;)
The Commentariat -- August 18, 2017
Afternoon Update:
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump has told senior aides that he has decided to remove Stephen K. Bannon, the embattled White House chief strategist who helped Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, according to two administration officials briefed on the discussion. The president and senior White House officials were debating when and how to dismiss Mr. Bannon." ...
... New Lede: "Stephen K. Bannon ... is leaving his post, a White House spokeswoman announced Friday. 'White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day,' the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement. 'We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.'" ...
... Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has decided to dismiss his embattled chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, an architect of his 2016 general election victory, in a major White House shake-up that follows a week of racial unrest, according to two people familiar with the move. Trump had been under mounting pressure to dispatch with Bannon...." ...
... New Lede: "President Trump on Friday dismissed his embattled chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, an architect of his 2016 general election victory, in a major White House shake-up that follows a week of racial unrest, according to multiple administration officials." ...
... Jeremy Diamond, et al., of CNN: "Bannon was supposed to be fired two weeks ago, a White House official told CNN's Jeff Zeleny, but it was put off. CNN reports the President equivocated after an initial plan was to fire Bannon and then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at same time, the official says, because Rep. Mark Meadows, the influential chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and others urged Trump to keep him on board. The interview [with Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect] this week was enough for Meadows to change his view, a person close to him says." ...
... Paul Waldman. It doesn't matter whether or not Donald Trump is a racist. He "is the most racially divisive president in our lifetimes -- and it's not even close. From literally the moment he began his presidential campaign in 2015, he has spread racist ideas, made racist arguments, appealed to racist sentiments, enacted racist policies, and encouraged the most repugnant racists in American society to become more vocal and visible.... So Steve Bannon may be gone, but we shouldn't let that fool us into thinking that the Trump administration has undergone some kind of transformation. We'll know that something has truly changed if the Justice Department displays a genuine commitment to upholding civil rights, or if the administration dials back on its vote suppression efforts, or if the president himself stops making statements that bring so much joy to the most detestable hatemongers in American society.... I don't know about you, but I'm not expecting much." ...
... Drew Harwell & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Susan G. Komen on Friday joined a growing exodus of organizations canceling plans to hold fundraising events at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, deepening the financial impact to President Trump's private business amid furor over his comments on Charlottesville. The major exits now mean seven of the club's biggest event customers have abandoned it in a matter of hours, likely costing the Trump business hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue or more" ...
... Maggie Haberman: "James Murdoch, the chief executive of 21st Century Fox and the son of a frequent ally of President Trump's, condemned the president's performance after the violence in Charlottesville, Va., and pledged to donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League. In an email on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times and confirmed as authentic by a spokesman for Mr. Murdoch's company, the Fox scion gave an extraordinarily candid statement against the white supremacist sentiment that swept through Virginia last weekend. It was also the most outspoken that a member of the Murdoch family has been in response to the week's events.... '... I can't even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists....'" ...
... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "Another advisory group is walking away from ... Donald Trump after his equivocation on neo-Nazis and white supremacists, with the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities resigning en masse Friday morning. 'We cannot sit idly by, the way that your West Wing advisors have, without speaking out against your words and actions,' members write in a joint letter to Trump obtained by Politico, which ends by calling on the president to resign if he does not see a problem with what’s happened this week. The first letter of each paragraph of the letter spells out 'Resist.'... The 17-member committee was appointed by President Barack Obama and hasn't met under Trump, but it has continued work on some of its programs." ...
... Via P. D. Pepe.
*****
Giles Tremlett, et al., of the Guardian: "Spanish policeman shot dead five suspected terrorists in the coastal town of Cambrils, southwest of Barcelona, after they drove over pedestrians as part of what appeared to be a second terror attack. Some of the suspects, who were travelling in an Audi A3, were wearing what appeared to be explosive belts in a rampage that took place hours after a van had mowed down shoppers and tourists in Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas district, killing 13 and wounding about 100. Friday's attack in Cambrils, in which six bystanders and a policeman were also wounded, came at the end of 24 hours of shocking violence along the Catalan coast, which the police said was the work of a terrorist cell determined to 'kill as many people as possible'.... The police ... later carried out controlled blasts on suspected explosive devices, amid reports the suspects had been wearing suicide vests." ...
... Anne-Sophie Bolon, et al., of the New York Times: "A van driver deliberately zigzagged into a crowd enjoying a sunny afternoon on Barcelona’s main pedestrian mall Thursday, killing at least 13 people and leaving 80 lying bloodied on the pavement. It was the worst terrorist attack in Spain since 2004, and was at least the sixth time in the past few years that assailants using vehicles as deadly weapons have struck a European city.... Two people were later arrested, including a Moroccan man whose identification documents had been used to rent the van. But the Barcelona police said neither was believed to be the driver, who remained at large. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault...." ...
... The Guardian's live updates of the attacks in Catalonia are here.
... Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Despite ongoing rebukes over his defense of white supremacists, President Trump defiantly returned to his campaign's nativist themes on Thursday. He lamented an assault on American 'culture,' revived a bogus, century-old story about killing Muslim extremists and attacked Republicans with a renewed vigor." ...
... Economist: "Mr Trump's inept politics stem from a moral failure.... Mr Trump's seemingly heartfelt defence of those marching to defend Confederate statues spoke to the degree to which white grievance and angry, sour nostalgia is part of his world view.... Instead of grasping that his job is to honour the office he inherited, Mr Trump is bothered only about honouring himself and taking credit for his supposed achievements.... Mr Trump is not a Republican, but the solo star of his own drama. By tying their fate to his, [Republican officials] are harming their country and their party. His boorish attempts at plain speaking serve only to poison national life." ...
... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "... even assuming that Trump will survive this latest horror show, as he has survived many previous ones, his Presidency will be further diminished and tarnished.... By dint of his pigheadedness, or prejudice, or both, he has moved onto political ground that makes it virtually impossible for other people in influential positions, such as C.E.O.s, or the heads of other organizations, or senior government officials, or celebrities, or even his own Cabinet members, to stand with him, or even to be seen to coöperate with him. That is what happens when a President throws away his own legitimacy.... The fate of the Confederacy was settled more than a hundred and fifty years ago, and right now, Trump's Presidency seems headed to a similarly ignominious ending." ...
... Frank Rich: "Yes, the confirmation that an American president is a racist bully whose empathy is mainly reserved for either neo-Nazis or neo-Stalinists has prompted an uptick in public expressions of outrage by some GOP politicians, but words are toothless. These few rhetorical defections are not enough of a revolt to get us to the endgame -- the endgame not being impeachment (never going to happen) but Trump's implosion.... With few exceptions, so-called GOP leaders are the same Vichy collaborators they've been since Trump seized the party's presidential nomination. Notably pathetic, as always, is Paul Ryan.... What we're seeing now is the stain spreading to administration personnel who were supposed to be better than this.... Keep in mind that [Trump] managed to both threaten nuclear war and embrace neo-Nazis while on vacation. Wait until he gets 'back to work.'" ...
... Brian Beutler: "It would be a stretch to say that Paul Ryan was a beacon of moral clarity during the presidential campaign, but the Republican House speaker's standards have actually regressed considerably since then.... Ryan and other Republicans distancing themselves from Trump are objecting to Trump's conduct more weakly now than they have in the past, and barely trying to conceal their true motives.... There are no moral exemplars with power over Trump, and most have subverted national interests by appeasing Trump in pursuit of their own narrow ones." ...
... Via Marvin S. ...
... Paul Krugman: Comparing Trump to Caligula is unfair .. to Caligula.
Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Thursday ...
... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Hours after an apparent terrorist attack in Barcelona, President Trump on Thursday recycled a largely discredited Internet tale that he promoted on the campaign trail as a way to call attention to what he has called 'radical Islamic terrorism.' In a Twitter message, Trump instructed his 36 million followers to look to the example of Gen. John J. Pershing, who is said, in stories circulating online, to have dipped bullets in pigs' blood to execute Islamic terrorists in the Philippines whose religion forbid contact with the animals. The story has been found to be unsubstantiated by numerous fact-checkers in the media. But Trump first told the story during a campaign rally in February 2016, as he defended his position of supporting methods of torture, such as waterboarding, on terrorist suspects." ...
Even if we put aside Trump's strained relationship with reality, let's not lose sight of the underlying point the president is eager to emphasize: in his mind, war crimes and mass executions are effective and worthwhile elements of an effective national security strategy. -- Steve Benen ...
... Louis Jacobson & Aaron Sharockman of Politifact: "This story is a fabrication and has long been discredited,' said Brian McAllister Linn, a Texas A&M University historian.... 'I am amazed it is still making the rounds.'... 'Even if the tale is true, the pacifying effect that Trump claims is nonsense,' said Michael H. Hunt, an emeritus historian at the University of North Carolina.... The region 'remained in constant unrest during the period of American rule and into the period of independence, right down to the present.'... Trump said that Pershing stopped "radical Islamic terror" for 35 years. Of the eight historians we checked with the first time we heard Trump speak about Pershing, all were at least skeptical that the specific tales of Pershing actually took place, and some expressed disbelief even more forcefully than that. But more critically, the historians took issue with Trump's suggestion that the tactic -- if it was even used at all -- actually worked to end tensions, noting that unrest persisted for years."
Jane Perlez & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "The Trump administration plunged America's Asian alliances into new confusion Thursday with conflicting signals over how to counter North Korea's nuclear threat, as the chief White House strategist [Steve Bannon] said a military solution was impossible. Three other leading officials of the administration -- its top military general [Gen. Joseph Dunford] on a visit to China, and its defense secretary [Jim Mattis] and secretary of state [Rex Tillerson] in Washington -- effectively contradicted him, emphasizing that Mr. Trump was prepared to take military action if necessary. The mixed messages about North Korea policy added to the sense of disarray coming from the White House, where Mr. Trump appeared to have all but forgotten the crisis a week after he threatened an ad hoc 'fire and fury' response to North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, if he menaced the United States."
Fred Imbert of CNBC: "U.S. equities fell on Thursday on concerns President Trump's recent controversies will make it less likely for Congress to work with him to pass business-friendly legislation. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 274.14 points, or 1.2 percent, for its biggest drop since May 17, to close at 21,750.73. The index also snapped a four-day winning streak.... The index started falling earlier on fears that Gary Cohn, a business friendly advisor to the president, could resign his role as director of National Economic Council because of Trump's remarks following the violent protests in Charlottesville, VA." ...
Wasn't this supposed to be Infrastructure Week at the White House? Somehow it turned into Confederate Appreciation Week. -- Paul Waldman ...
... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A White House advisory council on infrastructure on Thursday became the latest casualty of the pique of business leaders over President Trump's response to the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville.... On Thursday, the White House announced that the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which it said 'was still being formed,' would not move forward, meeting the same fate as the the manufacturing council and the Strategy and Policy Forum." ...
... Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "Three fundraising giants decided to pull events from President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach on Thursday, signaling a direct blowback to his business empire from his comments on Charlottesville's racial unrest. The American Cancer Society, a high-dollar client at the club since at least 2009, cited its 'values and commitment to diversity' in a statement on its decision to move an upcoming fundraising gala. Another longtime Mar-a-Lago customer, the Cleveland Clinic, abruptly changed course on its winter event only days after saying it planned to continue doing business at Mar-a-Lago.... The American Friends of Magen David Adom, which raises money for Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross, also said it would not hold its 2018 gala at the club 'after considerable deliberation,' though it did not give a reason. The charity had one of Mar-a-Lago's biggest events last season...." ...
Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has been one of the most outspoken GOP Trump critics in Congress, expressed displeasure with Trump's response to the deadly weekend violence in Charlottesville and warned that if the president does not change his behavior, 'our nation is going to go through great peril.' 'The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,' the senator told reporters in Tennessee. 'And we need for him to be successful.'" ...
Shawna Thomas of Vice News: "In an interview with Vice News on Thursday, [Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)] condemned the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville and questioned the president's moral authority following the tragedy. 'I'm not going to defend the indefensible ... [Trump's] comments on Monday were strong. His comments on Tuesday started erasing the comments that were strong. What we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. And that moral authority is compromised when Tuesday happened. There's no question about that.' Scott added that the president hasn't reached out to him to discuss Charlottesville." Scott is "the only black Republican in the Senate...." ...
... Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "... conservative hosts who have been generally supportive of Trump have spent the week endorsing his evolving message.... On Wednesday's episode of 'Tucker Carlson Tonight,' there was a second consecutive night of questions about why Trump, not left-wing protesters, was the focus of criticism.... Much of [the criticism of Trump], Sean Hannity said, was a distraction from the racist past of the Democratic Party, a well-known bit of history which in conservative media is frequently claimed to be obscure.... And on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh argued that criticism was being lobbed at Trump to 'nullify the election.'..." ...
... Eric Levitz: "Trump’s personal hypocrisy on [commemorative monuments] is expansive. Beyond his own attempts to change Civil War history for fun and profit [by erecting a plaque on one of his golf courses to "commemorate" a Civil War battle that never happened], the president has also ordered the Department of the Interior to consider the removal or resizing of 30 national monuments -- so as to make room for fossil-fuel extraction, among other things.... Like Trump's plaque, Confederate monuments were born of a desire to rewrite the past for present convenience. This point should be obvious.... The South may have lost the Civil War, but it won the battle over how it would be remembered.... The statue of [Robert E.] Lee that brought white supremacists to Charlottesville last weekend wasn't built to commemorate the Confederacy's loss, but Jim Crow's triumph.... Lee is not so widely memorialized because he was a uniquely racially progressive Confederate general, but because he was not.... We can either accept that monuments to Robert E. Lee are an affront to our nation's highest values or that those neo-Nazis in Charlottesville were right about what those values truly are. Or else we can keep changing our history to suit the needs of reactionary, rich white fools...." ...
... Matt Yglesias of Vox on the "huge problem" of likening Robert E. Lee to George Washington: "In fresh tweets Thursday morning, Donald Trump, a life-long New Yorker with no personal or familial connection whatsoever to the Confederate States of America, once again stood up for the principle that honoring the leaders of a 19th century rebellion whose goal was to entrench the institution of chattel slavery is similar to honoring the founders of the United States of America.... The big-picture point of the pantheon of American founders is to celebrate the good things about them.... [Thomas] Jefferson is in the pantheon because he wrote the Declaration of Independence and because of his wartime diplomatic service. Alexander Hamilton is in the pantheon because he wrote the Federalist Papers and laid the foundations of the American political economy. Washington is in the pantheon because he was the military leader of the successful war of independence and because he established the peaceful transfer of power from president to president.... Confederate leaders, by contrast, are being celebrated purely for doing something bad." ...
Ed Kilgore: "... there’s one prominent display of Confederate statuary that to an even greater extent represents unsuppressed rebel yells in the very heart of the Republic the Confederacy sought to destroy: the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Via a law passed, ironically, during the Civil War itself, states are allowed to place two statues of their choice in the collection. There are at least ten ex-Confederates currently so honored, and Senator Cory Booker has announced he will introduce legislation to have them removed.... As time went by and Jim Crow became a hardened part of the national landscape, southern states roused themselves to exercise their 'right' to put the images of former traitors ... in the national statuary collection."
David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Felix Sater, one of Donald Trump's shadiest former business partners, is reportedly preparing for prison time -- and he says the president will be joining him behind bars. Sources told The Spectator's Paul Wood that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's deep dive into Trump's business practices may be yielding results. Trump recently made remarks that could point to a money laundering scheme, Wood reported. 'I mean, it's possible there's a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows?' the president said. Sater, who has a long history of legal troubles and is cooperating with law enforcement, was one of the major players responsible for selling Trump's condos to the Russians."
Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Navy plans to relieve the two top officers and the senior enlisted sailor of a destroyer that collided with a freighter off the coast of Japan in June, killing seven sailors in one of the sea service's deadliest accidents in years.... About a dozen sailors over all face career-killing administrative actions as a result of the accident, Admiral [Bill] Moran said at a briefing at the Pentagon."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Neil M. Gorsuch ... is scheduled to address a conservative group at the Trump International Hotel in Washington next month, less than two weeks before the court is set to hear arguments on Mr. Trump's travel ban. Stephen Gillers, an expert on legal ethics at New York University, questioned the justice's decision to speak at the hotel, which is at issue in lower-court cases challenging the constitutionality of payments to Mr. Trump's companies."
Sheri Fink of the New York Times: "A settlement in the lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the
Share Article 