The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

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

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

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Sunday
Oct092016

The Commentariat -- October 10, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul Ryan will not campaign with or defend Donald Trump through the November election, according to a knowledgeable source who participated in a phone call with House GOP lawmakers on Monday morning. 'The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities,' said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong. 'There is no update in his position at this time,' Strong said regarding an endorsement." CW: Strong also confirmed that Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, would call upon his state legislature to change the Badger State's official state animal to a weasel.

Greg Sargent: "There is a lot of chatter to the effect that Trump has 'stopped the bleeding.' [see Driftglass, linked below]... If it means, 'Trump fired up demoralized hard-core GOP base voters with an exciting show of fight, which will make it harder for GOP lawmakers to continue abandoning him, requiring them to instead say he took steps towards righting his campaign,' then, yes, Trump probably 'stopped the bleeding.' But..., if anything, Trump doubled down on his core boorishness, mostly to deepen his bond with his supporters, because in the end, those are the only voters he knows how to connect with." -- CW

MJ Lee of CNN: "Donald Trump issued an unmistakable threat to Hillary Clinton Sunday night: I am willing to cross any line to make the next 30 days of your life hell." -- CW

Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "Trump's revanchist positioning is a sign he's retreated to pleasing the hard core of his base, despite the fact that they cannot deliver him the White House; a performance like this won't bring on board the voters Trump must persuade in order to win.... On Sunday night, Trump's Facebook page posted an image emblematic of where his campaign is now. It's a meme of him standing at a lectern, with the words 'She would be in jail' right next to his face." -- CW

Steve M.: "I'm told that yesterday's events are unprecedented in American politics.... But the only thing new that happened yesterday was that Trump brought the attitudes, suspicions, and resentments of conservative America to the debate stage undiluted.... Donald Trump is the real Republican Party stripped of phony civility and fake high-mindedness. He represents his party better than John McCain and Mitt Romney ever did. He's the genuine article. If you're shocked by his campaign, you've had your head in the sand for a long time." ...

... CW: Yup, what's really upset Republicans this election season is that Donald Trump is the crude public embodiment of who they really are, and the deplorables they rely on to support them.

*****

Presidential Race

Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "In a startling political maneuver before tens of millions of viewers, Donald J. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of smearing women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting or harassing them, turning their presidential debate Sunday night into the tawdriest in modern history as he sought to salvage his presidential candidacy after explosive reports about his past lewd comments about women.... Mr. Trump ... argu[ed] that the accusations against Mr. Clinton were 'far worse' than Mr. Trump's remarks in 2005 that he could kiss and grope women because he was 'a star.' Mr. Trump apologized for those remarks but also repeatedly minimized them as 'locker-room talk,' and even tried to blame Mrs. Clinton for raising them in light of Mr. Clinton's behavior.... At several points, Mr. Trump expressed his frustration with the two moderators.... 'Why aren't you bringing up the emails?' he asked, before flatly accusing the moderators of conspiring against him. 'It's nice, one on three,' he said." -- CW ...

... David Fahrenthold & Katie Zezima of the Washington Post/Both Sides, Inc.TM:"Sunday night's presidential debate was unusually dark and bitter, with the two candidates taking steps unheard-of in the genteel tradition of Presidential debates, with .... Donald Trump referring to ... Hillary Clinton as 'the devil,' and promised that -- if elected -- he would order the Justice Department to investigate her. Clinton said at one point that Trump lives 'in an alternate reality.' The first half-hour of the debate was dominated not by questions from the undecided voters in the audience, but by interruptions and accusations by Trump himself.... 'You bragged that you committed sexual assault,' moderator Anderson Cooper said, and then asked Trump if he understood the implications of what he said. 'I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was locker-room talk,' Trump said.... The words 'sex tape' also made their debut in the solemn tradition of American presidential debates, as Trump denied doing something he had actually done: Asking his Twitter followers to 'check out sex tape' of a former Miss Universe with whom he was feuding." -- CW ...

     ... Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "The exchange [between Anderson Cooper & Donald Trump] stands out for more than just its lewd content, already unusual in the context of a presidential debate. Cooper used the Justice Department's definition in describing the behavior Trump bragged about in the conversation, calling it 'sexual assault.' The Justice Department defines sexual assault as 'any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.'" -- CW

     ... CNN video: Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tells Dana Bash to "stop saying 'sexual assault.'" ...

By Driftglass. Multiple applications.... Mark Barabak, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald Trump took a scorched-earth approach to trying to right his faltering campaign Sunday night, lashing out at his rival -- and even threatening her with imprisonment -- during a presidential debate where he confronted the turmoil that's pushing his party toward mutiny." -- CW ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker reprises "the nastiest presidential debate of all time." -- CW

But it's locker-room talk, and it's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. -- Donald Trump, "explaining" his sexual predator boasts during the debate

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "He vowed to put her in prison. He stalked across the stage, and hovered imposingly behind her. At one point, he referred to her as 'the devil.' Rather than being chastened by the most serious crisis of his presidential campaign..., Donald Trump came forth in full alpha-male mode for his second debate with ... Hillary Clinton on Sunday night. It made for a discomfiting 90 minutes...." -- CW ...

... The Candidate vs. the Stalker. Paulina Firozi & Melanie Zanona of the Hill: "Social media quickly responded on Sunday during the second presidential debate of 2016 at the image of Republican nominee Donald Trump looming behind ... Hillary Clinton as she answered a question on healthcare." Tweeters called in "menacing," "bullying," "threatening," etc. "Abusive men do this to us all the time." -- CW

Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "Since he launched his presidential campaign over a year ago, Donald Trump's overarching strategy has been unchanged: win by subjecting his opponents to abuse and humiliation. On Sunday night, that strategy changed to subjecting Hillary Clinton to as much humiliation as possible on his way to defeat.... Trump launched a ceaseless and unhinged series of attacks on Clinton, both on the debate stage and off.... He promised that if he's president of the United States, he would instruct his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton's email practices, and, in the fashion of a junta leader, that under his administration she'd 'be in jail.'... At one point he smacked down his own running mate, Mike Pence, for serving up ad hoc Syria policy at the vice presidential debate last week: 'He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree.'... For a party desperate to part ways with him, to avoid being dragged down with him, his performance was disastrous precisely because Trump succeeded at the only thing he came to accomplish...: to pander to his demoralized supporters." -- CW

Helaine Olen of Slate: Donald Trump "blamed Hillary Clinton for the fact he doesn't pay taxes. Because, you see, 'A lot of my write-off was depreciation, and that, Hillary as a senator, allowed. The people that give her all this money want it.' (Clinton, of course, wasn't a senator in 1995, the year Donald Trump reported the $916 million loss. If you needed reminding!)" -- CW ...

... CW: The notion that a first lady or a junior senator or even a president can just snap her fingers & get Congress to change the law is beyond ludicrous. Yet that was Trump's "best argument" throughout the debate.

New York Times Editors: "Donald Trump boiled his decadent campaign down to one message during the presidential debate on Sunday night: hatred of Hillary and Bill Clinton.... Sniffing and glowering, Mr. Trump prowled behind her as Mrs. Clinton presented herself again as the only adult on stage, the only one seeking to persuade the great majority of Americans that she shares their values and aspirations.... Once again, as he flailed, he whined that the moderators were ganging up on him and failing to question Mrs. Clinton about her private email server -- immediately after they had done just that." -- CW

"Tin-Pot Dictator." Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "There is no way to sugarcoat this:... Donald Trump threatened to throw Hillary Clinton in jail if he wins the presidency. This -- threatening to jail one's political opponents -- is how democratic norms die.... This is everything we feared about Donald Trump. His long history of trying to silence critics with lawsuits, his inability to let personal slights go, his pettiness: The nightmare scenario is that these would incline him to use the power of the presidency to forcibly silence his critics and opponents. That's what is done by tin-pot dictators...."...

     ... CW: This may be the most important takeaway from the debate: that a candidate for POTUS has threatened to shred the Constitution to incarcerate his political rival and that he has done so in the most public way possible. Trump's model for this tyrannical threat is former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, a Russian puppet, who -- after a bitter election -- arranged a show trial against his main rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, then jailed her on Trumped-up charges. Yanukovych's handlers included Paul Manafort, who served as Trump's campaign manager. The parallels are, needless to say, eerie.

Bryan Bender, et al., of Politico fact-check the debate: "In a campaign season littered with falsehoods, Sunday night's debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton marked the moment when the tether between rhetoric and reality snapped.... Much of this falls on Trump, who combined the familiar falsehoods of his fact-challenged stump speech with a new set of unsubstantiated charges about Clinton's past treatment of other women. And on the biggest question of the night -- how Trump would answer for leaked audio in which he described his technique for making unwanted sexual advances on women -- Trump largely got away without answering at all." -- CW ...

Her client she represented got him off and she is seen laughing on two occasions laughing at the girl who was raped. -- Donald Trump

It is totally false to say that Hillary Clinton laughed about the rape of a 12-year-old. And it has been thoroughly debunked. -- Zack Stanton of Politico

... David Leonardt of the New York Times: "This is the second time I’ve summarized a presidential debate by listing Donald Trump's untruths, and there’s a reason. The country has never had a presidential candidate who lies the way that he does -- relentlessly." -- CW

Driftglass live-tweeted the debate, AND he watched the post-debate punditocracy: "... within 20 seconds of this crime-scene being shut down and roped off, everyone from PBS to CNN to MSNBC were racing to declare it a tie and that Donald Trump had finally 'stopped the bleeding'. And I put 'stopped the bleeding' in quotes because within moments pundits on CNN and PBS (David Brooks) were both using exactly this same phrase. As if they had already worked out in advance what the narrative was damn well gonna be regardless of the facts on the ground." -- CW ...

... CW: Sorry, David Brooks, et al., the public doesn't agree with your super-brainy analysis. (Note: snap polls are not super-scientific, which should be okay with Trump.

New York Times reporters' live commentary on the presidential debate is here. The page also contains a livefeed of the debate. ...

     ... Update: The commentary is pretty good & includes fact-checks.

Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's campaign sought to intimidate Hillary Clinton and embarrass her husband by seating women who have accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual abuse in the Trump family's box at the presidential debate here Sunday night, according to four people involved in the discussions. The campaign's plan ... was thwarted just minutes before it could be executed when officials with the Commission on Presidential Debates intervened. The commission officials warned that, if the Trump campaign tried to seat the accusers in the elevated family box, security officers would remove the women.... The gambit to give Bill Clinton's accusers prime seats was devised by Trump campaign chief executive Stephen K. Bannon and Jared Kushner, the candidate's son-in-law, and approved personally by Trump." Read on. -- CW

Ha Ha. Melania's Revenge? Judy Kurtz of the Hill: "Melania Trump opted to wear a Gucci garment to the second presidential debate with an eyebrow-raising name: a 'pussy-bow' shirt. The hot pink blouse, which retails for $1,100, was identified by multiple fashion mavens on social media as the one Donald Trump's wife was sporting at the Sunday debate in St. Louis." -- CW


Ashley Rodriguez of Quartz on where to watch the second presidential debate, which will begin at 9 pm ET. Unlike posts from a couple of other reputable news outlets, Rodriguez notes that NBC is not carrying the debate. But there's this: "NBC is partnering with AltspaceVR to host a debate watch party in virtual reality. Anyone with the Altspace VR app on Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, or HTC Vive can join in. (Just beware of technical challenges.)" -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Rappeport, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton head to St. Louis on Sunday for a widely anticipated second debate that comes as extraordinary upheaval in the Republican Party has upended the presidential race just a month before the election."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "The first set of questions at Sunday night's presidential debate will be about Donald Trump's vulgar comments on a newly published 2005 videotape, and the fallout from it. And Hillary Clinton will get the first question." -- CW

Editorial Board of AL.com, which comprises the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, Mobile's Press-Register & other Alabama media outlets, endorses Hillary Clinton: "Donald Trump must not be president.... Even before the revelation of video evidence of Trump making lewd, demeaning comments advocating sexual advances on women against their will, we knew that he was unfit to lead this country.... Any endorsement of Clinton will be a bitter pill to swallow for many in our state.... Still, Hillary Clinton is more than qualified to be president, and in winning her party's nomination has reinforced the promise that our democratic process is equally open to all. We've watched Clinton weather every challenge -- public and personal -- that's faced her over the last 30 years and, unlike Donald Trump's late night Twitter meltdowns, Clinton has consistently remained presidential in her response and demeanor." -- CW

CNN: "President Obama comments on the latest Donald Trump controversy at a campaign event for Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth in Chicago":

Kevin Drum takes a look at the most "controversial" remarks Hillary Clinton reputedly made in speeches to bankers which came from hacks Wikileaks released. Pretty much a plateful of bland nothingburgers. "If anything, this suggests that Clinton hasn't privately said much of anything that's especially friendly to Wall Street." -- CW

Madeline Conway of Politico: "Under fire for bragging about sexual assault, Donald Trump tried to redirect by holding a surprise panel, broadcast live to Facebook, with women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct on Sunday evening, just an hour and a half before he was set to square off with Hillary Clinton in their second presidential debate. Seated beside four women -- including Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton -- Trump addressed viewers ahead of the debate, making an issue of Bill Clinton's own sexual history as the GOP nominee faces a mass defection from within his own party." CW: You can be sure we're going to hear about this Sunday night. ...

... Madeline Conway: "Hillary Clinton's campaign quickly hit back at Donald Trump for hosting a surprise panel with women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct ahead of their second debate on Sunday, labeling the move a 'stunt' and 'act of desperation.' 'We're not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom,' Jennifer Palmieri, the campaign's communications director, said in a statement. 'As always, she's prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way.'" -- CW ...

Ezra Klein: "At 7:26 pm, barely 90 minutes before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump tweeted, 'Join me on #FacebookLive as I conclude my final #debate preparations.' The link went to a Facebook live post, where Trump was holding a press conference with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, and Kathleen Willey, three women who have accused Bill Clinton of various forms of sexual misconduct. This, Trump thinks, is the Hail Mary that will save his presidential campaign. This is so much crazier than anything I ever imagined I would see in presidential politics that I legitimately don't know how to process it.... Every Republican who endorsed and normalized Trump while knowing there was nothing normal about him bears part of the blame for this moment.... The size of the disaster the Republican Party is facing cannot be overstated." -- CW ...

... ** Jeff Horwitz & Chad Day of the AP: "A sexual-assault victim who is critical of Hillary Clinton and who appeared alongside Donald Trump before Sunday night's debate was paid $2,500 by a political action committee founded by Trump ally [CW: & insane conspiracy theorist] Roger Stone. The Arkansas woman, Kathy Shelton, was sexually assaulted at age 12 and was the victim in a 1975 case in which Clinton was appointed to represent her then-41-year-old attacker, Thomas Alfred Taylor. Shelton has accused Clinton of crossing ethical bounds in the case, and over the past few months, Shelton has given TV and video interviews slamming Clinton.... The May payment to Shelton by the Committee to Restore America's Greatness PAC, founded by Stone, was described as 'contract labor' in campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.... Stone has arranged to pay other women critical of the Clintons. Earlier this year, Stone sought to raise money to pay off the mortgage of Kathleen Willey, who accused Bill Clinton of making unwanted sexual advances toward her during her time as a volunteer in his White House in the 1990s. Stone claimed in an online video interview that Trump had personally contributed to the fund." The Trump campaign says it paid Juanita Broaddrick's travel expenses to the debate. -- CW ...

... Jordyn Phelps of ABC News: "Over the weekend, Donald Trump has called former President Bill Clinton an abuser of women and Hillary Clinton a bully who intimidated his victims. But if you rewind to 1998, the Republican presidential nominee had a very different view of the 42nd president, defending him as the real 'victim' in the wake of the fallout of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and blasting the accusers as 'terrible' and 'unattractive.'... 'The whole group, Paula Jones, Lewinsky, it's just a really unattractive group. I'm not just talking about physical,' he said. 'Would it be any different if it were a supermodel crowd?' [Fox 'News's Neil] Cavuto then asked. 'I think at least it would be more pleasant to watch,' Trump replied." -- CW

John Kelly, et al., of USA Today: "... an ongoing USA Today investigation of Trump's 4,000-plus lawsuits shows that he and his companies have been accused for years of mistreating women. Allegations outlined in at least 20 separate lawsuits accuse Trump and managers at his companies of discriminating against women, ignoring sexual harassment complaints and even participating in the harassment themselves. The details of these allegations, some not reported until now, suggest that the kinds of lewd and discriminatory actions reported last week may be more prevalent within Trump's organization than previously known." In at least two of the cases, Trump was personally involved in the alleged harassment. -- CW

Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump signaled he would retaliate against lawmakers who withdraw their support from his campaign, and senior party leaders privately acknowledged that they now feared losing control of both houses of Congress.... On Twitter, Mr. Trump attacked the Republicans fleeing his campaign as 'self-righteous hypocrites' and predicted their defeat at the ballot box. In a set of talking points sent to his supporters Sunday morning, Mr. Trump's campaign urged them to attack turncoat Republicans as 'more concerned with their political future than they are about the country.'" -- CW

CW: Wow! When even Chuck Todd forgets IOKIYAR, the GOP really has hit a new low. ...

... Alan Pyke of Think Progress: "Trump's defense: He was only a misogynist the first 69 years of his life.... Voters needn't worry about Donald Trump saying he gropes women and gets away with it because he's famous, Rudy Giuliani repeatedly claimed on Sunday, because the process of campaigning for high office has left Trump a changed man.... 'It's a different man that emerges when you campaign around the country for a year and a half and hear the concerns and the problems of the American people.'" -- CW

Nikita Vladimirov of the Hill: "... Gov. Mike Pence on Saturday told a group of GOP donors that he remains fully committed to the Republican nominee despite growing pressure from some party leaders to have Trump step down from from the ticket." -- CW

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Starting Friday afternoon, thousands of people shared personal stories on social media of being sexually assaulted, many using the hashtag #NotOkay. For many hours, #NotOkay was a trending topic on Twitter in the United States. A day later, the hashtag continued going strong. The outpouring seems to have started after several prominent Twitter users posted about the potential consequences of brushing off Trump's comments. Doing so, they said, would normalize and enable 'rape culture.'" And, they argued, this kind of behavior was more commonplace than some might think." -- CW

Chas Danner of New York: "Billy Bush will not be appearing on Monday's Today show following the release of an Access Hollywood tape containing a misogynistic off-camera conversation the former Access anchor had with Donald Trump in 2005. Though NBC had previously maintained that Bush would be back on the air on Monday, CNN's Brian Stelter reports that the network will now reprimand Bush over the tape by sidelining him from Today for an unknown length of time, and possibly for good." CW: Are we all having a sad?

The Deplorables. Charles Pierce: "It doesn't matter now if [Donald Trump] drops out or not. He has shown the world what the black heart of modern Republicanism -- and of the modern form of conservatism that drives it -- really looks like. He has become its beau ideal. He will stand for it until the party commits itself to real change and genuine outreach to those people it now only employs as targets for its timorous angry base to aim at. Whether he stays or whether he goes -- and, god, I hope he stays -- Donald Trump has burned down all the camouflage. He is what they are." -- CW

Other News & Views

Kirk Ross, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hurricane Matthew pummeled the Atlantic seaboard Sunday, drenching North and South Carolina, where rescuers rushed to save hundreds of people from flooding and strong winds. The storm, which swept from the coast of Florida to Virginia Beach, has entered a dangerous new phase, sparking record flooding in North Carolina and causing power outages for more than 2 million people across five states. The death toll in the United States has climbed to at least 19, but local authorities warned that it could rise as people attempt to return home and are met with contaminated water, downed power lines and flooded roadways. Five people are missing in North Carolina, which has seen the most deaths so far." -- CW

News Lede

Washington Post: "Harvard's Oliver Hart and MIT's Bengt Holmström were awarded the 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for their work on contract theory, the study of how people can efficiently enter into agreements. Their contributions have shaped the thinking in a wide range of fields, from law to economics to political science." -- CW

Comments Off
Saturday
Oct082016

The Commentariat -- October 9, 2016

Dustin Waters, et al., of the Washington Post: "After a protracted and violent journey up the southeast U.S. seaboard, a weakened Hurricane Matthew made landfall Saturday in South Carolina, inundating a vast stretch of the coast with torrential rain and triggering floods far inland." -- CW ...

... Weather Channel updates are here.

Presidential Race

Ashley Rodriguez of Quartz on where to watch the second presidential debate, which will begin at 9 pm ET. Unlike posts from a couple of other reputable news outlets, Rodriguez notes that NBC is not carrying the debate. But there's this: "NBC is partnering with AltspaceVR to host a debate watch party in virtual reality. Anyone with the Altspace VR app on Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, or HTC Vive can join in. (Just beware of technical challenges.)" -- CW

Annie Karni of Politico: "The bombshell Donald Trump video that surfaced Friday has so dramatically altered expectations for Sunday's town hall debate that one Democrat close to Bill and Hillary Clinton had a new view of what may unfold in St. Louis: 'Expect Armageddon.' Hillary Clinton will arrive at the Washington University debate stage Sunday prepped for battle against an opponent many of her allies believe has already lost the election. Trump, in contrast, will walk onto the debate stage with nothing to lose.... On Saturday evening, Trump previewed his nothing-to-lose strategy -- he retweeted Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who accused Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978. Bill Clinton has denied the accusation, which Broaddrick made in 1999, in the wake of his affair with Monica Lewinsky."

Columbus [Ohio] Dispatch Editors reluctantly endorse Hillary Clinton for president: "... Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States. Democrat Hillary Clinton, despite her flaws, is well-equipped for the job.... The stakes are too high to sit out this election and risk letting Trump misuse the awesome power of the presidency." The Dispatch urges voters to elect Hillary Clinton." CW: The Dispatch has not endorsed a Democrat in 100 years.

Tim Mak & Andrew Desiderio of the Daily Beast: "Leaked Podesta Emails Show Bernie Was Right." CW: I think most of us knew that all along. As I wrote during primary season, bankers were not going to pay Clinton big bucks to harangue them for an hour on what horrible, greedy people they were. ...

... Nikita Valdimirov of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders on Saturday responded to the leaked emails that reveal parts of Hillary Clinton's Wall Street speeches, a major point of contention during their primary battle, by reiterating his support for the Democratic Party platform." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Louis Nelson, et al., of Politico: "Vice President Joe Biden issued a scathing rebuke of ... Donald Trump, saying his talk about groping women against their will amounts to 'sexual assault.' ;The words are demeaning. Such behavior is an abuse of power. It's not lewd. It's sexual assault. -- Joe,' Biden said in a tweet Saturday afternoon." -- CW

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: Donald Trump "had only an 18 percent chance to win the election Friday morning before the videotape's release, according to The Upshot's model, with that number set to shrink almost daily unless ... Mr. Trump could make inroads. Now, of course, it is very easy to imagine how he sinks farther as a result of the new video. In the history of October surprises, it is hard to think of anything comparable at this stage of a presidential race. Obviously, it is too early to say exactly what effect it will have on Mr. Trump. But the videotape fits all of the major criteria for a damaging scandal, and it puts congressional Republicans in a precarious position." -- CW ...

... Nate Silver: "... if we knew on Friday night that this would be a big story, it's become an even bigger story throughout the day today (Saturday) as dozens of GOP elected officials have either repudiated Trump, or unendorsed him, or called for him to resign his position at the top of the ticket. Trump had unusually low levels of support from these 'party elites' to begin with... Now, the floodgates have opened, and the whole party is fleeing him. We've never seen anything like this in a modern American election campaign.... Many of those Republican defections are strategic rather than sincere, of course.... But the timing of this is just about as bad as possible for Trump. Even before the 'hot mic' tape, there were reports that GOP elected officials might abandon Trump if he had a poor second debate.... A Clinton landslide is no more far-fetched than a Trump victory -- and given the events of the past 24 hours, probably less so." CW: See also Jamelle Bouie on Republicans' "stragetic" morality, linked below.


Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump hunkered down Sunday morning -- pulling back top aides from planned national appearances -- while previewing a vicious attack on tonight's debate stage, targeting Bill Clinton's past infidelities and Hillary Clinton's alleged bullying of his victims. Only Rudy Giuliani was dispatched to inject the Trump campaign's position into the national conversation during a round of Sunday morning news shows. Giuliani condemned Trump's description of making unwanted sexual advances against women -- kissing and groping them -- but also dismissed them as 'talk' among men.... Interim Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile on ABC's 'This Week' said that, despite the tape being more than 10 years old, truly reflects the real Trump. 'You can draw a straight line between what Donald Trump said in 2005 and what he's been saying every day on the campaign trail over the last year and a half,' she said.... 'It's really for Donald Trump to try to answer for it and take responsibility for it,' Tim Kaine said on CNN. 'It's not just words, it really is ... talking about a pattern of sexual assault.'" -- CW

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump on Sunday downplayed the exodus of top Republicans who have called on him to step aside or rescinded their prior endorsements. 'Tremendous support (except for some Republican "leadership"),' the Republican presidential nominee tweeted Sunday morning. 'Thank you.'... 'So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down!' he predicted in a tweet." -- CW

Hel-lo, Rudy Sunday. Rebecca Morin of Politico: Donald Trump's "campaign manager and the Republican National Committee chairman have canceled all appearances on the Sunday news shows. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, was to appear on 'Fox News Sunday' and NBC's 'Meet The Press,' but has been replaced with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, an avid Trump backer. RNC chairman Rience Priebus was also to appear on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' but was replaced by Giuliani.... Priebus was also set to speak on ABC's "This Week." Giuliani is appearing instead." -- CW

Jenna Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican Party plunged into an epic and historic political crisis Saturday with just a month to go until Election Day as a growing wave of GOP lawmakers called on defiant presidential nominee Donald Trump to drop out of the race in the wake of a video showing him making crude sexual remarks." -- CW

Michael Barbaro & Patrick Healy of the New York Times take a stab at explaining why Republicans suddenly got religion when they saw the Trump sexual predator video. Nice try, boys, but you missed Jamelle Bouie's point, which gets to the heart of the matter. -- CW ...

** Jamelle Bouie: "Hours before we learned of Trump's boasts about grabbing women 'by the pussy,' the Republican nominee affirmed his false belief that the Central Park 5 -- five teenagers, four of them black and one Latino, convicted on charges of attacking and raping a 28-year-old white woman, all five since exonerated by DNA evidence -- were guilty. The same Republican leaders who rushed to condemn Trump for his remarks on a hot mic were silent about his continued attacks on these men.... Republicans didn't say anything because Trump wasn't attacking Republicans.... The GOP could tolerate his place at the top of the ticket so long as he restricted his threats to groups outside the party.... We now have a list of all the things the Republican Party will tolerate solely for the sake of the White House and a continued congressional majority. It's a long list." Read it. -- CW

Karen Tumulty, et al., of the Washington Post: "With less than a month to go before the election, a major political party is poised to walk away from its own presidential nominee -- a situation with few precedents in American political history. There is little to guide Republicans, collectively and individually, except the growing realization that they have risked their party's survival by tying it to Donald Trump as he has led them into a crisis that is both extraordinary and utterly predictable." -- CW

The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN! -- Donald Trump, Saturday evening, in a tweet

There is nothing that will cause his dropping out. That is wishful thinking of the Clinton campaign and those who have opposed him for a long time. -- Rudy Giuliani, to reporters Saturday evening

... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump showed up just before 5 p.m. in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, accompanied by his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, and his eldest child, Donald Trump Jr. Security officials stopped reporters and attempted to bar them from getting near Mr. Trump as he went outside and immersed himself in a crowd of supporters, who had gathered hours earlier for a rally.... Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, withdrew his support on Saturday for Donald J. Trump as the Republican Party descended into chaos.... 'I have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated,' he said in a statement. He added: 'But Donald Trump's behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.'" -- CW

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate leaders are letting Republican candidates and officeholders weigh the scandal and decide for themselves how to react without pressure from above.... But they gave a clear signal of which way the GOP leadership is leaning when Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (S.D.), who is in charge of the conference's messaging operation, tweeted Saturday that Trump should step aside and let his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, have the party's nomination ... 'effective immediately.' -- CW

Come on, that's how real men talk! -- Real Man rallying at Trump Towers Saturday too afraid to give his name

Have you heard of Alex Jones? Alex has the behind-the-scenes people, like Larry Nichols. And I was even able to call Larry personally, and he said he asked Bill one time, how come Hillary flies to L.A. once a month? And he said, Hillary is going to witchcraft meetings.... I mean, didn't travel with her to these witchcraft meetings but, as a Christian I have spiritual discernment. I can discern Hillary. I can tell she's into that stuff. --Johnny Rice, a messianic Christian at the Trump rally ...

... Shall we revisit the "basket of deplorables" remark? Steven Shepard, et al., of Politico: "A wave of Republican officials abandoned Donald Trump Saturday, but, at least for now, rank-and-file Republicans are standing by the party's presidential candidate, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted immediately after audio was unearthed Friday...[V]oters are largely viewing Trump's comments through their own partisan lens: 70 percent of Democrats say Trump should end his campaign, but just 12 percent of Republicans -- and 13 percent of female Republicans -- agree...Nearly three-quarters of Republican voters, 74 percent, surveyed on Saturday said party officials should continue to support Trump. Only 13 percent think the party shouldn't back him." --safari...

... Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Some voters greeted prominent Republicans with boos and loud heckling at Saturday events, after the officials spoke out against the vulgar and redatory remarks Donald Trump made about women in a newly unearthed recording. 'Paul Ryan sucks!' Milwaukee resident Paul Anderson yelled at a fall festival in Elkorn, Wisconsin, where the House speaker addressed a crowd, according to the Los Angeles Times. 'You turned your back on us,' other hecklers shouted, breaking into chants of 'We want Trump!' Trump was originally supposed to appear with Ryan at the event. But Ryan disinvited Trump hours after the recording surfaced.... In Las Vegas, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV), who's running to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), also was booed loudly as he read a statement calling for Trump to withdraw and be replaced by a candidate 'with honor' who deserved to be president." CW: Thanks to contributor Gloria for the link. Like Gloria, I am suffering from a severe case of walking schadenfreude, but even without medication, I don't feel bad at all. ...

... Anne Laurie of Balloon Juice reprises some Trump supporters' reactions to GOP leaders' exodus. The one by David Duke is so special; Yair Rosenberg's retort is excellent. -- CW

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "The Republican National Committee on Saturday appeared to at least temporarily halt the operations of some of the 'Victory' program that is devoted to electing Donald Trump.... In an email from the RNC to a victory program mail vendor, with the subject line 'Hold on all projects,' the committee asked the vendor to 'put a hold' on mail production." -- CW

Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "The discussion will now slowly shift to Republican hopes of shoring up down-ballot races and (just wait) the creation of Trump TV. But we cannot and should not forget: A couple days ago it was still fathomable that America could have voted into office the biggest threat to the country in decades." -- CW

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: "On a new batch of recordings from Howard Stern's radio shows aired Saturday by CNN, Trump said that he would 'have no problem' having sex with 24-year-olds, that he 'couldn't care less' if he satisfies the women he sleeps with, that 'it's checkout time' once women reach the age of 35 and that he had engaged in three-way sex. 'Haven't we all?' Trump told Stern on his SiriusXM satellite radio show in 2008.... Trump also described barging in on nude Miss Universe beauty pageant contestants in their dressing room, characterizing his visits as inspections by the contest's owner." -- CW ...

... Paulina Firozi of the Hill: "A producer from ... 'The Apprentice' used Twitter on Saturday night to warn that the now infamous leaked audio of Trump is just the beginning. 'As a producer on seasons 1&2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to #trump tapes there are far worse,' tweeted Bill Pruitt.... Pruitt is not the first to suggest there will be more revelations about the GOP presidential nominee's past behavior. According to reports by Fox News' Ed Henry, top Trump adviser Ben Carson suggested there would be more 'bombshells' to come." -- CW ...

     ... Update. Julia Reinstein of BuzzFeed: "Pressure is building on The Apprentice producers to release unaired raw footage of the show after Friday's release of a 2005 hot mic video.... More than 20 former contestants, crew members, and editors told the Associated Press that Trump treated women on the show inappropriately, including talking about which contestants he would like to have sex with and rating them by breast size." -- CW ...

... Annals of "Journalism, Ctd.

CW: The big fail here is NBC News. They've already had major problems with their former news anchor Brian Williams (who made up war stories until a real war vet outted him), with Matt Lauer who grilled Hillary Clinton & threw Trump softballs, & now with Billy Bush, who worked for NBC Entertainment for a long time & now works for NBC News. And what is the news division doing? Trump has been running for POTUS for more than a year, & either NBC News ordered its staff not to snoop around NBC Entertainment for damaging Trump tapes, or its reporters decided Trump is too big to fall. Either way, it's NBC "News" now.

     Update. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post has the same questions of NBC "News," asked & unanswered: "Without adequate answers from the top, made publicly, it may not be unreasonable to conclude that one of the nation's largest news companies simply wasn't doing its job."

     Update Update. Slow Lawyers, Entertainment. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post reports on NBC's excuse: "NBC News was aware of video footage of Donald Trump making lewd and disparaging remarks about women for nearly four days, a network executive said Saturday, but held onto the recording until lawyers finished reviewing the material. The network's caution led to an awkward result: NBC News was scooped by The Washington Post, which took just five hours to vet and post its story.... The news division agreed to let 'Access Hollywood' break the story first." But "AH" wasn't going to air it until at least sometime this week.

     CW: So NBC "News" had a highly-time-sensitive story on which the future of the free world might depend, & they let it sit in an attorney's inbox, then held off to let the money side of the business decide when it would be most fun to run the news. Sorta like, "Boss, there's a monster tornado coming. We have to warn the public!" "Nah, we're rebroadcasting 'Twister' this Friday; we'll do the tornado story around that."

    CW: And I have one more question: Did Billy Bush keep this tape secret from Cousin Jeb!? If not, why the hell didn't Jeb! use it in the primaries? Is he too, too fastidious? Somehow I think the Bush family Thanksgiving might look a helluva lot like one you may be dreading in your own family. Maybe Billy & Jeb! will get in a hilariously awkward fistfight.

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said in an interview Saturday that he would not drop out of the race under any circumstances, following calls from several prominent members of his party to do so. 'I'd never withdraw. I've never withdrawn in my life,' Trump told The Washington Post in a phone call from his home in Trump Tower in New York. 'No, I'm not quitting this race. I have tremendous support.... They're not going to make me quit, and they can't make me quit,' Trump said of associates and party leaders who have urged him to step aside." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Vaughn Hillyard of NBC News: "Mike Pence expressed dismay Saturday over Donald Trump's lewd comments about women, saying in a statement that he was 'offended' but wanted to give his embattled running mate a chance to 'show what is in his heart' at the second presidential debate.... Pence earlier cancelled an appearance in Wisconsin [at Paul Ryan's shindig] amid the fallout from Friday's video." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney & Burgess Everett of Politico: "In May, Sen. Deb Fischer stood silently as her nephew led a drive to humiliate fellow Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse for his opposition to Donald Trump. On Saturday, she publicly joined Sasse's side. As Republicans abandon Trump en masse over newly revealed lewd comments about women, Fischer joined Sasse in urging [Trump] ... to step aside. 'The comments made by Mr. Trump were disgusting and totally unacceptable under any circumstance,' she tweeted Saturday afternoon, adding: "It would be wise for him to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party's nominee.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Burgess Everett, et al., of Politico: "After standing aside Trump during months of bombastic remarks aimed at Muslims, Latinos and women, Trump's sexually aggressive and lewd remarks, caught on tape in 2005 and aired Friday, were the breaking point. On Saturday morning, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte was the first vulnerable GOP incumbent to withdraw her support. Joe Heck, a Republican running in Nevada, quickly followed suit. 'I wanted to be able to support my party's nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country. However, I'm a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women. I will not be voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and instead will be writing in Governor Pence for president on Election Day,' Ayotte said." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: Yeah, it's funny how all these Republicans were putting up with every horrifying piece of crap from Trump's horrifying history of abusing, cheating and/or insulting everybody but Putin (last week Ayotte said Trump "absolutely" would make a good role model for his kids, a remark she later retracted), but suddenly when he's caught on tape boasting about committing multiple sexual felonies, they're all shocked & discombobulated.

Alan Rappeport: "While the idea of replacing Mr. Trump has been a fantasy for some 'Never Trump' Republicans for months, the reality is that removing him from the ticket at this point would be exceedingly complicated. Here's a look at some of the questions that Republicans are mulling." -- CW ...

... Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "The Republican Party would face enormous political and legal problems should it decide to replace Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, election law experts agree. While a number of prominent Republican lawmakers are urging Trump to step down due to his unacceptable sexual comments, the legal community is engaged in a separate argument about whether the Republican National Committee has the authority to remove Trump without his consent." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: While Rappeport's & Swan's reports are accurate, GOP leaders have the power to effectively force Trump to drop out. If the party cut off his funding & renounced him, Trump would know he was looking forward to a humiliating defeat. That might cause him to bow out gracelessly, screaming about the "rigged system" & "losers" & "Washington corruption"; whatever. I don't know that would help the party in the election, but party officials could pretend to go down with dignity.

Paulina Firozi of the Hill: "Melania Trump says she was offended by her husband Donald Trump's 'unacceptable' sexual remarks about women, but is asking the nation to accept his apology. Melania Trump said in a Saturday statement that the 'words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me.... This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kurtis Lee of the Los Angeles Times: "'Entertainment Tonight' co-anchor Nancy O'Dell, the woman who was the focus Donald Trump's lewd comments in a 2005 audio recording, said Saturday she was saddened by the Republican nominee's comments. 'When I heard the comments yesterday, it was disappointing to hear such objectification of women,' O'Dell said in a statement. 'The conversation needs to change because no female, no person, should be the subject of such crass comments, whether or not cameras are rolling. Everyone deserves respect no matter the setting or gender.'" -- CW

The Boys & Girls on the Bus. Melissa Warnke of the Los Angeles Times: "Sexist jackasses like Trump don't exist in isolation; they need support from opportunists.... See: Billy Bush egging Trump on and fanning his ego. See: Arianne Zucker, the actress, flirting along when they ask for hugs.... It takes a village to create a misogynistic monster. And it takes a party to create a misogynistic monster candidate.... Just as Trump needed Billy Bushes and Arianne Zuckers in his private life, he's needed spineless opportunist politicians in his quest for the presidency.... None of [Trump's history of misdeeds] was enough to make the Republican leadership take a stand against Trump.... The GOP's hateful party platform and desperation to promote a white American identity enabled the rise of a deeply revolting presidential candidate." (Emphasis added.) -- CW

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "... when the story broke on Friday that Donald Trump was caught on a live mic bragging about how he could kiss women -- and grab their genitals -- without their consent because he was famous, I initially wondered what the news was. Was there anyone alive surprised here?... Historically, all these Republicans could actually pretend Trump was just kidding; they could deny that Trump was who everyone knew that he was.... The groping tape ... reveals both the real Trump and the performer Trump, and it turns out the former is actually scarier than the latter.... The monstrous woman-hater is actually the person under the performer." -- CW

... Guardian: .. de Niro made the video "as part of a campaign urging people to vote in the 8 November poll. De Niro is one of a number of celebrities who took part in the #VoteYourFuture initiative but his scathing contribution was considered to be too partisan to be included in the final campaign, and was instead released separately by the producers on Friday." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Ruben Vives, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Two Palms Springs[, California,] police officers were fatally shot and another wounded Saturday while responding to family disturbance call, and a SWAT team remains at the scene, police said." -- CW ...

     ... The story has been updated: "Just before 1 a.m. Sunday, more than 12 hours after the shooting, the suspect was taken into custody, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said. In a sheriff's statement early Sunday, the suspect was identified as John Felix, 26, of Palm Springs, who was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The statement said he surrendered peacefully." -- CW

NBC New York: "A Long Island Rail Road train derailed in New Hyde Park Saturday night, though most of the hundreds of passengers were uninjured. An eastbound commuter train struck a work train at about 9:10 p.m., causing the commuter train to derail and the work train to catch fire, according to Nassau County police and the MTA." -- CW

Comments Off
Friday
Oct072016

The Commentariat -- October 8, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said in an interview Saturday that he would not drop out of the race under any circumstances, following calls from several prominent members of his party to do so. 'I'd never withdraw. I've never withdrawn in my life,' Trump told The Washington Post in a phone call from his home in Trump Tower in New York. 'No, I'm not quitting this race. I have tremendous support.... They're not going to make me quit, and they can't make me quit,' Trump said of associates and party leaders who have urged him to step aside." -- CW ...

... Vaughn Hillyard of NBC News: "Mike Pence expressed dismay Saturday over Donald Trump's lewd comments about women, saying in a statement that he was 'offended' but wanted to give his embattled running mate a chance to 'show what is in his heart' at the second presidential debate.... Pence earlier cancelled an appearance in Wisconsin [at Paul Ryan's shindig] amid the fallout from Friday's video." -- CW ...

... Kyle Cheney & Burgess Everett of Politico: "In May, Sen. Deb Fischer stood silently as her nephew led a drive to humiliate fellow Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse for his opposition to Donald Trump. On Saturday, she publicly joined Sasse's side. As Republicans abandon Trump en masse over newly revealed lewd comments about women, Fischer joined Sasse in urging the Republican presidential nominee to step aside. 'The comments made by Mr. Trump were disgusting and totally unacceptable under any circumstance,' she tweeted Saturday afternoon, adding: "It would be wise for him to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party's nominee.'" -- CW ...

... Burgess Everett, et al., of Politico: "After standing aside Trump during months of bombastic remarks aimed at Muslims, Latinos and women, Trump's sexually aggressive and lewd remarks, caught on tape in 2005 and aired Friday, were the breaking point. On Saturday morning, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte was the first vulnerable GOP incumbent to withdraw her support. Joe Heck, a Republican running in Nevada, quickly followed suit. 'I wanted to be able to support my party's nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country. However, I'm a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women. I will not be voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and instead will be writing in Governor Pence for president...,' Ayotte said." -- CW ...

... CW: Yeah, it's funny how all these Republicans were putting up with every horrifying piece of crap from Trump's horrifying history of abusing, cheating and/or insulting everybody but Putin (last week Ayotte said Trump "absolutely" would make a good role model for his kids, a remark she later retracted), but suddenly when he's caught on tape boasting about committing multiple sexual felonies, they're all shocked & discombobulated. ...

Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "The Republican Party would face enormous political and legal problems should it decide to replace Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, election law experts agree. While a number of prominent Republican lawmakers are urging Trump to step down due to his unacceptable sexual comments, the legal community is engaged in a separate argument about whether the Republican National Committee has the authority to remove Trump without his consent." -- CW ...

... Paulina Firozi of the Hill: "Melania Trump says she was offended by her husband Donald Trump's 'unacceptable' sexual remarks about women, but is asking the nation to accept his apology. Melania Trump said in a Saturday statement that the 'words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me.... This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader.'" -- CW ...

... MEANWHILE. Nikita Valdimirov of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders on Saturday responded to the leaked emails that reveal parts of Hillary Clinton's Wall Street speeches, a major point of contention during their primary battle, by reiterating his support for the Democratic Party platform." -- CW

*****

The New York Times' storm-tracker is here. The latest at 9:12 am ET: "Heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew lashed Georgia and South Carolina early Saturday as the storm began to lose some of its strength. Charleston and Savannah were both reporting flooding, with water breaching the sea wall in Charleston. Video of Savannah showed water rushing through the streets amid reports that the Savannah River was out of its banks. In Georgia, where the governor had ordered residents in six coastal counties to evacuate, the hurricane set a storm surge record for Tybee Island, near the state's border with South Carolina." -- CW ...

... The Weather Channel's coverage of Hurricane Matthew continues. ...

     ... The main story at 7:45 pm ET, Friday, by Ada Carr: "Hurricane Matthew, in its destructive march along the Florida coast on Friday, caused widespread flooding, damage and power outages across the state. At least five people have died." -- CW ...

... The Miami Herald links to numerous Matthew-related stories on its front page. ...

... Azam Ahmed of the New York Times: "As Haiti picks through the detritus left by Hurricane Matthew, more bodies are turning up every hour. Some estimates said that more than 800 people had died in the storm, more than double what the government has reported, though it acknowledged that the toll was unknown. In one part of the country's southern peninsula, nearly 30,000 homes were destroyed and 150 lives lost, officials said. And a full accounting of damage has not even started." -- CW

Presidential Race -- R-Rated Edition

David Sanger & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Obama administration on Friday formally accused the Russian government of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and from a range of prominent individuals and institutions, immediately raising the issue of whether President Obama would seek sanctions or other retaliation for the cyberattacks. In a joint statement from the director of national intelligence, James Clapper Jr., and the Department of Homeland Security, the government said the leaked emails that have appeared on a variety of websites were 'intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.' The emails were posted on the WikiLeaks site and newer ones under the names DCLeaks.com and Guccifer 2.0.... In the first presidential debate..., Hillary Clinton ...blam[ed] Russia for the attacks.... Donald J. Trump, said there was no evidence that Russia was responsible, suggesting that the Chinese could be behind it, or it 'could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.'" -- CW: This was, of course, an instance of Trump's defending Putin. ...

... Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed: "Excerpts from Hillary Clinton's closed-door paid speeches, including to financial firms, appeared to be made public for the first time on Friday when WikiLeaks published hundreds of hacked emails from her campaign chairman. The speech transcripts, a major subject of contention during the Democratic primary, include quotes from Clinton about her distance from middle-class life ('I'm kind of far removed'); her vision of strategic governing ('you need both a public and a private position'); and her views on trade, health care, and Wall Street ('even if it may not be 100 percent true, if the perception is that somehow the game is rigged.' John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, was the latest victim in a wave of hacks on key figures in Democratic politics and the political establishment in what administration officials say is an effort by Russia to undermine the election." -- CW ...

... Amy Chozick, et al., of the New York Times: "In lucrative paid speeches that Hillary Clinton delivered to elite financial firms but refused to disclose to the public, she displayed an easy comfort with titans of business, embraced unfettered international trade and praised a budget-balancing plan that would have required cuts to Social Security, according to documents posted online Friday by WikiLeaks.... Mrs. Clinton comes across less as a firebrand than as a technocrat at home with her powerful audience, willing to be critical of large financial institutions but more inclined to view them as partners in restoring the country's economic health.... [Some of her] comments could have proven devastating to Mrs. Clinton during the Democratic primary fight, when Mr. Sanders promoted himself as the enemy of Wall Street and of a rigged economic system." -- CW ...

... Kyle Cheney & Sarah Wheaton of Politico: "Clinton's campaign would not confirm the authenticity of the emails -- though it did not explicitly deny it either. Podesta tweeted on Friday evening that he did not 'have time to figure out which docs are real and which are faked.'" -- CW

Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: Hillary Clinton "is holed up with aides to practice her body language, facial expressions, vocal cadences and more conversational answers about college debt, the heroin epidemic and other topics that have come up at her campaign events.... Donald J. Trump scoffs at all that. 'I don't need to rehearse being human,' he said in an interview last week. He and his advisers say that Sunday night's town hall-style format ... will showcase his comfort on television and his direct style.... Trump advisers [are] acknowledging privately that Sunday's debate is a must-win for their candidate." CW: Hey, Anderson & Martha, ask him about the "locker-room banter." Let's see if he blames Bill Clinton again. ...

... Sexual Predator Runs for President. Not Your Usual Friday Afternoon News Dump:

** David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump bragged in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone, saying that 'when you're a star, they let you do it,' according to a video obtained by The Washington Post. The video captures Trump talking with Billy Bush, then of 'Access Hollywood,' on a bus with the show's name written across the side. They were arriving on the set of 'Days of Our Lives' to tape a segment about Trump's cameo on the soap opera.... The tape was recorded several months after he married his third wife, Melania.... 'I did try and f--- her. She was married,' Trump says.... 'Grab them by the p---y,' Trump says. 'You can do anything.'... 'This was locker-room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course -- not even close,' Trump said in a statement. 'I apologize if anyone was offended.'... Mike Pence was at a diner in Toledo when the news broke.... But the reporters traveling with Pence were quickly ushered out of the diner by campaign staff, before they could ask Trump's running mate about it, according to Politico." Thanks to MAG for the lead. -- CW ...

... "The Post has edited this video for length." ...

... Here's a transcript of the videotape. ...

     ... Update. Julie Pace & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "... Mike Pence, was 'beside himself' and his wife was furious, according to a person familiar with their thinking.... Two Utah Republicans, Gov. Gary Herbert and Rep. Jason Chaffetz withdrew their endorsements, and former Gov. Jon Huntsman did call for the candidate to step aside and let Pence take his place." -- CW ...

     ... Update. "Access Hollywood" reports that "Nancy," the married woman Trump said he failed to fuck, was Nancy O'Dell, then a co-host with Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood." -- CW ...

... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The lewd discussion offers more insight into how Mr. Trump has spoken about women in private and adds to evidence that he has a penchant for sexist behavior.... Mr. Trump's history of making sexist comments about women has caused him trouble before, but he has largely brushed them off as things he said as an entertainer. The new recording could pose more difficult challenges for the Trump campaign, and Democrats were already pressuring Republicans to disavow Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump has scheduled with Speaker Paul D. Ryan this weekend an awkward affair.... Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist, [said], 'I recommend Paul come down with a dental emergency tonight." -- CW ...

     ... Update. Heroic Paul Ryan Disinvites Serial Molester. James West of Mother Jones: "Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement Friday night condemning Donald Trump's 2005 comments about groping women. Ryan said he was 'sickened' by the video, published by The Washington Post on Friday evening, and said the GOP nominee would no longer join him for an event Saturday morning." -- CW ...

     ... NEW. Oh, Wait. Not So Heroic. Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "But if you look at the statement he released Friday, Ryan is giving himself plenty of room not to back out [of his endorsement of Trump] now. 'I hope that Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves' Ryan says, meaning that if Trump says anything about it that Ryan can point to as 'serious,' then he will have nothing to worry about from the Speaker. If history is any guide, he doesn't." CW: See also Trump's "serious" face in the fake-apology video below. I'm sure that counts! ...

... Shane Goldmacher, et al., of Politico: "The Republican Party was in a state of turmoil on Friday night.... As the hours passed, some Republicans began to call for Trump to step aside, leaving the presidential race to vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. Rob Engstrom, the Chamber of Commerce's national political director, was the first to call for Trump to quit, followed by Rep. Mike Coffman, George Pataki and Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock. Sen. Mike Lee said: 'You are the distraction... I respectfully ask you, with all due respect, to step aside.'" -- CW ...

... Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: "Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) on Friday night called for Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race, breaking her campaign-long silence on the Republican presidential nominee.... Comstock, who faces a competitive reelection challenge in her northern Virginia district, said the Republican Party should nominate Trump's runningmate, Mike Pence, in his place or choose another candidate." -- CW ...

... ** Update. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "During a 90-second videotaped appearance, Mr. Trump ... offered a strikingly brief articulation of regret for a decade-old audiotape in which he boasted about grabbing women's genitals and said he could have his way with women because of his fame. But his real message, which appeared early Saturday, was one of defiance. He described the controversy that upended the Republican Party for most of Friday as a mere 'distraction,' and said that his vulgar remarks captured on the tape were nothing compared with the way Bill and Hillary Clinton had mistreated women.... Grudging though they seemed, Mr. Trump's comments were a marked departure from his lifelong resistance to any admission of fault." --CW ...

     ... CW: Who was Trump so mad at when he cut this video? Probably those "weak" campaign lackeys who made him fake-apologize and the "losers" who condemned him for a little frat-boy talk when he was a boy of 59. ...

... Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Less than two years after a female journalist [Nancy O'Dell] supposedly rebuffed Donald Trump's sexual advances -- as heard on newly discovered video -- he allegedly tried to have her fired from one of his beauty pageants.... O'Dell co-hosted (along with her Access Hollywood colleague Billy Bush) the Trump-owned Miss USA pageant in 2004 and 2005.... In 2007, TMZ reported that the real-estate mogul wanted to kick O'Dell to the curb as Miss USA host because he allegedly didn't like the way she looked while she was several months pregnant. (Trump's people did not deny the report at the time, and simply refused to comment.)... Ultimately, Trump's bid to get O'dell nixed (whatever his true motivation) was unsuccessful. O'Dell was under contract with NBC, which decided to keep the five-months pregnant host." -- CW ...

... James Hamblin of the Atlantic: "The thing about [Trump]'s words isn't that they're explicit or graphic. It's that they're misogynistic, coercive, abusive, and dehumanizing. And as my colleague David Graham notes, illegal: The candidate is describing forcing himself on women, bragging that they're disinclined to object because of a power structure on which he knowingly capitalizes. Framing this as lewd, even extremely so, is a reminder of the frequent reluctance to name sexual assault.... Trump ... excused his comments as 'locker room banter.' To take him at his word, he misunderstands the ritual: Talking explicitly about sex is different from bragging about forcing yourself on people." -- CW ...

... Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, also defended his former boss. 'He speaks from the heart,' Lewandowski said Friday evening on CNN. 'He speaks the way many people speak around the dining room table.'... The Justice Department writes on its website, sexual assault is 'any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.' That would include grabbing an unsuspecting woman 'by the p----.' 'That's nothing less than someone talking about committing sexual violence -- the kissing, the grabbing,' said Bridgette Stumpf, co-executive director of Network for Victim Recovery of D.C. 'He's talking about women as if they're objects, as if they don't have a right to consent to the way someone touches them. This is how sexual violence becomes accepted in our culture.'" ...

     ... CW: I'll take Lewandowski at his word (altho clearly the organ from which Trump was speaking was not the heart): that Lewandowski talks about "grabbing pussy" at the dinner table. In most families, I'd guess, this is not common dinner-table banter. (In my family, I had a rule: "No talking about body-parts at the dinner table." I'll admit my children found inventive -- & fairly hilarious -- ways to break the rule.) ...

... New York Times Editors: "And so we have now heard the Republican nominee for president of the United States bragging about repeated sexual assault.... In a statement released after the video became public on Friday, Mr. Trump tried to minimize the conversation as 'locker room banter.' As if the problem were just his words rather than his actions." -- CW ...

I know everyone is going to jump on Donald Trump for admitting to serial sexual battery on tape, but try to remember Hillary once had a cold -- Daniel Roberts

... Tara Golshan of Vox: "Trump's response to the video was the exact opposite of an apology: It normalized an extraordinarily degrading kind of banter, attempted to deflect the attention to a rival public figure in Bill Clinton, and used a conditional 'if anyone was offended,' placing 'the onus on others to react -- to claim that they were offended or not,' [linguist Edwin] Battistella points out.... For Trump, this is a strategy. When pushed on his shortcomings or his own failings, he tries to deflect on others. It's sorry behavior, but it's not an apology." -- CW ...

     ... CW: The only thing that surprised me about Trump's non-apology apology is that he didn't blame the women -- arguing that they "asked for it" by dressing or behaving in a sexually-inviting manner. Maybe that tack will play out in late-nite tweets -- if the campaign gives him back his phone. ...

NEW. Paulina Firozi of the Hill: "CNN host Erin Burnett read aloud on air a story from her friend who said Donald Trump tried to kiss her in 2010.... Burnett said her friend was struck by the detail about Tic Tacs in the audio of Trump talking about kissing women. 'Trump took a Tic Tac, suggesting I take them also. He then leaned in, catching me off guard, and kissed me almost on the lips. I was freaked out,' Burnett says, quoting a message from her friend." -- CW ...

... Nicholas Kristof reports on the allegations of Jill Harth, a businesswoman who says Trump tried to rape her & later stiffed the company her then-boyfriend owned. Some years later, however, Harth became Trump's girlfriend & later asked for a job on the Trump campaign. Kristof finds her story believable. -- CW ...

     ... NEW. Jeremy Stahl has more on Harth's 1997 lawsuit against Trump for groping her numerous times & then attempting to rape her in Ivanka Trump's bedroom. ...

... Steve M.: "I think the election is over." -- CW ...

... Emily Yahr & Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: Billy "Bush, 44, is the nephew of George H.W. Bush and cousin of George W. Bush.... Billy Bush ... had a rocky transition [from 'Access Hollywood'] when he joined the 'Today' show as a co-anchor this summer, thanks to a viral argument with weatherman Al Roker about whether embattled swimmer Ryan Lochte lied [to Bush] about his alleged robbery.... Bush also hosted both the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants between 2003 and 2005, and again in 2009. Trump purchased the Miss Universe organization in 1996.... Bush was presumably added to the 'Today' show roster to improve ratings for the 9 a.m. hour. But on Friday, as the Trump video circulated the Internet, comments flooded in, many from women -- the 'Today' show's target audience." -- CW ...

... Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post here, & Brian Stelter of CNN here on how the video came to light. Stelter reports that both "Access Hollywood," an NBC-owned show, & NBC News had the tape before Fahrenthold got it late Friday morning. "Access Hollywood" was "deciding what to do with it" & NBC News "hadn't quite finalized" a story. -- CW ...

... According to Stelter, an "Access Hollywood" producer remembered the tape partly because of this AP story by Garance Burke, published October 3: "In his years as a reality TV boss on 'The Apprentice,' Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with. The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people -- former crew members, editors and contestants -- who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him." -- CW

Mr. Trump Goes to Washington. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times has more on that time young Donald lobbied Congress to make him richer: "He even said that the recession had been caused by President Ronald Reagan's 1986 tax overhaul -- a conclusion few economists shared -- and could be ended only by allowing investor dollars to flow easily back into real estate. Mr. Trump even argued against the very basis of the policy: The best way to get a recovery, he said, was to raise income taxes on wealthy people, to prod them to invest again in syndicated real estate deals." See Steve Mufson & Max Ehrenfreund's WashPo story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: In 1989, Donald Trump took out a full-page ad in the New York Daily News aimed at "the Central Park Five," a group of five teens -- four blacks & one Hispanic -- accused of gang-raping & beating, nearly to death, a young white woman jogging in the park. "I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes.," Trump wrote in the ad. The five, who confessed under police interrogations, later retracted their confessions & new evidence exonerated them. New York City paid them $40 million to settle their case. "What's remarkable, though, is that even as he's running for president, Trump stands by his excoriation of the five young men.... It barely needs to be mentioned that there's a potent racial element to this case.... What this case suggests is that Trump would be disinclined to moderate his original view on a subject, even if new evidence emerges.... This case combines a lot of the fault lines that lie beneath Trump's candidacy: divisions over race, an unwillingness to admit mistakes, his continued insistence on the centrality of crime concerns." CW: Presidential? Nope. ...

... Charles Pierce: "Do I have to point out how many ways this disqualifies Donald Trump from the position of decent human being, let alone from the position of president of the United States? There's the pure racism of the original ad. There's the pure racism of his still holding to the opinions expressed in the ad in the face of overwhelming scientific and empirical evidence. There's the know-nothing huffing at the legitimacy of the science used to exonerate the five men, which is reminiscent of the way he waves off the science of climate change and anything else that disturbs the fragile intellectual infrastructure of a career grifter." -- CW

Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker views the story of Donald Trump's tax returns, released (in tiny part) by the New York Times, as a New York story, a story of real estate's loss of power to Wall Street technocrats, "the blacks," & a powerful newspaper that exposes his crooked deals. "If the Mitnick episode revealed anything about Trump, it was the direction of his narcissism, that he could take credit for an employee's expertise as if it were a condition of his own character." CW: Wallace-Wells uses a couple of literary references as metaphors, but he missed one that directly embodies his view of Trump: Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence, where the old-money real-estate moguls try to hang on while downtown banking becomes the new power center & a woman of questionable repute threatens their dynastic plans. They won the latter battle, but lost the war to the first.

Yahoo! News: "With just a little over a month until election day, Donald Trump has racked up zero major newspaper endorsements, a first for any major party nominee in American history. While newspaper endorsements don't necessarily change voters' minds, this year's barrage of anti-Trump endorsements could actually move the needle come November, experts say." -- CW

Meet Your Trump Supporters. Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek on how Trump supporters have threatened him & other journalists, especially those who are Jewish (or even might be Jewish), female or black. "This is exceptional, a circumstance brought about by the gutter rants of Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn the racists, neo-Nazis and other deplorables who support him. That our country has reached this point, where the line between modern American political supporters and Hitler's brownshirts is becoming thinner by the day, is unacceptable. That GOP candidates have stood by and allowed this ugliness to flourish without aggressively condemning their candidate for what he has set loose, simply because they are seeking re-election or fear losing their jobs at the mid-terms, will stain the Republican Party for decades." -- CW

Other News & Views

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "President Obama cast his ballot [in Chicago] Friday, joking with staff members of the Chicago Board of Elections about being 20 years younger than he is.' -- CW

Robert Bateman of Esquire on three US ships that are traveling, probably through Hurricane Matthew, to provide aid to Haiti. "Apply this as you see fit." CW: Alas, I have no doubt that some or perhaps a majority of the Marines on this mission will not see fit to apply their own heroism in a appropriate way to the political issues of the day. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "EpiPen-maker Mylan reached a $465 million settlement with the Justice Department to 'resolve questions that have been raised' about whether the Medicaid program overpaid for the lifesaving allergy injection, the company said in a release Friday afternoon. In recent weeks, many politicians have called for investigations into whether EpiPen was improperly classified in the Medicaid Drug Rebate program. Under the rebate program, the EpiPen has been classified as a 'non-innovator drug,' which means the company is required to pay only a 13 percent rebate. In contrast, brand name or drugs with a single source must pay a 23.1 percent rebate and an additional amount if price hikes occurred faster than inflation." -- CW

Way Beyond the Beltway

Peter Goodman of the New York Times: "For those blithely inclined toward the view that Britain would somehow find a way to sever its relationship with the European Union free of drama or financial consequences..., Friday was a sobering day of reckoning. As the British pound plunged some 6 percent against the American dollar in the span of two minutes in early trading in Asia, the markets offered a reminder that divorce tends to be messy, expensive and laced with uncertainties. It rarely ends happily.... More than anything, though, the precipitous drop seemed to attest to an increasingly unmistakable reality: Britain's vote to exit the European Union -- Brexit, in common parlance -- has put its commercial relationships with the world on uncertain and potentially perilous ground. That poses risks for the British economy, making its money less attractive to hold." ...

     ... CW: Here's another lesson: when voters base their "economic theories" on racism and/or isolationism, "it rarely ends happily."

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