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Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. "Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast."

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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Saturday
Aug112018

The Commentariat -- August 12, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Liar-in-Chief. Hope Yen & Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "... President Donald Trump is pulling numbers out of thin air when it comes to the economy, jobs and the deficit. He refers to a current record-breaking gross domestic product for the U.S. where none exists and predicts a blockbuster 5 percent annual growth rate in the current quarter that hardly any economist sees. Hailing his trade policies in spite of fears of damage from the escalating trade disputes he's provoked, Trump also falsely declares that his tariffs on foreign goods will help erase $21 trillion in national debt. The numbers don't even come close."

Victoria Guida of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said ... Donald Trump and former FBI Director James Comey never discussed former national security adviser Mike Flynn, backtracking from July comments in which he indicated otherwise. 'There was no conversation about Michael Flynn,' Trump's personal attorney said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'That is what he will testify to if he's asked that question.' He also told CNN's Jake Tapper that he never said the president had asked Comey to give Flynn a break. 'I said that is what Comey is saying,' Giuliani said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Comey wrote in his opening statement before a Congressional hearing in June 2017 that "Trump said: "'I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.'" In oral testimony, under oath, Comey said "that he understood the President to be requesting that he drop the investigation into Flynn." It isn't foolish to question Comey's veracity, but it is hard to believe he made up out of whole cloth Trump's remarks about Flynn. Making up stuff is Trump's modus operandi. See AP report above.

Stephanie McCrummen of the Washington Post: "Omarosa Manigault Newman, the fired White House aide seeking publicity for her new memoir about her time in the Trump administration, said in an interview Sunday that the way Chief of Staff John F. Kelly dismissed her involved a 'threat' and played an audio recording of Kelly that she said she made in the Situation Room. The recording was played on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' where Manigault Newman was interviewed by Chuck Todd. In the purported recording, which would constitute a serious breach of White House security, Kelly is heard complaining about her 'significant integrity issues' and saying that he wants to make her departure 'friendly and without 'any difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.'" ...

... Here's the recording:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If this conversation was recorded in the Situation Room, as Manigault Newman claims, why was that? The Situation Room is a secure site "to monitor and deal with crises at home and abroad and to conduct secure communications with outside (often overseas) persons." Why a "secure conversation" with Omarosa? This is just weird. ...

     ... Update: See Patrick's response in today's Comments. He explains why holding a termination interview in the Situation Room isn't so "weird."

... Javiar David of CNBC: "The fact that Manigault Newman recorded a conversation in a classified area could create considerable legal problems that add to her existing credibility issues. On social media, political watchers from the left and right ripped into Manigault Newman for having made the recordings in the first place."

*****

Election 2018

The New York Times posts Hawaii's primary election results, only half-tallied at 4:20 am ET. ...

... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Hawaii Gov. David Ige, a Democrat, survived a primary challenge from Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, as voters favored incumbents for the November midterms in one of the country's bluest states. Down the ballot, former congressman Ed Case, a centrist Democrat who supported the Iraq War, took a big step closer to returning to the House with a primary victory in the state's 1st Congressional District. In the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard won renomination by a wide margin. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, meanwhile, was unopposed. The Democrats are widely favored to win all three congressional races and the contest for governor in the midterms."

Nothing to Worry About, Folks. Kevin Collier of BuzzFeed News: "This weekend saw the 26th annual DEFCON gathering. It was the second time the convention had featured a Voting Village, where organizers set up decommissioned election equipment and watch hackers find creative and alarming ways to break in.... In a room set aside for kid hackers, an 11-year-old girl hacked a replica of the Florida secretary of state's website within 10 minutes -- and changed the results." Emphasis added.


More Twitter Massages for a Rainy Afternoon. Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "... Donald Trump blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Saturday.... Trump's sideswipe at his own chief law enforcement officer came in a pair of afternoon tweets that seemed to allege unspecified malfeasance the Department of Justice in its handling of the Russia investigation. Trump has criticized Sessions before but Saturday's missive was particularly pointed. 'Our A.G. is scared stiff and Missing in Action. It is all starting to be revealed - not pretty. IG Report soon? Witch Hunt!,' the president tweeted from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey." The story puts the remark in the context of a broader attack." Mrs. McC BTW: Trump's description of Nelly Ohr as "beautiful" is a potshot. She's a perfectly ordinary-looking woman, so the Misogynist-in-Chief naturally uses her appearance to demean her. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "I' have never seen anything so Rigged in my life,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to reports about meetings between a Justice Department official and a former British spy who helped compile a dossier that contained unverified but potentially damaging allegations about Mr. Trump.... The reports, featured mostly in conservative news outlets, suggest that even after the Justice Department stopped using the former spy, Christopher Steele, as an informant, he continued to meet with a top official at the agency, Bruce Ohr. For months, Republicans have attacked Mr. Ohr because his wife, Nellie Ohr, worked as a contractor for FusionGPS, the opposition research firm that hired Mr. Steele. The two men had known each other before Mr. Steele began working for Fusion. But Mr. Ohr worked on counternarcotics at the Justice Department, not counterintelligence, and he is not known to have played any role in the Russia investigation."

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "As white nationalists planned to gather in front of the White House on Sunday to mark the anniversary of last year’s violent rally in Charlottesville, Va., President Trump denounced 'all types of racism,' but did not specifically condemn the supremacists.... Mr. Trump's general call for unity, as Washington braced for the possibility of violence between the white nationalists and counterdemonstrators, echoed his reluctance a year ago after the deadly Charlottesville rally to single out the supremacists for condemnation. In what is seen as a defining mark of his presidency, he blamed 'both sides' for the violence, eliciting widespread criticism for what was seen as drawing a moral equivalence between hate groups -- some of whom supported his candidacy -- and those who protested them." ...

... Likely a Ghostwritten Trump Tweet. Brent Griffiths: "... Donald Trump on Saturday called for the nation to 'come together' ahead of the one-year anniversary of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. 'The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division,' Trump [Mrs. McC: or somebody] wrote on Twitter. 'We must come together as a nation.'... On Saturday, Trump [Mrs. McC: or somebody] wrote that he condemns 'all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!'... The president ... earlier Saturday returned to his criticism of current and former FBI officials, echoing calls from his congressional allies that the Justice Department had not turned over documents related to officials like former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe in a timely manner. 'Why isn't the FBI giving Andrew McCabe text messages* to Judicial Watch or appropriate governmental authorities,' the president wrote. 'FBI said they won't give up even one (I may have to get involved, DO NOT DESTROY). What are they hiding?'" Mrs. McC: Okay, he wrote the earlier tweets. He was probably on the golf course by the time a staffer tweeted the unity stuff. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     * Update: What Trump or his ghosttweeter actually typed was "text massages." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jelani Cobb of the New Yorker on the conveniently-timed tease of Omarosa Manigault's memoir thing in which she discovers that Donald Trump is a racist, after all. "The issue of whether Trump used the word in question is almost completely inconsequential, yet the fact that it does not matter is itself of great consequence. The elastic tolerance of the otherwise intolerable is the looming context in which Robert Mueller will deliver his expected reports on whether Trump obstructed justice as President or colluded with Russia in 2016. In matters of race, as well as competence, decency, character, and fitness, the public either already knows what it needs to know or intractably believes what it wishes to believe. Omarosa Manigault’s book is unlikely to change the balance of either." Mrs. McC: This the sort of book review worthy of its subject: Cobb doesn't pretend to have read the book. And why would he?

Kristine Phillips of the Washington Post: "First lady Melania Trump's immigration attorney is criticizing the president's hostility toward 'chain migration' -- a process by which U.S. citizens or permanent residents can sponsor family members to come to the country -- and said the attacks are 'unconscionable.' 'This is a tradition that happens in all rank and all files of life, whether you're president of the United States -- and this is the first naturalized first lady that we have -- or people who eventually navigate through the waters into America,' Michael Wildes told CNN on Friday. Wildes, a high-profile attorney who has worked for numerous celebrities on immigration cases, represented the first lady's parents, who became naturalized citizens Thursday.... Responding to the president's comments, clips of which were played in succession during the [CNN] interview, Wildes denounced claims that chain migration allows people to simply bring in any relative to the United States."

David Von Drehle of the Washington Post reminds us, "Trump's résumé is rife with mob connections." Von Drehle names a few. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sad! Kyle Cheney & Jimmy Vielkind of Politico: "Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who was charged this week as part of an insider trading scheme, is suspending his re-election campaign and will attempt to remove his name from the ballot. The third-term congressman announced the decision Saturday morning on Twitter, just days after he vowed to clear his name and remain on the ballot. Collins is facing multiple counts of securities fraud, as well as charges of wire fraud and lying to investigators. His son and another associate were charged in the scheme as well.... Under New York law, Collins' name can be supplanted on the ballot at this stage of the cycle only if he dies, moves out of state or is nominated for another office.... According to Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy, the exact mechanisms are still being worked out, but he noted Collins owns houses in Florida and Washington, D.C." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** Katie Thomas & Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: Sen. Christopher Collins' (R-NY) "stock scandal has rippled through Congress, where his favorite stock tip had enticed at least seven former or current House Republicans into investing along with him, his two grown children and other friends. I provided new ammunition for Democrats seeking to take back the House, and forced Mr. Collins to announce on Saturday that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term. While the other congressmen who invested in Innate were not implicated in the indictment, the allegations against Mr. Collins have revived calls for stricter rules about financial investments or corporate board seats held by members of Congress while they are sitting on committees with oversight into those businesses.... One-third of its members [of the House Energy & Commerce Committee] also bought and sold biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device stocks.... Beyond Innate Immunotherapeutics, Mr. Collins, among the wealthiest members of Congress, has held leadership roles in other biotech companies that were little known or mentioned on Capitol Hill.... Mr. Collins did not disclose these ties in committee hearings when topics overlapped with his business interests...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Collins is a bad joke. Between the incredible amount of work he had to devote to his business interests & the ridiculous amount of time members of Congress spend fundraising, this guy did not have a minute left to "represent the people," a notion he probably considers downright quaint. Why are we not surprised he was the first MoC to endorse the Scammer-in-Chief?

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. The Fourth Estate Fights Back. Cleve Wootsen of the Washington Post: "Trump labeled the news media 'the enemy of the American people' a month after taking the oath of office. In the year that followed, a CNN analysis concluded, he used the word 'fake' -- as in 'fake news,' 'fake stories,' 'fake media' or 'fake polls' -- more than 400 times. He once fumed, the New York Times reported, because a TV on Air Force One was tuned to CNN. And last week, at a political rally in Pennsylvania, Trump told his audience that the media was 'fake, fake disgusting news.'... He pointed to a group of journalists covering the event. 'They don't report it. They only make up stories.' Now, the editorial board of the Boston Globe is proposing that ... opinion writers that staff newspaper editorial boards ... produce independent opinion pieces about Trump's attacks on the media [to be published August 16]. So far, according to the Associated Press, 70 news organizations have agreed -- from large metropolitan daily newspapers such as the Miami Herald and Denver Post to small weekly newspapers with four-digit circulation numbers." ...

... Brian Stelter of CNN: "As of Saturday, 'we have more than 100 publications signed up, and I expect that number to grow in the coming days,' Marjorie Pritchard, the Globe's deputy editorial page editor, told CNN. The American Society of News Editors, the New England Newspaper and Press Association and other groups have helped her spread the word. 'The response has been overwhelming,' Pritchard said. 'We have some big newspapers, but the majority are from smaller markets, all enthusiastic about standing up to Trump's assault on journalism.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Karen Attiah of the Washington Post: "Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville, NPR decided to give an on-air lesson on the proper care and feeding of white nationalists and neo-Nazi ideology. On Friday's Morning Edition, NPR's Noel King interviewed Jason Kessler, the organizer of Sunday's Unite the Right 2 rally in Washington." Attiah goes on to demolish NPR for this & for the interview that followed: "Black Lives Matter of Greater New York official Hawk Newsome, who was asked why he declined an invitation to Kessler's rally. This was a poor choice to contextualize the interview. For starters, it is extremely tone-deaf to put the onus on a person of color to defend why they would want no part in participating in a rally with white nationalists. More insidiously, such framing effectively positions Black Lives Matter as the ideological counterpart to white supremacists." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Aaron Rupar made a number of the same points as does Attiah, in a post linked here yesterday, but it never hurts to pile on to this type of "journalism," especially when exercised by a news outlet of such broad appeal.

Beyond the Beltway

Totally Trumpish. Tim Swift of WPLG Miami: "A Republican candidate for the Florida House lied about having a college degree and posed with a fake diploma after a news outlet questioned her credentials. Melissa Howard, who is running in Florida's 73rd House District near Sarasota, had claimed she graduated with a bachelor's degree from Miami University in Ohio.... FLA News Online, a political news website, citing the National Student Clearinghouse, reported Howard did not graduate from the Ohio college. Howard said the story was false and posted a picture of her and her mother on Facebook with a framed diploma. The news site apologized to Howard and briefly retracted the story. However, a closer look at the diploma found several inconsistencies.... Miami University General Counsel Robin Parker later confirmed to FLA News that Howard attended the university, but did not graduate from the school.... 'Melissa is focused on her family -- not fake news this morning,' Anthony Pedicini, a campaign consultant, told FloridaPolitics.com."

Way Beyond

Brexit Regrets. Michael Savage of the Guardian: "More than 100 Westminster constituencies that voted to leave the EU have now switched their support to Remain, according to a stark new analysis seen by the Observer. In findings that could have a significant impact on the parliamentary battle of Brexit later this year, the study concludes that most seats in Britain now contain a majority of voters who want to stay in the EU. The analysis, one of the most comprehensive assessments of Brexit sentiment since the referendum, suggests the shift has been driven by doubts among Labour voters who backed Leave." Emphasis added.

News Lede

Space.com: "NASA's Parker Solar Probe lifted off this morning (Aug. 12) at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT) from a pad here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, its powerful United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carving an arc of orange flame into the predawn sky. If all goes according to plan, the Parker Solar Probe will end up traveling faster than any craft ever has, and getting unprecedentedly close to the sun; indeed, it will fly through our star's outer atmosphere, known as the corona. And the measurements the probe makes there will reveal key insights about our star's inner workings that have eluded scientists for decades."

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Friday
Aug102018

The Commentariat -- August 11, 2018

Afternoon Update: 

David Von Drehle of the Washington Post reminds us, "Trump's résumé is rife with mob connections." Von Drehle names a few.

More Twitter Massages for a Rainy Afternoon. Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "... Donald Trump blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Saturday.... Trump's sideswipe at his own chief law enforcement officer came in a pair of afternoon tweets that seemed to allege unspecified malfeasance the Department of Justice in its handling of the Russia investigation. Trump has criticized Sessions before but Saturday's missive was particularly pointed. 'Our A.G. is scared stiff and Missing in Action. It is all starting to be revealed - not pretty. IG Report soon? Witch Hunt!,' the president tweeted from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey." The story puts the remark in the context of a broader attack." Mrs. McC BTW: Trump's description of Nelly Ohr as "beautiful" is a potshot. She's a perfectly ordinary-looking woman, so the Misogynist-in-Chief naturally uses her appearance to demean her.

 

 

... See related stories linked below. Thanks to MAG for the link to this HuffPost piece.

Likely a Ghostwritten Trump Tweet. Brent Griffiths: "... Donald Trump on Saturday called for the nation to 'come together' ahead of the one-year anniversary of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. 'The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division,' Trump [Mrs. McC: or somebody] wrote on Twitter. 'We must come together as a nation.'... On Saturday, Trump [Mrs. McC: or somebody] wrote that he condemns 'all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!'... The president ... earlier Saturday returned to his criticism of current and former FBI officials, echoing calls from his congressional allies that the Justice Department had not turned over documents related to officials like former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe in a timely manner. 'Why isn't the FBI giving Andrew McCabe text messages* to Judicial Watch or appropriate governmental authorities,' the president wrote. 'FBI said they won't give up even one (I may have to get involved, DO NOT DESTROY). What are they hiding?'" Mrs. McC: Okay, he wrote the earlier tweets. He was probably on the golf course by the time a staffer tweeted the unity stuff.

     * Update: What Trump or his ghosttweeter actually typed was "text massages."

Sad! Kyle Cheney & Jimmy Vielkind of Politico: "Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who was charged this week as part of an insider trading scheme, is suspending his re-election campaign and will attempt to remove his name from the ballot. The third-term congressman announced the decision Saturday morning on Twitter, just days after he vowed to clear his name and remain on the ballot. Collins is facing multiple counts of securities fraud, as well as charges of wire fraud and lying to investigators. His son and another associate were charged in the scheme as well.... Under New York law, Collins' name can be supplanted on the ballot at this stage of the cycle only if he dies, moves out of state or is nominated for another office.... Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy ... he noted Collins owns houses in Florida and Washington, D.C."

*****

Trump Is Pretending He's Not on Vacation. Jill Colvin & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "... Donald Trump is spending his summer vacation at his golf club in New Jersey.... Trump ... has spent his week away mixing downtime and golf rounds with meetings and dinners, intent on projecting the image that he's been hard at work.... Not that it was his idea to leave Washington anyway, he contends. 'We're renovating the White House, a long-term project and they approved it years ago. And I said, "Well, I guess this would be a good place to be in the meantime,"' Trump told reporters invited to the property to document a roundtable discussion ... Thursday.... No staffers had publicly mentioned the need for any rehabilitation work before Trump's departure, and the explanation effort underscores the president's concern about public perceptions as he approaches having spent 150 days of his presidency at his golf properties." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose a president could cede his presidential duties to the veep, 25th Amendment-style, when s/he goes on vacation, but so far no presidents have done that. Thus, the demands of the job require every presidential vacation to be a "working vacation." It's hilarious that this President*, who hates to do the actual work of governing & does as little of it as possible, is so intent on pretending he's working -- when in fact he's mostly goofing off in a manner consistent with his everyday practice.

Rubio Resets Trump Bar. Well, he's had the nuclear codes for a year and a half, and we've been all right. -- Sen. Marco Rubio, in a Weekly Standard interview

It's been a year and a half, and no nuclear war yet. Success! -- Jonathan Chait

I suspect that one day we'll learn that Kelly, McMaster or Mattis has wrested the "football" from Trump's tiny hands more than once. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Carlotta Gall & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "A worsening dispute between the United States and Turkey reverberated through the global economy on Friday, hastening a broad flight of money from emerging markets and sowing instability throughout the Middle East as relations between the NATO allies neared a breaking point. The immediate crisis -- accelerated by a hostile tweet from President Trump -- flared over Turkey's continued detention of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was jailed 21 months ago in a widespread crackdown after a failed coup in Turkey. But the outsize effect reflected deepening concerns over Turkey's economic management by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was re-elected in June with near-authoritarian powers. It also increased the risk that the problems in Turkey, which borders Iran, Iraq and Syria, could destabilize economies well beyond the region." ...

... Trump No Longer Able to Get Along with Dictators. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "... Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is doubling tariffs on Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked citizens to convert foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars into local lira -- leading to a dramatic drop in the Turkish currency. 'I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!' Trump tweeted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

Cabinet Job for Sale! Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A bank CEO who helped President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort obtain $16 million in loans hoped for a Cabinet-level position in the administration, a bank employee testified in federal court Friday. The bank employee, Dennis Raico, was called as a witness after a confusing morning at Manafort’s trial in Alexandria, Va., during which U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III huddled privately with prosecutors and defense attorneys, delaying the start of testimony until midafternoon. A transcript of those discussions was sealed. No reason was offered for the delay, but when Raico finally took the stand, he described how the CEO, Steve Calk, was willing to depart from bank policies to approve loans for a friendly and well-connected political operative."

Spencer Hsu & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has found a witness in contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Robert S. Mueller II's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell made the ruling Friday after a sealed hearing to discuss Andrew Miller's refusal to appear before the grand jury. Miller is a former aide to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. Miller's lawyer Paul Kamenar said after the hearing that Miller was 'held in contempt, which we asked him to be in order for us to appeal the judge's decision to the court of appeals.' Howell stayed her order while Miller';s legal team appeals the judge's decision." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jason Leopold & Anthony Cormier of BuzzFeed News: "Just a day after he finished a report suggesting he was working with Trump campaign officials [to obtain Hillary Clinton's emails]..., [Peter Smith] transferred $9,500 from an account he had set up to fund the email project to his personal account, later taking out more than $4,900 in cash. According to a person with direct knowledge of Smith's project, the Republican operative stated that he was prepared to pay hackers 'many thousands of dollars' for Clinton's emails -- and ultimately did so.... The money trail, made public here for the first time, sheds new light on Smith's effort, in which he told people he was in touch with both Russians on the dark web and Trump campaign officials -- particularly Michael Flynn, who was then a top adviser to the Trump campaign...."


Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: "A new report by the Government Accountability Office [on the costs of building a border wall] raises serious issues about poor Trump administration planning that could lead to increased costs. This comes in the wake of repeated Trump threats to shut down the government if Congress does not provide the wall funding he wants.... The GAO found that the strategy of the Department of Homeland Security ... did not fully analyze projected costs or properly follow the acquisition process.... Though his administration has not fully done its job in preparing for the wall, Trump is willing to shut down the government if his Republican-controlled Congress doesn't fund it, while blaming Democrats."

Donnie Junior Unaware of Photoshop. Also, Can't Spell "America." Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "Donald Trump Jr. took to Instagram on Thursday to tout his father's approval rating. 'Amazing,' Don Jr. wrote. 'I guess there is a magic wand to make things happen and @realdonaldtrump seems to have it. #maga #amreicafirst [sic]' Don Jr. included a cable news screencap showing President Trump's approval rating at 50 percent.... There was just one problem -- the screengrab Don Jr. posted was clearly and sloppily photoshopped. '50%' was just pasted over '40%' to make President Trump's approval rating 10 points higher than it really is.... Despite many commenters pointing out to Don Jr. that he was spreading fake news..., the post remains live more than 12 hours after it was initially posted. (UPDATE: Sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, the post was deleted.)"

Omarosa's Brilliant Literary Career, Ctd.

Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Omarosa Manigault Newman was offered a $15,000-a-month contract from President Trump's campaign to stay silent after being fired from her job as a White House aide by Chief of Staff John F. Kelly last December, according to a forthcoming book by Manigault Newman and a document viewed by The Washington Post. But she refused, according to the incendiary new book, 'Unhinged: An Insider Account of the Trump White House,' which also depicts Trump as unqualified, narcissistic and racist. Excerpts of the book were obtained by The Post.... Manigault Newman does not offer evidence for some of her most explosive charges but extensively recorded her conversations in the White House. The Post has listened to several of the recordings made by Manigault Newman, which match quotations recounted in the book excerpts.... The original [White House] plan was to ignore the book, but Trump grew angry, the officials said, prompting [a] statement from [Sarah] Sanders." ...

     ... Here's the full White House statement, via TPM. ...

... Stef Kight of Axios lists what he calls "the juiciest claims" from Omarosa's book. Mrs. McC: I admit I didn't exactly read them. And, no, it's not because I'm awaiting my very own copy of the book. ...

... David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump is a 'racist' who has used the 'N-word' repeatedly, Omarosa Manigault Newman, once the most prominent African American in the White House, claims in a searing memoir. The future US president was caught on mic uttering the taboo racial slur 'multiple times' during the making of his reality TV show The Apprentice and there is a tape to prove it, according to Manigault Newman, citing three unnamed sources.... She also claims that she personally witnessed Trump use racial epithets about the White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's husband George Conway, who is half Filipino. 'Would you look at this George Conway article? she quotes the president as saying. 'F**ing FLIP! Disloyal! Fucking Goo-goo.' Both flip and goo-goo are terms of racial abuse for Filipinos. Critics have previously questioned Manigault Newman's credibility...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps I should give Trump more credit that I have done. If Omarosa's story is true -- and I would be one to "question Manigault Newman's credibility" -- Trump knows at least two more racial slurs than I did. P.S. Omarosa's "tell-all" sounds like a Trump set-up to me. He would much rather we talk about his racism -- as it gives him creds with his base -- than with his tax cuts for himself or "this Rusher thing" or Wilbur the Walking Thief or, or, or. ...

     ... Update. Tamara Keith of NPR: Omarosa Manigault Newman told NPR's Rachel Martin Friday that she had heard a tape in which Trump used the N-word on the set of his old TV show "The Apprentice." "But that's not what it says in her tell-all book, Unhinged, due out on Tuesday. When asked by Martin about the discrepancy during the interview, Manigault Newman insisted Martin must not have read the book (she had) and pointed to a section at the very end of it. But in that section, Manigault Newman doesn't actually describe hearing the tape. During the interview with Martin, Manigault Newman read the section aloud, then insisted it described her hearing the tape rather than what the words on the page state, which is that she heard an account of what was on the tape. 'I heard the tape,' she said when pressed." Mrs. McC: Yeah, Omarosa is totally credible. ...

... Annie Karni & Eliana Johnson of Politico: "Manigault Newman has lately been telling people that ... she has given copies of her taped conversations with Trump to family members for safekeeping in the event that she is murdered, said a person familiar with the conversations. She has also said she is taking meetings in disguise -- dressed in a baseball hat, sunglasses and baggy clothes -- out of a growing paranoia that the president will come after her." Mrs. McC Note to Omarosa: Do not walk down Fifth Avenue if Trump is in town.


"Space Force All the Way!" Rebecca Morin of Politico: "The Russian Embassy in the United States early Friday morning seemingly mocked ... Donald Trump's campaign for a logo for the administration's newly announced 'Space Force.'... Trump in an email asked supporters to vote on six proposed logos.... Using Trump's favorite mode of communicating, the embassy tweeted 'Good Morning, Space Forces!' along with a graphic of a rocket being launched and features the Russian flag. The tweet also links to a Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation's Space Forces website.... Vice President Mike Pence said during the revealing at the Pentagon that weapons being developed by Russia and China...." ...

     ... As David Graham notes (linked next), "Once people have voted in [Trump's Space Force logo] poll, naturally, they are invited to donate to Trump's reelection.... The Trump campaign appears to be selling the logo rights to the Space Force in exchange for campaign donations, turning the government into a tool for Trump's own political enrichment."

... David Graham of the Atlantic: "The Space Force and the White House's rollout for it are the most focused exercises in Trumpian branding the nation has seen since the president took office, a project reminiscent of Trump University. Trump is selling the public one idea -- a glitzy, pathbreaking new wing of government -- and giving it instead a potentially kludgy reorganization of existing government functions.... Overpromising and underdelivering were staples of Trump's business career -- see all the allegedly sold-out luxury buildings that turned out to be undersubscribed or dubiously constructed. Those have become signature moves during his presidency, too. Take his summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, which produced tremendous fanfare but, as becomes clearer each day, little in the way of concrete agreements, despite the president's claims. The same goes for Trump's border wall, which is the subject of repeated announcements of new construction, even though none has started." Thanks to Patrick for the link. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm not certain who's being scammed here: (1) Just the public or (2) Trump and the public. It seems quite plausible -- as I think Ken W. suggested the other day -- that Secretary Mattis, et al., have fooled Trump into thinking he got his way & is the progenitor of a grand new Star-Warzy branch of the military while in fact the Pentagon is just moving around the deck chairs to appease the Ignoramus-in-Chief. Anyway, I'm glad Star Wars Space Force! is a sham.

Erica Green of the New York Times: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos formally moved Friday to scrap a regulation that would have forced for-profit colleges to prove that the students they enroll are able to attain decent-paying jobs, the most drastic in a series of policy shifts that will free the scandal-scarred, for-profit sector from safeguards put in effect during the Obama era. In a written announcement posted on its website, the Education Department laid out its plans to eliminate the so-called gainful employment rule, which sought to hold for-profit and career college programs accountable for graduating students with poor job prospects and overwhelming debt. The Obama-era rule would have revoked federal funding and access to financial aid for poor-performing schools.... Ms. DeVos has brought into her administration former for-profit leaders who are known for their strong opposition to the industry's regulation."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "On Christmas Eve 1998, five days after the House impeached President Bill Clinton, Brett Kavanaugh urged his boss -- Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel -- not to pursue a criminal indictment of Mr. Clinton until after he left office. Judge Kavanaugh ... delivered the advice in a private memorandum made public on Friday by the National Archives in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. It shows that Judge Kavanaugh believed -- rightly, it turned out -- that the Senate would fail to convict the president for the 'high crimes and misdemeanors' that Mr. Starr and Mr. Kavanaugh had enumerated for Congress after Mr. Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. 'After the Senate has concluded, I would send a letter to the attorney general explaining that we believe an indictment should not be pursued while the president is in office,' Judge Kavanaugh wrote. He urged Mr. Starr to close the independent counsel's office, which had spent four years pursuing Mr. Clinton, so 'the next president can decide what to do.'"

Florida Senate Race. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Cryptic comments from Senator Bill Nelson of Florida this week alluded to a secret Russian plot to tap into Florida's election systems. 'They have already penetrated certain counties in the state, and they now have free rein to move about,' the Democratic senator told The Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday. He declined to elaborate or offer any proof. A day earlier, he had described details as 'classified.' But the suggestion that Russian hackers might have breached voter systems, vague as it was, has set off a political maelstrom in Florida less than three weeks before the state's Aug. 28 primary election. On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who is running against Mr. Nelson for the Senate, accused his opponent of scaremongering and demanded that he back up his claims with evidence."

Kansas Gubernatorial Race. John Hanna of the AP: "Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach stepped aside from his duties as the state's top elections official Friday until his hotly contested Republican primary challenge to Gov. Jeff Colyer is resolved, but Colyer argued that Kobach still has a conflict of interest because Kobach is handing his responsibilities to his top deputy.... Kobach's duties will go to Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rucker. Colyer was pressing Kobach to have state Attorney General Derek Schmidt advise county election officials -- something Kobach argued isn't allowed by law.... Colyer has accused Kobach of giving county election officials guidance 'not consistent with Kansas law,' and said Friday on Fox News that he was worried that some mail-in ballots were not being counted as required."

Meet Your Democratic Congressional Candidates

Andrew Seidman of philly.com: "Michael Soliman is a longtime aide and confidant to Sen. Bob Menendez [D].... Since 2015, Soliman has also lobbied Menendez and other members of Congress on behalf of the government of Qatar, arranging meetings for the country's ambassador to the U.S. and raising issues important to Qatar's relationship with Washington. Should Menendez defeat Republican Bob Hugin in November and Democrats take control of the Senate, the senator would be poised to chair the Foreign Relations Committee -- potentially boosting Soliman's value as a lobbyist, government watchdogs say." Mrs. McC: Hey, it's not a revolving door if you can stand in the threshold with one foot on one side and one foot on the other. Bob Menendez is what you would call a "New Jersey politician." That would be a pejorative. (Also linked yesterday.)

Congressional Race. Greg Bluestone of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "A Democratic candidate for Congress in a conservative north Georgia district who was convicted this week of drunken driving challenged the officers who stopped him to a fight and repeatedly insulted the county he was running to represent.... Steven Lamar Foster boasted about how many times he's been arrested and called the officers who arrested him 'Barneys' in dash-cam footage of the September arrest obtained by The Dalton Daily Citizen-News. 'Eleven years I served this county,' Foster told police in the dash-cam video. 'I hate this county. I prayed to God that he would curse it. And guess what? He did. Man, I saw it hit and cursed, and I saw people laid off right and left -- white people. I hate this county...'" Mrs. McC: Seems like an excellent candidate. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... But, hey, Foster seems better than this former Georgia Democratic Congressional candidate:

... Noah Feit of the (South Carolina) State: "A woman who recently ran for a congressional seat was arrested for murder among other charges Wednesday, according to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. Curt Cain, the man that Kellie Lynn Collins is charged with shooting to death, worked on her failed congressional campaign in Georgia, the Augusta Chronicle reported. He also might have been her husband, according to Captain Eric Abdullah.... Collins was previously a Democratic congressional candidate in Georgia's 10th district..., but she dropped out of the race before the primary, 'for personal reasons.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Carl Campanile of the New York Post: "Actor Richard Gere's name is being floated as a potential [Democratic] candidate for Congress in the northern suburbs [of New York City], The Post has learned." Mrs. McC: Well, that's nice. I can tell you from second-hand gossip that Gere is not the candidate for the #MeToo era. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


Heather Long of the Washington Post: "Rising prices have erased U.S. workers' meager wage gains, the latest sign strong economic growth has not translated into greater prosperity for the middle class and working class. Cost of living was up 2.9 percent from July 2017 to July 2018, the Labor Department reported Friday, an inflation rate that outstripped a 2.7 percent increase in wages over the same period. The average U.S. 'real wage,' a federal measure of pay that takes inflation into account, fell to $10.76 an hour last month, 2 cents down from where it was a year ago. The stagnant pay comes despite accelerating U.S. growth, which has increased in the past year and topped 4 percent in the second quarter of 2018 -- the highest rate since mid-2014."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "Two days ahead of what is expected to be a small white supremacist rally in Washington, D.C., NPR gave rally organizer Jason Kessler a national platform to peddle junk 'race science.'... [During the interview with Kessler] -- who also organized last year's Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in which a counter-protester named Heather Heyer was murdered when a neo-Nazi drove a car into a crowd -- host Noel King earnestly asked him, 'Do you think that white people are smarter than black people?' Kessler proceeded to rank the races by intelligence.... King served up a number of softball questions to Kessler throughout the interview.... King didn't mention Heyer's name.... After the nearly 7-minute interview ended, NPR transitioned to an interview with a Black Lives Matter activist, a setup implying that white supremacists and people advocating for racial justice are two sides of the same coin." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Millions of nice Americans think NPR is actually "fair and balanced." It isn't. Rupar's report is exemplary. ...

... ** "The White Nationalists Are Winning." Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: "Despite the controversy over the [Charlottesville] rally and its bloody aftermath, the white nationalists’ ideological goals remain a core part of the Trump agenda. As long as that agenda finds a home in one of the two major American political parties, a significant portion of the country will fervently support it. And as an ideological vanguard, the alt-right fulfilled its own purpose in pulling the Republican Party in its direction. A year after white nationalists in Charlottesville chanted, 'You will not replace us!' their message has been taken up and amplified by Fox News personalities." Mrs. McC: And on NPR.

Katie Shepherd of Willamette Week: "A federal jury [Friday] acquitted an FBI agent who had been accused of lying to investigators looking into the events leading up to the fatal shooting of anti-government militant Robert 'LeVoy' Finicum. Prosecutors alleged that W. Joseph Astarita, who was a member of the FBI's hostage rescue team, had lied about firing his gun at Finicum during an encounter that accelerated the end of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation. Finicum was fatally shot by an Oregon State Police officer. Astarita's trial lasted three weeks, but the federal jury cleared him of all charges. He testified that although two bullets from his gun were found in Finicum's truck, he had not realized on that day that he had fired." Mrs. McC: One way to "realize" he had fired his gun might have been to check its chamber to see how many bullets were left before making an untrue statement to investigators. I wonder if prosecutors questions him on that point.

Beyond the Beltway

Casey Michel of ThinkProgress: Authorities have arrested a suspected arsonist for starting a huge fire in Southern California. "On Wednesday, local officials arrested 51-year-old Forrest Gordon Clark, charging him with two counts of felony arson, as well as another felony charge of threatening to terrorize.... The Washington Post reported that Clark had texted a local firefighter before the fire that the area was 'going to burn just like we planned.' (It was unclear who else Clark may have been referring to).... A quick skim [of Clark's Facebook page] reveals just how many conspiracy theories Clark promulgated — and why he may have allegedly started the fire in the first place. Indeed, it appears there was no conspiracy theory too ludicrous for Clark to buy into.... Clark appeared to be a fan of Alex Jones and InfoWars...."

Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee. Erin Logan of the Washington Post: A white Brooklyn immigrant woman & virulent Trump backer called police on black Democratic state legislator Jesse Hamilton who was passing out campaign literature on a sidewalk near a subway entrance. When the police wouldn't do something about a political candidate exercising his rights, the woman continued to harass him. 'It's a disturbing trend of people calling 911 for situations that have no criminal activity,' Hamilton said. While Hamilton may be right, I have an idea the Trumpbot lady would have called the cops on anyone who was passing out anti-Trump literature.

News Ledes

New York Times: "V.S. Naipaul, the Nobel laureate who documented the migrations of peoples, the unraveling of the British Empire, the ironies of exile and the clash between belief and unbelief in more than a dozen unsparing novels and as many works of nonfiction, died on Saturday at his home in London. He was 85."

New York Times: "An airline employee took off in a stolen plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday night in an episode that frustrated stranded travelers, riveted witnesses and ended with the plane crashing about 30 miles from the airport, the authorities said. The man, a 29-year-old who acted alone, was thought to be suicidal, said officials in Pierce County, where the plane crashed. No one else was believed to be on the 76-seat plane or injured on the ground." ...

     ... Update. BuzzFeed News: "An airline employee stole a plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday night, attempted to perform stunts in the air, then crashed after being chased by two fighter jets, killing himself." Includes home videos & Air Traffic Control audio. ...

     ... Update 2. New York Times: "The man who stole a plane and flew it for about an hour on Friday evening over Puget Sound in Washington State before crashing on an island has been identified as Richard B. Russell, according to a law enforcement official. Mr. Russell, a ground service agent at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, took off around 8 p.m. local time in an unauthorized flight.... He flew around the Seattle-Tacoma area, chatting sometimes calmly and sometimes in a frenzied stream of consciousness with air traffic controllers who tried to guide him to a safe landing. But the plane came down in a fiery crash on Ketron Island in the Puget Sound, about 30 miles from the airport. Alaska Airlines said in a statement that the person who took the plane was employed by Horizon Air, a subsidiary."

Comments Off
Thursday
Aug092018

The Commentariat -- August 10, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Trump No Longer Able to Get Along with Dictators. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "... Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is doubling tariffs on Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked citizens to convert foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, into local lira -- leading to a dramatic drop in the Turkish currency. 'I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!' Trump tweeted."

Omarosa's Brilliant Literary Career, Ctd. David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump is a 'racist' who has used the 'N-word' repeatedly, Omarosa Manigault Newman, once the most prominent African American in the White House, claims in a searing memoir. The future US president was caught on mic uttering the taboo racial slur 'multiple times' during the making of his reality TV show The Apprentice and there is a tape to prove it, according to Manigault Newman, citing three unnamed sources.... She also claims that she personally witnessed Trump use racial epithets about the White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's husband George Conway, who is half Filipino. 'Would you look at this George Conway article?' she quotes the president as saying. 'F**ing FLIP! Disloyal! Fucking Goo-goo.' Both flip and goo-goo are terms of racial abuse for Filipinos. Critics have previously questioned Manigault Newman's credibility...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps I should give Trump more credit that I have done. If Omarosa's story is true -- and I would be one to "question Manigault Newman's credibility" -- Trump knows at least two more racial slurs than I did. P.S. Omarosa's "tell-all" sounds like a Trump set-up to me. He would much rather we talk about his racism -- as it gives him creds with his base -- than with his tax cuts for himself or "this Rusher thing" or Wilbur the Walking Thief or or or.

Spencer Hsu & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has found a witness in contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell made the ruling Friday after a sealed hearing to discuss Andrew Miller's refusal to appear before the grand jury Miller is a former aide to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. Miller's lawyer Paul Kamenar said after the hearing that Miller was 'held in contempt, which we asked him to be in order for us to appeal the judge's decision to the court of appeals.' Howell stayed her order while Miller's legal team appeals the judge's decision."

Meet Your Democratic Congressional Candidates

Andrew Seidman of philly.com: "Michael Soliman is a longtime aide and confidant to Sen. Bob Menendez [D].... Since 2015, Soliman has also lobbied Menendez and other members of Congress on behalf of the government of Qatar, arranging meetings for the country's ambassador to the U.S. and raising issues important to Qatar's relationship with Washington. Should Menendez defeat Republican Bob Hugin in November and Democrats take control of the Senate, the senator would be poised to chair the Foreign Relations Committee -- potentially boosting Soliman's value as a lobbyist, government watchdogs say." Mrs. McC: Hey, it's not a revolving door if you can stand in the threshold with one foot on one side and one foot on the other. Bob Menendez is what you would call a "New Jersey politician." That would be a pejorative.

Congressional Race. Greg Bluestone of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "A Democratic candidate for Congress in a conservative north Georgia district who was convicted this week of drunken driving challenged the officers who stopped him to a fight and repeatedly insulted the county he was running to represent.... Steven Lamar Foster boasted about how many times he's been arrested and called the officers who arrested him 'Barneys' in dash-cam footage of the September arrest obtained by The Dalton Daily Citizen-News. 'Eleven years I served this county,' Foster told police in the dash-cam video. 'I hate this county. I prayed to God that he would curse it. And guess what? He did. Man, I saw it hit and cursed, and I saw people laid off right and left -- white people. I hate this county...'" Mrs. McC: Seems like an excellent candidate. ...

... But, hey, Foster seems better than this former Georgia Democratic Congressional candidate:

... Noah Feit of the (South Carolina) State: "A woman who recently ran for a congressional seat was arrested for murder among other charges Wednesday, according to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. Curt Cain, the man that Kellie Lynn Collins is charged with shooting to death, worked on her failed congressional campaign in Georgia, the Augusta Chronicle reported. He also might have been her husband, according to Captain Eric Abdullah.... Collins was previously a Democratic congressional candidate in Georgia&'s 10th district..., but she dropped out of the race before the primary, 'for personal reasons.'"

Carl Campanile of the New York Post: "Actor Richard Gere's name is being floated as a potential [Democratic] candidate for Congress in the northern suburbs [of New York City], The Post has learned." Mrs. McC: Well, that's nice. I can tell you from second-hand gossip that Gere is not the candidate for the #MeToo era.

*****

Best Buy's Geek Squad gave me a temporary, if cumbersome, fix to my major technical problem, but they say, and I concur, that the problem is with my host Squarespace's platform. Squarespace has not yet responded to a HELP! ticket I sent them 24 hours ago nor to the follow-ups I sent. Please don't try to log into Reality Chex if you have the access codes. I will send safari & Akhilleus the temporary fix some time on the 10th, but I have to figure out how to do that. Thanks to everyone for your patience. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

*****

** Mr. Mustache Does End-run around Insane Trump to Save NATO. Helene Cooper & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Senior American national security officials, seeking to prevent President Trump from upending a formal policy agreement at last month's NATO meeting, pushed the military alliance's ambassadors to complete it before the forum even began. The work to preserve the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreement ... came just weeks after Mr. Trump refused to sign off on a communiqué from the June meeting of the Group of 7 in Canada. The rushed machinations to get the policy done, as demanded by John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, have not been previously reported. Described by European diplomats and American officials, the efforts are a sign of the lengths to which the president's top advisers will go to protect a key and longstanding international alliance from Mr. Trump's unpredictable antipathy. Allied ambassadors said the American officials' plan worked -- to a degree. Mr. Trump did almost blow up the two-day meeting in Brussels that began on July 11.... But the approval of the communiqué -- renamed for the meeting as a declaration -- was critical for the alliance. It ensured that, despite Mr. Trump's rhetorical fireworks, NATO diplomats could push through initiatives, including critical Pentagon priorities to improve allied defenses against Russia." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I hope you realize how extraordinary this is. Even Bolton, who is pretty goofy, has a lot more sense than Trump. Thank goodness Bolton was willing to use what sense he has to manipulate President Nutjob to acquiesce to our most vital alliance.

** Annie Correal & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Trump has repeatedly and vehemently denounced what he calls 'chain migration,' in which adult American citizens can obtain residency for their relatives. On Thursday, his Slovenian in-laws, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, became United States citizens in a private ceremony in Manhattan by taking advantage of that same family-based immigration program. Asked if the Knavses had obtained citizenship through 'chain migration,' their lawyer, Michael Wildes, said, 'I suppose.' He said chain migration is a 'dirtier' way of characterizing what he called 'a bedrock of our immigration process when it comes to family reunification.'... Even as his in-laws were going through the process, Mr. Trump was denouncing it. In November, he tweeted, 'CHAIN MIGRATION must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!'" ...

... Addy Baird of ThinkProgress: "CNN was able to confirm Thursday that the first lady sponsored her parents in order for them to get a green card, which set them on the path to citizenship, the exact type of family-based migration President Trump has repeatedly called to eliminate."

Hee Haw! Goat Fleeces the Sheeples. Pat Ralph of Business Insider: "... Donald Trump is able to pay tens of thousands of dollars less in property taxes on his New Jersey golf courses because of a goat herd, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing public records, The Journal reported in 2016 that Trump had been able to save thousands of dollars in property taxes on his two properties in Bedminster — where he is this week for a 'working vacation' -- and Colts Neck. Because the properties have a goat herd, as well as hay farming and woodcutting, New Jersey law permits them to receive a farmland tax break.... The Journal estimated that Trump paid less than $1,000 a year in property taxes on land that would typically require roughly $80,000." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


Josh Gerstein & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "The federal judge overseeing the Paul Manafort trial took another shot at special counsel Robert Mueller's team Thursday afternoon, even after conceding earlier in the day that a criticism he leveled at prosecutors on Wednesday was erroneous. The prosecution spent about 40 minutes Thursday afternoon questioning a bank employee about Manafort's unsuccessful effort to get a $5.5 million construction loan on a Brooklyn brownstone, only to have Judge T.S. Ellis III suggest that the issue was unworthy of such extensive discussion at the trial. Notably, Ellis made the remark with the jury present.... [A] tense exchange [between Ellis & prosecutor Uzo Asonye] was the latest example of Ellis making comments that could lead jurors to question the prosecution's case or its tactics in the tax- and bank-fraud trial that opened last week." ...

... Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The judge overseeing Paul Manafort's trial, who has berated prosecutors daily for perceived missteps and slights, told the jury Thursday to ignore one of his outbursts, saying he was 'probably wrong.' U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, a 78-year-old jurist with a reputation for being tough on lawyers in his courtroom, showed none of the temper he has flashed throughout the trial, now in its second week in Alexandria, Va., and instead instructed the jury to disregard his remarks made the day before excoriating prosecutors for allowing an expert government witness to sit in the courtroom before he testified." Mrs. McC: According to the Politico report, the prosecution team had to file a motion to get Ellis to recant. ...

... Sharon LaFraniere & Emily Baumgaertner of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing the trial of Paul Manafort sealed a transcript on Thursday of a private discussion in front of his bench after prosecutors from the special counsel's office argued that they needed to protect an 'ongoing investigation.' The conversation concerned whether investigators had questioned Rick Gates, the government's star witness and Mr. Manafort's longtime deputy, about the Trump campaign. Prosecutors argued that they needed to protect the secrecy of their inquiry -- though they did not specify the Russia investigation -- and limit the 'disclosure of new information.' The judge, T. S. Ellis III, ruled in their favor.... Prosecutors have avoided any mention of the broader inquiry [into Russian interference in the 2016 election] since the trial began nine days ago in Alexandria, Va. But Mr. Manafort's lawyers have tried to edge in that direction, possibly in the hope that jurors will see their client as a victim of a politically inspired vendetta." ...

     ... That Sidebar May Be Bad News for Donzo. Katelyn Polantz & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller signals that Rick Gates may be assisting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election beyond the case against Paul Manafort."

Nancy Cook of Politico: "Hope Hicks had no intention of traveling on Air Force One when she arrived at ... Donald Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club to hang out with White House friends including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. But ... once Hicks was back on the president's turf, she got sucked in, with a handful of staffers successfully prodding her to join them on Saturday's trip to Ohio for a campaign-style rally. Hicks' surprise appearance at the airport prompted one former campaign official to joke that she was returning for 'Season Two' of the Trump reality show." Mrs. McC: AND this has nuh-THING to do with the fact that Trump was simultaneously confess-tweeting about the "real reason" for that Trump Tower meeting -- you know, the one where Hicks helped him write out that phony "adoption reason" for the meeting conspiracy-planning session. Just another a-mazing coincidence. (Also linked yesterday.)

The House Runs Its Own Witch Hunt, Ctd. Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is readying subpoenas for people connected to the controversial 'Steele' dossier, sources tell The Hill. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is preparing subpoenas for Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie Ohr and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, according to two congressional sources familiar with the matter. The subpoenas will also go after other current and former FBI and DOJ officials including Jim Baker, Sally Moyer, Jonathan Moffa and George Toscas, the sources said. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told The Hill that Goodlatte has been in touch with the DOJ about seeking testimonies from these officials.... Bruce Ohr has come under Republican scrutiny for his contacts with Simpson and former British spy Christopher Steele during the presidential campaign, a revelation that sparked demands from Trump allies for a special counsel investigation into the DOJ and the FBI last December." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Rep. Devin Nunes explained to donors, the House has to keep running interference for Der Trumpster to save Trump -- and themselves.


"Space Force All the Way!" Erin Durkin of the Guardian: "Mike Pence has announced plans for a new, separate US Space Force as a sixth military service by 2020. The US vice-president said the development is needed to ensure America's dominance in space amid heightened competition and threats from China and Russia. In a speech at the Pentagon in Washington DC, Pence said that while space was once peaceful and uncontested, it is now crowded and adversarial.... In a tweet Thursday, the president cheered on his number two's speech. 'Space Force all the way!' he wrote." ... Mrs. McC: Yeah, in a tweet that again reveals the POTUS* to be as knowledgeable & articulate as a 10-year-old. The Pentagon must have given Trumpie a "Space Force" patch or maybe even a shiny aluminum "Space Force" jacket. Akhilleus's commentary in yesterday's thread on Mikey's rationale, as delivered, for the "Space Force" is kind of a must-read. ...

     ... Thanks to safari for the link.

AND, in "Walk of Fame News"... Paul Bond & Bryan White of the Hollywood Reporter: "Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- destroyed on several occasions by detractors who sometimes wield a pick-ax -- mysteriously multiplied over night so that on Thursday morning there were several dozen stars. The effort comes from a conservative street artist who wishes to remain anonymous.... The artist and his cohorts ... are allies of prolific conservative artist Sabo, spent $1,000 on the stars, which they printed on sheets of floor vinyl with adhesive backing, and their mission was partially financed by 'a young and anonymous entrepreneur.' The crew laminated the vinyl stars and placed them on blank squares on the Walk of Fame...." Mrs. McC: I can't figure out why Trump had a Hollywood star in the first place. He was never a Hollywood star.

AP: "Puerto Rico is now estimating that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people, far more than the official death toll of 64, in a report to Congress seeking billions to help the island recover from the devastating storm.... In a report to Congress detailing a $139 billion reconstruction plan, the territory's government said that the additional deaths resulted from the effects of a storm that led to a 'cascading failures' in infrastructure across the island of 3.3 million people." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpies' Bad Day in Court

"Turn the Plane Around." -- Judge. Arelis R. Hernández of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Washington halted a deportation in progress Thursday and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt after learning that the Trump administration started to remove a woman and her daughter while a court hearing appealing their deportations was underway. 'This is pretty outrageous,' U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said after being told about the removal. 'That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her?... 'This is not acceptable.'... During a brief recess, [the lead ACLU lawyer] told her colleagues the pair had been taken from a family detention center in Dilley, Tex., to the airport in San Antonio for a morning flight. After being informed of the situation, Sullivan granted the ACLU's request to delay deportations for Carmen and the other plaintiffs until the lawsuit is decided, and ordered the government to 'turn the plane around.'" ...

     ... Suzanne Gamboa & Jonathan Soboroff of NBC News: "The plane was not able to turn around en route, but a Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News that the mother and daughter did not disembark in El Salvador Thursday evening and were being brought to the United States.... [Judge Emmet Sullivan] ordered the government to stop removing plaintiffs in the case from the country who are seeking protection from gang and domestic violence."

Michael Biesecker of the AP: "A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping a widely used pesticide on the market despite extensive scientific evidence that even tiny levels of exposure can harm babies' brains. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to remove chlorpyrifos from sale in the United States within 60 days. A coalition of farmworkers and environmental groups sued las year after then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt reversed an Obama-era effort to ban chlorpyrifos, which is widely sprayed on citrus fruit, apples and other crops. The attorneys general for several states joined the case against EPA, including California, New York and Massachusetts. In a split decision, the court said Thursday that Pruitt ... violated federal law by ignoring the conclusions of agency scientists that chlorpyrifos is harmful."

CIA AND Torture Director. Julian Barnes & Scott Shane of the New York Times: Newly-released cables contain evidence that now-CIA director Gina Haspel oversaw waterboarding torture at a prison in Thailand. "As the chief of the base, Ms. Haspel would have written or authorized the cables, according to Tom Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive ... at George Washington University." The cables " provide at times graphic detail on the techniques the agency used to brutally interrogate Qaeda captives." ...

... While we're on the subject of torture missives ...

... Eliana Johnson of Politico: "A 2001 email from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is likely to reignite a debate over his involvement in making the legal case for the Bush administration's treatment of terrorist suspects -- and whether he misled Congress about it. The email, part of a tranche of documents that the White House turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the run-up to Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, indicates that Kavanaugh, then a White House lawyer, helped to prepare then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to testify before Congress on the federal government's monitoring of communications between terrorists in federal custody and their attorneys. Democrats are likely to seize on the communication to argue that he misled them during his 2006 confirmation to the D.C. Circuit when, pressed about whether he had helped to make the legal case for torture, he denied any involvement in discussions about the treatment of enemy combatants." At his confirmation hearings, "Kavanaugh denied any contemporaneous knowledge that the Bush administration was secretly waterboarding terrorist suspects."


Sam Baker of Axios: "One Australian drug company -- with only one (failed) product in one (failed) clinical trial -- just keeps tripping up current and former House Republicans.... Federal prosecutors in New York indicted Rep. Chris Collins yesterday on charges of insider trading, stemming from the sale of shares in a company called Innate Immunotherapeutics. It's the same company you may remember from Tom Price's confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary. He tripled his investment when divesting of the stock to become secretary, according to the Wall Street Journal. Collins had been an investor in the company for 15 years, the WSJ reports, and was a member of its board. Price bought almost 500,000 shares in the company, most of them in 2016, at a discounted rate only offered to a few Americans. At least four other GOP lawmakers also bought shares of Innate a few months later, according to the watchdog group CREW. Of those six lawmakers, four -- Collins, Price, and Reps. Billy Long and Markwayne Mullin -- sat on committees with direct health care jurisdiction." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Gubernatorial Race. John Hanna of the AP: "Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Thursday that he will remove himself from the further counting of votes while his Republican primary battle with Gov. Jeff Colyer hangs in the balance.... The governor publicly accused Kobach, the state's top elections official, of giving county election officials information about the handling of yet-uncounted ballots 'inconsistent with Kansas law.' He demanded in a letter to Kobach that Kobach stop advising county officials and have the state's attorney general do it instead. The close contest between the embattled governor and a conservative lightning rod took another acrimonious turn as Kobach's already tiny lead shrunk from 191 votes to just 121 out of 311,000 ballots cast, after two counties reported discrepancies in their initial tallies. Kobach needled Colyer in a Fox Business network appearance Thursday evening, saying it would be 'pointless' to remove himself from the process ... but he might do so just to make Colyer 'feel good.' But a little more than an hour later, questioned on CNN, Kobach said: 'I said, "Of course, if he wants me to, I would," and he has said, "OK, I do want you to," so I will.'" ...

     ... Update: Hunter Woodall & Bryan Lowry of the Kansas City Star: "Gov. Jeff Colyer's campaign spokesman said Thursday that 100 votes for Colyer have been found in a western Kansas county, meaning Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is now only 91 votes ahead in the GOP race for governor. Thomas County Clerk Shelly Harms confirmed in an email that Colyer received 522 votes on election day. The vote total reported for the county was initially 422."

Senate Race. So Far Things Not Going Well for White Supremacist Candidate. Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch: "Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., led GOP rival Corey Stewart by 23 percentage points in a July poll of likely voters released Wednesday. Kaine had 49 percent to 26 percent for Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, with 5 percent for Libertarian Matt Waters and 20 percent undecided, according to the survey...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Election 2020. Everybody Figures He'd Be a Better President than Trump. Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register: "'I'm exploring a run for the presidency of the United States, and I wanted to come to Iowa and listen to people and learn about some issues that are facing the citizens of Iowa and do my homework,' [attorney Michael] Avenatti told the Des Moines Register in an interview Thursday. Avenatti, who rose to prominence as an outspoken critic of the president, toured the Iowa State Fair Thursday posing for selfies with fans. He is scheduled to speak at the Democratic Wing Ding fundraiser Friday night in Clear Lake." Mrs. McC: You & I should be practicing our stump speeches, too.

Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "... the premise of the [mass] killings [in Las Vegas last October] was one that no other civilized country would have tolerated for a moment. [The killer Stephen] Paddock bought fifty-five guns, mostly rifles, in the space of a year -- most of them the kind of lethal weapons properly called assault rifles or military-style weapons, several augmented with an accessory known as a bump stock, which allowed for even more rapid firing. There is no reason on earth why any citizen of a democracy would ever need even one of these weapons, let alone fifty-five. Not to mention that the simple act of buying that many weapons of murder might be a sign that murder was being planned -- an alert missed.... his intention appears to have been purely nihilistic.... his intention appears to have been purely nihilistic.... Given the new state of the Supreme Court, and the nature of the Trump White House, Second Amendment nihilism may be the reigning position in the American gun debate for all the future we can see." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Suggesting that the U.S. is a "civilized country," as Gopnik does, is a stretch IMO. We have large pockets of civilization & large pockets of uncivilized tribes of know-nothings, and -- as Gopnik observes -- nihilists & absurdists. Because we're a big, mobile, borderless country, civilized & uncivilized individuals are often neighbors. The NRA & like organizations, as well as their Congressional lackeys are good examples of how nihilism pays. Supporting the NRA's extremist policies is "rational" in the same way being a hitman is rational. Yes, the hitman kills people, but he does it for the money. ...

... Update. Coincidentally, Justice Sotomayor agrees with me, albeit in a different context. Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "Justice Sonia Sotomayor concludes her dissent in Irick v. Tennessee with the kind of rhetorical flourish that is rarely seen in judicial opinions. 'If the law permits this execution to go forward in spite of the horrific final minutes that' the inmate at the heart of this case is likely to experience, 'then we have stopped being a civilized nation and accepted barbarism.' The justice reaches this conclusion after her Court effectively ruled on Thursday that Billy Ray Irick, a death row inmate, could be tortured to death. This result is not surprising -- the issue at stake in Irick largely tracks the issues presented in Glossip v. Gross, a 2015 decision upholding Oklahoma's use of a drug cocktail that almost certainly subjects death row inmates to excruciating pain as their paralyzed body slowly dies." ...

     ... Dave Boucher of the Tennessean: "Death row inmate Billy Ray Irick died at 7:48 p.m. CDT Thursday after Tennessee prison officials administered a lethal dose of toxic chemicals. He was 59. His execution, the first in Tennessee since 2009, comes after his 1986 conviction in Knox County for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Paula Dyer.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha

Brian Fung & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Tribune Media said Thursday that it would terminate its proposed merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group, while announcing a $1 billion lawsuit against the conservative television giant on grounds that it engaged in 'misconduct' and precluded the U.S. government from approving the deal. In the lawsuit, Tribune accused Sinclair of engaging in 'belligerent and unnecessarily protracted negotiations' with the FCC as well as the Justice Department, which had reviewed the merger for its effects on competition. By failing to divest television stations as regulators recommended, Tribune said Sinclair had 'breached' the companies' merger agreement, which required them to make their best efforts to secure federal approval.... The merger began to stumble last month after Federal communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai highlighted 'serious concerns' about the deal, which originally would have reached roughly 70 percent of U.S. households. The FCC raised questions about Sinclair's plan to sell some key stations in order to adhere to federal media ownership laws, and voted to send the matter to an administrative law judge, which is often interpreted as a signal a transaction may be blocked." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kelly Weill & Tim Burke of the Daily Beast: "Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham's Wednesday night monologue about immigrants destroying America was so racist it got the endorsement of David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan. During the opening to her primetime show The Ingraham Angle, Ingraham complained that 'the America we know and love doesn't exist anymore. Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people,' she said, in the form of documented and undocumented immigrants." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "This is a fresh example of a very old phenomenon: right-wing super-patriots who don't much seem to love, or even like, the America that actually exists. This is the same Laura Ingraham who just last month was deploring the doubts being expressed about America's goodness and righteousness by U.S. college students[.]..." Read on.

Beyond the Beltway

Gintautas Dumcius of MassLive: "Massachusetts residents will be automatically registered to vote when they make transactions at the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles or with MassHealth, under a new law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. The transactions include a change of address, for example. Both the RMV and MassHealth, the Medicaid program funded by both the state and federal government, are able to verify whether people registering to vote are citizens, according to the office of Bill Galvin, the state's elections chief." ...

... Baker signed a boatload of liberal-ish bills yesterday. Mrs. McC: Did I mention Baker is running for re-election this year?

News Lede

BBC News: "The last member of an immigrant group who fought the Nazis for the French Resistance has died aged 101. Arsène Tchakarian escaped a Nazi crackdown in which 22 of the group's fighters were shot by the German occupation forces in Paris in 1944. He was awarded France's highest honour. President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that Tchakarian, an ethnic Armenian, was 'a hero of the Resistance and tireless witness whose voice resonated strongly to the very end'. Tchakarian only became a French citizen in 1958. He was granted several medals for gallantry, including the prestigious Legion of Honour in 2012.... Tchakarian carried out attacks alongside Jews and other immigrant guerrillas against the Nazis."

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