The Commentariat -- October 7, 2017

Late Morning Update:

Mike Allen of Axios: "President Trump telephoned Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday in an effort to revive health-care legislation, Republican sources said. Trump was seeking 'a path forward on health care,' a GOP source said." ...

... Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "... Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Saturday he told President Trump that Democrats would be open to stabilizing the health-care system, but that another push to repeal and replace ObamaCare was 'off the table.' 'The president wanted to make another run at repeal and replace and I told the president that's off the table,' Schumer said in a statement on his call with Trump on Friday, news of which the president confirmed in a tweet. 'If he wants to work together to improve the existing health care system, we Democrats are open to his suggestions. A good place to start might be the Alexander-Murray negotiations that would stabilize the system and lower costs, Schumer added."

Most Depressing Op-ed of the Day. Doug Sosnik in a Washington Post op-ed: "More than half of Americans don’t think Donald Trump is fit to serve as president, yet he has a clear path to winning reelection. If Trump isn't removed from office and doesn't lead the country into some form of global catastrophe, he could secure a second term simply by maintaining his current level of support with his political base." Sosnik is a Democratic strategist.

A Demented World of Their Own. Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) still seems swayed by the 'false flag' theory of the white supremacist violence [at Charlottesville]. In an interview with Vice News that aired Thursday night, Gosar suggested that the rally was 'created by the left' and carried out by an 'Obama sympathizer. The congressman also brought up a thoroughly refuted claim that [George] Soros, a Hungarian-born Jew who survived Nazi occupation during World War II, had collaborated with the Third Reich, prompting a strongly worded condemnation from a Soros spokeswoman. Gosar's remarks also drew a stream of criticism on Twitter. 'Will other Republicans rebuke him,' asked Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard. 'If not, is this a party to which one can belong?' 'That drip-drip-drip of anti-Semitism,' wrote science writer Steve Silberman.'

*****

Our Coy Warmonger. Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday kept the public wondering about his cryptic warning regarding a 'calm before the storm.' 'You'll find out,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked what he meant by his comment. The president left many people scratching their heads after he offered mysterious remarks before a Thursday dinner with military leaders." ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: 'On Friday, reporters once again asked Trump to clarify his remark. Once again, the president replied, 'You'll find out' -- only this time, while winking. Moments later, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Trump's 'calm before the storm' prediction was 'extremely serious,' and that the president was definitely not just 'messing with the press.'... Meanwhile, several White House aides told the New York Times that they had no idea what Trump was referring to Thursday night.... Arms-control expert Jeffrey Lewis has warned that if Kim Jong-un has reason to believe that the U.S. might be on the verge of making a first strike against his regime, then he has an incentive to 'go first, if he is to go at all.'" ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I hate to find myself agreeing with Chris Cillizza, but I guess every responsible person would agree with this: On Trump's remarks at the Thursday night dinner with top generals: "... Trump didn't have to say anything. Reporters shout questions at these photo-ops all the time. Presidents ignore them all the time. So he did this on purpose. He wanted to say this -- so he did. And then he did it again!... As a reality TV star and producer..., the goal is always to stoke drama, always try to keep people watching.... Cliffhangers are the best way to do that.... The stakes of a reality TV show are roughly zero. The stakes of diplomacy with rogue nations pursuing nuclear weapons are incredibly high. What's not clear at the moment is whether Trump understands that difference." ...

... John Bowden of the Hill: In Puerto Rico, "Vice President Pence reportedly dodged questions from reporters on Friday about President Trump's remark about a 'calm before the storm,' referring questions to the White House."...

...Juan Cole: "Trump is a blowhard and you can't pay too much attention to his bluster or you'd never get any sleep. But what is worrying is that Trump's poll numbers are cratering in a way unprecedented for any modern president...The conjuncture of these two pieces of news -- Trump making cryptic but dire threats and Trump's astonishing unpopularity -- creates the threat of a wag the dog scenario. Americans rally around the flag when the US goes to war, and presidents know this.... Trump is having the kind of fall from grace politically that typically tempts presidents into some sort of military action. And that is why we should take his 'calm before the storm' threat seriously." --safari...

...Reuters: "North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile which it believes can reach the west coast of the United States, according to a Russian lawmaker who has just returned from a visit to Pyongyang.... In Washington, a US official said that there had been indications that North Korea could be preparing for a missile test on or around 10 October, the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Korean Workers party. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not disclose the type of missile that could be tested and cautioned that North Korea in the past has not staged launches despite indications that it would." --safari

Juan Cole lists 5 signs that your President might be a fucking moron. -- safari: Cole's being generous only listing 5....

...Seth Meyers lambasts our "fucking moron". --safari

Today in Administration Bigotry: the Right to Discriminate Rule. Dominic Holden & Zoe Tillman: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed federal agencies and attorneys on Friday to protect religious liberty in a broad, yet vague, guidance memo that critics fear could give people of faith -- including government workers and contractors -- a loophole to ignore federal bans on discrimination against women and LGBT people. The guidance says the government cannot unduly burden people or certain businesses from practicing their faith, noting, 'The free exercise of religion includes the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one's religious beliefs.' The policy does not create new law, but rather interprets how the government should construe the Constitution and existing federal law. It comes on the heels of the Justice Department weighing in on a religious liberty case, in which lawyers under Sessions argued in a brief to the US Supreme Court that a Christian baker had a First Amendment right to deny a gay couple a cake for their wedding." ...

... Matt Zapotosky & Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "Sessions articulated 20 sweeping principles about religious freedom ... among them that freedom of religion extends to people and organizations; that religious employers are allowed to hire only those whose conduct is consistent with their beliefs; and that grants can't require religious organizations to change their character.... [The guidelines triggered] an immediate backlash from civil liberties groups who asserted the nation's top law enforcement officer was trying to offer a license for discrimination.... They could have a broad negative impact, permitting religious groups to impinge on the rights of LGBT people and others, said civil liberties advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Federation and others.... The most immediate effect seemed to be on the Affordable Care Act's contraception coverage mandate. On Friday, the Trump administration issued a rule -- which the ACLU said it would sue over, but groups like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said they support -- allowing a much broader group of employers and insurers to exempt themselves from covering contraceptives, such as birth control pills, on religious or moral grounds." ...

This is a direct attack on women's rights. The Trump administration is using the guise of religious liberty to carry out their ideological agenda to deprive women of basic reproductive health care. -- Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights ...

... Keep 'em Barefoot & Pregnant. Here's the new lede on Robert Pear's NYT story, linked yesterday: "The Trump administration on Friday moved to roll back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, vastly expanding exemptions for those that cite moral or religious objections." ...

... Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn of Mother Jones: "The ACLU, along with at least three other organizations, announced today that they will file a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's new rule gutting Obamacare's contraception mandate. Trump's rule ... greatly expands the type of employers that can opt out of covering birth control as part of their insurance plans. Previously, only religious organizations were exempt from the mandate and they needed to file paperwork in order to qualify, which in turn trigg[er]ed separate contraception coverage for employees. Now, any employer can claim a religious or moral objection to the mandate and choose to opt out.... Moreover, insurance companies themselves can now opt out, as can higher educational institutions that arrange insurance for their students. The administration's move would affect an estimated 62.4 million women who have free birth control coverage through the Affordable Care Act benefit, according to the National Women's Law Center." ...

... It's All Hilarious. Kaili Gray of Shareblue: "Donald Trump has utterly failed to deliver on his threat to repeal Obamacare and harm the millions of men and women who have health care because of it. So he's going to punish women directly instead.... Asked by Fox Business Network correspondent Blake Burman to respond to the millions of women who will lose their access to basic health care because of the Trump administration's vengeful decision..., Sarah Huckabee Sanders's response was appalling. She laughed -- laughed -- and then dared to suggest anyone who disagrees with the decision does not support the Constitution the way Donald Trump does.... in between her chuckles, Sanders also stated something that is simply untrue. The Supreme Court has not validated this decision even once, let alone 'many times over.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Unfortunately, the Supremes will very likely give their high-holy blessings to everything Sessions & Trump do to curb the rights of women, gays & minorities. No wonder Sarah is chuckling. I hope she gets pregnant & is caught sneaking into an abortion clinic. ...

... New York Times Editors: "Under the guise of protecting religious freedom and moral sensibilities, the Trump administration is making it harder for women to get access to birth control. On Friday, it rolled back an Obama-era rule requiring most employers to provide their employees with birth control coverage without co-payments. The mandate, established under the Affordable Care Act, has helped millions of women avoid unwanted pregnancy by eliminating out-of-pockets costs for contraception.... The Trump administration says, with no evidence whatsoever, that its new rules will have no effect on 'over 99.9 percent of the 165 million women in the United States.'... President Trump's assault on the birth control mandate is like his broader attack on the Affordable Care Act, filled with spite, based on falsehoods and fueled by vindictiveness toward his predecessor. And both will hurt millions of people." ...

... Gail Collins: "How can you fight against both abortion and contraception? There are only two possible explanations. One is that you're a hypocritical politician trolling for right-to-life votes without any personal convictions whatsoever. The suddenly retiring congressman from Pennsylvania, Tim Murphy, would appear to fit into that category.... Let's call the second category Many Variations on the Little Sisters of the Poor. They're people of sincere religious conviction, trying to impose their own personal theology on Americans who don't share it. Some of them claim, with no scientific backing, that birth control involves fertilized eggs being expelled from the uterus and is therefore abortion. Others just believe that it's immoral for a woman to have sex without accepting the possibility of pregnancy.

Today in Administration Bigotry (Part II): Fomenting Fear. Matt Shuham of TPM: "In August, the FBI's counterterrorism division published a report warning law enforcement across the country of a new threat. It called the threat 'Black Identity Extremism.' It appears to be an invented label, Foreign Policy reported. The publication revealed the existence of the counterterrorism memo Friday and briefly posted the actual document on its website before removing it. According to the FBI, 'it is very likely some BIEs are influenced by a mix of anti-authoritarian, Moorish sovereign citizen ideology, and BIE ideology.'... Counterterrorism and homeland security experts interviewed by Foreign Policy expressed skepticism at the new label. Michael German, a former FBI agent turned Brennan Center fellow, said: 'Basically, it's black people who scare them.'" --safari: An important step in Making America Great (for white men) Again.

Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence operative who authored a 35-page dossier alleging that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia, has been in talks with the Senate Intelligence Committee about speaking to its leaders, three sources familiar with the situation told NBC News. In a development first reported on 'The Rachel Maddow Show' on Thursday night, the sources disputed the characterization of the situation by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the intelligence committee. Burr said this week that Steele had flatly declined the committee's offer to speak to him, and the committee thus had 'hit a brick wall' in its attempts to investigate the dossier.... [Two sources] said that one of the sticking points was Steele's unwillingness to discuss who underwrote his work." ...

...Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Nine months after its first appearance, the set of intelligence reports known as the Steele dossier, one of the most explosive documents in modern political history is still hanging over Washington, casting a shadow over the Trump administration that has only grown darker as time has gone by.... The fact that Steele's reports are being taken seriously after lengthy scrutiny by federal and congressional investigators has far-reaching implications...But as every passing months bring more leaks, revelations in the press, and more progress in the investigations, the Steele dossier has generally gained in credibility, rather than lost it." --safari...

... Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "... the [Senate] Judiciary Committee is not, in fact, running a Trump-Russia investigation -- at least, not a full-fledged one. A staffer for [chair Chuck] Grassley, speaking on the condition of anonymity..., told The Daily Beast that the committee is instead engaged in routine oversight of the Justice Department -- though under extraordinary circumstances.... Grassley has primarily used his bully pulpit to rip an opposition-research firm and the FBI.... The Grassley staffer told The Daily Beast that the Judiciary Committee's investigators are focused on the FBI.... Besides suggesting that the FBI could be responsible for the Trump/Russia troubles, Grassley has also dedicated significant resources into investigating Fusion GPS, an opposition-research firm that compiled the so-called Steele dossier." ...

... David Corn of Mother Jones: "At a packed press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) ... provided a progress report on his panel's investigation of the Trump-Russia scandal.... Burr tried to make some points that appeared designed to limit ... Donald Trump's political vulnerabilities.... First, Burr declared that ... he could confidently state that the Russian meddling in the 2016 election resulted in no changes to the vote tallies.... And second, Burr said that Russia's use of Facebook ads during the presidential campaign seemed 'indiscriminate' and not designed to help a particular candidate.... Sen. Ron Wyden, (D-Ore.), a feisty member of the intelligence committee, says both assertions are bunk. Wyden pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security has noted that its assessment that there was no finagling with the vote count was made with only 'moderate confidence.'... Wyden also said that Burr erred in declaring that the Russian Facebook ads -- some of which targeted swing states -- did not favor a presidential candidate. (Presumably Wyden has seen or been briefed on the content of the ads.) 'That's one reason why the ads need to be released to the American people,' Wyden remarked, 'so Americans can make up their minds.'"

Celeste Katz of Newsweek: "Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are still cleaning up after Hurricane Maria — and some say Vice President Mike Pence is still cleaning up after Donald Trump. Pence headed to the storm-devastated islands Friday to comfort victims and promise lasting government help with recovery. He donned cowboy boots and an empathetic mien while on a mission that exemplified the marked contrast between his style and that of his boss ... yet again. 'What you're seeing is the difference between a professional, retail politician who understands the personal touch and a celebrity billionaire who's been largely removed (and remains that way) from citizens,' political consultant Reed Galen summed up for Newsweek." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd say pence is rehearsing for his 25th Amendment debut. Good work, Mr. Acting President in Waiting.

Jonah Shepp of New York writes a useful piece on how Rex Tillerson has been busy undermining Trump's insane, dangerous "foreign policy" plans.

Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general acknowledged plans Friday to expand its inquiry into Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel habits, marking the latest Trump Cabinet member to face scrutiny from his own agency for taxpayer-funded trips. The move came after recent disclosures that Pruitt had taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, costing taxpayers more than $58,000 to fly him to various parts of the country...." Mrs. McC: And what about that $25,000 phone booth?...

...Swamp Creatures. Natasha Geiling of ThinkProgress: "The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump has officially nominated Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, to be deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Until recently, Wheeler was a registered lobbyist for Murray Energy; he de-registered as a lobbyist on August 11...As deputy administrator, Wheeler would oversee offices and programs charged with regulating the coal industry." --safari

Rachel Bade, et al., of Politico: "Rep. Tim Murphy, a staunch anti-abortion advocate, thought he could withstand the media furor that engulfed him after reports that he'd encouraged his extramarital lover to end her apparent pregnancy. He was wrong.... Murphy's swift collapse came ... because of ... fears among senior Republicans about a potential wave of negative stories on how Murphy ran his congressional office.... The Post-Gazette had reported on a June 2017 memo in which Murphy's longtime chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk, warned the Pennsylvania Republican that he was mistreating and 'harassing' staff, causing 100 percent turnover. But Mosychuk is a source of controversy herself.... Ex-aides said the combination of Murphy and Mosychuk -- who had a close personal relationship, according to GOP lawmakers and staffers -- made the situation intolerable.... According to these aides, Mosychuk regularly engaged in brutal verbal abuse of lower-ranking aides, from calling aides 'worthless' and their work 'garbage' to asking derisively, 'Do you or do you not have a fucking college degree?' Ex-staffers said Mosychuk kept white noise machines throughout Murphy's congressional office so constituents waiting in the front room couldn't hear her screaming." And so forth. Mrs. McC: Have we mentioned that Dr. Murphy was supposed to be a mental health expert?

Cameron Joseph of TPM: "Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore's top supporter is a hardline Confederate sympathizer with longtime ties to a secessionist group. ;Michael Anthony Peroutka ... has given Moore, his foundation and his campaigns well over a half-million dollars over the past decade-plus. He's also expressed beliefs that make even Moore's arguably theocratic anti-gay and anti-Muslim views look mainstream by comparison. Chief among them: He's argued that the more Christian South needs to secede and form a new Biblical nation." Read on --safari: I say let 'em take Alabama, fill it with their fundamentalist brethren, and then build a giant, beautiful wall around it. A see-through wall, of course.

Boeing in Bed with the Moron. Clive Irving of The Daily Beast: "[T]he Commerce Department's latest and enlarged proposal that a 300 percent tariff should be slapped on every one of the 75 Bombardier C Series jets ordered by Delta Airlines is effectively locking the Canadians out of the U.S. market...[T]he move would jeopardize the whole project and immediately sour relations between America and two long-standing allies whose economies are interdependent with ours: Canada and Great Britain..." --safari

Megan Twohey & Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Weinstein Company struggled to perform damage control on Friday amid allegations of rampant sexual harassment by its co-chairman Harvey Weinstein and turmoil among its ranks. One-third of the company's all-male board resigned, while board members who remained hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations and announced that Mr. Weinstein would take an indefinite leave of absence immediately."

Joseph Bernstein of BuzzFeed has a long piece on Breitbart & Steve Bannon as agents of the neo-Nazi, white supremacist, alt-right movements. ...

... For a shorter version, Martin Longman obliges in the Washington Monthly: "Milo Yiannopoulos uses 'Kristall' (in reference to Kristallnacht) and 'LongKnives1290' (in reference to The Night of the Long Knives and the year King Edward I expelled the Jews from England) as his passwords. He has to be reminded repeatedly by a generally sympathetic editor-in-chief, Alex Marlow, not to 'flirt with okay-ing Nazi memes,' do podcasts with white supremacists, or make Holocaust-oven jokes. He does karaoke while Richard Spencer and other white supremacists give him the Nazi salute.... The Mercer family is completely behind this ideology and so is Steve Bannon. That's clear from the email threads that BuzzFeed obtained. Together, they turned Milo into a sensation. And when they had to fire him for making comments sympathetic to pedophilia, that didn't prevent them for quietly supporting him and helping him plan for the next phase of his career[.]... The thing that really hit home for me, though, was the part of the article that described the editorial process Breitbart used when working on their feature piece: An Establishment Conservative's Guide To The Alt-Right. Since I have an editorial role at the Washington Monthly, I am accustomed to the practice of sending around drafts of articles to people both on and off the official editorial staff. And I just can't wrap my head around the idea of working in an organization where article drafts are sent out to white nationalists for comment and annotation." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's hope the FBI has Bannon, the Mercers & Breitbart in its sites. Meanwhile, we must "never forget" that these are Trump's people. ...

Yahoo! News has a documentary film that provides a "firsthand account of the drama that unfolded during Oct. 7-9, 2016, from the release of the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape to the second presidential debate -- and everything in between."

(Way) Beyond the Beltway<

How Convenient. Jon Henley of the Guardian: "The current prime minister of Iceland [Bjarni Benediktsson] sold almost all his remaining assets in a major Icelandic bank's investment fund on the day the government seized control of the country's collapsing financial sector at the peak of the 2008 crash.... While he denies any wrongdoing and the Guardian has seen no evidence he broke any laws, the revelations could be embarrassing: Benediktsson faces elections on 28 October after his coalition collapsed last month over an alleged attempt to cover up a scandal involving the prime minister's father and a convicted child sex abuser.... The leaked documents ... suggest he enjoyed a privileged relationship with [the bank]...." --safari

News Lede

New York Times: "Hurricane Nate, the 14th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, gained strength on Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico and was speeding toward this low-lying stretch of coast, threatening to come ashore somewhere between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., as a Category 2 storm, forecasters said. The governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi declared states of emergency ahead of the storm, and counties along the coast issued curfews, ordered evacuations and braced for winds that the National Hurricane Center said could reach up to 105 miles an hour."

The Commentariat -- October 6, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Keep 'em Barefoot & Pregnant. Here's the new lede on Robert Pear's NYT story, linked earlier today: "The Trump administration on Friday moved to roll back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, vastly expanding exemptions for those that cite moral or religious objections."

Rachel Bade, et al., of Politico: "Rep. Tim Murphy, a staunch anti-abortion advocate, thought he could withstand the media furor that engulfed him after reports that he&'d encouraged his extramarital lover to end her apparent pregnancy. He was wrong.... Murphy's swift collapse came ... because of ... fears among senior Republicans about a potential wave of negative stories on how Murphy ran his congressional office.... The Post-Gazette had reported on a June 2017 memo in which Murphy's longtime chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk, warned the Pennsylvania Republican that he was mistreating and 'harassing' staff, causing 100 percent turnover. But Mosychuk is a source of controversy herself.... Ex-aides said the combination of Murphy and Mosychuk -- who had a close personal relationship, according to GOP lawmakers and staffers -- made the situation intolerable.... According to these aides, Mosychuk regularly engaged in brutal verbal abuse of lower-ranking aides... Ex-staffers said Mosychuk kept white noise machines throughout Murphy's congressional office so constituents waiting in the front room couldn't hear her screaming." And so forth. Mrs. McC: Have we mentioned that Dr. Murphy is supposedly a mental health expert?

*****

Mark Landler & David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump has approved a broad strategy to crack down on Iran for its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups throughout the Middle East, according to a senior administration official, although he has yet to formally sign off on 'decertifying' the nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama administration. Mr. Trump has been expected to withdraw certification of the nuclear deal since he declared at the United Nations General Assembly two weeks ago that the agreement was 'embarrassing to the United States,' and that he had made up his mind what to do about it. But the president has not yet signed a decision memo on the deal itself, the official said. Even if the president takes that step, it would fall short of scrapping the accord because the White House would kick the deal to Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran." ...

... Anne Gearan & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "President Trump is expected to announce next week that he will 'decertify' the international nuclear deal with Iran, saying it is not in the national interest of the United States and kicking the issue to a reluctant Congress, people briefed on the White House strategy said Thursday. The move would mark the first step in a process that could eventually result in the resumption of U.S. sanctions against Iran, potentially derailing a deal limiting Iran's nuclear activities reached in 2015 with the United States and five other nations. But Trump would hold off on recommending that Congress reimpose sanctions, which would constitute a clearer break from the pact, according to four people familiar with aspects of the president's thinking." ...

... The Lone Rager Rides Again. Karen DeYoung & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "More than any other issue that has threatened transatlantic cohesion this year, President Trump's decision to decertify Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal could start a chain of events that would sharply divide the United States from its closest traditional allies in the world.... None of the three [allies] -- Britain, France and Germany -- believes Iran is in violation, and each has said publicly it will not renegotiate the nuclear agreement." ...

... Wherein Trump casually suggests to reporters that he'll soon be taking the country to war with ... some country. ...

... Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post now has a story up on the Josh Marshall post linked directly above: "As President Trump posed for a formal photo with his top military commanders and their spouses in the State Dining Room at the White House on Thursday evening, Trump pointed to the leaders gathered around him and asked the small group of reporters standing before him: 'You guys know what this represents?' 'Tell us,' shouted out one of the reporters unexpectedly summoned to witness this photo session. 'Maybe it's the calm before the storm,' the president replied. Reporters asked the president what he was talking about, what storm was coming. 'Could be the calm before the storm,' he said a second time."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "President Trump's disregard for a free press just reached a new low: He's urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate American news outlets for publishing 'fake' stories.... 'This is the kind of statement one expects to hear from a despot, not from an American president,' said Jameel Jaffer, the director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.... Preet Bharara, one of the former U.S. attorneys who was fired by Trump earlier this year, tweeted this interpretation of Trump's statement: 'POTUS desperately wants to direct who should be investigated & who should be immune. He wants scrutiny for adversaries, amnesty for allies.'" ...

... Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Despite the self-parodic actions of some college students, the greatest threats to free speech in the United States are on the right.... I understand that for a lot of young leftists, it doesn't make sense to equate what they see as hate speech with the speech of the oppressed. It's harder for me to understand why they think that if First Amendment protections are weakened, the left -- and not, say, the Trump administration -- will be allowed to define what is hateful and what is not.... When disputes about free speech are adjudicated not according to broad principles but according to who has power, the left will mostly lose."

Paul Waldman: "Perhaps someday Trump will sit down to write a book detailing his leadership secrets, offering up another trove of penetrating insight and inspiring prose. Until then, here are some tips we can glean from watching Trump's unrivaled performance as president. 1. Force your underlings to praise you in public.... 2. Publicly denigrate the work of your staff, just so they don't forget who's boss.... 3. Encourage high turnover.... 4. The most competent employees can be found in your own family.... 5. When people for whom you're responsible suffer unexpected hardship, take the opportunity to insult them.... 6. Encourage people to find the silver lining.... 7. The public trust is permission to live large.... 8. Absorb criticism with maturity and thoughtfulness, by trying to destroy anyone who criticizes you.... 9. It's all about you." You'll enjoy reading the examples from which Waldman draws his "leadership secrets."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is poised to roll back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, vastly expanding exemptions for those that cite moral or religious objections. The new rules, which could be issued as soon as Friday, fulfill a campaign promise by President Trump and are sure to touch off a round of lawsuits on the issue. More than 55 million women have access to birth control without co-payments because of the contraceptive coverage mandate, according to a study commissioned by the Obama administration. Under the new regulations, hundreds of thousands of women could lose birth control benefits they now receive at no cost under the Affordable Care Act." ...

... So we know Trump and most Republican men hate women who have sex with men other than themselves. But surely Trump will treat his own Iowa farmer-boy/reliable GOP voters better.... Oops, no:

... Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "For months, officials in Republican-controlled Iowa had sought federal permission to revitalize their ailing health-insurance marketplace. Then President Trump read about the request in a newspaper story and called the federal director weighing the application. Trump's message in late August was clear, according to individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity...: Tell Iowa no.... In addition to trying to cut funding for the ACA, the Trump administration also is hampering state efforts to control premiums.... And with the fifth enrollment season set to begin Nov. 1, advocates say the Health and Human Services Department has done more to suppress the number of people signing up than to boost it." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Like the presidunce, I have a limited vocabulary. I can't think of words horrible enough to describe him. ...

... Speaking of Horrible Human Beings.... Josh Dawsey, et al., of Politico: "The White House is finalizing a plan to demand hard-line immigration reforms in exchange for supporting a fix on the DACA program, according to three people familiar with the talks -- an approach that risks alienating Democrats and even many Republicans, potentially tanking any deal. The White House proposal is being crafted by Stephen Miller, the administration's top immigration adviser, and includes cutting legal immigration by half over the next decade, an idea that's already been panned by lawmakers in both parties.... Miller was upset after Trump's dinner last month with [Chuck] Schumer and [Nancy] Pelosi and has been working since to bring the president back to the tougher stance he took during his campaign."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has flown on military aircraft seven times since March at a cost of more than $800,000, including a $15,000 round-trip flight to New York to meet with President Trump at Trump Tower, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General. The inquiry into Mr. Mnuchin's air travel, prompted by an Instagram posting by his wife, found he broke no laws in his use of military aircraft but lamented the loose justification provided for such costly flights. 'What is of concern is a disconnect between the standard of proof called for' by the Office of Management and Budget 'and the actual amount of proof provided by Treasury and accepted by the White House in justifying these trip requests,' the inspector general wrote.... Treasury secretaries generally take commercial flights except in extenuating circumstances because of the exorbitant costs of using military planes. For instance, Mr. Mnuchin's June flight to Miami ... cost $43,725.50. While the flight was approved, the Treasury Department's travel office sent a note to Mr. Mnuchin's assistant that a round-trip commercial flight would cost just $688." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND of course we mustn't forget the aborted plans for an all-expense-paid European honeymoon. Medlar & I will be paying our federal income taxes today, & we'll be thinking of the portion that we'll be contributing to this multi-millionaire's extravagances. Not to mention contemplating the higher taxes we'll pay in 2018 if the arrogant, self-serving flyboy gets his way on tax "reform." (Of course, his tax own obligation will plummet under his so-called middle class tax plan.)

Homeland Security? Not So Much. Josh Dawsey, et al., of Politico: "White House officials believe that chief of staff John Kelly's personal cellphone was compromised, potentially as long ago as December, according to three U.S. government officials. The discovery raises concerns that hackers or foreign governments may have had access to data on Kelly's phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the West Wing. Tech support staff discovered the suspected breach after Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support this summer complaining that it wasn't working or updating software properly. Kelly told the staffers the phone hadn't been working properly for months, according to the officials.... Kelly has since begun using a different [personal] phone..., though he relies on his government phone when he's inside the White House.... The document triggered concern throughout the West Wing about what information might have been exposed...." Mrs. McC: Yeah, like that time Kelly told a friend Trump was a moron. ...

... Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, abruptly scrapped plans to travel with ... Donald Trump on Wednesday so he could try to contain his boss's fury and manage the fallout from new revelations about tensions between the president and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to six senior administration officials. Kelly summoned Tillerson, and their ally Defense Secretary James Mattis, to the White House, where the three of them huddled to discuss a path forward, according to three administration officials.... Trump was furious when he saw the NBC News report, which was published shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday. For the next two hours the president fumed inside the White House, venting to Kelly, officials said.... Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, was fuming in Phoenix, where he was traveling, seven officials told NBC News. He and Tillerson spoke on the phone before the secretary's public appearance on Wednesday morning.... Pence was incensed upon learning from the NBC report that Tillerson's top spokesman had said he once privately questioned the value of Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.... [R.C. Hammond, Tillerson's] spokesman, publicly apologized for his comments about Pence and Haley, saying he 'spoke out of line about conversations I wasn't privy to.' The secretary's refusal to deny that he had called the president a 'moron' in his opening statement and in his responses to questions from reporters stoked Trump's anger and widened the rift between the two men, officials said." ...

... Gene Robinson: "One of the most appalling aspects of the Trump presidency is the sycophancy he requires of the officials who serve him. Trump demands not just loyalty but flattery, too. He insists that his courtiers treat his pronouncements, however absurd or offensive, as infallible holy writ. Members of his Cabinet have made a humiliating bargain: humor him, suck up to him, and maybe -- just maybe -- he will leave you alone and let you make policy.... The president loosed a flurry of tweets claiming the whole thing was 'fake news,' culminating in a demand Thursday for a congressional investigation of news outlets whose reporting he does not like." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Presumably almost everybody who works for Trump considers him a moron.... But the trick of working for a powerful moron is not to say that they're a moron in front of them or anybody who has an incentive to convey your comments to them. And if you are caught, you probably need to make a convincing denial, so that the president is not left in the awkward position of having a Secretary of State who is publicly known to have called him a moron. This is just the kind of basic principle of diplomacy that ought to be familiar to, say, the United States government's head diplomat." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has made speeches where he asserted, "I'm, like, a very smart person.... Wharton School, blah blah." But he's never made a speech where he asserted, ala Nixon, "I am not a moron." I look forward to that.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to take the position in court cases that transgender people are not protected by a civil rights law that bans workplace discrimination based on sex. The move was the Trump administration's latest contraction of the Obama-era approach to civil rights enforcement. The dispute centers on how to interpret employment protections based on 'sex' in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In December 2014, the attorney general at the time, Eric H. Holder Jr., ordered the Justice Department to view 'sex' as encompassing gender identity, extending protections to transgender people. But in a two-page memo to all United States attorneys and other top officials, Mr. Sessions revoked Mr. Holder's directive. The word 'sex' in the statute, Mr. Sessions said, means only 'biologically male or female,' so the Civil Rights Act does not ban 'discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here again, Congress could fix this. But it won't. BTW, let's not assume JeffBo is a smarmy little bigot. Maybe he is just taking advantage of the opportunity to write "sex" in an official document.

Hope You Can Read Spanish. Jenna Johnson: "As of Wednesday, half of Puerto Ricans had access to drinking water and 5 percent of the island had electricity, according to statistics published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on its Web page documenting the federal response to Hurricane Maria. By Thursday morning, both of those key metrics were no longer on the Web page. FEMA spokesman William Booher noted that both measures are still being reported on a website maintained by the office of Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, www.status.pr. According to that website, which is in Spanish, 9.2 percent of the island now has power and 54.2 percent of residents have access to drinking water. Booher said that these measures are also shared in news conferences and media calls that happen twice a day, but he didn't elaborate on why they are no longer on the main FEMA page." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I thought Republicans' idea of being a "real American" required fluency in English (not that the POTUS is particularly fluent), but gave no demerits for speaking English only. Nice to know the Trump administration is encouraging "real Americans" to learn Spanish!

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday nominated Andrew R. Wheeler, a coal lobbyist with links to outspoken deniers of established science on climate change, to help lead the Environmental Protection Agency. In announcing Mr. Wheeler, a former aide to Senator James M. Inhofe, to be deputy administrator of the agency, the White House tapped an experienced legislative hand reviled by environmental activists but hailed by industry as having the know-how to dismantle Obama-era fossil fuel regulations." Mrs. McC: Hey, not as bad as nominating a gerbil who has never been outside a climate-controlled lab. But close.

Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators met this past summer with the former British spy whose dossier on alleged Russian efforts to aid the Trump campaign spawned months of investigations that have hobbled the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the matter.... CNN has learned that the FBI and the US intelligence community last year took the [Christopher] Steele dossier more seriously than the agencies have publicly acknowledged.... The intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA, and the FBI took Steele's research seriously enough that they kept it out of a publicly-released January report on Russian meddling in the election in order to not divulge which parts of the dossier they had corroborated and how. This contrasts with attempts by ... Donald Trump and some lawmakers to discredit Steele and the memos he produced."

Wonders Never Cease. New York Times: "The National Rifle Association on Thursday endorsed tighter restrictions on devices that allow a rifle to fire bullets as fast as a machine gun -- a rare, if small, step for a group that for years has vehemently opposed any new gun controls.... On Capitol Hill, support appeared to grow for a ban on the bump stock devices, either through regulation or legislation, as Republicans -- who for decades have rejected any form of gun restrictions -- began increasingly to speak out. Several leading Republicans, including Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, have raised serious questions about the devices. In the House, Representative Carlos Curbelo, Republican of Florida, has drafted a measure banning bump stocks, which he said he planned to introduce on Thursday. He said his office had been 'flooded' with calls from dozens of fellow Republicans who wanted to sign on." ...

... Oh, Not So Wonder-ful. Rachel Bade, et al., of Politico: "The National Rifle Association on Thursday called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review whether 'bump stocks' -- similar to the devices used in Sunday's Las Vegas shooting massacre -- comply with federal law. 'The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,' NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and Executive Director Chris Cox added in a joint statement. The move by the [NRA]..., which often stifles any legislation that might be interpreted as curbing Second Amendment rights, is designed to head off a messy gun control debate in Congress. Officials with the group have told Capitol Hill Republicans and Trump administration officials they would prefer a new rule or regulations from ATF, rather than hastily cobbled together legislation." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So the idea here is to squelch legislation, after all, & to urge the ATF to "review" the sale of bump stocks. Even if the ATF soon decides bump-stock sales do not comply with current law, the agency would be issuing a regulation, & regulations are usually easier to change than are laws. Also, by asking anonymous ATF personnel to "review" its regulations, the NRA is getting its paid Congresscritters off the hook on what, for many of them, would be a controversial vote.

... Lorraine Woellert of Politico: "The firing range at the National Rifle Association headquarters, like many ranges across the nation, bans the use of bump fire systems such as the one used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, according to firearms experts. Bump stocks increase the speed at which bullets are fired and cause the entire weapon to move back and forth in the shooter's grip. While the devices are said to convert semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic ones, they also decrease accuracy and are less safe, the experts say." ...

... Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Sales of the firearm accessory that the Las Vegas gunman used to modify his rifles jumped this week, causing some companies to sell out of the so-called bump stocks even as Walmart and Cabela's stripped them from their websites. The products -- conversion kits that allow semiautomatic weapons to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, similar to an automatic weapon -- were once relatively obscure specialty items aimed at gun enthusiasts who own semiautomatic rifles. But since the massacre on Sunday, when the gunman fired on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing dozens and injuring more than 500, interest in the accessory has surged. Officials said that 12 of the rifles found in the gunman's suite were outfitted with bump stocks." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Every person who buys a bump stock should be put on the terrorist watch list, & armed ATF & FBI agents should pay a call on each one of them. ...

... Tim Egan describes the poorly-worded Second Amendment as "the cancer in the Constitution." "... the Second Amendment became a cancer because lawmakers stopped making laws to match the technological advances of weaponry. They did it to appease a lobby of gunmakers. And that cowering to a single special interest shows how the cancer has spread to the democracy itself, making it nearly impossible for majority will to be exercised. A majority of Americans -- indeed, a majority of gun owners -- want laws to keep lunatics and terrorists from committing mass homicide. But what is the response of our elected officials? I'll let President Trump explain. As he told the N.R.A. after the election, 'You came through big for me, and I am going to come through for you.'" ...

... ** It Isn't Just the Second Amendment. It's the Whole Constitution. E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, Norm Ornstein & Thomas Mann: "Why does our political system make it impossible even to consider solutions to gun violence? After the massacre in Las Vegas that has so far taken nearly 60 lives and left more than 500 injured, the first reaction of the many politicians who carry water for the gun lobby was to declare it 'premature' to discuss measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands.... But something else is at work here. As we argue in our book, 'One Nation After Trump,' the United States is now a non-majoritarian democracy. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, that's because it is. Claims that our republic is democratic are undermined by a system that vastly overrepresents the interests of rural areas and small states. This leaves the large share of Americans in metropolitan areas with limited influence over national policy. Nowhere is the imbalance more dramatic or destructive than on the issue of gun control."

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "A senior House Democrat said Thursday that it's time for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and two top lieutenants to prepare to step down and make way for the next generation of lawmakers in her caucus. The comments by Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (Calif.), who as vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus ranks fifth in the 194-member body, are the most explicit by a senior congressional Democrat and a member of the California congressional delegation about Pelosi's political future."

Adios, Timbo. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Tim Murphy said Thursday that he will resign from Congress this month, a day after the eight-term Pennsylvania Republican announced that he would not seek reelection amid a personal scandal.... Murphy's decision to resign within weeks, rather than remain in Congress for an additional 15 months, came amid pressure from top Republican leaders to remove himself as a distraction as the GOP House tackles a major tax bill and other legislative priorities. 'I've spoken with Tim quite a bit the last couple of days,' [Speaker Paul] Ryan said at a news conference shortly before Murphy's resignation was announced. 'I think it's appropriate that he moves on to the next chapter of his life. And I think he agrees with that.'... The resignation of Murphy, a clinical psychologist, comes after a news report claimed that the married Republican had asked a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair to get an abortion." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You see how civilized & polite & all Ryan is? Instead of yelling "You're fired," as would the Moron-in-Chief, Ryan shows a guy the door while urging him to "move on to the next chapter of your life." Sweet. Anyhow, so long, Tim, you despicable, misogynistic hypocrite.

Greg LaRose of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "A federal judge in Virginia has thrown out the most substantial charges against former congressman William Jefferson of New Orleans and ordered 'his immediate release' from prison while his new sentence is determined. He is five years into a 13-year term for corruption, but seven of the 10 charges against him have been thrown out on appeal. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III of Virginia issued the order Wednesday (Oct. 4).... The most damning evidence investigators found in the case were bundles of cash totaling $90,000 kept in a refrigerator at Jefferson's home.... Jefferson's lawyers exhausted their first avenue of appeal, getting one of his convictions removed, but they renewed their efforts full force following the Supreme Court's 2016 ruling in the United States v. McDonnell. The case involved former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who had been convicted on a federal bribery charge for accepting gifts from a businessman who was seeking help to promote his company. Justices ruled that it was difficult to define that what McDonnell did in response to the gifts comprised an 'official act.' Federal prosecutors chose not to retry McDonnell, leading to a flood of new appeals from convicted politicos. Jefferson's new appeal was based on the same argument as McDonnell's, and Ellis agreed with most of its points."

Beyond the Beltway -- Men Behaving Badly Edition

Sarah Parvini, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "After the dean of USC's medical school resigned last year amid long-running complaints about his drinking and boorish treatment of colleagues, university leaders assured students and faculty that his successor would be worthy of respect. The man USC chose, however, had a black mark on his own personnel record: A finding by the university 15 years ago that he had behaved inappropriately toward a female medical school fellow. USC formally disciplined the dean, Dr. Rohit Varma, in 2003 following allegations that he sexually harassed the young researcher while he was a junior professor supervising her work.... As The Times was preparing to publish a story disclosing the case, USC announced Thursday afternoon that Varma was no longer dean." Mrs. McC: USC should take a look at who-all they're putting on their search committees.

Brad Schrade of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "A south Georgia grand jury indicted Worth County Sheriff Jeff Hobby on Tuesday for sexual battery, false imprisonment and violation of oath of office after he ordered a school-wide search of hundreds of high school students. Deputies allegedly touched girls' vaginas and breasts and groped boys in their groin area during the search at the Worth County High School April 14. Two of Hobby's deputies were also indicted Tuesday in connection with the case. The controversial search drew national attention because of its scope and how deputies conducted it under the guise of a drug search that produced no drugs or arrests."

Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey of the New York Times: "An investigation by The New York Times found previously undisclosed [sexual harassment] allegations against [film producer Harvey] Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades, documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers, as well as legal records, emails and internal documents from the businesses he has run, Miramax and the Weinstein Company. During that time, after being confronted with allegations including sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact, Mr. Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women, according to two company officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.... In public, he presents himself as a liberal lion, a champion of women and a winner of not just artistic but humanitarian awards." ...

... Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter: "On the heels of The New York Times' bombshell exposé published Thursday about 'decades of harassment' on the part of Harvey Weinstein, the mogul's attorney Charles Harder says he's preparing a lawsuit against the paper.... Harder is perhaps most famous as the lawyer who represented Hulk Hogan in the litigation that brought down Gawker."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "After killing at least 22 people in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, intensifying Tropical Storm Nate is on a collision course with the northern U.S. Gulf Coast. Southeast Louisiana, including vulnerable New Orleans, lies in the path. The storm, which is predicted to strengthen into a hurricane, should make landfall between late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Damaging winds and flooding threaten the region from roughly Morgan City, La., to Pensacola, Fla."

Washington Post: "The U.S. economy lost 33,000 jobs in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma last month, the first decline in six years. But the unemployment rate declined slightly to 4.2 percent. Analysts had been expecting job growth to slump in September after the one-two punch from the hurricanes. But this was worse than expected."

New York Times: "In a year when threats from nuclear weapons seemed to draw closer, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to an advocacy group behind the first treaty to prohibit them. The group, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Geneva-based coalition of disarmament activists, was honored for its efforts to advance the negotiations that led to the treaty, which was reached in July at the United Nations."

The Commentariat -- October 5, 2017

President* Urges Senate to Intimidate Free Press. Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump urged Congress Thursday morning to launch an investigation of the news media, wondering online 'why so much of our news is just made up.' 'Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!' the president wrote on Twitter Thursday morning. He did not single out a specific story or media outlet that he believed to be guilty of inaccurate reporting."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump comforted the victims of Sunday's deadly mass shooting and paid tribute to those who tended to them, taking up on Wednesday a harrowing duty of the modern presidency that has nevertheless become numbing in its regularity.... Mr. Trump has been uncharacteristically subdued about the Las Vegas shooting, one of the deadliest in American history.... Mr. Trump stuck to a presidential script in speaking about Las Vegas." ...

... Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Stunned by the mass carnage caused at a country music festival by one heavily armed gunman and embittered after years of fruitless attempts at gun control, congressional Democrats on Wednesday unveiled new narrowly tailored proposals to ban devices used in the shooting and revived old ideas to close loopholes and restrict some gun purchases. The fresh push comes at a fractured moment in American politics, but Democrats believe that the sheer scope of the carnage might make a difference. Some senior Republicans dismissed talk of new gun legislation as insensitive or premature, but ardent Second Amendment supporters said they are at least open to discussing new laws -- and one senator said he supports banning certain accessories used in the shooting. Even President Trump might be open to a debate. While he campaigned as a fierce defender of gun rights, this week he said, 'We will be talking about gun laws as time goes by.'" ...

... Sheryl Stolberg & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Top congressional Republicans, who have for decades resisted any legislative limits on guns, signaled on Wednesday that they would be open to banning the firearm accessory that the Las Vegas gunman used to transform his rifles to mimic automatic weapon fire. For a generation, Republicans in Congress -- often joined by conservative Democrats -- have bottled up gun legislation, even as the carnage of mass shootings grew ever more gruesome and the weaponry ever more deadly. A decade ago, they blocked efforts to limit the size of magazines after the massacre at Virginia Tech. Five years later, Republican leaders thwarted bipartisan legislation to expand background checks of gun purchasers after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Last year, in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre, they blocked legislation to stop gun sales to buyers on terrorism watch lists. But in this week's massacre in Las Vegas, lawmakers in both parties may have found the part of the weapons trade that few could countenance: previously obscure gun conversion kits, called 'bump stocks,' that turn semiautomatic weapons into weapons capable of firing in long, deadly bursts." ...

... Mark Berman & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The girlfriend of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas earlier this week, said Wednesday she had no warning about his plans to carry out the massacre and pledged to cooperate with authorities struggling to determine what sparked the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.... [Marilou] Danley said Wednesday she had traveled to the Philippines because Paddock bought her a ticket to visit family there. Paddock then wired her money, she said, saying it was meant to help purchase a home for Danley and her family. 'I was grateful, but honestly, I was worried, that first, the unexpected trip home, and then the money, was a way of breaking up with me,' she said her statement, which was read aloud by her attorney. 'It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone.'" ...

... Justin Glawe of the Daily Beast: Mandalay Bay security guard "Jesus Campos had no firearm when he found Stephen Paddock and approached his room on the 32rd floor of Mandalay Bay on Sunday night. Paddock, who had rigged cameras in the hallway and on the peephole of the door, saw Campos coming and fired through the door, hitting him in the leg, said Dave Hickey, president of the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America.... When Campos was hit, he radioed casino dispatch and told them his location -- and Paddock's. 'We received information via their dispatch center .. that helped us locate where this individual was sequestered,' Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters Tuesday. ...

... Elizabeth Preza of the Raw Story: "The man who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history shot two massive aviation fuel tanks near the location of the Route 91 Harvest festival, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The bullets 'did not penetrate' the tanks, the report notes, meaning festival attendees were spared 'from a potentially massive explosion.'" ...

... Michael Moore has a proposal to repeal & replace -- the Second Amendment. ...

... AND Whodathunkit? Neo-confederate Bret Stephens of the New York Times also proposes to repeal the Second Amendment. Very neo, one supposes. That's what you get from an "East Coast elite." Well, good. ...

... Steve M.: "I think wary liberals like me resist boldness on guns not just because we fear electoral failure, but because we expect blood in the streets -- literally. I think there'd be civil war if serious restrictions on guns were imminent (and certainly if there was a serious possibility that the 2nd Amendment could be repealed)." ...

Ed O'Keefe: "The White House on Wednesday asked Congress for nearly $30 billion in new funding to pay for a wave of natural disasters, including hurricanes in Texas, Florida and island territories and wildfires scorching western states. The funding request includes $12.77 billion for the federal disaster relief fund; nearly $577 million to address wildfires; and a request to raise the federal flood insurance program's borrowing limit by another $16 billion and dramatically overhaul the program." ...

... When the Moron Speaks, Wall Street Freaks. Ben White & Colin Wilhelm of Politico: "On Tuesday night..., Donald Trump casually told Geraldo Rivera on Fox News that the United States would have to wipe out $75 billion in debt owed by Puerto Rico to bondholders around the world. Wall Street promptly freaked out, sending Puerto Rican bonds into a tailspin and leading the White House to move swiftly to clean up Trump's seemingly offhand remarks. On Wednesday, the Trump administration indicated it has no current plans to take the unprecedented, politically dangerous and probably illegal step of wiping out the owners of Puerto Rico's bonds in the wake of Hurricane Maria's devastation. Trump's own budget chief quickly walked the president's comments back. 'I wouldn't take it word for word with that,' OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN. 'We are not going to deal right now with those fundamental difficulties that Puerto Rico had before the storm.'... Trump's comments aside, there is already a process in place for dealing with Puerto Rico's crushing debt burden. Congress passed a law last year to grant the commonwealth what essentially amounts to a super-bankruptcy, in an effort to allow Puerto Rico to begin its recovery from that debt...." ...

... Arelis R. Hernández & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "The Puerto Rico that President Trump saw during his four-hour visit on Tuesday afternoon was that of Angel Pérez Otero, the mayor of Guaynabo, a wealthy San Juan suburb known for its amenity-driven gated communities that was largely spared when Hurricane Maria hit nearly two weeks ago. Pérez Otero led Trump and his entourage on a walking tour of a neighborhood, where high-speed winds had blown out some second-story windows and knocked over a few trees -- but where life seemed to be returning to normal, thanks to assistance from the government. Neighbors stood outside their homes ready to warmly greet the president, their phones powered up and ready to snap photos.... After the neighborhood tour in Guaynabo, Trump traveled to the nearby Calvary Chapel, an evangelical church that's especially popular with conservatives and mainland Americans who have moved to Puerto Rico. The church, which has a number of locations across the United States, has received large shipments of donated food, water and survival gear to distribute.... If the president had traveled a little deeper into the island, to the communities that sustained some of the heaviest damage, he would have witnessed a very different Puerto Rico. Ten miles southeast of Guaynabo is the city of Caguas..., with homes built densely on the edges of gravity-defying slopes. These hills were stripped naked by Maria's malicious winds, leaving the trees without leaves and fruit.... Houses that withstood tropical rain and wind for decades were blown off their foundations and destroyed by toppled vegetation. Twisted metal roofs landed in creeks all over the once-lush region.... It took more than a week for a trickle of supplies to reach the town. For days, the shelters had no generators. The hospitals were without water. With the roads covered in mud and debris, help was not coming...."

Dana Milbank: "Excerpted from 'The Me-Driven Life: A Narcissist's Guide to Helping Others Understand It Is All About You,' by John Barron. Reprinted without permission. Chapter 12, 'Coping with Natural and Man-Made Disasters,' pp 269-277"

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "John Barron" was a fictional publicist for Donald Trump who had a voice & speech tics that, for some odd reason, sounded exactly like Donald Trump. Ben Jacobs of the Guardian, May 26, 2016: "Less than two weeks after denying that he ever pretended to be a publicist named John Miller or John Barron in promoting his business affairs with reporters, Trump admitted on Wednesday that 'over the years I have used aliases'. He added 'I used the name Barron' and explained that was the inspiration for the name of his youngest son, Barron Trump." Poor Barron: he's named for a fake Trump supporter. Anyway, Milbank's Barron's Chapter 12 is pretty funny. Hope Trump doesn't sue Milbank for copyright infringement.

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Trump administration will repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to fight climate change, and will ask the public to recommend ways it could be replaced, according to an internal Environmental Protection Agency document. The draft proposal represents the administration's first substantive step toward rolling back the plan, which was designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, after months of presidential tweets and condemnations of Mr. Obama's efforts to reduce climate-warming pollution. But it also lays the groundwork for new, presumably weaker, regulations by asking for the public and industry to offer ideas for a replacement."

Tillerson Tries to Appease Moronic Boss with Surprise News Conference. Louis Nelson of Politico: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that he has never considered resigning his position, disputing an NBC News report that he was on the verge of such a move over the summer. 'The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post,' Tillerson said in remarks delivered from the State Department. Tillerson did not directly address whether he had called Trump a 'moron,' as NBC reported. 'We don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense,' he said when asked about the report." Mrs. McC: CNN said its reporters had confirmed the "moron" remark, which we all know is accurate. And, no, it isn't "petty nonsense" when the Secretary of State expresses his belief that the POTUS* is a moron. It's cause for international concern. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... BUT Did He Grovel Enough? Krishnadev Calamur of the Atlantic: "Rex Tillerson's forceful defense of President Trump, after an NBC News report said the secretary of state had called the commander-in-chief a 'moron' and seriously considered quitting his job, offered few clues about his eventual fate. From Sean Spicer to Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, it's not uncommon for Trump's aides to defend the president -- right before being shown the door. Tillerson, the top U.S. diplomat, may be in a category by himself -- but as he reminded everyone on Wednesday: He serves at the pleasure of the president." ...

... Maybe this will work: Eric Levitz finds an op-ed by Rex Tillerson titled "Donald Trump Is a World-Historic Genius." Droll. Thanks to MAG for the link. ...

... Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The moment was as remarkable as it was unprecedented: A sitting U.S. secretary of state took to the microphone to pledge his fealty to the president -- despite his well-documented unhappiness in the job and the growing presumption in Washington that he is a short-timer.... But Tillerson's move on Wednesday to reassure Trump of his convictions may well be too little and too late for the long term, according to the accounts of 19 current and former senior administration officials and Capitol Hill aides.... Tillerson's public remarks Wednesday came after months of disagreements between Tillerson and the White House over staffing and administrative matters at the State Department and a disconnection over what Trump saw as Tillerson's conventional approach to policy matters.... 'Tillerson has no help. No team, no natural allies, and he's not hiring anyone,' one former senior official said. 'There's a kind of death spiral.'" ...

... Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "Moments before Tillerson's press conference, Trump took to Twitter to address the NBC report: 'NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!'" ...

... Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: As ... Rex Tillerson took to the microphones Wednesday morning to address reports that he had called ... Donald Trump, a 'fucking moron,' aides in the White House held out hope that he would offer his resignation. Tillerson ... insisted that he wasn't going anywhere either, much to the chagrin of three White House officials who vented to The Daily Beast in real time about how they wished he would 'just leave,' as one put it. 'In a perfect world' he would have quit right then and there, another said. The wish of certain White House officials to be rid of Tillerson ... is a sentiment shared among many in senior staff.... Tillerson struggled in his tenure at Foggy Bottom, doesn't have many fans in Trump's inner circle, and has been widely viewed with skepticism among Trump loyalists." ...

... Uri Friedman of the Atlantic: "In response to an NBC News report on Wednesday that he had called the president of the United States a 'moron' and considered resigning over numerous personal and policy disagreements with Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson projected a united front.... He blamed unspecified actors in Washington, presumably including NBC News's sources, for seeking to 'sow dissension' within the Trump administration to 'advance their own agenda.' What Tillerson didn't say was that among the most prominent of these actors in Washington is his own boss.... The president has helped enshrine dissension as a defining feature of his administration, recognized by allies and enemies alike." ...

... The Three Musketeers -- All for One & One for All. John Hudson of BuzzFeed: "One US official expressed confidence in Tillerson's status due to a so-called 'suicide pact' forged between Defense Secretary James Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Tillerson, whereby all three cabinet secretaries vow to leave in the event that the president makes moves against one of them. Other Trump insiders point to the potentially hefty tax bill Tillerson would have to pay if he resigns before serving a year in government." ...

... Tara Golshan of Vox: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who hasn't been afraid to speak his mind about Trump or his administration lately, told reporters Wednesday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly are 'those people that help separate our country from chaos,' whereas others in the administration act without considering national security. Corker, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who last month announced he would not run for reelection in 2018, was responding to a question about Tillerson's rumored desire to resign from the administration.... He went on to say those three top Trump officials are key to the 'national security of our nation.'" ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Suggesting that there would be 'chaos' if not for the generals and Tillerson is to suggest that not only is Trump not a steady leader, but that things are basically ready to unravel behind the scenes. This reinforces a whole lot of reporting and what a whole lot of people already believe about the administration, but it's striking to hear it directly from a GOP senator who, according to his Tennessee colleague, has talked to Trump more than any other senator.... Given ... Corker's past commentary on Trump and what Corker said Wednesday, it's pretty clear whom he was talking about when he referenced 'chaos.'"

Zack Ford of ThinkProgress: "The U.S. State Department responded Tuesday to questions as to why it opposed a United Nations resolution that condemns the discriminatory use of the death penalty, such as in cases of adultery and same-sex relations. Spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. had 'broader concerns' about the resolutions language regarding the death penalty...UN Ambassador Nikki Haley further insisted on Twitter that when the U.S. voted against a resolution condemning the death penalty for homosexuality, it was not voting for the death penalty for gay people." --safari

Alice Speri of The Intercept: "As hundreds of undocumented immigrants were rounded up across the country last February in the first mass raids of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials went out of their way to portray the people they detained as hardened criminals, instructing field offices to highlight the worst cases for the media...On February 10, as the raids kicked off, an ICE executive in Washington sent an 'URGENT; directive to the agency's chiefs of staff around the country. "Please put together a white paper covering the three most egregious cases,' for each location, the acting chief of staff of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations wrote in the email. 'If a location has only one egregious case -- then include an extra egregious case from another city.'" --safari

Swamp Creatures. Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency's chemical and pesticides office [Michael Dourson] refused Wednesday to pledge that he would recuse himself from decisions connected to the companies for whom he worked during his long career as a toxicologist for the chemical industry." --safari...

... AP: "Rebuffing the Trump administration, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Interior Department to reinstate an Obama-era regulation aimed at restricting harmful methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands. The order by a judge in San Francisco came as the Interior Department moved to delay the rule until 2019, saying it was too burdensome to industry." --safari ...

... Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "Secretary of Energy Rick Perry authorized up to $3.7 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to finish building the last remaining new nuclear plant under construction in this country. This loan, to the Southern Company's Vogtle plant in Georgia, is on top of $8.3 billion in previous federal loan guarantees for the troubled $25-billion nuclear plant. That means if -- or, rather, when -- the project goes belly up, U.S. taxpayers will have to bail out Southern Company and its partners with a record-breaking $12 billion...That is more than 20 times what the $528 million loan to solar tech company Solyndra cost taxpayers after the company collapsed. Of course, Solyndra failed because other U.S. investments in solar panels helped make them so cheap that Solyndra couldn't compete." --safari

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. How'd They Do That? Erik Wemple of the Washington Post on how Politico's Rachana Pradhan & Dan Diamond nailed high-flying Tom Price. It required stakeouts & some skulking behind bushes.

Gail Collins: "This week the House of Representatives voted 237 to 189 to make it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion on a woman who has been pregnant more than 20 weeks. Meet Tim Murphy, a Republican congressman from the Pittsburgh suburbs who has a doctorate in psychology.... Murphy is a co-sponsor of the anti-abortion bill. At about the same time it was passing, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a note his mistress had texted in January, complaining about the way he kept putting pro-life messages on his Facebook page 'when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week....' Whoops. This is not actually a unique story. There's a history of lawmakers who are eager to restrict abortions in every case not involving their own personal sex life." ...

... John Delano of CBS Pittsburgh: "Congressman Tim Murphy, of Upper St. Clair says he won't seek re-election."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee delivered a stark warning on Wednesday to political candidates: Expect Russian operatives to remain active and determined to again try to sow chaos in elections next month and next year. At a rare news conference, Senators Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the committee's chairman, and Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and its vice chairman, broadly endorsed the conclusions of American spy agencies that said President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia directed a campaign of hacking and propaganda to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. 'The Russian intelligence service is determined -- clever -- and I recommend that every campaign and every election official take this very seriously,' Mr. Burr said."

AND Today's Best Headline comes from Joe.My.God: "Man Whose Life Was Saved By Married Lesbian Cop To Speak At National Convention Of Anti-LGBT Haters." The "man," of course, is Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is scheduled to speak at some Tony Perkins gay-bashing extravaganza. The cop is Crystal Griner. She was injured in the shoot-out.

News Lede

Guardian: "The novelist Kazuo Ishiguro has won the 2017 Nobel prize in literature. The Swedish Academy hailed Ishiguro for his 'novels of great emotional force' in which he has 'uncovered the abyss beneath the illusory sense of connection with the world'." At 7:15 am ET this is a breaking news story. Mrs. McC: I'm pretty thrilled about this.