolton, U.S. officials said, stands in opposition to those efforts, but he does so increasingly from the periphery." Update: The Raw story has a summary post of the WashPo story.
Trump Finds a New Scapegoat. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump wants Americans to understand that the economy is doing great, thanks to him. But if in fact the economy sours, then it is someone else's fault. Mr. Trump's Blame List is long. On top, of course, is Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve -- never mind that Mr. Trump was the one who appointed him. Then there are the Democrats, and not to mention the news media. And on Friday, the president added American businesses to the list, arguing that struggling companies have only themselves to blame and are rationalizing their own mistakes by pointing to, just to name an example, Mr. Trump's multibillion-dollar tariffs and America's biggest trade war in generations. 'Badly run and weak companies are smartly blaming these small Tariffs instead of themselves for bad management...and who can really blame them for doing that?' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Excuses!' He repeated his point later with reporters. 'A lot of badly run companies are trying to blame tariffs,' he said."
Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump's personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, whose office sits in front of the Oval Office and who has served as the president's gatekeeper since Day 1 of his administration, resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with her exit said. Ms. Westerhout's abrupt and unexpected departure came after Mr. Trump learned on Thursday that she had indiscreetly shared details about his family and the Oval Office operations she was part of at a recent off-the-record dinner with reporters staying at hotels near Bedminster, N.J., during the president's working vacation, according to one of the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss White House personnel issues.... Ms. Westerhout, a former Republican National Committee aide who also worked for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, reportedly cried on election night because she was upset over Mr. Trump's victory." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd guess Reince Priebus put Westerhout on the job. ...
... Jim Acosta, et al., of CNN: "Madeleine Westerhoutwas forced to resign as executive assistant to the President on Thursday after Trump learned she had shared information with reporters at a recent off-the-record meeting, during which she didn't say her comments were off the record, according to sources familiar with her departure. A reporter divulged details about the dinner to White House staff...." ...
... Nancy Cook of Politico: "In the past six months, Westerhout had tried to expand the boundaries of her job to encompass a broader set of tasks and to include foreign travel, said one adviser close to the White House, who suggested Westerhout had tried to act like a de facto chief of staff. This irked several White House officials and Cabinet secretaries who thought she should stick to her primary task of serving as the president's personal secretary with a desk just outside the Oval Office.... [A] close White House adviser called [Westerhout's dishing on the Trump family] 'the final straw' for someone who did not have many allies left in the building." ...
... Josh Marshall of TPM: "... a personal assistant position isn't like Defense Secretary, a job in which you are there to work for the American people even though you report to the President. A personal assistant is really supposed to work for the President, be loyal and maintain his legitimate confidences.... She's really supposed to work for Donald Trump the person, not just the office of the President.... As a general matter [Westerhout's blabbing] suggests something we probably already know: that the White House is filled with people who know Trump has no business being President.... But since the relationship is purely transactional these kinds of betrayals are commonplace. It's why the place leaks like a sieve. But something Westerhout shared or said clearly went beyond the pale or got back to the President directly in a way these things ordinarily do not." ...
... Rafi Schwartz of Splinter: "Westerhout can now presumably look forward to a lifetime of book offers, TV appearances, and congressional subpoenas." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Meanwhile, we look forward to reports on what it was Westerhout blabbed. ...
... Update. That Didn't Take Long. Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Madeleine Westerhout ... was fired after bragging to reporters that she had a better relationship with Trump than his own daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany Trump, and that the president did not like being in pictures with Tiffany because he perceived her as overweight.... Westerhout also jokingly told the journalists that Trump couldn't pick Tiffany out of a crowd, said one of the people.... Trump on Friday confirmed that Westerhout had been dismissed for talking to reporters about his children, calling the comments 'a little bit hurtful.... It was too bad,' Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for Camp David, adding that Westerhout was a 'very good person' who performed her job well. 'I wished her well.' Trump said he would speak by phone with Tiffany when he reached Camp David, disputing that he had ever personally disparaged his daughter. 'I love Tiffany,' he said." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'd fire an aide for knocking my daughter, too. ...
... AND Update 2. Katie Rogers, et al., of the New York Times: "At an off-the-record dinner and several rounds of drinks with reporters two weeks ago during the president]s working vacation in Bedminster, N.J., [Westerhout] shared personal details about the president and his family. Ms. Westerhout attended the dinner with Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman. After he left, she began to tell reporters about Mr. Trump's eating habits; his youngest son, Barron Trump; and his thoughts about the weight and appearance of his daughter Tiffany Trump, according to a group of current and former administration officials who were told what happened.... Iit took over a week for the information to reach the president. It was delivered to him by Mick Mulvaney.... An ambivalent Mr. Trump had to be persuaded throughout the day Thursday that Ms. Westerhout, who was on vacation in California, needed to resign, which she did that night.... Ms. Westerhout, a 2013 graduate of the College of Charleston in South Carolina, came to the White House on the recommendation of Mr. Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Priebus...." ...
... digby: "As for Westerhout, it's clear she was wrong about being closer to the president than Ivanka. As for Trump not wanting to be photographed in picture with Tiffany because he thinks she's overweight -- of course that's true. It's who he is." Mrs. McC: P.S. Even tho I agree Westerhout should have been fired, I do see Ivanka's fingerprints all over her ouster. whom do you think "had to persuade" Daddy Dearest to dump a rival for his affections?
Joe Concha of the Hill: "Fox News host Neil Cavuto tore into President Trump during his closing monologue on Thursday, defending his network from the president's criticism earlier this week that Fox 'isn't working for us anymore.'... After reading Trump's tweet, Cavuto said, 'first of all Mr. President, we don't work for you. I don't work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you. Just report on you.' Cavuto said his job as a journalist covering business and the economy in particular was to report on economic numbers when they are good and bad, and when trade talks are going poorly and when it looks like there will be a deal.... '... I'm not the one who said tariffs are a wonderful thing, you are. Just like I'm not the one who said Mexico would pay for the wall, you did,' Cavuto said. 'Just like I'm not the one who claimed that Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 election, you did'... Cavuto said he was sorry if Trump didn't like these facts being brought up, but that it was not fake to bring them up. What would be fake, Cavuto said, would be if he never brought up things that Trump had actually said." ...
... Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "... Trump's battle with Fox illuminates the multi-tentacled manner in which Trump is corrupting our democracy and political system, in a new and interesting way.... What's interesting here is Cavuto’s declaration that many Trump supporters have come to expect and demand from Fox absolute fealty to their leader.... The whole point here is the open declaration that something meant to be a news network should function as his personal 24/7 propaganda and disinformation outlet.... This is a form of insidious corruption -- corruption of our discourse.... Trump has crossed over into a form of autocratic disinformation that is designed to render fact-based deliberation and argument impossible.... Trump's unabashed and open assertion of impunity is a central feature of his corruption. This public flaunting of that corruption -- of our governing institutions and discourse alike -- compounds it and makes it all the more corrosive." ...
What Do You Think a Trump "Opportunity Zone" Is? Jesse Drucker & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... the Trump administration's signature plan to ... [help America's cities] -- a multibillion-dollar tax break that is supposed to help low-income areas -- has fueled a wave of developments financed by and built for the wealthiest Americans.... The stated goal of the tax benefit -- tucked into the Republicans' 2017 tax-cut legislation -- was to coax investors to pump cash into poor neighborhoods, known as opportunity zones, leading to new housing, businesses and jobs.... Among the early beneficiaries of the tax incentive are billionaire financiers like Leon Cooperman and business magnates like Sidney Kohl -- and Mr. Trump's family members and advisers. Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey; Richard LeFrak, a New York real estate titan who is close to the president; Anthony Scaramucci...; and the family of Jared Kushner ... all are looking to profit from what is shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation bonanza for elite investors." P.S. Sen. Cory Booker [who seldom meets a rich person he doesn't like] was an early advocate of the plan. Mrs. McC: Bet you got the right answer without peeking.
"Either a 'Russian Asset' or a 'Useful Idiot.'" Sonam Sheth of Business Insider: "Trump's attendance at the G7 summit was peppered with controversy, but none was more notable than his fervent defense of Russia's military and cyber aggression around the world, and its violation of international law in Ukraine. Trump repeatedly refused to hold Russia accountable for annexing Crimea in 2014, blamed former President Barack Obama for Russia's move to annex it, expressed sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and castigated other G7 members for not giving the country a seat at the table.... Trump's advocacy for Russia is renewing concerns among intelligence veterans that Trump may be a Russian 'asset' who can be manipulated or influenced to serve Russian interests, although some also speculate that Trump could just be currying favor for future business deals.... Meanwhile, a recently retired FBI special agent told Insider that Trump's freewheeling and often unfounded statements make it more likely that he's a 'useful idiot' for the Russians. But 'it would not surprise me in the least if the Russians had at least one asset in Trump's inner circle.'" ...
... Another Trump Lie Confirmed. Tina Nguyen of Vanity Fair: "At last week's G7 summit in Biarritz, Donald Trump gave an entire network of world leaders whiplash when he declared, contrary to weeks of threats, that not only did the Chinese seem amenable to a trade deal, but that he'd actually heard from Beijing's top officials that very week. 'China called last night our top trade people and said, "Let's get back to the table." So we will be getting back to the table and I think they want to do something,' the president told reporters. At the time, China's Foreign Ministry claimed to have no idea what Trump was talking about -- the implication being that he'd fabricated the call to calm a panicked market. And on Thursday, CNN reported that this was basically the case[.]" ...
... Here's the CNN story, by Kaitlin Collins & others: "... Donald Trump has become increasingly rattled over the potential of an economic downturn and is spinning to find victories to sell to voters.... Though Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted there had been 'communication' [between Chinese & U.S. officials], aides privately conceded the phone calls Trump described didn't happen they way he said they did. Instead, two officials said Trump was eager to project optimism that might boost markets, and conflated comments from China's vice premier with direct communication from the Chinese. The charged language coming out of the White House in recent weeks largely boils down to this, people say: The economy is flashing warning signs Trump didn't expect, his trade war with China is dragging on months longer than expected yet he refuses to give in and his chief promise to supporters -- that he would build a wall along the southern border -- has gone unfulfilled. Trump, sources say, is searching for an accomplishment to run on in 2020 -- and realizing time is running short to fulfill some of the key promises he made to voters in 2016." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: "Charged language"? "China called last night" was a lie, not "charged language."
Peggy McGlone of the Washington Post: "In his upcoming memoir, newly appointed Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch IIIdescribes the private tour he gave President Trump of the National Museum of African American History and Culture [in January 2017], recalling that Trump's reaction to the Dutch role in the global slave trade was, 'You know, they love me in the Netherlands.'... The incoming president wanted to come on the holiday commemorating Martin Luther King Jr., according to the memoir. The administration also asked that the museum be closed to the public during the visit.... [Bunch refused]. Another day was chosen.... Before the president-elect arrived, his aides told Bunch that Trump 'was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything "difficult,"' Bunch writes. Nevertheless, Bunch started the tour in the history galleries, which begin with the global slave trade." Here's a summary report by Mediaite.
** Josh Marshall of TPM: The "Inspector General report on James Comey and his memos about President Trump ... is typical of Inspector GeneralMichael Horowitz -- basically report the facts, try to avoid discussion of facts or questions that are unhelpful to President Trump and spin the facts in as friendly a way as possible to President Trump. Indeed, beyond Horowitz himself, the report is emblematic of how even seemingly apolitical appointees (Horowitz was appointed under Barack Obama) and members of the bureaucracy routinely bend their duties toward those in power.... But the reality is that Comey was acting as whistleblower. Ignoring the context of his actions is at the center of Horowitz's presentation. It is a dead certainty to anyone with their eyes open that he did the right thing in bringing those memos to public light.... The unstated premise of Horowitz's report is that Comey should have handed his information over to Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein, the two men who had just assisted Trump in what was certainly a substantive corrupt, if procedurally licit, termination, and simply done nothing to alert the country to what had happened. This is frankly absurd." Mrs. McC: You'll have to read more of Marshall's post to get the full impact of his point. Also, too, Marshall's befuddlement with Chuck Todd is classic. (Marshall occasionally appears on MSNBC, so I suppose he doesn't want to alienate the network's suits.) I don't know why anyone thinks Chuck Todd could analyze his way out of a room with an unlocked door.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Prosecutors said Friday they're prepared for former national security adviser Michael Flynnto be sentenced as soon as October, nearly two years after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States. 'The defendant's cooperation has ended. The case is ready for sentencing...,' prosecutors wrote in a filing to the judge in Flynn's case, Emmet Sullivan. 'The government is not aware of any issues that require the Court's resolution prior to sentencing.' But the push to close Flynn's case prompted the former Trump aide's legal team to erupt, charging in a subsequent court filing that prosecutors -- including those central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election -- had acted maliciously toward Flynn and withheld evidence."
Trumpies Find New Way to Undermine U.S. Health. Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is limiting scientific input to the 2020 dietary guidelines, raising concerns among nutrition advocates and independent experts about industry influence over healthy eating recommendations for all Americans. For the first time, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, which oversee the committee giving recommendations for the guidelines, have predetermined the topics that will be addressed. They have narrowed the research that can be used only to studies vetted by agency officials, potentially leaving key studies out of the mix. The 80 questions the committee has been asked to answer do not cover several pressing issues the panel explored five years ago. This includes the consumption of red and processed meat, as well as the dramatic proliferation of ultraprocessed foods, which account for a growing percentage of calories consumed by Americans. Nor will the committee explore appropriate sodium levels for different populations." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Under the new guidelines, I bet we'll find out Trump's diet of Big Macs & fries is very healthy. And I suppose ketchup will be classified as a vegetable.
Presidential Race 2020
Joe's Amazing War Story. Matt Viser & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "Joe Bidenpainted a vivid scene" of an event he experienced on a trip to Afghanistan while he was vice president. "'This is the God's truth,' Biden had said as he told the story. 'My word as a Biden.' Except almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect. Based on interviews with more than a dozen U.S. troops, their commanders and Biden campaign officials, it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never happened.... In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony." Biden has told variations on this story several times before. Update: Matt Stieb of New Yorkrecounts the WashPo story.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: By Ronald Reagan's standards, Biden is super-qualified to be president. ...
... Facts Matter. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Now Biden has pushed back -- mainly by arguing that there's no problem with what he did, because he got one key fact about the story, and the spirit of it, correct. This is not a good response.... 'I was making the point how courageous these people are,' Biden [told the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart], adding: 'I don't know what the problem is. What is it that I said wrong?'... What's troubling is Biden genuinely doesn't seem to see a problem here.... The Democratic nominee against Trump simply cannot treat facts as if they are expendable in this fashion -- no matter how well-intentioned he is."
Ella Nilsen of Vox: "The Iowa caucuses have been thrown into serious turmoil. Six months after the Iowa Democratic Party presented its plan to the Democratic National Committee to hold a so-called 'virtual caucus' over a phone system alongside the regular caucus this February, the DNC will recommend rejecting the plan, per a statement from the national party. The DNC cited concerns the phone system used for tele-caucusing could be susceptible to hackers.... On Friday afternoon, top DNC officials announced they would recommend the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee reject Iowa and Nevada's plans for their tele-caucus system. The DNC added the committee would consider a waiver if the states can't comply with a mandate to increase inclusivity in their caucuses.... The alternative could be to move Iowa to a primary election, but the state would then almost certainly have to move back in the calendar because New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status is literally written into the state's law."
Congressional Race 2020. Jeremy White of Politico: "Former Rep. Darrell Issawants to make a comeback, and is eyeing a path that would put him head-on with embattled Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter. The California Republican has launched an exploratory committee, according to a website that recently touted his PAC but has since been updated to say that he's pondering a run for the state's 50th Congressional District.... Donald Trump nominated Issa to be the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which helps U.S. businesses expand their exports to emerging economies, but the process has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly a year.... Hunter ... [faces] a January trial for alleged campaign finance violations.... Even if Hunter steps aside, Issa will face formidable Republican competition from former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who wields broad name recognition and has a knack for fundraising. Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, meanwhile, is taking another shot for the seat after coming within a few points of dislodging Hunter last year."
Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting: "A military judge on Friday set Jan. 11, 2021, as the start of the joint death-penalty trial at Guantánamo Bay of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four men charged with plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed 2,976 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The date set by the judge, Col. W. Shane Cohen of the Air Force, signals the start of the selection of a military jury at Camp Justice, the war court convening at the Navy base in Cuba. It is the first time that a trial judge in the case actually set a start-of-trial date, despite requests by prosecutors since 2012 to two earlier judges to do so."
Politico: "Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account on the social media platform was compromised Friday afternoon, the company confirmed in a tweet.... Before Twitter could regain control of Dorsey's account, whoever hijacked it retweeted several offensive messages, racial slurs and a message that said 'nazi germany did nothing wrong.'"
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
... Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fox Business Network host Stuart Varneyproclaimed with a straight face on Friday morning that ... Donald Trump has never lied to the American people, asserting that Trump has only ever exaggerated and spun. During an interview with former one-term tea party Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), who recently announced a long-shot primary bid against Trump, the Fox host took issue with Walsh's insistence that Trump is a pathological liar," and the two got in a back-and-forth. At one point, Walsh asked, "Stuart, do you believe this president lies?" "'No,' Varney replied.... 'He exaggerates and spins.'... 'Okay. Do you believe he's ever told the American people a lie?' Walsh pressed again. 'No,' Varney stated.... Varney's delusional declaration that the president -- who has told at least 12,000 lies and false statement since entering the White House -- has never lied comes on the heels of Trump 2020 campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany saying the same thing on CNN earlier this week, flooring CNN anchorChris Cuomo." ...
... AND Do Not Make Fun of Bret Stephens. Jack Mirkinson of Splinter: "New York Times columnist Bret Stephens' meltdown over being jokingly referred to as a 'bedbug' reached unbelievable new heights on Friday night, when Stephens used his latest column to make a barely-veiled comparison between the professor who mocked him and the Nazis.... ([George Washington U. professor David] Karpfjoked that reports of bedbugs having been found in the Times office were a 'metaphor,' adding, 'The bedbugs are Bret Stephens.') Stephens immediately flipped out.... Stephens ... says that he sees a lot of parallels between the Nazi era and now.... 'The political mind-set that turned human beings into categories, classes and races also turned them into rodents, insects and garbage. 'Anti-Semitism is exactly the same as delousing,' Heinrich Himmler would claim in 1943.... Watching Warsaw's Jewish ghetto burn that year, a Polish anti-Semite was overheard saying: 'The bedbugs are on fire. The Germans are doing a great job. Today, the rhetoric of infestation is back." Emphasis Mirkinson's. ...
... ** Full of Sound & Fury, Signifying Nothing. Mrs. McCrabbie: Do read Adam Jettleson's tweet & southpaw's subtweet, which Mirkinson links. Turns out Stephens' deep "research" on anti-Semitic references to insects is controverted by the very text he cites. Confederates, even the ones who win Pultizers, are hacks with vocabularies. Bret quit Twitter in a huff to protect himself from ridicule like Karpf's; now he should quit the Googles to protect himself from himself. ...
... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "So, to summarize, the Nazis are being invoked not to criticize, say, the Trump administration preparing to deport people receiving life-saving medical treatment, but as an analogy for a white guy with a high-status barely-work job ... being mildly criticized on Twitter. Did I mention that this the columnist who thinks that somewhat mean tweets about him are like the Holocaust sent emails to at least two administrators trying to get the guy fired and has written an endless series of columns about how the kids today with their safe spaces and trigger warnings need to learn how to be made uncomfortable and put up with speech they don't like?" Mrs. McC: Also, do read the comment by Nobdy, which Lemieux appended to his post. Maybe Bret's Never-Trumpism is really all about self-loathing. ...
... David Atkins of the Washington Monthly: "Big media organizations have a Bret Stephens problem. It could also be called a David Brooks problem. Or a George Will problem. But Bret Stephens' embarrassing actions in the bedbug controversy over the past few days make him the perfect poster child for a challenge that spans the much of the journalism industry.... [Stephens] He and others like him allow editors and ombudsmen to include 'conservative opinion' without actually giving voice to conservatism as it truly exists today.... The problem, of course, is that men like Stephens, Will and Brooks -- and they almost uniformly middle-aged or older white men -- represent very few people in actual civil society.... For what it's worth, they do this on the left as well.... A better approach would be to hire Trump loyalists willing to defend the president and his actions (as well as those of Senate Leader McConnell and the Roberts Court), while strictly adhering to standards of fact-checking and anti-racism." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, David. As noted above, the Times, for instance, isn't bothering to fact-check Stephens. And Brooks has boasted in the past that his editor has never questioned a single column he's written.
Beyond the Beltway
Alabama. Jessica Taylor of NPR: "Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has apologized for wearing blackface during a skit at Auburn University more than 50 years ago. Ivey said Thursday she still doesn't recall the incident, but after a recording surfaced of her discussing the sketch with her then-fiancé and later first husband, Ben LaRavia, Ivey admitted it must be true.... In February, the Auburn student newspaper uncovered yearbook photos of members of Ivey's sorority appearing in blackface, but the governor denied she ever participated." Here's a video version of the story by AL.com. It includes the audio that Ivey was unable to dismiss.
Illinois. Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Friday pardoned an Army veteran who was deported to Mexico in March 2018. Pritzker granted the pardon to Miguel Perez Jr., who was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. legally as a child. He served two tours in Afghanistan, where he suffered a traumatic brain injury. Perez was later convicted of a non-violent drug offense in 2008 and sentenced to 15 years behind bars. He served seven-and-a-half years in prison and was then taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon his release. He was later deported after former Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) denied a petition for clemency. 'Miguel Perez should not have been deported. The bigoted immigration policy of President Trump and failed leadership of former Governor Rauner have caused unfortunate circumstances for a U.S. veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan,' Pritzker said in a statement.... Perez's family, including two children and parents, live in Illinois and are U.S. citizens. It was not immediately clear if or when Perez would return to Illinois."
Way Beyond
Hong Kong. Mike Ives & Austin Ramzy of the New York Times: "In a day of defiance and chaos, Hong Kong protesters who had been banned from protesting on Saturday gathered anyway, clashing with the police near central government offices and the Chinese military headquarters in the most intense day of conflict since the protests began in June. As government helicopters hovered above the city, riot police officers used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons against crowds of protesters who had gathered outside government offices and the headquarters of the Hong Kong legislature. Some of the protesters had thrown firebombs. The police pumped lurid gushes of blue-dyed water into knots of protesters, indelibly marking those who were at the most intense spots of clashes -- presumably so the demonstrators, many of whom wear masks, could be identified later." The AP story is here.
News Ledes -- August 31
New York Times: "Five people were killed and more than 20 others were injured in a brazen daylight drive-by mass shooting near the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa on Saturday, as a gunman drov on the highways and streets opening fire on residents, motorists and shoppers, the authorities said. The attacks terrified a region with a combined population of 263,000 at the start of Labor Day weekend. Police officers and state troopers tried to keep drivers off the highways. Chief Michael Gerke of the Odessa Police Department said at a news conference on Saturday evening that the gunman, a male in his mid-30s, was dead, and that three law enforcement were shot. He did not give a motive, but said that the attack began as a traffic stop." ...
... The Dallas Morning News story is here. It is being continuously updated. "The shooting began after 3 p.m. Saturday, when a DPS trooper tried to stop a Honda on Interstate 20. The driver shot the trooper and continued driving west into Odessa and shot another victim on the highway, police said. At some point in Odessa, the gunman abandoned his Honda, hijacked a mail carrier's truck and shot more people, Odessa police Chief Michael Gerke said. The gunman, whose name has not been released, drove east toward a movie theater, where law enforcement personnel fatally shot him, Gerke said."
New York Times: "Leslie H. Gelb, an iconoclastic former American diplomat, journalist and prodigious commentator on world affairs, died on Saturday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 82.... Mr. Gelb was 30 years old when in 1967 he took day-to-day charge of the team that compiled the secret Pentagon Papers.... He later worked as an editor, columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for The New York Times, the newspaper that had overcome a court challenge by the Nixon White House and in 1971 published the papers, which revealed a damning evolution of Washington's intervention in Vietnam. Mr. Gelb served as assistant secretary of state and director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs during the Carter administration from 1977 to 1979. He was president of the Council on Foreign Relations, the prestigious ... think tank peppered with policy experts and former officials, from 1993 to 2003."
New York Times: "Hurricane Dorian intensified to a Category 4 storm late on Friday as it swirled toward the United States, and forecasters on Saturday were projecting a sharp swerve north along the Florida's eastern shore before it makes landfall. It was good news for Floridians, who could now be spared a direct hit. But the powerful storm is still dangerous, and much of the state remains in the area that forecasters believe could be assailed by heavy winds, rain and storm surge. Dorian was about 300 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla, early Saturday morning, sustaining winds near 140 miles per hour." ...
... New York Times: "Officials in the northwestern Bahamas ordered the evacuation of low-lying areas and opened shelters in churches and schools on Saturday as they braced for a potential direct hit from the intensifying Hurricane Dorian.... The National Hurricane Center warned that because the storm's movement had slowed, the area should prepare for 'a prolonged period of life-threatening storm surge and devastating hurricane-force winds.' Rainfall of up to 15 inches was expected over the northwestern Bahamas, accumulating to as much as 25 inches in some areas. The storm was expected to cause surges of more than 15 feet, Bahamian officials warned."
... Update at 8 pm ET. Miami Herald: "With winds nearing 150 miles per hour, Hurricane Dorian remained a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Saturday evening as it approached the Bahamas, even as forecasters predicted it might spare a direct hit on Florida. Still, the timing of the storm's northward turn remained a cause for concern for Floridians as government authorities urged residents to nevertheless prepare for the worst. At 5 p.m. the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical-storm watch for a swatch of the east coast, from Deerfield Beach to Sebastian Inlet, meaning winds of that strength could reach the coast in 48 hours. The storm's projected path -- skirting the entirety of the Florida coast while churning northward -- also was now drawing concern for states such as Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. But the Bahamas was expected to first bear the storm's brunt on Sunday."
AP: "Sirhan Sirhan, imprisoned for more than 50 years for the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was hospitalized Friday after being stabbed by a fellow inmate at a San Diego prison. 'Officers responded quickly, and found an inmate with stab wound injuries. He was transported to an outside hospital for medical care, and is currently in stable condition,' the statement said. The statement did not name Sirhan, but a government source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Associated Press that he was the victim."
News Ledes -- August 30
New York Times: "Forecasters expect Hurricane Dorian to arrive somewhere along the east coast of Florida early on Tuesday morning. But exactly where is still a mystery, with some prediction models suggesting a direct blow to Central Florida and others projecting the storm to veer north or south." ...
... Weather Channel: "Dorian has strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane and is forecast to intensify into a powerful Category 4, posing a prolonged danger that may last days in Florida and the southeastern United States beginning Labor Day weekend." The front page links related stories. ...
... The Miami Heraldfront page links to numerous hurricane-related stories. The paper is providing free, unlimited access to all of its stories as Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida. ...
... Politico: Florida "Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday the Florida Highway Patrol would soon begin escorting fuel trucks to help resupply gas stations in advance of Hurricane Dorian. Gasbuddy, whose representatives helped state officials track fuel shortages in 2017 during Hurricane Irma, reported Friday that more than half of gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area were out of fuel, stretched from the demand of drivers filling up before the storm hits."
New York Times: "Valerie Harper, who parlayed a sidekick role as the leading lady's unprepossessing best friend on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' into a star turn of her own in the hit sitcom 'Rhoda,' died on Friday. She was 80."
;)
Here's what the workers who put food on our tables are doing today. Uh, Happy Labor Day.
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