The Commentariat -- December 9, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "After the officer involved was acquitted of second-degree murder charges, officials in Arizona publicly released graphic video showing Daniel Shaver crawling on his hands and knees and begging for his life in the moments before he was shot and killed by police in January 2016. Shaver died in one of at least 963 fatal police shootings in 2016, according to a Washington Post database. And his death was one of an increasing number of such shootings to prompt criminal charges in the years since the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Mo. following the death of Michael Brown. Yet charges remain rare, and convictions even more so. The shooting, by Philip 'Mitch' Brailsford, then an officer with the Mesa Police Department, occurred after officers responded to a call about a man allegedly pointing a rifle out of a fifth-floor window at a La Quinta Inn. Inside the room, Shaver, 26, had been doing rum shots with a woman he had met earlier that day and showing off a pellet gun he used in his job in pest control." ...

     ... See related story under Beyond the Beltway.

*****

Adam Goldman & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "F.B.I. officials warned one of President Trump's top advisers, Hope Hicks, earlier this year about repeated attempts by Russian operatives to make contact with her during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the events. The Russian outreach efforts show that, even after American intelligence agencies publicly accused Moscow of trying to influence the outcome of last year's presidential election, Russian operatives were undaunted in their efforts to establish contacts with Mr. Trump's advisers. There is no evidence that Ms. Hicks did anything improper.... After he took office, senior F.B.I. counterintelligence agents met with Ms. Hicks in the White House Situation Room at least twice, gave her the names of the Russians who had contacted her, and said that they were not who they claimed to be.... Ms. Hicks informed Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, about the meetings.... On Thursday and Friday, investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, interviewed Ms. Hicks as part of his investigation into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether any of Mr. Trump's advisers assisted the Russian campaign." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So Russian spies are trying to infiltrate the White House via a top presidential aide, the White House counsel knows about it, but Trump believes Putin??? ...

... Unreliable Sources. Joe Concha of the Hill: "CNN has issued a correction to a Friday morning exclusive about documents that Donald Trump Jr. received from WikiLeaks.... The new reports said Trump Jr. and other campaign officials had received an email pointing them to the WikiLeaks documents on the afternoon of Sept. 14 -- after they had already been made public. The original CNN report said Trump Jr. had received the email on Sept. 4, before WikiLeaks had made the documents public.... CNN said its original story had been based on two sources who had seen the email." The original CNN story was linked here yesterday...

... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Federal prosecutors' investigation into Paul Manafort's financial dealings was enormous in scope, with FBI agents executing at least 15 search warrants and assembling a trove of hundreds of thousands of records related to the case, according to details in a new court filing. Lawyers from special counsel Robert Mueller's office publicly outlined the scale of the probe on Friday as they informed a federal judge about efforts to turn over evidence to Manafort ... and his business partner, Rick Gates, who were both indicted in October on charges that included money laundering and failing to register as foreign lobbyists for Ukraine." ...

...Jonathan Chait of New York: "It is almost a maxim of the Trump era that the bounds of the unthinkable continuously shrink." Republicans have been able to rationalize Donald Trump's "Access Hollywood" tape, Roy Moore's extreme views & alleged sexual assault on underaged girls, & now "the next step in the sequence is almost insultingly obvious. Trump is preparing to shut down Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 election..." --safari...

... ** Contempt of Congress. The Most Arrogant Little Prince Evah. Charles Pierce reads the transcript of Erik Prince's Congressional testimony. You will want to read his takeaways.

In response to Congressmen Lewis and Thompson skipping the civil rights museum opening in MS:We think it's unfortunate that these members of Congress wouldn't join the President in honoring the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices in our history. The President hopes others will join him in recognizing that the movement was about removing barriers and unifying Americans of all backgrounds. -- Sarah Sanders, in a statement Thursday

Sanders was upset that 'these members of Congress' weren't going to honor the 'incredible sacrifice' of 'civil rights leaders.' Does she know that one of 'these members of Congress' was one of her aforementioned 'civil rights leaders?' -- Nicole Karlis of Salon, Friday

No, Nicole, probably not. Besides being duplicitous, mendacious, petty & generally nasty, Mrs. Huckleberry is remarkably ignorant. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times: "A review by The New York Times of daily mortality data from Puerto Rico's vital statistics bureau indicates a significantly higher death toll after [Hurricane Maria] than the government there has acknowledged. The Times's analysis found that in the 42 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, 1,052 more people than usual died across the island. Officially, just 62 people died as a result of the storm.... On Oct. 3, nearly two weeks after the storm, Mr. Trump visited the island and praised the low official death toll. He referred to the 1,833 deaths in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina as a 'real catastrophe.' 'Sixteen people certified,' Mr. Trump said. 'Sixteen people versus in the thousands. You can be very proud of all of your people and all of our people working together.' By that visit, an additional 556 people had died in Puerto Rico compared with the same period over the two prior years."

You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful '' I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.... Grab 'em by the pussy. -- Donald Trump, "Access Hollywood" tape, 2005

This was locker room talk.... Nobody has more respect for women than I do. -- Donald Trump, debate, October 9, 2016 ...

... Cristiano Lima of Politico: "A former Fox News anchor said Friday that ... Donald Trump tried to kiss her after a lunch visit to Trump Tower in 2005. Juliet Huddy, a current radio host in New York City and a former news anchor on Fox News, said she rebuffed an overture from the real-estate mogul after the two met at his luxury Manhattan high-rise. The incident ... allegedly occurred near the time he married first lady Melania Trump. 'He took me for lunch at Trump Tower, just us two. He said goodbye to me in an elevator while his security guy was there, rather than kiss me on the cheek he leaned in to kiss me on the lips....'" she said.... Huddy, who settled claims of sexual harassment against former Fox News star Bill O'Reilly, said Trump later joked about an exchange when he appeared on her daytime talk show. 'I hit on her but she blew me off,' Trump reportedly said."

** "Welfare Reform." John Cassidy of the New Yorker: Paul Ryan said Wednesday "'We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit.'... Programs like Medicare and Medicaid 'are the big drivers of debt, so we spend more time on the health-care entitlements, because that's really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking.'... In a speech last week, the President talked about moving onto 'welfare reform' -- seemingly oblivious to the fact that Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress dismantled the primary welfare programs back in the late nineteen-nineties. About the only big federal means-tested programs left are Medicaid and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Evidently, these will be on the Republican hit list, even though the primary populations they serve are the sick, the elderly, and children.... Ryan's remarks illustrate why he and other Republican leaders have refused to break with Trump despite his frequent outrages...." Cassidy does an excellent job of explaining the callous compact between a greedy, corrupt president & an equally greedy, corrupt Congress...

...Thanks Supremes! Andy Kroll of Mother Jones: "Very few Americans want or even understand the sweeping tax bill Republicans are right now conspiring to ram through Congress.... Yet Republican leaders in Washington show no sign of slowing down.... What explains the Republican Party's reckless rush to pass this bill? It boils down to two words: Citizens United...When I say that Citizens United explains the GOP's tax-bill frenzy, I really mean the big-money political climate that Citizens United helped create and, broadly speaking, embodies." --safari...

...Matthew Yglesias of Vox: "Richard Waters and Tom Braithwaite at the Financial Times ran the numbers yesterday and found that the Republican tax plan's largest single winner is going to be Apple, which stands to reap a windfall of about $47 billion. For a sense of scale, that would cover four years' worth of the federal tab for the Children's Health Insurance Program which provides coverage to 9 million kids but is currently on hiatus since congressional Republicans say they can't find the money." --safari

Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "The degree to which the Trump administration has pushed to reverse regulations on the oil, gas, and coal sectors has shocked even the most optimistic in the industry, according to a new report issued by the Center for Western Priorities...Along with gutting important regulations, the Trump administration has filled key positions inside the Department of the Interior with fossil-fuel industry players.... The report, released Thursday, cites Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas trade association. Sgamma remarked a few months ago: 'Not in our wildest dreams, never did we expect to get everything. We were kind of used to getting punished.'" --safari

E.A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "The Department of Justice is moving to investigate Planned Parenthood's transfer of fetal tissue, continuing the fall-out from discredited sting videos released two years ago by an anti-abortion group. On Thursday, the Justice Department reportedly asked Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for documents relating to a Senate committee's report on Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue practices.... The request seems set to re-open a controversy surrounding the use of fetal tissue, as well as Planned Parenthood more generally.... The decision is further proof that sting videos hold significant power and sway. While the Judiciary Committee's finding were not based on the CMP videos, their release prompted the report." --safari: Perfect timing to gin up some froth of the Evangelists for 2018. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: While the link may be more philosophical for most confederates, there's a direct link between the DOJ's attack on Planned Parenthood & the behavior of Trent Franks. ...

... Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), facing an ethics investigation over alleged sexual harassment, announced Friday that he will resign immediately following his wife's admission to the hospital. Franks had said Thursday that he would resign at the end of January but said Friday that his wife's ailment had prompted him to change his plans and immediately step down." ...

... Rachel Bade & Jake Sherman of Politico: "Arizona Rep. Trent Franks allegedly made unwanted advances toward female staffers in his office and retaliated against one who rebuffed him, according to House GOP sources with knowledge of a complaint against him. The allegations, which reached Speaker Paul Ryan and top GOP leaders in recent days, led to Franks' sudden resignation this week. Franks originally announced that he would resign on Jan. 31, 2018. But just hours after Politico inquired about the allegations, he sped up his resignation and left office Friday. The sources said Franks approached two female staffers about acting as a potential surrogate for him and his wife, who has struggled with fertility issues for years. But the aides were concerned that Franks was asking to have sexual relations with them. It was not clear to the women whether he was asking about impregnating the women through sexual intercourse or in vitro fertilization. Franks opposes abortion rights as well as procedures that discard embryos. A former staffer also alleged that Franks tried to persuade a female aide that they were in love.... One woman believed she was the subject of retribution after rebuffing Franks. While she enjoyed access to the congressman before the incident, that access was revoked afterward, she told Republican leaders." ...

     ... Juliet Linderman of the AP: "A former aide to Republican Rep. Trent Franks has told The Associated Press the congressman repeatedly pressed her to carry his child, at one point offering her $5 million to act as a surrogate mother.... The former staffer said the congressman at least four times asked if she'd be willing to act as a surrogate in exchange for money. Franks, in his statement announcing his resignation, said he and his wife, who have struggled with infertility, have twins who were carried through surrogacy.... The aide cited the surrogacy requests as 'a main reason' for leaving the office, adding that she felt retaliated against after turning down the congressman, ignored by Franks and not given many assignments." ...

... Stephanie Akin of Roll Call: "The Treasury Department paid $220,000 in a previously undisclosed agreement to settle a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment that involved Florida Democrat Alcee L. Hastings, according to documents obtained by Roll Call. Winsome Packer, a former staff member of a congressional commission that promotes international human rights, said in documents that the congressman touched her, made unwanted sexual advances, and threatened her job. At the time, Hastings was the chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, where Packer worked. Hastings has called Packer's charges 'ludicrous' and in documents said he never sexually harassed her. 'Until this evening, I had not seen the settlement agreement between the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and Ms. Packer,' the congressman said in a statement Friday night. 'This matter was handled solely by the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment. At no time was I consulted, nor did I know until after the fact that such a settlement was made.'" ...

... Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "A former clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski said the powerful and well-known jurist, who for many years served as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, called her into his office several times and pulled up pornography on his computer, asking if she thought it was photoshopped or if it aroused her sexually. Heidi Bond, who clerked for Kozinski from 2006 to 2007, said the porn was not related to any case.... Bond is one of six women -- all former clerks or more junior staffers known as externs in the 9th Circuit -- who alleged to The Washington Post in recent weeks that Kozinski, now 67 and still serving as a judge on the court, subjected them to a range of inappropriate sexual conduct or comments.... Another clerk, Emily Murphy, who worked for a different judge on the 9th Circuit and is now a law professor, described their experiences in on-the-record interviews.... Kozinski was appointed to the 9th Circuit by President Ronald Reagan in 1985."...

... Frank Rich: "The Party of Lincoln is now the Party of Predators.... It should also be noted that a tolerance for sexual predation may be well on its way to becoming a majority plank among the GOP rank and file. While a new Quinnipiac poll finds that 77 percent of Democrats believe elected officials should resign in the face of multiple sexual harassment accusations, only 51 percent of Republicans do.... [Republicans] will shed crocodile tears about the new sexual miscreant in the Senate chamber all the way to the bank." --safari

Senate Race

The NRA ❤s Pedophiles! David Corn of Mother Jones: "[T]he NRA, perhaps the biggest outside political player on the right, has quietly entered the race to help [Roy] Moore [R-Pedophile].... The NRA's website does not list the Alabama Senate race as a contest in which it is involved, but two days ago, the Center for Public Integrity reported that the NRA was spending $55,000 to send out postcards to boost Moore in the election this Tuesday." --safari: So the NRA has no morals, surprised? Even better, all NRA members are now supporting a pedophile with their hard-earned dollars.

Beyond the Beltway

Paige Blankenbuehler & Brooke Warren of Mother Jones: "The 2017 fire season was the nation's costliest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which houses the Forest Service. That agency's annual budget is increasingly dedicated to suppressing and fighting wildland fires, as longer seasons and more destructive blazes require more resources.... Some of the West's biggest fires began in September, at a time when the fire season is typically waning." -- safari: Article contains lots of fire-related stats.

Luke Barnes of ThinkProgress: "A former Mesa, Arizona police officer who fatally shot and killed an unarmed father of two was cleared of second degree murder charges on Thursday. Philip Mitchell Brailsford, 27, was also cleared of criminal liability in the death of Daniel Shaver.... The Shaver case is another grim reminder of how common it is for police officers involved in unarmed shootings to avoid any sort of punishment for their actions. Even officer firings like Brailsford's are something of a paper tiger: an August investigation by the Washington Post found that, of the 1,881 officers fired for misconduct since 2006, more than 450 were reinstated after union appeals." --safari: The video, embedded in the article, is egregious. This is called murder.

News Lede

Los Angeles Times: "The powerful Santa Ana winds that fueled a five-day fire siege across Southern California this week began to ease Friday, but the destructive toll of the blazes continued to grow and firefighters will remain on high alert through the weekend. The fires, which stretched from Ojai to Oceanside, destroyed more than 500 structures and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. The smoke created air quality problems that officials said reached unprecedented levels in some areas. As hot, dry Santa Anas faded, officials warned that breezes from the ocean could pick up, changing the direction of the flames, placing fire crews at higher risk of getting caught without an escape route."

The Commentariat -- December 8, 2017

The Madness of King Donald, Ctd.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Trump White House is apparently where self-awareness goes to die.... The White House says that merely raising questions about Trump's health isn't okay even though Trump's campaign offered specific diagnoses and insinuations about similar episodes for Clinton.... 'I know that there were a lot of questions on [Trump's slurred speech],' [Sarah Sanders said], 'frankly, ridiculous questions.'... White House reporters have been asking for months about when Trump might get a physical, and they haven't gotten answers. Thankfully, Sanders disclosed Thursday that Trump will have a full physical early next year and that the results will be made public. So if reporters got nothing else from asking about the slurring, at least they got an answer to that question." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'll believe the public will see the full results of Trump's check-up when I see it. JFK, remember, did his best to keep secret the serious illnesses with which he struggled. (Here's an article on John Kennedy's health troubles, written by presidential historian Robert Dallek & published in the Atlantic in 2002.) ...

... Joe Scarborough in a Washington Post op-ed: "Donald Trump spent much of 2016 questioning his opponent's stamina to be president of the United States. But it is now Trump's own fitness that is being scrutinized by friends and foes alike. After Trump spent recent weeks creating a level of chaos unseen around the White House since Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974, Capitol Hill politicians and media outlets are quietly questioning whether Trump is fit for the highest office in the land. That the commander in chief slurred his way through the end of a speech on Jerusalem Wednesday was just the latest in a string of unsettling incidents. Many who move through his orbit believe Trump is not well. That is a verdict that was reached long ago by many of the president’s own staff. More than a few politicians and reporters across Washington have shared similar fears." ...

... Joe Concha of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) former presidential campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, said early Thursday that President Trump was 'clearly slurring his words' during an announcement that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, adding that 'the impairment is chilling.' 'I don't know the cause of it, but when you combine it with [Sen.] Bob Corker's critique that the president of the United States is unstable, that he's dangerous, when you look at the private comments that are made by members of Congress around his stability, you look at his actions in recent weeks,' said Schmidt.... 'Morning Joe' co-host Joe Scarborough has questioned Trump's mental fitness on several occasions in the past, with the former GOP congressman most recently stating on Nov. 30 that 'people close to him during the campaign' told him 'he had early stages of dementia.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: "The president is coming to America's poorest, blackest state to open a civil rights museum on Saturday, and people in the neighborhoods surrounding that gleaming tribute to the past would rather have Donald Trump visit their present.... 'What do you have to lose?' Trump asked [during the campaign], making a quixotic and ultimately failed bid for black votes to a nearly all-white crowd. 'We're losing a lot,' [Pete] McElroy[, who has a small business in the Jackson, Mississippi, neighborhood,] said here this week. 'Losing Obamacare. Where are people going to go? Losing money. He's making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Mostly, we're losing respect. No way you can evade that. The way he speaks, the racists feel like they can say anything they want to us.'... On Thursday, Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat who is one of the last surviving leaders of the civil rights movement, canceled his commitment to give the keynote address at the opening. Lewis, who had refused to attend Trump's inauguration because he considered him an illegitimate president, joined with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in announcing that they will not attend because Trump is coming."

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "... outdoor retailer Patagonia ... filed a complaint on Wednesday accusing Donald Trump of exceeding the powers of his office earlier this week when he ordered that Bears Ears national monument be reduced in size by 85%. The president framed the action as a correction of earlier federal overreach. Barack Obama established the monument at 1.3m acres one year ago, in a move Republicans in Utah's legislature compared at the time to 'the unilateral tyranny exercised by the King of England against the American colonies two and a half centuries ago'. But Patagonia's lawsuit asserts that Trump is the one playing king, by enacting the largest removal of protection from federal lands in history. The complaint, which was joined by a coalition of conservation groups, was filed in parallel with a separate lawsuit joined by five Native American tribes who say the president's move endangers sacred sites.... The government has 60 days to respond to Patagonia's complaint."

Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Candidate Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization received an email in September 2016 offering a decryption key and website address for hacked WikiLeaks documents, according to an email provided to congressional investigators. The September 4 email was sent during the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race -- two months after the hacked emails of the Democratic National Committee were made public and one month before WikiLeaks began leaking the contents of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's hacked emails. The email came less than three weeks before WikiLeaks itself messaged Trump Jr. and began an exchange of direct messages on Twitter. Trump Jr. told investigators he had no recollection of the September email." ...

... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "An executive at a leading Russian social media company made several overtures to Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016 -- including days before the November election -- urging the candidate to create a page on the website to appeal to Russian Americans and Russians. The executive at Vkontakte, or VK, Russia's equivalent to Facebook, emailed Donald Trump Jr. and social media director Dan Scavino in January and again in November of last year, offering to help promote Trump's campaign to its nearly 100 million users, according to people familiar with the messages.... While Scavino expressed interest in learning more at one point, it is unclear whether the campaign pursued the idea. An attorney for Trump Jr. said his client forwarded a pitch about the concept to Scavino early in the year and could not recall any further discussion about it.... The overture with VK was brokered by Rob Goldstone, a British music promoter who asked Trump Jr. last year to meet with a Russian lawyer who he said had compromising information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton." ...

... Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort acknowledged Thursday that he edited an opinion piece for a Ukraine newspaper but did not publicly address allegations by special counsel prosecutors that he drafted it with a former colleague with ties to Russian intelligence. Manafort's defense argued in a court filing to a federal judge in Washington that Manafort's work on the op-ed piece for an English-language newspaper in Kiev defending himself did not violate a court gag order because it would not likely bias potential jurors in any U.S. trial." ...

... Rhonda Schwartz & Matthew Mosk of ABC News: "The Italian fiancee of George Papadopoulos..., Simona Mangiante..., said Papadopoulos 'set up meetings with leaders all over the world' for senior campaign officials. He was 'constantly in touch with high-level officials in the campaign,' she added. That included direct communication with now-former senior Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn, Mangiante said, adding that she had seen correspondence supporting the assertion.... 'He never took any initiative, as far as I know, [that was] unauthorized. All the initiatives had [the] blessing of the campaign,' she said." Also, he doesn't make coffee. ...

... Well, of Course They Did. Sarah Wire of the Los Angeles Times: "The House Ethics Committee on Thursday cleared Rep. Devin Nunes of allegations that he disclosed classified information related to the House investigation of Russian meddling in last year's election. The committee said in a statement that experts it interviewed determined that the information the House Select Intelligence Committee chairman divulged was not classified. When the complaint was filed in April, the Tulare Republican said he would step away from leading the intelligence committee's Russia investigation. But Nunes did not recuse himself and many Democrats have complained he has been too involved in the investigation. In a statement thanking the committee for clearing him, Nunes did not address whether he would formally retake control of the investigation." Mrs. McC: So endeth the Tale of the Midnight Run of Devin Nunes. ...

... Rachel Maddow is dedicating her show tonight to the Steele dossier. Could be interesting. Airs at 9:00 pm ET on MSNBC.

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "North Korea is open to direct talks with the US over their nuclear standoff, according to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who said he passed that message to his counterpart, Rex Tillerson, when the two diplomats met in Vienna on Thursday. There was no immediate response from Tillerson but the official position of the state department is that North Korea would have to show itself to be serious about giving up its nuclear arsenal as part of a comprehensive agreement before a dialogue could begin." The linked ABC page has video.

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismissed a claim that there's widespread fear of police among poor minority communities and taunted a woman who said guns were more fatal than marijuana, calling her 'Dr. Whatever Your Name Is.' The attorney general's comments came in a 25-minute session with Justice Department interns on June 22, according to ABC News, which first reported Sessions' remarks and obtained internal DOJ video of the event through a Freedom of Information Act request.... [A UC Berkeley law student said] he 'grew up in the projects to a single mother, and the people who we are afraid of are not necessarily our neighbors but the police.' 'Well, that may be the view in Berkeley,' Sessions shot back, 'but it's not the view in most places in the country.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie Translation: "... in most places" = "where we nice white people live." I wonder if JeffBo is going along with Trump to the opening of the civil rights museum. He could get together some of his friends like Steve Scalise & they could do a Klan tableau.

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: Some of Trump's richy-rich New York friends are complaining to him about repeal the local-tax deduction in the Tax Heist bills. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: They're right, of course, but it's ironic that Trump may be listening only to the rich about a drastic change to the tax code that has a negative impact on every person who itemizes deductions & pays state &/or local taxes. As the reporters write, "The mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, has estimated that there could be tax increases for as many as 700,000 residents if the legislation is approved." I'm not sure why they haven't noticed, but the limitation of the property tax deduction to $10,000 is going to hurt some of these rich guys almost as much. Most of them own more than one expensive home, & their property taxes are likely far higher than $10,000. ...

... ** "The Republican War on Children." Paul Krugman: "Republicans are showing that they consider it more important to give extra millions to one already wealthy heir than to provide health care to a thousand children.... While there is zero evidence that tax cuts pay for themselves, there's considerable evidence that aiding lower-income children actually saves money in the long run.... And despite everything we've seen in U.S. politics, it's still hard to believe that a whole political party would balk at doing the decent thing for millions of kids while rushing to further enrich a few thousand wealthy heirs. That is, however, exactly what's happening. And it's as bad, in its own way, as that same party's embrace of a child molester because they expect him to vote for tax cuts." ...

... The GOP Tax Heist Also Aims to Wreck the Environment. Brad Plumer & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The Republican tax bills moving through Congress could significantly hobble the United States' renewable energy industry because of a series of provisions that scale back incentives for wind and solar power while bolstering older energy sources like oil and gas production. The possibility highlights the degree to which the nation's recent surge in renewable electricity generation is still sustained by favorable tax treatment, which has lowered the cost of solar and wind production while provoking the ire of fossil-fuel competitors seeking to weaken those tax preferences. Whether lawmakers choose to protect or jettison various renewable tax breaks in the final bill being negotiated on Capitol Hill could have major ramifications for the United States energy landscape, including the prices consumers pay for electricity.... The tax bill joins a host of federal policy changes proposed by the Trump administration that could crimp the growth in clean energy."

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Congress passed a short-term spending deal Thursday, sending to President Trump a bill to avert a partial government shutdown and setting up a heated budget fight later this month. Trump has indicated that he will sign the deal, preventing a government stoppage that had been set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.... The short-term measure passed the Senate 81 to 14 and passed the House 235 to 193.... The deal does not resolve numerous debates over domestic spending, immigration and funding for the military that brought the government to the brink of partial closure, leaving party leaders with a new Dec. 22 deadline to keep the government open."

Sheryl Stolberg, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, in an emotional speech on the Senate floor, announced on Thursday that he would resign from Congress, the most prominent figure in a growing list of lawmakers felled by charges of sexual harassment or indiscretions.... As his Democratic colleagues looked on, he took a parting shot at President Trump and Roy S. Moore; both have also been accused of sexual misconduct." ...

... Masha Gessen of the New Yorker: "The force of the #MeToo moment leaves no room for due process, or, indeed, for Franken's own constituents to consider their choice. Still, the force works selectively.... Trump and Moore are immune because the blunt irresistible force works only on the other half of the country.... The Trump era is one of deep and open immorality in politics.... These are men who proclaim their allegiance to the Christian faith while acting in openly hateful, duplicitous, and plainly murderous ways." Read on. Mrs. McCrabbie: I have a fundamental disagreement with Gessen in that I think the matters she attributes to sex are better attributed to power struggles. In an ideal world, sex is about love. In the real world, sex is often about power. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nanny Ruth Marcus has a pretty good take on the way Senate Democrats dealt with Al Franken. AND when she compares the Senate's reactions to Franken & Bob Menendez, she helps make Gessen's point. ...

... Michelle Goldberg: "... the Republican Party is not the party of people who are fundamentally opposed to sexual harassment.... While the current frenzy to expose sexual harassers is, in large part, a reaction to the trauma of Trump's election, it has not yet touched Trump himself.... The incendiary rage unleashed by Trump's election needs to be directed back at him. Otherwise, only those who already advocate women's equality will be forced to grant it." ...

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Representative Trent Franks of Arizona, one of the House's most ardent social conservatives, said Thursday night that he would resign after the House Ethics Committee began an investigation into complaints that he had asked two female staff members to be a surrogate to bear his child.... Mr. Franks denied that he had ever 'physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff.' His statement said only that he deeply regretted discussing the topic of surrogacy, but a Republican familiar with the accusation said that Mr. Frank had specifically asked those aides to be surrogates.... Mr. Franks, whose strident social conservatism and adamant opposition to abortion in all forms have defined his tenure, said he would step aside at the end of January rather than wait for the outcome of the investigation." ...

... In case you're feeling all sorry for poor Trent Franks, Jeff Singer of Daily Kos has a reminder of who Franks is: "... Franks has been a mouthpiece for some of the worst ideas of the far-right. Franks said in 2010 that '[f]ar more of the African-American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery,' declared the next year that same-sex marriage was 'a threat to the nation's survival,' and mused in 2013 that the instances of rape causing pregnancy are 'very low.' Franks also was very unbothered by the Russian government's meddling in the 2016 elections, saying, 'The bottom line is if they succeeded, if Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate, then they merely did what the media should have done,' before claiming his comments were misconstrued."

... A Reckoning for Pajama Boy? Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday it has established a subcommittee to investigate allegations of misconduct by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), expanding its work in light of new information that surfaced in recent weeks about a 2015 settlement agreement he reached with his former aide.... His former communications director, Lauren Greene, in 2014 accused Farenthold of making sexually charged comments designed to gauge whether she was interested in a sexual relationship."

Senate Races -- The GOP Has the Best Candidates

Roy Moore's Family Values. Roy Moore longs for the days when "families were strong, our country had a direction..., even though we had slavery." Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: The institution of slavery was built on tearing apart families. Parents were separated from their children. Husbands were separated from their wives. Plantation owners, such as the third president of the United States, routinely raped their enslaved workers. Excepting the centuries-long genocide of American Indians (or 'reds,' in the parlance of the Republican nominee for US Senate), slavery was the greatest attack on American families the country has ever seen.... Only a broken view of society that excludes people of color from the calculus entirely and makes accommodations for mass rape could possibly consider the society of slavery a time when families were 'strong.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'll concede Moore's flaming racial bigotry is the worst part of his nostalgia. But also, what makes Moore, or anyone, think that "families were strong" in antebellum days? I suppose he means that a patriarchal society is highly preferable to one where a white man's aspirations might be upended by revelations about his sexual assaults on underaged girls. He means that families were strong, I guess, because the old man ruled the roost, women were chattel & the kids pulled their own weight or got the belt. Please bear in mind, Alabamians, that Moore is perverted in many more ways than one. ...

... Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "President Trump is headed to Florida on Friday for a rally that appears aimed at boosting Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore's chances in a special election next week. The trip to Pensacola, Fla. -- just 20 miles away from the Alabama border -- may have initially been scheduled to give Trump a way to rally the Republican base in Alabama while keeping some distance from Moore, who is accused of molesting teenagers. But Trump explicitly endorsed Moore this week, calling the candidate directly to offer his support." ...

AND This. Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast: "Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has no interest in running for Rep. Trent Franks' (R-AZ) soon-to-be vacated seat, he said on Thursday. Instead..., [Arpaio,] who was recently pardoned by ... Donald Trump..., [said], 'I am seriously, seriously, seriously considering running for the U.S. Senate,' Arpaio told The Daily Beast, 'not the congressman's seat.' Whatever he decides, Arpaio's next political step will have profound implications in the Grand Canyon State. He is a darling of anti-immigration hardliners, but reviled by Democrats and even some mainstream Republicans for his reputation of breaking the law to enforce it."

Ryan Grim of the Intercept: "Progressive radio and television personality Sam Seder will be offered his MSNBC contributor job back and plans to accept, according to multiple MSNBC sources. Seder and MSNBC were set to part ways when his contributor contract expired next year, with reports indicating the departure had to do with a 2009 tweet from Seder surfaced by the far-right provocateur Mike Cernovich. After initially caving in to right-wing internet outrage over the tweet, MSNBC reversed its decision to not renew Seder's contract.... Cernovich is a ... conspiracy theorist who works in hand-in-glove with white supremacists. Cernovich dug up a 2009 tweet from Seder and claimed it endorsed rape. The tweet was meant as a satirical criticism of accused rapist Roman Polanski's liberal defenders, but MSNBC took Cernovich's bad-faith reading at face value and fired Seder." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Teevee executives are not very bright people & even obvious satire is way over their heads. When there's a possibility that one of these guys is in your audience, be sure to end your remark with "Only kidding!" Sure, it ruins the punchline, but it will save you from being the brunt of ridiculous rumors.

Beyond the Beltway

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Michael T. Slager, the white police officer whose video-recorded killing of an unarmed black motorist in North Charleston, S.C., starkly illustrated the turmoil over racial bias in American policing, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison, after the judge in the case ruled that the shooting had been a murder. The sentence was pronounced in Federal District Court in Charleston about seven months after Mr. Slager pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of Walter L. Scott when he shot and killed him in April 2015. It concluded one of the few cases in which a police officer has been prosecuted for an on-duty shooting." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Washington Post: "British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced Friday that they had reached an agreement for Britain to exit the bloc, a milestone that means Britain will likely move on to trade talks early next year, pending confirmation by the rest of the 27 E.U. leaders next week." This is a breaking story at 2:20 am ET. ...

... The Guardian is liveblogging updates.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The economy's vital signs are stronger than they have been in years. Companies are posting jobs faster than they can find workers to fill them. Incomes are rising. The stock market sets records seemingly every month. The latest evidence of the revival came Friday, when the Labor Department reported that American employers added 228,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent, the lowest since 2000. Job growth has slowed since its peak in 2014 but remains remarkably steady: For the first time on record, employers have added jobs every month for more than seven years -- 86 months, to be precise."

Los Angeles Times: "Gusty Santa Ana winds and bone-dry conditions continued to stoke major wildfires in Southern California on Thursday as Ventura County fire officials said the battle there could last well over a week. By Thursday evening, the Thomas fire had consumed 115,000 acres, destroyed 427 structures in Ventura and damaged at least 85 more.... An additional 12 structures were destroyed in unincorporated areas of Ventura County. As the blaze intruded on Santa Barbara County, residents living in Carpinteria, Summerland and other coastal communities nearby were told to prepare to evacuate...."

The Commentariat -- December 7, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Democrats will oppose a short-term spending bill when it comes to the floor Thursday afternoon, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said hours before. The announcement puts the onus on GOP leaders to gather the 218 votes they'll need to pass the measure largely on their own -- a feat they've been unable to accomplish on a long list of budget bills going back to 2011, when they took the House gavel."

Joe Concha of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) former presidential campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, said early Thursday that President Trump was 'clearly slurring his words' during an announcement that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, adding that 'the impairment is chilling.' 'I don't know the cause of it, but when you combine it with [Sen.] Bob Corker's critique that the president of the United States is unstable, that he's dangerous, when you look at the private comments that are made by members of Congress around his stability, you look at his actions in recent weeks,' said Schmidt.... 'Morning Joe' co-host Joe Scarborough has questioned Trump's mental fitness on several occasions in the past, with the former GOP congressman most recently stating on Nov. 30 that 'people close to him during the campaign' told him 'he had early stages of dementia.'"

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Michael T. Slager, the white police officer whose video-recorded killing of an unarmed black motorist in North Charleston, S.C., starkly illustrated the turmoil over racial bias in American policing, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison, after the judge in the case ruled that the shooting had been a murder. The sentence was pronounced in Federal District Court in Charleston about seven months after Mr. Slager pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of Walter L. Scott when he shot and killed him in April 2015. It concluded one of the few cases in which a police officer has been prosecuted for an on-duty shooting."

Ryan Grim of the Intercept: "Progressive radio and television personality Sam Seder will be offered his MSNBC contributor job back and plans to accept, according to multiple MSNBC sources. Seder and MSNBC were set to part ways when his contributor contract expired next year, with reports indicating the departure had to do with a 2009 tweet from Seder surfaced by the far-right provocateur Mike Cernovich. After initially caving in to right-wing internet outrage over the tweet, MSNBC reversed its decision to not renew Seder's contract.... Cernovich is a right-wing provocateur and conspiracy theorist who works in hand-in-glove with white supremacists. Cernovich dug up a 2009 tweet from Seder and claimed it endorsed rape. The tweet was meant as a satirical criticism of accused rapist Roman Polanski's liberal defenders, but MSNBC took Cernovich's bad-faith reading at face value and fired Seder." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Teevee executives are not very bright people & even obvious satire is way over their heads. When there's a possibility that one of these guys is in your audience, be sure to end your remark with "Only kidding!" Sure, it ruins the punchline, but it will save you from being the brunt of ridiculous rumors.

*****

NEW. Loveday Morris & Ruth Eglash of the Washington Post: "Palestinian protesters battled Israeli soldiers on Thursday in Jerusalem, Ramallah and other places in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, one day after President Trump announced that his administration would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Palestinian Authority called for a general strike in Palestinian cities. In Gaza, the Islamist Hamas movement urged its followers to ignite a third intifada, or uprising, against Israel. Shops in Jerusalem's Old City were shuttered. On the edge of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Israeli forces fired dozens of rounds of tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of Palestinian protesters gathering to air their anger over Trump's statement." ...

... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump on Wednesday fformally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and setting in motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the fiercely contested Holy City." ...

... NEW. Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "For two decades, U.S. presidents had promised to do what Trump did Wednesday, but they ultimately issued repeated waivers to a law requiring relocation of the embassy. They said they were postponing the issue in hopes that it could be addressed in an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.... Several advisers said he did not seem to have a full understanding of the issue and instead appeared to be focused on 'seeming pro-Israel,' in the words of one, and 'making a deal,' in the words of another.... 'The decision wasn't driven by the peace process,' one senior official said. 'The decision was driven by his campaign promise.'" ...

... Trumpbot Nation. Mark Landler: "For Mr. Trump, the status of Jerusalem was always more a political imperative than a diplomatic dilemma. Faced with disappointing evangelical and pro-Israel backers like [Sheldon] Adelson, or alarming allies and Arab leaders while jeopardizing his own peace initiative, the president sided with his key supporters. In doing so, Mr. Trump invited opprobrium from foreign leaders, who said the move was reckless and self-defeating. He also acted against the counsel of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who worried about anti-American blowback, not least to diplomats and troops serving overseas. Mr. Trump conceded the provocative nature of his decision. But as he has before..., the president on Wednesday seemed to relish playing a familiar role: the political insurgent, defying foreign policy orthodoxy on behalf of the people who elected him." ...

... Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "The State Department has set up a 24-hour task force to collect information and coordinate response to Trump's speech, which has already caused protests at several U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.... Such a move is typically made to address a security concern or when American lives can be in danger. Examples of past task forces include the Japanese and Haiti earthquakes, the Kenyan elections and the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. ''Trump is putting diplomats as well as American citizens at risk,' one official said. 'He is putting a bullseye on the U.S. and making Israel a target for more violence right before the holidays, which always is a time for high alerts.'" ...

... Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "The White House said President Trump's slurred speech at the end of his announcement about Jerusalem was no more than a case of dry mouth.... The slurred word prompted questions on social media about why the president stumbled over the phrase at the end of his speech. Trump regularly ridiculed ... Hillary Clinton over health concerns during the 2016 campaign, repeatedly questioning her stamina and strength." Mrs. McC: Really? Did the "White House" given Trump a physical? This is not a credible explanation. Surely after the screw-up just a few weeks ago, Trump's staff made sure he had water available. So it's something else. ...

     ... In today's thread, Victoria has an interesting & plausible theory about what is causing Trump's slurred speech.

... Pope Pops Trump. Philip Pullella of Reuters: "Pope Francis, speaking hours before ... Donald Trump;s announcement on Jerusalem, called on Wednesday for the city's 'status quo' to be respected, saying new tension in the Middle East would further inflame world conflicts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Trump Threatens Government Shutdown, Blames Democrats." Jane Timm of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Wednesday that a government shutdown 'could happen' and blamed Democrats for the looming threat, claiming 'they want to have illegal immigrants pouring into the country, bringing with them crime.' 'Democrats are really looking at something very dangerous for our country. They are looking at shutting down, they want to have illegal immigrants, in many cases people that we don't want in our country,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'We don't want to have that, we want to have a great, beautiful, crime-free country.' It's the latest swipe at Democratic leaders from the president, who needs the party's help to keep the government open and funded past Friday. And it's an exaggeration of what Democrats have said they want: protections for Dreamers, or recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program -- young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, who work and live and pay taxes here." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Um, it's not an "exaggeration." It's a lie.

The Russia Report

** It Was Always about the Money. Mark Mazzetti & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, told a former business associate that economic sanctions against Russia would be 'ripped up' as one of the Trump administration's first acts, according to an account by a whistle-blower made public on Wednesday. Mr. Flynn believed that ending the sanctions could allow a business project he had once participated in to move forward, according to the whistle-blower. The account is the strongest evidence to date that the Trump administration wanted to end the sanctions immediately, and suggests that Mr. Flynn had a possible economic incentive for the United States to forge a closer relationship with Russia. Mr. Flynn had worked on a business venture to partner with Russia to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East until June 2016, but remained close with the people involved afterward. On Inauguration Day, according to the whistle-blower, Mr. Flynn texted the former business associate to say that the project was 'good to go.' The account is detailed in a letter written by Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. In the letter, Mr. Cummings said that the whistle-blower contacted his office in June and has authorized him to go public with the details. He did not name the whistle-blower." ...

... The Best People, Ctd. Ryan Hutchins of Politico: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he was ousted as head of ... Donald Trump's transition due in part to his opposition to the hiring of Michael Flynn.... Christie has long said he had concerns about the retired three-star Army general, though he had never said exactly why.... When Christie was fired on Nov. 11, Flynn and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon tossed binders full of potential personnel picks into the trash to celebrate the departure.... It was ultimately Trump himself who decided to ignore Christie's recommendation against hiring Flynn, two former transition officials had said...."

Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Donald Trump Jr. would not tell House investigators Wednesday what he and his father discussed after reports surfaced about a June 2016 meeting he had in Trump Tower with Russians, citing attorney-client privilege.... Donald Trump and his son had a conversation this summer after Trump Jr. produced emails about his involvement in the Trump Tower meeting, according to Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and the committee's ranking member who attended the Wednesday session. At the classified hearing, Trump Jr. acknowledged speaking with senior White House aide Hope Hicks to help craft a response to the initial reports, sources said. But Trump Jr. did not provide details about communications with his father and invoked attorney-client privilege because of the presence of attorneys during the exchange with his father." Mrs. McC: As Schiff pointed out in his remarks, there's no such thing as an attorney-client privilege between parent & child, & the presence of lawyers is immaterial. ...

... Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Donald Trump Jr. told House investigators that he did not communicate directly with his father when confronted with news reports about his June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, according to multiple sources with knowledge of his testimony. Instead, Trump Jr. said he was speaking to White House aide Hope Hicks about how to respond to the reports. He said ... Donald Trump ... was debating between a longer and a shorter statement while the President and Hicks were aboard Air Force One. Hicks was aboard Air Force One and was speaking with Trump while the statement was being crafted.... While aboard Air Force One, Trump took part in crafting his son's initial response to the reports of the meeting, which was sent out through the Trump Organization under Trump Jr.'s name." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, Junior talked to Daddy, but he's not telling what-all they discussed. Then he talked to the woman who steam-irons Daddy's pants (while Daddy is wearing them), but not to Daddy, about what-all would be in "his" response to the press. This makes sense in that it covers for Daddy's participation in obstructing justice, but it doesn't make sense unless he's trying to save Daddy's fat ass. Meanwhile, we see why Hicks got a promotion to communications director; it was a bribe to make sure she'd fall on her sword (or steam iron). It doesn't appear Junior is nearly as good at lying as is his old man. ...

... Sharon LaFraniere & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "While he refused to recount his conversation with his father, the younger Mr. Trump told the committee about his earlier discussions with the White House adviser Hope Hicks about how to respond to the coming Times article, first published on July 8. His statement said the Trump Tower meeting was primarily about the ability of Americans to adopt Russian children. It made no mention of any promise of incriminating information from the Russian government against Mrs. Clinton.... He said that he was unable to remember a phone call that took place as he was discussing the need for the meeting with a Russian intermediary.... Mr. Trump was also asked about his private Twitter communications last fall with WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy group whose release of a trove of hacked emails rocked Mrs. Clinton's campaign. Mr. Trump told the committee that he considered WikiLeaks to be an independent news organization much like CNN or NBC...." ...

It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia. -- CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a Trump appointee, April 2017

... Josh Meyer of Politico: "Congressional investigators are scrutinizing trips to Europe taken last year by several associates of ... Donald Trump, amid concern they may have met with Kremlin-linked operatives as part of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Several people close to then-candidate Trump visited Europe during and after the campaign, including his son Donald Trump Jr., Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and foreign policy advisers Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and Jeffrey Gordon.... Their explanations of those trips have not always been forthcoming, and some congressional investigators find their stories suspect.... Trump Jr. flew to Paris late in the campaign to meet with and speak before a foreign policy group with ties to Russian officials."

Sam Thielman of TPM: "TPM has obtained what appears to be the draft opinion article that Paul Manafort allegedly helped to ghostwrite, getting him in hot water with federal prosecutors and potentially the judge in his criminal case.... The draft op-ed, which can be read in full at the bottom of this article, could be described as a love letter to Manafort, crediting him with a number of pro-Western advances in Ukraine.... The op-ed is strikingly similar to the way Manafort has defended himself from charges of propping up a tyrant...." Thielman adds some detail on the possible provenance of the work of fiction. ...

... Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "As a reminder, here are some of the things that Manafort has already been accused of doing in Mueller's indictment related to alleged secret work done on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party: Concealing payments of millions of dollars for pro-Russian lobbying work in Ukraine. Laundering millions of dollars through dummy companies 'to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States.' Evading taxes on those millions of dollars. Lying to federal investigators and on federal forms about these activities. Using money from these activities to defraud banks to the tune of millions of more dollars of loans. Those are just the alleged criminal activities we already know about. On Wednesday, it was reported by CNN that more charges could be coming."

Devlin Barrett & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Republican activists and lawmakers are engaged in a multi-front attack on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe of possible connections between associates of President Trump and Russian agents, trying to stop or curtail the investigation.... For months, the president and his allies have been seizing on any whiff of possible impropriety by Mueller's team or the FBI to argue that the Russia probe is stacked against Trump.... Several law enforcement officials said they are concerned that the constant drumbeat of conservative criticism seems designed to erode Mueller's credibility, making it more politically palatable to remove, restrict or simply ignore his recommendations as his investigation progresses. Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity, one of the president's informal advisers as well as one of hi most vociferous defenders, on Tuesday night called Mueller 'a disgrace to the American justice system' and said his team is 'corrupt, abusively biased and political.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The Hannitys and Nuneses are the ideological descendents of the right-wing perpetrators of the 1940 & '50s "Red Scare," Joe McCarthy & the House Unamerican Activites Committee. The goal of these guys was to ferret out anyone who might have belonged to the Communist party at some time in the past & ruin their careers or imprison them (see Smith Act). Now, as Russia is even more successfully undermining the federal government, these wingers have come full circle & are aiding & abetting Russia. It's mindboggling, but for the fact that then, as now, the objective has been to undermine democratic principles & establish repressive, authoritarian control, especially of non-Christians & people of color (see, for instance, Paul Robeson).

** Thank You for Your Service. Now Go Find a Cardboard Shelter. Arthur Allen & Lorraine Woellert of Politico: "Four days after Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin held a big Washington event to tout the Trump administration's promise to house all homeless vets, the agency did an about-face, telling advocates it was pulling resources from a major housing program. The VA said it was essentially ending a special $460 million program that has dramatically reduced homelessness among chronically sick and vulnerable veterans. Instead, the money would go to local VA hospitals that can use it as they like, as long as they show evidence of dealing with homelessness. Anger exploded on a Dec. 1 call that was arranged by Shulkin's Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans to explain the move. Advocates for veterans, state officials and even officials from HUD, which co-sponsors the program, attacked the decision, according to five people who were on the call.... The agency's move came as HUD on Wednesday released its annual survey showing a 1.5 percent increase in veteran homelessness over 2016 -- the first rise since 2010."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Republican leaders moved closer on Wednesday to resolving some key differences between the House and Senate tax bills, though several big issues, including the size of the corporate tax cut, remained in flux. As the Senate voted to begin the process of reconciling its tax bill with he House version, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, threw his support behind allowing a more generous state and local tax deduction in the final legislation.... Right now, both bills would only allow taxpayers to deduct property taxes and cap that at $10,000.... Complicating the discussions is the need to ensure that the overall bill stays in the $1.5 trillion bucket lawmakers have budgeted for the cuts. All the changes under discussion would cost money, requiring lawmakers to find ways to offset the effect on the deficit." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That would be because the whole tax heist is "financed" by ballooning the deficit. But not to worry. The Great American Flim-Flam man has announced the GOP's plan to "fix" that. ...

... AND Away We Go! Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday that congressional Republicans will aim next year to reduce spending on both federal health care and anti-poverty programs, citing the need to reduce America's deficit.... 'Frankly, it's the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt, so we spend more time on the health care entitlements -- because that's really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking.' Ryan said that he believes he has begun convincing President Trump in their private conversations about the need to rein in Medicare.... As a candidate, Trump vowed not to cut spending on Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. (Ryan also suggested congressional Republicans were unlikely to try changing Social Security, because the rules of the Senate forbid changes to the program through reconciliation -- the procedure the Senate can use to pass legislation with only 50 votes.)" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie Translation: We need tax cuts for the rich so we can make sick people sicker & poor people poorer. It would be great to throw old people out in the streets, but those obstructionist Democrats won't go along.

For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.... And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! 'Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.' -- Attributed to Jesus, Matthew 25:35-41

I think he meant "those on the right." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Helaine Olen of the Washington Post: Susan Collins is either getting hosed on promises made to her (one from Trump, one from McConnell!) re: health insurance or she doesn't care & was just looking for an excuse to vote for the tax heist. Olen writes that the bills Collins wants to get passed & signed into law wouldn't do much to keep ]remiums down (and would be sunsetted after two years anyway), but there's a good chance Congress will ignore her proposed bills. "Will Collins vote for the bill in the end? I'd predict public hemming and hawing and expressions of 'concern' from Collins -- before she goes along and votes yes. Mrs. McC: Olen pretty much pegs Collins as a craven dolt.

The Republicans yell states' rights all the time, but they're hypocrites. The last time Congress passed a bill to impose the laws of one state on a different state, it was the Fugitive Slave Act. -- Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y) (slight paraphrase) ...

... Guns for Everybody, Everywhere. Nicholas Fandos: "The House on Wednesday easily passed a sweeping expansion of the right to carry concealed firearms virtually anywhere in the country, putting the fate of the National Rifle Association's top legislative priority in the hands of a divided Senate. To win over Democrats, House Republicans paired the measure, which would require all states to recognize any other state's concealed-carry permit, with a more modest bipartisan fix meant to incentivize better reporting of legal and mental health records to the national background check system. Together, the measures were the first gun-related bill to pass through the chamber since two of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States, in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Tex., in the fall. But the background check measure was not enough to win over most Democrats, nor did it persuade law enforcement officials in some of the largest cities, including New York, who say the legislation would force locales with strict gun laws to bow to places with few or no gun restrictions. Passage in the Senate would almost certainly require 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster...." ...

... Gail Collins: "The gun bill's Republican handlers refused to permit an amendment banning bump stocks. Those are the devices that were used by the gunman who killed 58 people in Las Vegas. But you knew that, right? We now live in a country where average people know what's required if you want to make an assault rifle work like a machine gun.... Liz Cheney [R-Nuts] of Wyoming declared the right to carry a concealed weapon is 'God given.' We will not pursue the question of What Would Jesus Pack."

Yamiche Alcindor & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "More than half the Senate’s Democrats, including the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, called for Senator Al Franken to resign Wednesday, after a sixth woman came forward to charge that the Minnesota Democrat had made an improper advance on her. 'Senator Franken should resign,' Mr. Schumer said in a statement. 'I consider Senator Franken a dear friend and greatly respect his accomplishments, but he has a higher obligation to his constituents and the Senate, and he should step down immediately.' Mr. Franken scheduled an announcement Thursday on his future in the Senate, and Minnesota Public Radio reported that he would be leaving." ...

... Brian Bakst of Minnesota Public Radio: "A Democratic official who has spoken to Al Franken and key aides says Franken will resign his Minnesota Senate seat on Thursday, the official tells MPR News. The official spoke to Franken and separately to Franken's staff. A staff member told the official that Franken had gone to his Washington home to discuss his plans with family." ...

... Matt Shuham of TPM: "Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) denied a report Wednesday that he had decided to resign the following day. Minnesota Public Radio had reported, citing an unnamed Democratic official who had spoken to Franken and his staff, that the senator would resign Thursday. Shortly after the story went live, however, Franken’s office said it was 'not accurate.'" ...

... Maggie Severns of Politico: "Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to appoint his lieutenant governor and close ally, Tina Smith, to Al Franken's seat if the Democratic senator resigns on Thursday, three people familiar with the Democratic governor's thinking said. But that appointment would be just the start of an upheaval in Minnesota. Part of the reason Smith could be heading to the Senate, the sources said, is that she has indicated no interest in running for Congress in the past and would not run for the remainder of Franken's term, which expires in 2020, in a 2018 special election. That would clear the way for a wide open Democratic primary next year if Franken steps down." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In other words, let's give Republicans every advantage possible, other than just not fielding a candidate at all. Dumb. ...

... Heather Caygle of Politico: "A former Democratic congressional aide said Al Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006, three years before he became a U.S. senator. The aide, whose name Politico is withholding to protect her identity, said Franken (D-Minn.) pursued her after her boss had left the studio. She said she was gathering her belongings to follow her boss out of the room. When she turned around, Franken was in her face. The former staffer ducked to avoid Franken's lips. As she hastily left the room, she said, Franken told her: 'It's my right as an entertainer.'... Franken, who has been accused by six other women of groping or trying to forcibly kiss them, denied the accusation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Elana Schor & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "A half-dozen female senators on Wednesday called on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was the first of Franken's fellow Senate Democrats to take that step and was quickly followed by Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Patty Murray of Washington and Kamala Harris of California." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ed Kilgore takes a sober & sensible look at Senate Democrats' sudden decision to urge Franken to resign. "The obvious answer is that Democrats have significantly less leverage over Trump than over one of their own. But clearly some people think Democrats shouldn't unilaterally disarm by disciplining a grabby senator when a grabber of a different order is allowed to run the country. That's an argument Democrats must squarely confront. It would be good if they could get it all straight overnight." See also Jeanne's comment in today's thread. ...

... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "A vast majority of respondents in a new poll think Congress should investigate sexual harassment allegations made against President Trump. A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday finds 70 percent of respondents think Congress should investigate the allegations. Just one-quarter of respondents think Congress shouldn't investigate the accusations." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The downside for Republicans: they would expose Trump's disgusting serial pussy-grabbing. etc. The upside: the Gross Old Pervs would get real thrills out of "investigating" sexual abuse. Luckily for the rest of us, they work from behind humungous desks.

... Lindsey Bever & Abby Ohlheiser of the Washington Post: "Time magazine has named 'The Silence Breakers' as its 2017 Person of the Year, recognizing the women (and some men) who came forward with stories of sexual harassment and assault and helped force a nationwide reckoning. The magazine calls them 'the voices that launched a movement.' Among them Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, the actresses whose stunning accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein helped lead to his downfall; and activist Tarana Burke, creator of the #MeToo movement, along with the Hollywood star who amplified it on social media, Alyssa Milano." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Here's the Time cover story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Abettor of the Year. Julia Manchester of the Hill: "White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended President Trump's endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Wednesday.... 'The president has tremendous moral standards. He has said, the White House has said the allegations are troubling,' Conway told CNN's Chris Cuomo on 'New Day,' after Cuomo said 'the president seems to have no moral standard at play.'" This would appear to be another alternative fact in which the allegations are "troubling" only because the women are all liars (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump has privately told confidants over the past week that he firmly believes Roy Moore's innocence and feels no hesitation at all about endorsing the embattled Alabama Senate candidate, three sources close to the president tell The Daily Beast." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

Kelly Weill & Katie Zavadski of the Daily Beast: "Harvey Weinstein and the Weinstein Company are the subjects of a new class-action lawsuit in federal court that accuses them of a pattern of racketeering to cover up Weinstein's alleged serial sexual assaults. The plaintiffs, six women, seek to be certified as a class to sue on grounds of racketeering, civil battery, assault, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. All six women say Weinstein sexually assaulted them when they auditioned for him or met him at a company-sponsored events." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** Yes, Harvey Weinstein Is a Crime Boss. Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "... as more details about [Harvey] Weinstein's behavior emerge -- most recently in a report from the New York Times entitled 'Weinstein's Complicity Machine' -- the more this legal argument feels like a potent metaphorical description of the people who facilitated and concealed Weinstein's decades of depredation. Weinstein's alleged ability to carry off an astonishing list of crimes depended on the participation of a disturbing number of other people.... Reportedly Weinstein was the boss, and he had a highly organized hierarchy of underbosses, caporegimes, soldiers and associates working under him." ...

... Congressional Races

Jamel Bouie: "Nothing substantive about the [Roy Moore] story has changed since the Post first broke the allegations. Moore's accusers haven't changed their stories, although Moore has changed his story on his memory of the women, first saying he remembered two of them and later denying that he knew any of them. What has changed is Moore's political position. When he appeared weak and likely to lose, senior Republicans kept their distance. Now, with stronger prospects, they're prepared to welcome him into the fold. Call it the Access Hollywood phenomenon.... [Upon the release of the Access Hollywood tape,] Republican leaders moved quickly to distance themselves from [Trump].... As Election Day approached, and the race between Trump and Clinton tightened, Republican lawmakers began downplaying their criticism.... Trump, for his part, responded to the allegations by framing them as part of a global conspiracy to thwart his nationalist movement, echoing the anti-Semitic rallying cries of the alt-right."

Josh Dawsey of the Washington: "President Trump is pushing Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) to run for the U.S. Senate, according to White House advisers. Trump has told advisers that he plans to call LePage, who endorsed him in February 2016, and ask him to jump in against Sen. Angus King in 2018 and offer his endorsement. King is an independent who often caucuses with the Democrats." Mrs. McC: Hey, Maine already has one U.S. senator who's a crave dolt. Why not two?

Andrew Blankstein & Alex Johnson of NBC News: "John Conyers III, a Detroit hedge fund manager named as a possible successor to his scandal-rocked father, Rep. John Conyers, was arrested in Los Angeles this year on suspicion of domestic violence, but prosecutors declined to charge him, according to documents obtained by NBC News." Oh, read on.

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Our candidates for public office are so special.

Outside of Washington, D.C., there is some encouraging news. ...

Beyond the Beltway

Linda Blackford of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "David Ermold, one of the men denied a same-sex marriage license by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in 2015, hopes to challenge her for the clerk's seat next year, he announced Wednesday. Davis set off an international furor when she denied a marriage license to Ermold and his partner, David Moore, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the right for same-sex couples to marry. Davis, who said providing the license violated her religious beliefs, continued to withhold the license, even after a federal judge ordered her to issue it.... The issue was solved when one of her deputies, Brian Mason, agreed to issue licenses, and in 2016 the Kentucky General Assembly established an alternate license." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Now here's a candidate for office whom I can support. Even if Ermold is not particularly fabulous, the poetic justice of his replacing L'il Kim would be a thing of beauty.

He Doth Protest Too Much. Tommy Christopher of Shareblue: "Apparently, when Republican elected officials aren't practicing or enabling sexual predation, they're busy projecting it onto others. At least, that's what appears to have happened this week when state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-PA) was the victim of a gentle arm-touch during a committee meeting, and lashed out at fellow lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Matt Bradford. As Bradford tried to finish a thought by gently patting Metcalfe on the forearm (over his clothes), Metcalfe went on a rant about how he loves his wife, and doesn't like men, and could he please go molest some Democrats who might like that sort of thing.... A stunned Bradford could only try and laugh it off, but now, the state's Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, is calling on Pennsylvania House leadership to remove Metcalfe from the state's civil rights committee, citing a history of discriminatory statements...." With video.

Way Beyond

Michael Koziol of the Sydney Morning Herald: "Australia has officially become the 26th country to legalise same-sex marriage after the law was passed on Thursday with the overwhelming backing of the Federal Parliament. Thirteen years after changing the Marriage Act to explicitly forbid same-sex unions, federal politicians voted to undo the last major piece of discrimination against gay and lesbian Australians. It followed last month's emphatic resolution of the Australian public in the postal survey to join the rest of the English-speaking world by embracing marriage equality."

News Lede

Los Angeles Times: "Several homes were destroyed by a wildfire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, and authorities warned of potentially catastrophic winds continuing through at least Thursday. Authorities said high winds -- which could top 50 mph in some areas -- create an 'extreme fire danger.'... The Los Angeles school system has canceled classes at many San Fernando Valley campuses and officials are bracing for more fires across the region. Powerful winds can worsen existing fires but also help fan new ones. About midnight, UCLA canceled Thursday classes 'given the array of uncertainties caused by the fire near campus,' according to an alert posted on the university's website.... Los Angeles police warned Brentwood residents to prepare to evacuate in case a wind shift sends embers westward."