The Commentariat -- August 28, 2017

** Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers. As part of the discussions, a Russian-born real estate developer [Felix Sater] urged Trump to come to Moscow to tout the proposal and suggested he could get President Vladimir Putin to say 'great things' about Trump, according to several people who have been briefed on his correspondence.... Trump never went to Moscow as Sater proposed. And although investors and Trump's company signed a letter of intent, they lacked the land and permits to proceed and the project was abandoned at the end of January 2016, just before the presidential primaries began, several people familiar with the proposal said. Nevertheless, the details of the deal, which have not previously been disclosed, provide evidence that Trump's business was actively pursuing significant commercial interests in Russia at the same time he was campaigning to be president -- and in a position to determine U.S.-Russia relations. The new details from the emails, which are scheduled to be turned over to congressional investigators soon, also point to the likelihood of additional contacts between Russia-connected individuals and Trump associates during his presidential bid.... Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Sater.... When asked about Sater in 2013 court deposition, Trump said: 'If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn't know what he looked like.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Months ago Josh Marshall of TPM predicted that examining Trump's connection to Felix Sater would prove fruitful.

The Presidunce Thinks Hurricanes Are Fun, Encourages More

Showboater Prez* May Need Boat for This Show. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump on Sunday announced plans to travel to Texas on Tuesday, as millions of people there continued to battle catastrophic flooding and torrential rain that was expected to last for several more days. The timing of a presidential visit, as the disaster was still unfolding, could put Mr. Trump in an awkward position of adding to the logistical headaches for state officials, though he may avoid the storm-ravaged parts of Texas. The White House emphasized that the president's plans were tentative.... But his Twitter feed and the photos and statements released by the White House indicated that Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath had energized Mr. Trump, giving him the first major external crisis of a presidency hat has manufactured most of its own upheavals. On Friday, as the storm began lashing the Gulf Coast, Mr. Trump posted several updates on the status of the storm and lavished praise on the government's response. He held two teleconferences over the weekend with members of his cabinet and signed a federal disaster proclamation for Texas." Mrs. McC: Only Trump would think hurricanes are fun opportunities for self-aggrandizement. ...

... ** Harriet Sinclair of Newsweek: "Donald Trump signed away Obama-era flood standards just weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in a bid to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly. The rule signed by former president Barack Obama in 2015 had not yet come into effect but aimed to make infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and flooding. Those who backed Obama's rules believed they would make people safer by putting roads, bridges and other infrastructure on safer ground, NPR reported, but Trump rescinded the rule several weeks ago in an attempt to speed up the time it takes for infrastructure projects to be approved." ...

... Ryan Cooper of the Week: "This destruction [by Hurricane Harvey] is a window into the future of climate change. This is what happens when humanity fails to either meaningfully restrict greenhouse gas emissions or prepare for the damage that is certainly coming. Now, before the inevitable pedant brigade pounces in, that doesn't mean Harvey was definitely caused by climate change. Global temperatures have only markedly increased for a few decades, and extreme weather events are rare and random by definition. It will take many more years for enough data to be collected to be able to establish causality. But what we can say is that climate science predicts with high confidence that increased temperatures will increase the likelihood of extreme weather. It will make hurricanes that do form stronger. It may also increase the number of hurricanes, though that's harder to predict with certainty. It's also besides the point. A storm doesn't need to qualify as a hurricane to pose many of the same dangers. Simple big storms can still have high winds, tornadoes, and especially flooding, which is the major danger along the Gulf Coast.... [The Obama rules which Trump just rescinded] would require buildings receiving federal funding to consider climate change and build above extreme flood levels. Since there is a big federal program to provide flood insurance to many such buildings (that is incidentally nearly bankrupt due to massive claims of late), this amounts to a government subsidy to build in flood-prone areas." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Have we mentioned that the Idiot-in-Chief pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement? ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's not as if Harvey's devastation of Texas, & particularly of the Houston area, is a huge surprise. In a multiple-awards-winning series published in March 2016, ProPublica & the Texas Tribune reported, "Houston is the fourth-largest city in the country. It's home to the nation's largest refining and petrochemical complex, where billions of gallons of oil and dangerous chemicals are stored. And it's a sitting duck for the next big hurricane.... Texas isn't ready." To read the graphics-heavy stories, you can start here.

Trump Arms His Professional Militia. Kevin Johnson of USA Today: "The Trump administration is preparing to lift a controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St. Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program. The new plan, outlined in documents obtained by USA Today, would roll back an Obama administration executive order that blocked armored vehicles, large-caliber weapons, ammunition and other heavy equipment from being re-purposed from foreign battlefields to America's streets. On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to address the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union, and he may outline the program changes there." Congress could fix this. ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump spent 18 months as the ultimate law-and-order candidate, promising to rescue an American way of life he said was threatened by terrorists, illegal immigrants and inner-city criminals. But during seven months as president, many critics and legal scholars say, Mr. Trump has shown a flexible view on the issue, one that favors the police and his own allies over strict application of the rule of law. Over the past two years, in ways big and small, the critics say, Mr. Trump has signaled that taking the law into one's own hands is permissible, within the executive branch or in local police departments, or even against a heckler at one of his rallies.... The [Arpaio] case, and the pardon that ended it, involved an assumption that minorities were more likely to commit crimes, a belief in the use of force to keep people in check, and what some of the president's advisers privately describe as at best a lack of interest in becoming fluent in the legal process.... Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center for Justice ... drew a line from the pardon to Mr. Trump's statements last month to police officers on Long Island in which he appeared to encourage local law enforcement officials to give suspects rougher treatment. The president made those comments despite years of wrenching debate over a string of cases of police shootings of unarmed black men." ...

... ** Jane Chong of the New Yorker: "... since Watergate and the release, in 1976, of the Church Committee report, which detailed wider executive-branch abuses, this vast federal bureaucracy has increasingly accreted an intricate array of wheels and pulleys designed to insure that the President and his people not only enforce legal authorities but also abide by them. The Arpaio pardon is a perfect conflagration of all of the ways that Trump has systematically undermined these authorities over the course of his first seven months in office. It is nothing less than a multipronged attack on the executive branch's own commitment to the rule of law.... from start to finish, the President's conduct makes a mockery of the wall carefully maintained by every administration since President Jimmy Carter's Attorney General, Griffin Bell, first described, in his watershed 1978 speech, the need 'for the President to allow the Attorney General freedom from undue influence' in order 'to inspire public confidence in the faithful execution of the laws.'" Read it all. ...

... Garrett Epps of the Atlantic: "... increasingly, the question for the court -- as for Congress, and for the country -- is whether the republic survives not against external threat but against an unprecedented unremitting internal assault. A sense of proportion is necessary in crisis and calm; and even in the midst of shocking official misbehavior, the Arpaio pardon crosses a line. Trump has made it clear that the limits of the law, and the powers of the courts, hold no weight in his decision-making, and indeed will be brushed aside at his convenience." ...

... Washington Examiner Editors: "President Trump described himself as 'the law and order candidate' on the campaign trail, but he has consistently shown he really meant 'the candidate of busting heads.'... 'Law and order,' if the words have any meaning, has to apply to government actors as well. Lawless sheriffs promote disorder, and that's what Arpaio did to get himself convicted.... In this case, it's clear Trump has abused [the pardon] power for a friend and political ally.... Trump promised to drain the swamp if elected. But America hates the swamp because politicians and bureaucrats give special, undeserved favors to their friends and the well-connected." Mrs. McC: The Washington Examiner is an ultra-conservative newspaper. ...

... Of Fascists & Collaborators. Paul Krugman: "[Joe] Arpaio is, of course, a white supremacist. But he's more than that. There's a word for political regimes that round up members of minority groups and send them to concentration camps, while rejecting the rule of law: What Arpaio brought to Maricopa, and what the president of the United States has just endorsed, was fascism, American style.... What makes it possible for someone like Trump to attain power and hold it is the acquiescence of people, both voters and politicians, who aren't white supremacists, who sort-of kind-of believe in the rule of law, but are willing to go along with racists and lawbreakers if it seems to serve their interests.... There's also a word for people who, out of cowardice or self-interest, go along with such abuses: collaborators." Mrs. McC: We should all congratulate Krugman for speaking truth to power, including to the Grey Lady's censors. It must have been difficult to get "The POTUS* is a fascist" past them. If anyone has missed the import of Krugman's message, hear it now. ...

... Vice President Joe Biden in the Atlantic: "... when it comes to race in America, hope doesn't travel alone. It's shadowed by a long trail of violence and hate. In Charlottesville, that long trail emerged once again into plain view not only for America, but for the whole world to see. The crazed, angry faces illuminated by torches. The chants echoing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the 1930s. The neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and white supremacists emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the web into the bright light of day on the streets of a historically significant American city. If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now: We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation. The giant forward steps we have taken in recent years on civil liberties and civil rights and human rights are being met by a ferocious pushback from the oldest and darkest forces in America.... A week after Charlottesville, in Boston, we saw the truth of America: Those with the courage to oppose hate far outnumber those who promote it. Then a week after Boston, we saw the truth of this president: He won't stop. His contempt for the U.S. Constitution and willingness to divide this nation knows no bounds."

David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "Last week, the Air Force announced major new contracts for an overhaul of the American nuclear force: $1.8 billion for initial development of a highly stealthy nuclear cruise missile, and nearly $700 million to begin replacing the 40-year-old Minuteman missiles in silos across the United States. While both programs were developed during the Obama years, the Trump administration has seized on them, with only passing nods to the debate about whether either is necessary or wise. They are the first steps in a broader remaking of the nuclear arsenal -- and the bombers, submarines and missiles that deliver the weapons -- that the government estimated during Mr. Obama's tenure would ultimately cost $1 trillion or more.... Mr. Obama argued that by making nuclear weapons safer and more reliable, their numbers could be reduced, setting the world on a path to one day eliminating them.... Mr. Trump has not spoken of any such reduction, in the number of weapons or the scope of the overhaul, and his warning to North Korea a few weeks ago that he would meet any challenge with 'fire and fury' suggested that he may not subscribe to the view of most past presidents that the United States would never use such weapons in a first strike."

Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "The remains of all 10 United States Navy sailors who died aboard the destroyer John S. McCain in a collision near Singapore a week ago have been recovered, the Navy announced on Monday. Ships and aircraft from five nations had launched a huge search at sea after the McCain's pre-dawn collision with an oil tanker east of Singapore on Aug. 21. But the bodies of the 10 men were recovered in the destroyer's crushed and flooded compartments. The interior of the destroyer was so heavily damaged that it took days to locate the bodies." ...

... Dave Philipps & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Two deadly collisions between high-tech destroyers and easy-to-spot, slow-moving cargo ships in a little over two months have stunned many in the Navy.... But shipboard veterans had long seen signs of trouble. Factor in a shrinking Navy performing the same duties as a larger fleet did a decade ago, constant deployments that leave little time to train and relentless duties that require sailors driving 9,000-ton vessels to endure sleepless stretches that would be illegal for bus drivers, and avoidable accidents can happen, current and former officers said.... While there could be some surprising findings, officers said the accidents -- and two nonlethal mishaps earlier this year -- were almost certainly influenced by systemic problems that persist despite repeated alarms from congressional watchdogs and the Navy's own experts. In interviews, more than a dozen current and former ship commanders who served in the western Pacific said the strain on the Navy's fleet there had caused maintenance gaps and training shortfalls that had not been remedied or had received only cursory attention as leaders focused on immediate missions. Compounding the stress, the officers and crew said, the Navy allows ships to rely on grueling watch schedules that leave captains and crews exhausted, even though the service ordered submarines to abandon similar schedules two years ago."

Condemnation by Obfuscation & Deflection. Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, addressing President Trump's blaming of 'both sides' in the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., declined to say on Sunday whether Mr. Trump's response represented 'American values.' 'The president speaks for himself,' Mr. Tillerson said on 'Fox News Sunday.'... Mr. Tillerson responded to the national backlash to Mr. Trump's comments in a talk to State Department interns and young staff members [on August 18]. 'We do not honor, nor do we promote or accept, hate speech in any form,' Mr. Tillerson said at the event. 'Those who embrace it poison our public discourse, and they damage the very country that they claim to love.'"

Beyond the Beltway

The Deplorable Left. Kyle Swenson of the Washington Post: "Their faces hidden behind black bandannas and hoodies, about a 100 anarchists and antifa -- 'anti-fascist' -- barreled into a protest Sunday afternoon in Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Jumping over plastic and concrete barriers, the group melted into a larger crowd of around 2,000 that had marched peacefully throughout the sunny afternoon for a 'Rally Against Hate' gathering. Shortly after, violence began to flare. A pepper-spray wielding Trump supporter was smacked to the ground with homemade shields. Another was attacked by five black-clad antifas, each windmilling kicks and punches into a man desperately trying to protect himself. A conservative group leader retreated for safety behind a line of riot police as marchers chucked water bottles, shot off pepper spray and screamed 'fascist go home!' All told, the Associated Press reported at least five individuals were attacked.... Berkeley Police's Lt. Joe Okies told The Washington Post the rally resulted in '13 arrests on a range of charges including assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing a police officer, and various Berkeley municipal code violations.'" Mrs. McC: Thanks, antifas, for assisting Trump.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The rains from Tropical Storm Harvey kept pounding the Houston region on Monday, stranding thousands of residents -- many on their rooftops -- who frantically waited to be rescued from waters that are expected to keep rising for days. Many residents turned to social media to get help.... Officials scrambled to reach those residents, urging private boat owners to pitch in with an enormous and frantic rescue. And with nearly two feet of rain still expected, the authorities worried the worst was yet to come." ...

... Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Harvey will drift slowly near the upper Texas coast the next few days, bringing more extreme rainfall to the flooded Houston metro area, piling onto record-breaking, catastrophic flooding. Localized storm total rain amounts of up to 50 inches are not out of the question once Harvey's rain is finished later this week. This may end up being one of the worst flood disasters in U.S. history. As of early Monday morning, flash flood emergencies remained in effect for 11 southeast Texas counties, according to the National Weather Service in Houston." ...

... Houston Chronicle: "The [National Weather S]ervice noted that 'epic and catastrophic flooding' that had occurred in and around the Houston and Galveston areas and surrounding communities could get worse as additional life-threatening rainfall totals of 15 to 25 inches with isolated higher amount were possible over the next several days.... The first of several voluntary evacuations came Sunday afternoon when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressed concerns over the amount of water Addicks and Barker reservoirs were absorbing from Fort Bend and northern Harris County rivers and stream." ...

... Because of the hurricane, the Washington Post has dropped its paywall & the New York Times has dropped its paywall for hurricane-related stories.

The Commentariat -- August 27, 2017

Philip Rucker & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: This past spring, President Trump "asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions whether it would be possible for the government to drop the criminal case against [Joe] Arpaio, but was advised that would be inappropriate, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation. After talking with Sessions, Trump decided to let the case go to trial, and if Arpaio was convicted, he could grant clemency. So the president waited, all the while planning to issue a pardon if Arpaio was found in contempt of court.... Trump's Friday-evening decision to issue his first pardon for Arpaio was the culmination of a five-year political friendship with roots in the 'birther' movement to undermine President Barack Obama. In an extraordinary exercise of presidential power, Trump bypassed the traditional review process to ensure that Arpaio ... would face no time in prison. Trump's pardon, issued without consulting the Justice Department, raised a storm of protest over the weekend, including from some fellow Republicans, and threatens to become a stain on the president's legacy.... Trump's spring inquiry about intervening in Arpaio's case is consistent with his alleged attempts to influence the federal investigation of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So it comes back to Trump's envy of Barack Obama. So much does. ...

Asking the Attorney General to drop a case against a political ally is the kind of thing people get impeached for https://t.co/iUC1no2YHx -- Dan Pfeiffer [President Obama's communications director] (@danpfeiffer) August 27, 2017

... Words. Matt Shuham of TPM: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Saturday criticized ... Donald Trump's decision to pardon former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.... 'The speaker does not agree with the decision,' Ryan's spokesperson, Doug Andres, told the Wall Street Journal. 'Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.'" Mrs. McC: A statement of "disagreement" issued through a spokesperson is better than nothing. Initiating impeachment proceedings would be better. ...

... On the other hand, Ryan's "disagreement" with the pardon was probably no more than a smarmy attempt to keep a few Latinos in the Republican party's tent. Conor Friedorsdorf of the Atlantic: "If the Latinos who are threatened by this action [-- the pardon --] and the decent people of all races and ethnic groups who are offended by it hold it against Republicans who support the Arpaio pardon or stay silent, the GOP will deserve every last election and vote that they lose, having flagrantly failed to stand up for the creed of liberty and justice for all." ...

... Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump over his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, arguing it 'undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.' 'Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge's orders,' McCain said in a statement. 'The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump 's decision to pardon Joe Arpaio ... came late on a Friday night as a hurricane bore down on Texas. It concerned a crime some said was particularly ill-suited to clemency, and it was not the product of the care and deliberation that have informed pardons by other presidents. But it was almost certainly lawful. The Constitution gives presidents extremely broad power to grant pardons.... Mr. Trump ... used his constitutional power to block a federal judge's effort to enforce the Constitution. Legal experts said they found this to be the most troubling aspect of the pardon, given that it excused the lawlessness of an official who had sworn to defend the constitutional structure." ...

Arpaio action was appalling & political. It also sends message to witnesses in Russia investigation to keep quiet, stay loyal & get pardon. -- Adam Schiff August 26, 2017

Amanda Erickson of the Washington Post asks several experts on authoritarianism about Trump's pardon of Arpaio. Cas Mudde provides a plausible explanation for the timing of the pardon, which has befuddled others: "... the timing is probably ... more linked to the issue that predominates President Trump's mind: the Russia investigation. There are several key people in his former entourage who are at the point of caving to pressure to working with the [Robert S.] Mueller investigation. Trump has shown them that they have nothing to fear, because he can and will pardon them, irrespective of the circumstances. This, of course, is a fundamentally undemocratic position, but not so much informed by ideology but by naked self-interest." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Seems to me what Mudde misses is that "naked self-interest" is Trump's ideology.

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That's one obvious message from Friday's decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump has been a divisive force from the very start of his campaign for president, a proud disrupter of the political status quo.... The more he is under fire -- as he is now -- the more he returns to that strategy.... The pardon was an extraordinary act coming so early in a presidency and sets a tone both on immigration and on the president's willingness to use this power to take care of those who have been loyal to him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jonathan Blitzer of the New Yorker: "Even before Arpaio was found to be in contempt of court, advocates and community members in Arizona beat him at the ballot box, which showed that Trump, too, could be defeated democratically.... What ultimately mobilized the community against Arpaio was his decision to work formally and systematically with federal immigration authorities. The sheriff's department began arresting Hispanic residents with little or no pretense at all, and if they happened to be undocumented Arpaio would turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation. 'Before then, no one really had an official agreement with ICE; there was no police agency handing people over,' [Puente director Carlos] Garcia said. 'Arpaio used to set up a perimeter around immigrant communities, and send out hundreds of officers who would arrest and detain anyone they wanted.' The Trump Administration has spent the last six months trying to force local law-enforcement agencies to collaborate with ICE as Arpaio did, and many police chiefs and sheriffs across the country have resisted."

** AP: "Active-duty transgender troops say a policy change that puts them at risk of being removed and indefinitely bars transgender people from enlisting in the military is a step backward for civil rights that will promote inequality in the armed forces.... The guidance from the White House contradicts Trump's words, Army Capt Jennifer Sims said, pointing out that the president just praised the military for its tolerance when he [spoke to] veterans in Nevada on Wednesday.... Days earlier, Trump, speaking to thousands of soldiers ... in Arlington, Virginia, denounced prejudice, bigotry and hate in the wake of violence that erupted at a rally organized by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.... A 2016 study by the Rand Corporation estimated it would cost the military $2.4m to $8.4m a year to provide gender transition-related coverage, an increase of 0.04% to 0.13% in healthcare spending for active-duty members.... It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to discharge thousands of transgender personnel, according to a study released this month by the Palm Center, an independent research institute." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In other words, the cost of gender-transition coverage would be somewhere between (1) less than a single Trump weekend at one of his golf courses and (2) three Trump weekends at one of his golf courses. Trump loves to talk about military sacrifices, but he won't give up even a couple of weekends to give these military personnel the medical treatment they need. But the great irony here is that Trump's stated rationale for banning transgender military personnel -- saving tax dollars -- will instead cost hundreds of millions more than would maintaining the status quo. This is about bigotry, pure and simple; it has nothing whatever to do with cost-savings. What Capt. Sims doesn't consider is the increasingly schizophrenic nature of the Trump presidency. @realbigotDonaldTrump abuses most minorities; @scriptedDonaldTrump reads rational, presidenty speeches. This is largely new chief-of-staff John Kelly's contribution, a contribution that does not seem to be helping much. ...

... Citing Trump's July tweets banning transgender military service, former Navy diver Jennifer Detlefsen wrote on her Instagram account, "This man [Trump] is a disgrace. I've tried to keep politics out of my social media feed as much as possible, but this is inexcusable. This veteran says sit down and shut the fuck up, you know-nothing, never-served piece of shit." What is remarkable about Detlefsen's post is that she is the daughter of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, who "frequently mentioned [her] in his successful 2016 re-election campaign for the U.S. House," Jayme Fraser of the Billings (Montana) Gazette reports. Mrs. McC: I wonder if Detlefsen's tweet cost Americans a few thousand acres of national monuments. ...

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel delivered one of the most memorable speeches of last year's Republican National Convention, predicting that Donald Trump would, swiftly and without mercy, end the culture wars. How is that working out?... Far from sharing Thiel's attitude that no one should care about 'who gets to use which bathroom,' Trump has shown he cares deeply. One of Trump's first acts as president was to issue a letter withdrawing federal protection for transgender high school students who want to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identities. In July, the president tweeted that he would reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military, and this week, he made good on the threat, issuing a directive that bars new transgender recruits, blocks funding for sex reassignment surgeries, and gives Defense Secretary James Mattis six months to decide whether to expel the thousands of transgender soldiers already serving. And these are not the only ways in which Trump is governing as a right-wing cultural warrior."

** Jill Filipovic in a New York Times op-ed (August 24): During the second presidential debate during which Donald Trump stalked her, Hillary "Clinton did what most women do when they face harassment or intimidation: She ignored it. But now she's stewing in the what-if.... Had Mrs. Clinton responded forcefully during that debate, she would most likely have faced the same penalties other women do when they speak up at work: being seen as unpleasant, aggressive and less competent.... For Mrs. Clinton, on that stage, that lack of intervention put her in the same position as so many women who are harassed in plain view of others who do nothing: all alone, second-guessing her own gut reaction.... [Trump] stalked a woman onstage while we all watched, and then he won the election. Now we expect her to be very sorry. Perhaps it's not just Hillary Clinton who should be thinking about what she could have done differently." ...

     ... Marie Burns: I intended to link this op-ed when the Times published it, but I took it so personally -- partly because of the recent virtual stalking & harassment to which I've been subjected -- that I thought I might write more extensively about Filipovic's essay. Every one of the people who landed on Reality Chex' do-not-comment list -- and half of them are women -- have made surly demands of me in the past and/or have criticized not my ideas but my self. They didn't just get started last week. And I've mostly endured it. Clearly, that tack did not pay off. Rather, it emboldened them. I realize that many of my contemporaries, who grew up in an age when women were supposed to know their place, have that view so imprinted in their hearts that it won't go away. At the same time, women of a certain age may also have become personal feminists; they've been beaten down, and now they feel feminism has given them permission to beat down women they perceive to be weaker than they. I've always thought following the Golden Rule was the best way to conduct one's life. I question that now. I think for women of my generation, an eye-for-an-eye may be a necessity. But, as Filipovic suggests, neither Option A nor Option B wins any prizes. The victim of harassment, no matter how bold or how timid her reaction, will always have to pay for what somebody else did to her. The Constant Weader worked for other people; Mrs. Bea McCrabbie will continue CW's work, but she won't put up with the crap some who availed themselves of her services thought was their due.

This video, which the Washington Post recently obtained. shows a protester (allegedly) firing a pistol directly into a crowd of counterprotesters:

... UPDATE. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Police have arrested a man suspected of shooting in the direction of a crowd of counter-protesters during the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 12, the New York Times first reported Friday. Multiple outlets later reported that Richard Wilson Preston, 52, was one of three people against whom police had announced charges Saturday in connection with the Unite the Right rally. He was charged with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.... Neither police nor city officials confirmed that Preston was the same man as the one shown in video provided by the ACLU of Virginia.... Preston is a well-known imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan."

Beyond the Beltway

Kristine Phillips & Andrew deGrandpre of the Washington Post: "School officials in Denver have fired a cheerleading coach amid controversy over disturbing videos of teenage girls wailing in pain while apparently being forced to perform leg splits. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg announced Friday that newly hired coach Ozell Williams has been fired from his job at East High School. Williams is a Guinness World Record holder and former contestant on the NBC reality series 'America's Got Talent.' The allegations involve at least eight girls, according to Denver's NBC affiliate, KUSA. In one clip obtained by the station, a 13-year-old incoming freshman shrieks 'please stop' nine times during a span of 24 seconds. The technique, known as 'forced splits,' happened at a cheer camp last June and was captured in videos that were later provided to school officials.... A child-abuse investigation by Denver Police is ongoing."

Kristine Phillips: "Scuffles broke out on the streets of San Francisco after hundreds of people descended on the city to protest a now-canceled event by a right-wing group.... Organizers canceled the 'Freedom Rally' as city leaders braced for the kind of protest that drew extremist groups to Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. The pro-Trump group Patriot Prayer then planned to hold a news conference instead -- but that, too, did not happen after the city blocked the venue from the public. Meanwhile, hundreds of counterprotesters gathered at a San Francisco park on Saturday morning, according to media reports.... The event was scheduled Saturday afternoon at Crissy Field, a recreational area near the Golden Gate Bridge." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I have a feeling these stalwart right-wing extremists cancelled because they were too prissy to march in doggy-doo.

News Ledes

New York Times: "At least five deaths and more than a dozen injuries have been reported in the aftermath of Harvey, the hurricane that tore across the Gulf Coast of Texas over the weekend. On Sunday the powerful system, now a tropical storm, pounded the region with torrential rains that were expected to continue for days, causing catastrophic floods, according to the National Hurricane Center. The public hospital for Harris County, which includes Houston, began evacuating patients after flooding disrupted its power supply. The National Weather Service forecast rainfall of 15 to 25 inches through Friday, with as much as 50 inches in a few areas." ...

... Washington Post: "While Texas is reeling from Harvey, residents along the East Coast from the Carolinas to Cape Cod are preparing for rain, gusty winds and rough surf from what is likely to become Tropical Storm Irma. Already, the National Weather Service has hoisted a tropical storm watch for the Atlantic coast from Georgetown, S.C., to the tip of Cape Hatteras." ...

... Washington Post: "Harvey continued to pummel Texas during the early hours of Sunday morning, dropping nearly two feet of rain on Houston overnight and causing dire, and deadly, flash floods. Officials in Houston said early Sunday that a woman was found dead by her vehicle, believed to have been trapped during a flood. As midnight local time struck, police and rescue workers continue to plea with residents to stay indoors and not attempt to travel flooded roadways. 'There[s flooding all over this city,' Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a livestream video early Sunday morning. 'We have one fatality, and a potential second fatality from the flood waters out here.' By 4:30 a.m. Central time, the National Weather Service had recorded 20 inches of rain in Houston, as warnings for flash flooding and tornadoes remained in place for a large swath of the state." ...

... Weather Channel: "'There is life-threatening, catastrophic flooding happening now in Southeast Harris County [Houston],' Jeff Lindner of the Harris County Flood Control District told The Weather Channel. Lindner said water had overtopped Interstate 10, that there had been more than 1,000 water rescues overnight in the Houston area and that hundreds more were stranded in cars across roadways in the area. Flash flood emergencies have been issued area where the extreme rainfall has nundated homes, vehicles and killed at least two people. There are now three confirmed deaths in Harvey." ...

... New York Times "live briefings" of hurricane news are here.

The Commentariat -- August 26, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump over his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, arguing it 'undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.' 'Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge's orders,' McCain said in a statement. 'The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.'" ...

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That's one obvious message from Friday's decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump has been a divisive force from the very start of his campaign for president, a proud disrupter of the political status quo.... The more he is under fire -- as he is now -- the more he returns to that strategy.... The pardon was an extraordinary act coming so early in a presidency and sets a tone both on immigration and on the president's willingness to use this power to take care of those who have been loyal to him."

*****

Worst Friday Night(/Hurricane) News Dump Ever. Trump has pardoned Joe Arpaio. The WashPo has a one-graf breaking news story here. Abby Phillip has updated the story.

     ... The New York Times story, by Julie Davis, is here. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If you didn't read Martin Redish's NYT op-ed yesterday, read it now. This pardon constitutes a serious breach of Constitutional rights as well as of the very three-branches structure of the Constitution. It's nothing like pardoning (or commuting the sentence of) reefer-guy who got a life sentence in 1995 under a three-strikes law. The pardon is a direct attack on the Constitution & the judiciary. ...

... Arizona Republic Editors: "While America was talking about tearing down monuments that offend historically oppressed people, Donald Trump effectively erected yet another one. His pardon of Joe Arpaio elevated the disgraced former Maricopa County sheriff to monument status among the immigration hardliners and nationalists in Trump's base. This erases any doubt about whether Trump meant to empower them after the violence in Charlottesville. Arpaio is their darling. Arpaio is now back on his pedestal thanks to their president.... Trump spent last week demonstrating that he wants to be president of the few. By pardoning Arpaio, Trump made it clear that institutional racism is not just OK with him. It is a goal." ...

... Phillip Bump of the Washington Post: "The broader question raised by the pardon ... is where Trump would draw the line. If he's willing to pardon Joe Arpaio for ignoring a court order in service of a political goal Trump embraces, why wouldn't he pardon another individual he respects for similarly ignoring a demand from the court. Say, a former employee or a family member who, say, was issued a subpoena to testify before a special prosecutor? One message from the Arpaio pardon is precisely that Trump sees his evaluation of the boundaries of legality as superior to the boundaries set by the legal system.... In other words, if any of Trump's allies decides to tell special counsel Robert Mueller to stick his subpoena in the south side of the National Mall, Mueller can press a court for contempt charges. The person could be convicted of those charges -- and then get a pardon identical to Arpaio's." ...

... Kevin Drum: "With [the Arpaio] action, Trump is basically saying that courts have no authority to enforce the law on agents of the state. I wonder if it will be challenged in court? Everyone always says the pardon power is absolute, but I don't think that's ever been tested. After all, the language of the First Amendment is also absolute, but the Supreme Court has carved out all kinds of exceptions. (But who would have standing to sue?)" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: To answer Drum's question, I believe that any & all American citizens whom Arpaio's deputies stopped on the basis of their skin tone alone -- particularly those who were stopped after the court issued its injunction against him and/or those who were unlawfully detained for more than a couple of minutes -- would have standing. Surely the ACLU, which defended the original, underlying case, can represent & fund some of Arpaio & Trump's direct victims. Of course, we're all indirect victims here. This is a signal to law enforcement that as long as Trump is president, they don't have to follow any of those pesky Constitutional guarantees. Do whatever & send Trump & JeffBo your pardon applications. I wouldn't mind if the Constitutional scholar who argued the case before the Supremes was Barack Obama. ...

His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism. -- Cecillia Wang of the ACLU

... Bmaz of emptywheel: "It is an abominable act by a lawless jackass. One lawless jackass pardoning another lawless jackass. Trump and Arpaio are really two peas in the same racist bigot pod; both supreme narcissists, ignorant and contemptuous of the rule of law down to their deepest bone.... While 'Trump's base' may be part of his audience in making this pardon move, it is likely even more intended for law enforcement. Police unions were almost across the board for Trump, and they do speak for their rank and file. Not to mention that all cops are fine with a pro law enforcement approach of Trump and his DOJ, not just the racist bigot ones." ...

... Noah Feldman of Bloomberg, writing before the pardon: "If ... Donald Trump pardons Joe Arpaio..., it would not be an ordinary exercise of the power -- it would be an impeachable offense.... [Arpaio's crime was ] willful defiance of a federal judge's lawful order to enforce the Constitution.... Trump has questioned judges' motives and decisions [before], but this would be a further, more radical step in his attack on the independent constitutional authority of Article III judges.... For Trump to say that this violation is excusable would threaten the very structure on which is right to pardon is based. Fundamentally, pardoning Arpaio would also undermine the rule of law itself.... James Madison noted at the Virginia ratifying convention that abuse of the pardon power could be grounds for impeachment. He was correct then -- and it's still true now." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Feldman, BTW, accepts the notion that the president's pardon power is absolute. I don't agree; the Constitution, after all, is a document in tension with itself, & surely the fundamental framework & intent of the Constitution outweighs a single clause. ...

... Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker summarizes Arpaio's reign of terror. Arpaio's lawless disregard for human rights is what Trump admires in him, that & the fact that Arpaio also admires Trump.

Friday Night News Dump, Ctd. Michael Gordon & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Trump signed a long-awaited directive on Friday that precludes transgender individuals from joining the military but gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wide discretion in determining whether those already in the armed forces can continue to serve. Mr. Mattis's decisions will be based on several criteria..., a senior White House official said in briefing reporters. Left unclear was how many of the thousands of transgender service personnel estimated to be in the military might keep serving. By putting the onus on Mr. Mattis, the president appeared to open the door to allowing at least some transgender service members to remain in the military."

Friday Night News Dump, Ctd. Gorka Quits White House Job, Whatever It Was. Reid Nakamura of the Wrap: "Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to ... Donald Trump, is the latest official to resign from the administration. He announced his decision in a letter to the president on Friday. '[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are -- for now -- ascendant within the White House,' Gorka wrote in the resignation letter, obtained by the Federalist. 'As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People's House.'" ...

     ... Update. Maggie Haberman & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Sebastian Gorka, an outspoken adviser to President Trump and lightning rod for controversy, has been forced out of his position at the White House, two administration officials said on Friday. One of the officials said that the president's chief of staff, John F. Kelly, had telegraphed his lack of interest in keeping Mr. Gorka over the last week in internal discussions. Mr. Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, had been on vacation for at least the last two weeks, with no clear assigned duties to hand to others, that official said." ...

... Chas Danner of New York: "... while Gorka's contributions to the White House remain a mystery, he did reportedly make President Trump very happy as a combative surrogate for the administration on television. That is not at all surprising considering how often Gorka used his media appearances to deride the media, as well as his Trump-like tendency to make a lot of questionable and/or downright incendiary claims -- like suggesting the recent bombing of a Minnesota mosque may have been a false-flag incident perpetrated by the left.... CNN reported last week that, when asked, the White House 'refused to answer questions on what exactly Gorka does, whether he advises anyone, and whether he holds the security clearance needed to sit in on meetings involving terrorism.'" ...

... Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "It's Friday night. A Category 4 hurricane is about to slam the Texas coastline, and President Trump just directed the Pentagon to ban transgender people from joining the military and pardoned a politically radioactive convicted former sheriff [Joe Arpaio]. News also broke that one of his more controversial advisers, Sebastian Gorka, is leaving the White House. This isn't your average sleepy Friday news dump -- a trick newsmakers use to bury unpopular news by releasing it when most people aren't reading news. This is a flagrant attempt to hide a series of politically fraught (but base-pleasing) moves under the cover of an August Friday night hurricane. In other words, it's transparent Trump is doing controversial things he knows are controversial, and he and the White House would prefer the public and the media not focus on it." ...

... Kevin Drum: "That was Trump O'Clock on Friday, the 25th of August. Join us tomorrow for another edition." ...

.. Here's Trump on his way to his weekend getaway at Camp David showing his deep concern for people in the path of Hurricane Harvey:

Damian Palleta & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "An unprecedented rebuke of President Trump by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn reverberated through Washington on Friday.... [Cohn's] criticism was the first serious public condemnation of Trump's behavior by a member of his inner circle since the beginning of his presidency.... Privately, a White House official said, Trump was furious about Cohn's public airing, though publicly, White House officials, while defending the president's response to the events in Charlottesville, acknowledged that the White House can always do more.... At the same time, it was clear there was potential for a deterioration in the relationship between Trump and his chief economic adviser, whom he has been considering naming as Federal Reserve chair. On Wednesday evening, Cohn complained loudly about Trump while dining with friends at a Long Island restaurant called the Frisky Oyster. Cohn explained to his companions -- in a loud voice overheard by others -- that he had to be careful not to give Trump too much lead time about some new ideas because the president could disclose the information prematurely and upend the planning process, according to a person familiar with the dinner." See related stories in yesterday's Commentariat.

Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas in recent days seeking testimony from public relations executives who worked on an international campaign organized by Paul Manafort, people directly familiar with the matter told NBC News. This is the first public indication that Mueller's investigation is beginning to compel witness testimony before the grand jury -- a significant milestone in an inquiry that is examining the conduct of ... Donald Trump and ... Jared Kushner, among others." ...

... Melanie Zanona of the Hill: "Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether former national security adviser and Trump campaign aide Michael Flynn played any role in an effort to get Hillary Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.... Republican activist Peter W. Smith, who allegedly led an operation hoping to obtain Clinton's deleted emails, portrayed Flynn as 'an ally in those efforts and implied that other senior Trump campaign officials were coordinating with him' in correspondence and conversations with colleagues, according to the Journal. Flynn's consulting firm and his son were also reportedly mentioned in the same correspondence.... Now federal investigators working for Mueller are examining whether Flynn, who was a senior Trump campaign adviser at the time, or his son were involved in any way in the pursuit of the emails. They are also working to determine whether Smith or anyone else paid hackers for Clinton's emails, according to the report."

A Warning to Seniors: Don't Believe Those Tom Selleck Ads. Jenifer McKim of the Washington Post: "Across the nation, an increasing number of seniors are facing foreclosure after taking out reverse mortgages, either because they fell behind on property charges or failed to meet other requirements of the complex mortgage loans, according to federal data and interviews with consumer and housing specialists.... The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which insures most reverse mortgages in the country, says it lacks detailed data on how many homeowners have lost their homes or are facing foreclosure in the program, which was launched in 1989 and covers about 636,000 loans.... But a HUD report issued last fall found that nearly 90,000 reverse mortgage loans held by seniors were at least 12 months behind in payment of taxes and insurance and were expected to end in 'involuntary termination' in fiscal 2017. That's more than double the number the year before."

Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea launched several short-range missiles off its coast on Saturday, damping hopes in Washington and South Korea that the country would restrain from provocations to help pave the way for dialogue. The missiles blasted off from a coastal launching site and flew about 155 miles to the northeast before falling into the sea, the South Korean military said in a statement. Military officials were analyzing data to determine what type of missiles were used, it said."

MEANWHILE, in Dubai, Uday & Qusay are holding back wages of already-low-paid migrant workers who are building Trump-branded luxury golf courses, which the chips off the old blockhead manage. Peter Goodman of the New York Times: "While the president's company, the Trump Organization, is not the workers' employer, it manages the properties through a partnership with Damac, one of Dubai's largest real estate developers. Mr. Trump has earned $2 million to $10 million from the two golf courses, according to financial disclosures he filed last year with the Federal Election Commission.... The migrant workers make $200 to $400 a month, money that frequently comes weeks or months late, prompting recent strikes, according to interviews conducted by The New York Times with two dozen current and former workers at the Damac Hills course, where hundreds of laborers have been employed in recent years. The workers say they struggle to cover debts amassed in paying recruitment agents for their jobs, while confronting physical hardships and violations of their rights under local labor laws."

News Ledes

Houston Chronicle: "Hurricane Harvey barreled into the Texas coast around 10 p..m. Friday as one of the most powerful hurricanes to strike the Texas coast in decades. The storm has now weakened to a Category 1 storm with 85 mph winds and is expected to continue to weaken, becoming a tropical storm later on Saturday. Overnight, a reported tornado ripped through Missouri City causing damage to homes inside Sienna Plantation." ...

... The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Post is temporarily lifting its firewall (perhaps for all stories, not just those that relate to Hurricane Harvey) ...

... The New York Times has lifted its paywall for hurricane-related stories.