Thanksgiving Day 2017

Late Morning Update:

** A Thanksgiving Day Gift. Annys Shin & Libby Casey of the Washington Post report an edited interview of Anita Hill & five current & former U.S. female members of Congress on Hill's testimony before Congress. If you haven't time to read it today, save it for tomorrow's Thanksgiving leftovers. Also, too, check the stories marked "NEW" below, linked late this morning.

*****

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "President Trump is at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Palm Beach, Fla., for the Thanksgiving holiday.... 'Low-key' is ... how deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters described the day to the press pool Wednesday morning. Trump would make a few calls this week, she said, but otherwise not much going on. Less than10 minutes later, though, the White House asked the press pool for a correction.... "The president will NOT have a low-key day and has a full schedule of meetings and phone calls.'... About an hour after ... [the] update about how Trump wouldn't be having a 'low-key' day after all, another update from the press pool: Trump was departing Mar-a-Lago for destination unknown. Ten minutes later, the destination was revealed: The president is spending his morning at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Clearly part of that 'full schedule' of meetings and calls."

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump may be on vacation at his resort in Florida, but he was up early on Wednesday, railing against a college basketball player's father ... and the N.F.L. in a series of Twitter posts before 6 a.m. On the day before Thanksgiving, Mr. Trump apparently felt he was not getting enough credit for helping to free three U.C.L.A. basketball players who were detained in China after being accused of shoplifting designer sunglasses.... Mr. Trump tweeted and retweeted about a variety of topics early on Wednesday morning, but it was not until 8 a.m. that the president posted about the United States Navy aircraft that crashed outside of Okinawa, Japan...." If you'd care to know what-all Trump tweeted that was so much more important than this commander-in-chief job, Sullivan posts quite a few TrumpenTweets. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Vann Newkirk argues in the Atlantic that Trumpism is about nothing but white nationalism. "Without people of color to serve as a foil, there is no Trumpism. If not for his attacks on the Central Park Five, his birtherism, his slanders of immigrants, his 'what the hell do you have to lose' exhortations, the travel bans, and his autonomic reactions against prominent black people, it's hard to see how Trump ever could have been elected in the first place." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

**Howard Blum of Vanity Fair: "During a May 10 meeting in the Oval Office, the president betrayed his intelligence community by leaking the content of a classified, and highly sensitive, Israeli intelligence operation to two high-ranking Russian envoys, Sergey Kislyak and Sergey Lavrov. This is what he told them -- and the ramifications." --safari: A riveting piece of journalism, read on. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Perhaps for Trump one of the more consequential points of Blum's report is this: "... Trump's disturbing choice to hand over highly sensitive intelligence to the Russians is now a focus of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's relationship with Russia, both before and after the election." For the rest of us, and for American intelligenice agencies & our allies, is how to isolate a treacherous U.S. president. Of course the best way is to impeach & convict him. ...

... NEW. In a similarly fascinating account, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker reports on how one former Russian journalist, Dimitri Skorobutov, describes Russian media coverage in general & their 2016 U.S. presidential election in particular: "Me and my colleagues, we were given a clear instruction: to show Donald Trump in a positive way, and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in a negative way," he said during a speech in the Netherlands. "Skorobutov said in his speech that the pro-Trump perspective extended from Kremlin-controlled media to the Moscow élite. 'There was even a slogan among Russian political élite,' he said. '"Trump is our president."'... He flipped through his pages and pointed to the coverage guide for August 9, 2016, when Clinton stumbled while climbing some steps. The Kremlin wanted to play the story up big." ...

... NEW. Julia Ainsley of ABC News: "A former business associate of Michael Flynn has become a subject of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for his role in the failure of Flynn's former lobbying firm to disclose its work on behalf of foreign governments, three sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News. Federal investigators are zeroing in on Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was a partner at the now-dissolved Flynn Intel Group, and have questioned multiple witnesses in recent weeks about his lobbying work on behalf of Turkey."

Jonathan O'Connell & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "President Trump's company has agreed to remove the Trump name from its hotel in Lower Manhattan and give up management of the property, the most visible sign yet of the toll his presidency has taken on his brand. The decision, announced by the company Wednesday afternoon, follows signs that business has flagged for months at Trump SoHo, beginning during his polarizing campaign last year. The hotel's sushi restaurant closed. Professional sports teams, once reliable customers, began to shun the property. The hotel struggled to attract business for its meeting rooms and banquet halls, according to reporting by radio station WNYC. Trump SoHo has emerged as one of the clearest examples of how Trump's divisive politics have redefined his luxury hotel and real estate company, which spent years courting upscale customers in liberal urban centers where he is now deeply unpopular."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Wednesday ordered a federal review of a database that is used to check gun buyers' backgrounds, after a man who shot and killed more than two dozen people at a Texas church this month was omitted from the system despite a criminal record. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was asking the F.B.I. and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to conduct a comprehensive review of the database, known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System." ...

... Here's Something Stupid that Is Not Trump's Fault. Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Tens of thousands of people wanted by law enforcement officials have been removed this year from the FBI criminal background check database that prohibits fugitives from justice from buying guns. The names were taken out after the FBI in February changed its legal interpretation of 'fugitive from justice' to say it pertains only to wanted people who have crossed state lines. What that means is that those fugitives who were previously prohibited under federal law from purchasing firearms can now buy them, unless barred for other reasons. Since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was created in 1998, the background check system has prevented 1.5 million people from buying guns, including 180,000 denials to people who were fugitives from justice, according to government statistics.... Late last year, before President Trump took office, the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel ... said that gun purchases could be denied only to fugitives who cross state lines."

This is how it's going to work today. If you want to ask a question I think it's only fair since I've shared what I'm thankful for ... you start off with what you're thankful for. -- Sarah Sanders, at Monday's White House fake press briefing ...

... John Kirby of CNN: "At Monday's daily press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders encouraged reporters to first state things they were thankful for before asking their questions. Most of them obliged. They shouldn't have.... It's neither the time nor the place for kibbitzing or moralizing, and it's certainly not appropriate for a press secretary to lay down special rules for who gets to ask questions or how those questions need to be prefaced or proffered.... The whole cringe-worthy exercise made me embarrassed for the reporters and angry at Sanders and this White House for their arrogance and condescension.... I believe her little stunt is just part and parcel of a longer, larger effort by this administration to undermine the credibility and stature of a free press...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "For a press secretary to require professional journalists to essentially beg for their supper, surrendering their adversarial posture like a dog commanded to Drop The Bone, is an infantilizing tactic.... Sanders, whose persistently arched brows convey an air of constant disapproval, routinely brushes reporters' questions aside.... If Sanders isn't evading, she's scolding.... She's everything a terrible person -- or, say, an unpopular president -- could hope for in a public relations artist. She says nothing; gives away nothing; looks fierce and dutifully repeats falsehoods.... Her daily humiliation of the press, making them seem like churlish children, is a booster shot of 'fake news' animus.... To the media, she is the wall Trump promised to erect and, increasingly, it seems, we are the swamp he seeks to drain. Out with the media, out with free speech, out with facts! For these purposes, Sanders is perfectly cast." ...

... Sanders Started by Picking on a Black Person. Perfect! Masha Gessen of the New Yorker: "The President of the United States is a bully who makes a mockery of his office, democratic institutions, and the English language. So is his press secretary. On Monday, during the last briefing before the Thanksgiving holiday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders treated the White House press pool the way a sadistic teen-ager would treat a group of third graders. The journalists, for the most part, went along with it.... Her tone was menacing, the tone of a bully asking for a volunteer to be humiliated in front of the room. She called on April Ryan, of American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan was one of the few African-American reporters in the room...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A prominent government ethics expert has filed a complaint against ... Kellyanne Conway, alleging that she violated federal law Monday by appearing to oppose Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore's Democratic opponent [during a Fox 'News' segment]. Walter Shaub, who resigned in July as the head of the Office of Government Ethics, said on Twitter on Wednesday that he lodged a complaint claiming that ... [Conway] ran afoul of the Hatch Act when she discouraged Alabamans from voting for the Democratic nominee, Doug Jones.... Outside the White House on Tuesday as he prepared to leave for Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, Trump made similar comments to Conway's. However, the Hatch Act -- which limits political involvement by federal employees -- does not apply to elected officials such as the president or vice president.... Shaub noted that the ban on partisan political activity does cover senior administration officials when they are speaking in their official capacity or using their official titles. She was introduced on Fox as 'counselor to the president.'"

David Gelles of the New York Times has the silly idea of trying to apply logic to the Trump administration: "In a matter of hours this week, the Trump administration twice weighed in on one of the central issues shaping business and society today -- just how much market power big companies should be allowed to amass. Yet in back-to-back developments, two federal agencies arrived at starkly different conclusions, and one company, AT&T, found itself on opposite sides of the debate. On Monday, the Department of Justice sued to block AT&'T's proposed $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner, a deal that would unite one of the country's biggest internet providers with the company that owns CNN, HBO and the Warner Bros. film studio.... Then on Tuesday morning, the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to dismantle net neutrality rules. The move would let companies charge higher fees and block access to some websites, and was effectively a green light for big internet service providers -- including AT&T -- to freely wield their influence against rivals." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dan Diamond of Politico: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she supports GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, the Alaska Republican wrote in an op-ed for a local newspaper Tuesday.... Murkowski's renewed support for repealing the mandate -- after repeatedly opposing her party's Obamacare repeal bills this year -- may be a boon for Senate Republicans' tax legislation, which includes mandate repeal and is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor next week. [BUT] A spokesperson for Murkowski told Politico that the comments should not be construed as support for the tax bill, which does not yet appear to have sufficient support to pass the chamber." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Today in Sexual Harassment News:

Mrs. McCrabbie: When I heard on the teevee that there were nude photos of Rep. Joe Barton -- who is not only physically unattractive but also dumber than a rock -- were floating around the InterTubes, I thought it was going to be a fun family Thanksgiving story. But that dimwitted, weird, nasty SOB managed to turn a joke on him into intimidation & harassment of a woman to whom he'd sent "sexually explicit photos, videos & messages." The woman had a relationship with Barton, which began when she made a political comment on his Facebook page. "Over time, she said, she became aware of and corresponded with multiple other women who engaged in relationships with Barton, who represents a suburban Dallas district and is one of the most senior Republicans in the House." ...

... Mike DeBonis & Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), who apologized Wednesday for a lewd photo of him that circulated on the Internet, told a woman to whom he had sent sexually explicit photos, videos and messages that he would report her to the Capitol Police because she could expose his behavior, according to a recording reviewed by The Washington Post. [Another bit Barton thought was a good idea to share: "a 53-second cellphone video Barton recorded of himself while masturbating.] The woman spoke to The Post after the lewd photo was published Tuesday by an anonymous Twitter account.... The woman said she did not post the image herself.... She shared a secretly recorded phone conversation she had with Barton in 2015 in which he warned her against using the explicit materials 'in a way that would negatively affect my career.'... In a statement late Wednesday, Barton said a transcript of the recording provided by The Post may be 'evidence' of a 'potential crime against me.' He said that he received word Wednesday that the Capitol Police are opening an inquiry." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The Capitol Police, we must assume, will be laughing their heads off over this one. For those of you interested in seeing the type of artwork a sitting Congressman thinks will is seductive, TMZ has the pic, which was bowdlerized by the sender. Just as a note of advice to Rep. Barton & men everywhere: to each her own, but the majority of women are not that turned on by the sight of erect penises & fat guts. You jerkoffs are showing off for yourselves or to other men, but there a high likelihood the woman you're trying to impress is thinking, "Oh, please." ...

... Katie Leslie of the Dallas Morning News: Barton's "spokeswoman told The News that he has no plans to step down.... The news comes less than three weeks after Barton, the longest-serving member of the Texas House delegation, announced that he's launching his 18th congressional campaign -- a decision now in turmoil."

Jenavieve Hatch & Zachary Roth of the Huffington Post: "Two more women have told HuffPost that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) touched their butts in separate incidents. The two additional women, who said they were not familiar with each others' stories, both spoke on condition of anonymity. But their stories, which describe events during Franken's first campaign for the Senate, are remarkably similar -- and both women have been telling them privately for years.... The first woman ... said Franken groped her when they posed for a photo after a June 25, 2007, event hosted by the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus in Minneapolis.... The second woman told HuffPost that Franken cupped her butt with his hand at a 2008 Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis, then suggested the two visit the bathroom together."

Kimberly Kindy, et al., of the Washington Post: Melanie Sloan, a "high-profile Washington lawyer specializing in congressional ethics, said Wednesday that Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) harassed and verbally abused her when she worked for him on Capitol Hill in the 1990s and that her repeated appeals for help to congressional leadership were ignored.... Sloan, the former executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), was hired by Conyers in 1995.... She held the job until 1998. During that time, Sloan said, she witnessed and experienced behavior by Conyers similar to episodes described in claims against him that on Tuesday prompted the House Ethics Committee to open an investigation.... Sloan said she did not believe she was sexually harassed by the congressman, but she said his behavior toward her was inappropriate and abusive.... Sloan said that Conyers routinely yelled at and berated her, often criticizing her appearance. On one occasion, she said, he summoned her to his Rayburn Building office, where she found him in his underwear."

Senate Race:

Marwa Eltagouri of the Washington Post: "Roy Moore's communications director John Rogers has resigned from the Alabama Senate candidate's campaign, according to the Associated Press. Campaign strategist Brett Doster told CNN that Rogers wasn't prepared to deal with the 'level of scrutiny' from the media following The Washington Post's extensive report on Nov. 9 detailing allegations that Moore pursued relationships with teenage girls.... Since the publication of The Post's report, other women have stepped forward to make similar accusations." ...

... Adam Raymond of New York: "Moore adviser Brett Doster offered some thoughts on Rogers's departure to Fox News.... 'John just did not have the experience to deal with the press the last couple of weeks, and we've had to make a change,' Doster said." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, I don't know. I think the Moore campaign's communications efforts are exceptional. That Brett Doster guy -- who dismissed Rogers as too inexperienced -- is himself super-professional: ...

... Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Senate candidate Roy Moore's campaign refused Wednesday to substantiate a key claim it made as part of an effort to raise doubts about one of the Alabama candidate's accusers. The campaign has claimed to have found documents that show Leigh Corfman lived more than a mile from the intersection where she said Moore picked her up for dates in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32.... [But] a police report about property theft published in the Gadsden Times on March 31, 1980, listed [a family address that conforms with Corfman's story]. The Post requested documentation to support [the campaign's] description of another address on Tuesday [and again on Wednesday].... Brett Doster, a strategist for the Moore campaign, sent an email to The Post. 'The Washington Post is a worthless piece of crap that has gone out of its way to railroad Roy Moore,' Doster wrote in an email he described as an 'on the record' statement. 'There is no need for anyone at the Washington Post to ever reach out to the Roy Moore campaign again because we will not respond to anyone from the Post now or in the future. Happy Thanksgiving.'" Other supposed "evidence" against Corfman which the Moore campaign cited "did not contradict what Corfman has told The Post." Emphasis added.

Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Kelley Paul called the assault on her husband Sen. Rand Paul 'a deliberate, blindside attack' on Wednesday, disputing a characterization by the alleged attacker's legal team that the altercation was 'regrettable dispute between two neighbors.' 'This was not a "scuffle," a "fight" or an "altercation," as many in the media falsely describe it. It was a deliberate, blindside attack,' Kelley Paul wrote in a an op-ed for CNN published Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm tellin' ya, even tho Randy doesn't bag his leaves, we're going to find out he bagged the ex-Mrs. Boucher. And, yeah, I'm making this up, I have no reason more reliable than a hunch, & my apologies to all the victims of my random, crabby, totally unverified thoughts.

NEW. KHOU (Houston): "A woman in the Brookshire area (Houston metropolitan area) is accused of sending explosives to three government leaders in 2016. According to the six-count indictment, 46-year-old Julia Poff mailed explosives to Governor Greg Abbott, President Barack Obama and Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Carolyn Colvin on Oct. 12, 2016. Other court documents say Gov. Abbott opened the package, but it failed to explode because he didn't open it right. If opened correctly, documents say 'it could've caused severe burns and death.'... Federal investigators say they were able to connect Poff to the packages using pieces of the shipping labels, and also matched cat hair found in the box mailed to President Obama with her cat." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The awkward construction of that last sentence made me think Poff had sent her dead cat in the package that contained the bomb mailed to President Obama, but that's not the case. Court documents included in the report indicate that forensic experts matched hairs in the box to hairs on a cat she had in her home.

Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "Eight people have been rescued and are in 'good condition' after a U.S. Navy cargo plane carrying 11 crew members and passengers crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said Wednesday. The search for the remaining three people is continuing. It was the latest accident to befall the 7th Fleet, which is based in the Japanese port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, and has endured multiple collisions at sea this year, including two that involved guided-missile destroyers and left 17 sailors dead.... It crashed at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, the 7th Fleet said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Julia Wong of the Guardian: "Uber is facing government scrutiny around the world in the wake of its admission it concealed a massive data breach affecting 57 million drivers and passengers. The $68bn ride-hailing company acknowledged Tuesday that hackers had stolen the personal information in October 2016, and that Uber had paid them $100,000 to destroy the information and keep the breach quiet. The global nature of the breach exposes Uber to potential liability in numerous jurisdictions. Many countries and US states have laws requiring companies to inform individuals if their personal information has been compromised."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Marlise Simons, et al., of the New York Times: "With outbursts inside and outside the courtroom at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Gen. Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was the last major item of business for the tribunal in The Hague before it wound down, a full quarter-century after some of the crimes it prosecuted were committed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- November 22, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Trumpo Twitters While Airmen Die:

Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "Eight people have been rescued and are in 'good condition' after a U.S. Navy cargo plane carrying 11 crew members and passengers crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said Wednesday. The search for the remaining three people is continuing. It was the latest accident to befall the 7th Fleet, which is based in the Japanese port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, and has endured multiple collisions at sea this year, including two that involved guided-missile destroyers and left 17 sailors dead.... It crashed at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, the 7th Fleet said in a statement." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That is, Trump would have been briefed about the crash this morning before he got back to picking on black people, something probably many racists eschew during the holiday season. ...

... Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump may be on vacation at his resort in Florida, but he was up early on Wednesday, railing against a college basketball player's father ... and the N.F.L. in a series of Twitter posts before 6 a.m. On the day before Thanksgiving, Mr. Trump apparently felt he was not getting enough credit for helping to free three U.C.L.A. basketball players who were detained in China after being accused of shoplifting designer sunglasses.... Mr. Trump tweeted and retweeted about a variety of topics early on Wednesday morning, but it was not until 8 a.m. that the president posted about the United States Navy aircraft that crashed outside of Okinawa, Japan...." If you'd care to know what-all Trump tweeted that was so much more important than this commander-in-chief job, Sullivan posts quite a few TrumpenTweets.

This is how it's going to work today. If you want to ask a question I think it's only fair since I've shared what I'm thankful for ... you start off with what you're thankful for. -- Sarah Sanders, at Monday's White House fake press briefing ...

... John Kirby of CNN: "At Monday's daily press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders encouraged reporters to first state things they were thankful for before asking their questions. Most of them obliged. They shouldn't have.... It's neither the time nor the place for kibbitzing or moralizing, and it's certainly not appropriate for a press secretary to lay down special rules for who gets to ask questions or how those questions need to be prefaced or proffered.... The whole cringe-worthy exercise made me embarrassed for the reporters and angry at Sanders and this White House for their arrogance and condescension.... I believe her little stunt is just part and parcel of a longer, larger effort by this administration to undermine the credibility and stature of a free press in this country." ...

... Also, Too, Sanders Started by Picking on a Black Person. Perfect! Masha Gessen of the New Yorker: "The President of the United States is a bully who makes a mockery of his office, democratic institutions, and the English language. So is his press secretary. On Monday, during the last briefing before the Thanksgiving holiday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders treated the White House press pool the way a sadistic teen-ager would treat a group of third graders. The journalists, for the most part, went along with it.... Her tone was menacing, the tone of a bully asking for a volunteer to be humiliated in front of the room. She called on April Ryan, of American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan was one of the few African-American reporters in the room...."

David Gelles of the New York Times has the silly idea of trying to apply logic to the Trump administration: "In a matter of hours this week, the Trump administration twice weighed in on one of the central issues shaping business and society today -- just how much market power big companies should be allowed to amass. Yet in back-to-back developments, two federal agencies arrived at starkly different conclusions, and one company, AT&T, found itself on opposite sides of the debate. On Monday, the Department of Justice sued to block AT&T's proposed $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner, a deal that would unite one of the country's biggest internet providers with the company that owns CNN, HBO and the Warner Bros. film studio.... Then on Tuesday morning, the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to dismantle net neutrality rules. The move would let companies charge higher fees and block access to some websites, and was effectively a green light for big internet service providers -- including AT&T -- to freely wield their influence against rivals."

Dan Diamond of Politico: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she supports GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, the Alaska Republican wrote in an op-ed for a local newspaper Tuesday.... Murkowski's renewed support for repealing the mandate -- after repeatedly opposing her party's Obamacare repeal bills this year -- may be a boon for Senate Republicans' tax legislation, which includes mandate repeal and is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor next week. [BUT] A spokesperson for Murkowski told Politico that the comments should not be construed as support for the tax bill, which does not yet appear to have sufficient support to pass the chamber."

Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Kelley Paul called the assault on her husband Sen. Rand Paul 'a deliberate, blindside attack' on Wednesday, disputing a characterization by the alleged attacker's legal team that the altercation was 'regrettable dispute between two neighbors.' 'This was not a "scuffle," a "fight" or an "altercation," as many in the media falsely describe it. It was a deliberate, blindside attack,' Kelley Paul wrote in a an op-ed for CNN published Wednesday." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm tellin' ya, even tho Randy doesn't bag his leaves, we're going to find out he bagged the ex-Mrs. Boucher. And, yeah, I'm making this up, I have no reason more reliable than a hunch, & my apologies to all the victims of my random, crabby, totally unverified thoughts.

Marlise Simons, et al., of the New York Times: "With outbursts inside and outside the courtroom at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Gen. Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was the last major item of business for the tribunal in The Hague before it wound down, a full quarter-century after some of the crimes it prosecuted were committed."

*****

The president of the United States appeared to endorse an accused child molester to serve in the U.S. Senate. -- Chris Hayes of MSNBC, Tuesday night

Trump Backs Accused Serial Predator for Senate. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump defended Roy S. Moore, the Alabama Republican Senate candidate accused of sexual misconduct with minors.... Mr. Trump said that Alabama voters should not support Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate running against Mr. Moore in a special election next month.... Mr. Trump declined to say whether he would campaign for Mr. Moore." ...

... Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House as he left Washington, DC to go to his golf properties in Florida, President Trump was asked 'is an accused child molester better than a Democrat?' 'Well, he denies it,' Trump replied.... 'What is your message to women during this is pivotal moment in our nation's history?' a reporter asked. 'Women are very special,' Trump responded." --safari ...

... Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's near-endorsement of Alabama Republican Roy Moore followed days of behind-the-scenes talks in which he vented about Moore's accusers and expressed skepticism about their accounts. During animated conversations with senior Republicans and White House aides, the president said he doubted the stories presented by Moore's accusers and questioned why they were emerging now, just weeks before the election, according to two White House advisers and two other people familiar with the talks. The White House advisers said the president drew parallels between Moore's predicament and the one he faced just over a year ago when, during the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, Trump confronted a long line of women who accused him of harassment." ...

... Jeff Zeleny of CNN: "... Donald Trump's decision to embrace Roy Moore on Tuesday was rooted in several factors, but one of the biggest: the noise and confusion from a recent tidal wave of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations from Hollywood to media to politics. '(It) made it easier and easier to stick with Moore,' a Republican source close to the White House said." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Oh, there are parallels, all right. ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: "Trump’s stance is remarkable on several levels. First, it contradicts the position the White House has espoused since the first allegations emerged two weeks ago. The administration has avoided assessing the claims, saying instead that if they are true, [Roy] Moore should step aside. But in his remarks on Tuesday, Trump both seemed to accept Moore's denials as fact -- he also noted that the claims were about events that were many years old -- and took the view that even if true, the weight of a Republican vote in the Senate overcame the import of the allegations.... Trump's charge that [Doug] Jones is weak on crime is doubly ironic. Jones is a former prosecutor who put Klansmen behind bars; his opponent not only was twice removed from the state bench for violating the U.S. Constitution, but in the matter stands accused of committing a crime himself.... It's hard to think of two easier stands to take in American politics than condemning Nazis and denouncing child sex-abuse, and yet Trump has flinched twice." ...

... Jonathan Chait explains the many reasons Trump's endorsement of Moore was "the Trumpiest decision ever." Mrs. McC: Chait forgot one element that is essential to every Trumpy decision: at least one big, baldfaced lie. Needless to say, Trump does not disappoint here. ...

... Eric Levitz: "Doug Jones is a career prosecutor, famous for his role in convicting Ku Klux Klan members and terrorists. Roy Moore is a theocratic demagogue, famous for nullifying court orders and (allegedly) sexually harassing and assaulting so many teenage girls, he got himself banned from the Gadsden Mall. On Tuesday, president Trump suggested that Alabamians should vote for Moore over Jones in the state's upcoming special Senate election -- because the alleged sexual predator's rival was 'soft on crime.' 'He's terrible on the border, he's terrible on the military,' Trump said of the Democratic Senate Tuesday. 'I can tell you, you don't need someone who's soft on crime like Jones.'... If the president believes that an alleged, serial sexual abuser of teenage girls (who wants to deport law-abiding undocumented immigrants) is 'tougher on crime' than a lifelong prosecutor (who has little interest in deporting law-abiding, undocumented immigrants) than what, do you suppose, he means by crime?" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's a hint, Eric, & one that every American should understand: Trump believes that a person who prosecutes members of the Ku Klux Klan for murdering black children is soft on crime. The SOB who is POTUS* privileges the KKK & sex abusers (like himself) over black people, Muslims, immigrants of all stripes & the rule of law.

... David Edwards of RawStory: "White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway reportedly spoke with President Donald Trump about the Alabama Senate race before she suggested that voters should cast their ballots for Republican candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexually abusing girls as young as 14." -- safari: Kellyanne Conjob has four children less than 12 years old. Pedophile politics trump her "values". What a sad sack of soul, destined for history's scarlet letter.

Jeremy Diamond & Elizabeth Landers of CNN: "... Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for 'a little over an hour' Tuesday morning, discussing a range of pressing international concerns a day after Putin met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a White House official told CNN. The two leaders discussed the situation in Syria and terrorism more broadly, the official said, as well as the state of affairs in Afghanistan, Ukraine and North Korea. The White House was expected to release a full readout of the call later Tuesday." ...

... Liz Sly, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major new push Tuesday to end the war in Syria after an unannounced visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Russia that seemed to affirm his future role in any eventual settlement. The Russian initiative builds on an agreement reached with President Trump this month in which the United States effectively acknowledged Russia's lead role in Syrian diplomacy in return for Russian acceptance of a continued U.S. role in Syria now that the Islamic State is nearing defeat.... Putin then talked for more than an hour on the phone Tuesday with Trump, a conversation that focused mostly on Syria, according to readouts ... from both the Kremlin and the White House. Putin told Trump he had secured a commitment from Assad to cooperate with the Russian initiative, including constitutional reforms and presidential and parliamentary elections, the Kremlin said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yeah, those elections are going to be free, fair & unfettered. ...

... Henry Meyer & Stepan Kravchenko of Bloomberg: "Putin has taken a dominant role in efforts to end the conflict after a two-year Russian military campaign helped Assad to fight off opponents, including some backed by the U.S. With Islamic State nearly defeated in Syria, the Kremlin is moving on to bring together regional and global powers to revive long-stalled efforts to reach a settlement expected to cement the Syrian president in power. [In the phone conversation between Putin & Trump Tuesday,] Trump did not bring up the issue of political transition, an administration official said.... Nor did Trump bring up Russia's veto last week of a Security Council resolution that would have extended the investigation into who used chemical weapons in Syria, the official said.... The Russian leader's triumphant tone [in his Moscow meeting with Assad] underscores his success in turning the tables on the U.S., which under Barack Obama pressed for Assad's removal and came close in 2013 to ordering strikes on Syria in retaliation for a chemical attack blamed on the regime." ...

... Reuters: "Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad late on Monday for three hours of talks to lay the groundwork for a new push by Moscow to end Syria's conflict now that Islamic State's territorial caliphate is overrun. Russia is actively trying to broker an international consensus around a peace deal for Syria, over two years after Moscow began a military intervention that turned the tide of the conflict in Assad's favor." ...

... Putin Sidelines Trump, the Useful Idiot. Michael Crowleyof Politico: "Six months after ... Donald Trump ordered an airstrike against a Syrian government airbase, an act his aides said would give the U.S. renewed leverage across the Middle East, he is increasingly a bystander as Russian President Vladimir Putin takes the lead in shaping postwar Syria. On Wednesday, Putin will host the presidents of Iran and Turkey in the resort city of Sochi -- one of several Russian-brokered meetings the U.S. will not attend as the Syrian conflict winds down.... Trump may not care: He has said privately that he considers Syria to be [President] Obama's failure and that he sees little the U.S. can do about it now, according to a person briefed on one of his conversations. That view was reflected in Trump's decision earlier this year to cancel a covert CIA program that armed moderate Syrian rebels fighting [Syrian president Bashar] Assad's regime. But Trump has at least one major unmet goal in Syria: rolling back the influence of Iran, which partnered with Russia to defend Assad." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Despite the U.S.'s long but erratic support for Syrian rebels, Trump is overseeing a U.S. loss in an armed, political, diplomatic & economic conflict. Trump -- and Western democracies -- have lost not so much to Assad, but to Putin, who is busy cementing Russia's role in the Middle East. The U.S. media have been surprisingly muted about the loss of a civil & regional war in which some 400,000 people have been killed.

Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "... it wasn't long ago when Trump handed [Jared] Kushner a comically broad portfolio that included plans to reinvent government, reform the V.A., end the opioid epidemic, run point on China, and solve Middle East peace. But ... according to sources, [Chief-of-Staff John] Kelly has tried to shrink Kushner's responsibilities to focus primarily on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And even that brief appears to be creating tensions between Kushner and Kelly. According to two people close to the White House, Kelly was said to be displeased with the result of Kushner's trip to Saudi Arabia last month because it took place just days before 32-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman arrested 11 Saudi royals, including billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Washington Post reported that Kushner and M.B.S., as the prince is known, stayed up till nearly 4 a.m. 'planning strategy,' which left Kelly to deal with the impression that the administration had advance knowledge of the purge and even helped orchestrate it, sources told me."

Jason Szep & Matt Spetalnick of Reuters: "A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal government documents reviewed by Reuters. A confidential State Department 'dissent' memo not previously reported said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries.... Keeping the countries off the annual list makes it easier to provide them with U.S. military assistance. Iraq and Afghanistan are close allies in the fight against Islamist militants, while Myanmar is an emerging ally to offset China's influence in Southeast Asia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Gary Cohn wants to save morons from the estate tax. Spirit of the season, Gary; you're a great guy. New York Times Editors reprise some of the lies & fake rationales Republicans are pushing to eliminate the estate tax on the top 0.02 percent of Americans. Mrs. McC: BTW, the No. 1 moron Cohn is sparing is his boss (and needy little heirs). (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "Federal agents are planning to conduct a major worksite enforcement operation at a national food service chain in the coming weeks, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) document reviewed by The Daily Beast. The current plan is focused on employers who exploit undocumented workers by illegally paying them below the minimum wage. The operation will target locations around the country and will likely result in charges of 'harboring illegal aliens,' according to an ICE official." --safari

David Dayen in The Intercept: "As soon as Richard Cordray, the current director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, officially resigns -- which could happen as soon as this week -- we are told President Donald Trump will choose Mick Mulvaney, the current director of the Office of Management and Budget, to run the CFPB on a temporary basis.... It would be a GOP dream come true. Mulvaney ... once called CFPB a 'sad, sick joke.'... There's only one problem: it's not Trump's pick to make.... In the event of the absence of a director for the agency, the deputy director serves that role.... [I]t doesn't require Senate confirmation. This would mean David Silberman..., a former AFL-CIO deputy general counsel and a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall who has worked at the CFPB since 2011." --safari ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I gather it works like this: The director names a deputy director who takes over & names a deputy director, & so on. However, as Dayen points out, there is no deputy director now; Silberman is an acting deputy director. In any event, Dayen also foresees "a titanic legal battle" between the White House & the agency over the naming of a new director.

Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "The Federal Communications Commission announced on Tuesday that it planned to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet, clearing the way for companies to charge more and block access to some websites. The proposal, put forward by the F.C.C. chairman, Ajit Pai, is a sweeping repeal of rules put in place by the Obama administration. The rules prohibited high-speed internet service providers from blocking or slowing down the delivery of websites, or charging extra fees for the best quality of streaming and other internet services for their subscribers. Those limits are central to the concept called net neutrality. The action immediately reignited a loud and furious fight over free speech and the control of the internet, pitting telecom giants like AT&T against internet giants like Google and Amazon, who warn against powerful telecom gatekeepers." ...

... Margaret McGill of Politico: "The Obama administration's net neutrality rules met their all-but-certain demise Tuesday as Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai outlined a plan to repeal them -- while making sure states can't impose their own regulations to fill the void.... Blocking states from acting unilaterally would help cement that victory in a policy dispute that has whipsawed for years as the White House changed hands and courts took up the issue.... Proponents of the current rules question whether the FCC has the authority to block states from issuing their own rules, especially when the agency is paring back its oversight over internet service providers in the order." ...

... Adi Robertson of the Verge: "New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman revealed today that his office has been investigating a flood of spam FCC comments that impersonated real people.... In an open letter addressing FCC chairman Ajit Pai, Schneiderman writes that his office has spent six months investigating who submitted hundreds of thousands of identical anti-net neutrality comments under the names and addresses of unwitting Americans. But he says that the FCC has ignored multiple requests for logs and records, offering 'no substantive response.'... Public comments played a huge role in helping pass strong net neutrality rules in 2015, but this time around, the process was a mess. Many comments were made under assumed names or disposable email addresses, and the system briefly crashed in early May, when the FCC claimed it had been hit with a denial-of-service attack." ...

... David Coldewey of TechCrunch: "For someone who claims to be working for the American people, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai sure doesn't seem to care what they have to say. In his announcement today that the Commission would vote whether to roll back net neutrality rules on December 15, he made no mention of the inconvenient and embarrassing fact that his proposal had attracted historic attention, garnering over 22 million comments -- the majority of which opposed it. The statement mentions benefiting or protecting consumers five times.... Yet those very same consumers wrote the Chairman by the millions to say that they felt the existing rules protect them very well and that to remove them would be detrimental to their safety and privacy."

** Mark Stern of Slate: "Another federal judge has concluded that ... Donald Trump's ban on transgender military service is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis, a George H.W. Bush appointee, blocked the entirety of Trump's order on Tuesday in a trenchant opinion that pilloried the president for his 'capricious' attempt to 'degrade' American service members on account of their gender identity. LGBTQ advocates could not have hoped for a better decision.... Garbis recognized judicial deference is typically 'owed to military personnel decisions.' But he declined to apply that deference here in light of the fact that the president tweeted the ban with no 'policy review' or 'evidence demonstrating' that it 'was necessary for any legitimate national interest.' Instead, Garbis agreed with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who blocked the ban in October, that 'the decision to exclude transgender individuals was not driven by genuine concerns regarding military efficacy.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You mean instantaneous "governance" by tweet is unacceptable? This could be the most important takeaway from Garbis's decision: that a president cannot instantly turn his politically-motivated whims into federal policy. For a president who is too impulsive to wait for "process," Garbis's smackdown must be infuriating.

Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Three military personnel have been reassigned from their White House jobs amid allegations that they had improper contact with foreign women while traveling with President Trump on his recent trip to Asia, according to officials familiar with the situation. The service members worked for the White House Communications Agency, a specialized military unit that helps provide the president, vice president, Secret Service and other officials with secure communications. The military is scrutinizing three Army noncommissioned officers who allegedly broke curfew during Trump's trip to Vietnam this month, officials said."

Today in Sexual Harassment News:

Yamiche Alcindor, et al., of the New York Times: "... Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, moved swiftly on Tuesday against the House's longest serving lawmaker, calling for the House Ethics Committee to investigate sexual harassment charges against Representative John Conyers Jr., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Conyers, 88, who has represented parts of the Detroit area in the House since 1965, confirmed the settlement of a wrongful termination complaint in 2015 from a staff member who had accused him of sexual harassment. But he denied that the staff member was fired for refusing to have sex with him. The settlement was first reported by Buzzfeed News on Monday. Ms. Pelosi and senior Democrats on the Judiciary Committee offered little support, and the Ethics Committee said it had indeed opened an investigation." ...

... Paul McLeod & Lissandra Villa of BuzzFeed: "Another former staff member to Michigan Rep. John Conyers alleged that she endured persistent sexual harassment by the congressman, according to court documents. A former scheduler in the Conyers' office attempted to file a sealed lawsuit against him this February in the US District Court for the District of Columbia that alleges she suffered unwanted touching by the Democrat 'repeatedly and daily.' She abandoned the lawsuit the next month, after the court denied her motion to seal the complaint. The woman was not involved in the 2015 sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal complaint that Conyers settled in 2015, which was revealed Monday by BuzzFeed News, and is now under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The lawsuit centered on behavior that took place later, from 2015 to 2016, but involves similar allegations." ...

... Say What? AP: "Longtime Michigan Rep. John Conyers on Tuesday denied settling a complaint in 2015 from a woman who alleged she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances.... Conyers, who answered the door at his Detroit home, told The Associated Press that he knows nothing about any claims of inappropriate touching and learned of the story from television just hours earlier. 'I have been looking at these things in amazement,' he said, referring to allegations of sexual harassment and assault being made against politicians and others." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Um, this won't be the end of the story. BTW, Conyers didn't deny the allegations; he denied knowledge that anyone had made a claim. ...

... Editors of the Detroit Free Press call for Conyer's resignation. ...

... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Journalism can make for strange bedfellows. Case in point: BuzzFeed and Mike Cernovich. Cernovich -- a controversial far-right figure who has promoted blatantly false conspiracy theories, such as the discredited 'Pizzagate' hoax -- was the source of a big BuzzFeed scoop Monday night.... The agreement between Cernovich and BuzzFeed appears to have come with a hidden facet: Cernovich acquired the congressional documents after offering to pay $10,000 for them.... Cernovich declined Tuesday to say whether he actually paid anyone.... BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith said Tuesday he was not aware of the offer. A BuzzFeed spokesman said the site 'would never pay for information.'..."

Christie D'Zurilla of the Los Angeles Times: "Saying they 'feel compelled to stand up for Al Franken,' 36 women affiliated with 'Saturday Night Live' during the now-senator's 20 years on the show have signed a letter countering sexual harassment allegations recently leveled against the Minnesota Democrat. Signatories included original 'SNL' cast members Laraine Newman and Jane Curtin, along with 34 women who worked on the show behind the scenes between 1975 and the present. Franken was a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy show primarily from 1975 to 1995. 'What Al did was stupid and foolish, and we think it was appropriate for him to apologize...,' the letter said. However, it continued, 'after years of working with him, we would like to acknowledge that not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior; and mention our sincere appreciation that he treated each one of us with the utmost respect and regard.'" ..

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: At this point, it appears that the horrific allegations against John Conyers may help Franken keep his seat. So far, when compared with Conyers' apparent pattern of harassment & abuse, the stories about Franken are beginning to look more like really bad manners.

Senate Race

Brad Reed of RawStory: "A retired Alabama police officer told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday that she had to keep an eye on Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in the 1980s at local high school football games because he would regularly harass the team's teenage cheerleaders. Faye Gary, who for 37 years was an officer at the Gadsden Police Department, explained to Mitchell that Moore's reputation for pursuing underage girls was widely known throughout the community." --safari

Patrick Coolican & Jennifer Bjorhus of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "A pair of Minnesota state lawmakers -- one a DFL senator, the other a Republican representative -- announced Tuesday that they will resign from office in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Word of the resignations of Sen. Dan Schoen and Rep. Tony Cornish came within two hours of each other, capping a stunning sequence of events that vividly demonstrated a new awareness of what many insiders say has been a long-standing tolerance of mistreatment of women working at Minnesota's Capitol. Both men had been under pressure from leaders of their parties to resign. But in leaving, the two legislators, both with law enforcement backgrounds, struck sharply different tones. Cornish, an eight-term representative from southern Minnesota's Vernon Center, issued an apologetic statement and agreed to pay the legal bills of Sarah Walker, a lobbyist he had repeatedly propositioned for sex.... Schoen continued to deny wrongdoing. The St. Paul Park resident served two House terms starting in 2013 and joined the Senate at the beginning of this year. His lawyer, Paul Rogosheske, said Schoen felt he had little choice but to resign, adding that they plan to release information Wednesday that would demonstrate Schoen's innocence."

So Long, Charlie. John Koblin & Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "CBS fired Charlie Rose on Tuesday, a day after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Not long afterward, PBS canceled distribution of his self-titled nightly interview program. David Rhodes, the president of CBS News, told staff members in an internal email that Mr. Rose, a host of 'CBS This Morning' and a '60 Minutes' correspondent, had been let go after allegations were raised 'of extremely disturbing and intolerable behavior said to have revolved around his PBS program.' PBS, which had been the longtime home of 'Charlie Rose,' released a statement 70 minutes after CBS cut ties with the host. 'In light of yesterday's revelations, PBS has terminated its relationship with Charlie Rose and canceled distribution of his programs,' the nonprofit broadcaster said in its statement. 'PBS expects all the producers we work with to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect.'" ...

... Daily Beast: "Three CBS News employees have come forward accusing Charlie Rose of sexual misconduct."

Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: "One of the Walt Disney Company's most important executives, the Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, said Tuesday that he would take 'a six-month sabbatical' after unspecified 'missteps' that made some staffers feel 'disrespected or uncomfortable.' Mr. Lasseter, 60, made the announcement in a lengthy email sent to employees at Disney's animation division, which he leads as chief creative officer.... Shortly after Mr. Lasseter's announcement, The Hollywood Reporter published

Natasha Lennard of The Intercept: "A national conversation about structurally enabled sexual violence in this country needs to address prisons and detention centers. According to a 2012 Justice Department report, an estimated 200,000-plus people are sexually abused in U.S. detention centers every year...." --safari

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Eric Newcomer of Bloomberg: "Hackers stole the personal data of 57 million customers and drivers from Uber Technologies Inc., a massive breach that the company concealed for more than a year. This week, the ride-hailing firm ousted its chief security officer and one of his deputies for their roles in keeping the hack under wraps, which included a $100,000 payment to the attackers. Compromised data from the October 2016 attack included names, email addresses and phone numbers of 50 million Uber riders around the world, the company told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The personal information of about 7 million drivers was accessed as well, including some 600,000 U.S. driver's license numbers. No Social Security numbers, credit card information, trip location details or other data were taken, Uber said."

Noor Al-Sibai of RawStory: "After discovering that Richard Spencer and his National Policy Institute were hosting an event at their farm venue over the weekend, the owners of Rocklands Farm in Poolesville, Maryland kicked the white nationalists out in the middle of their booking." --safari

Juan Cole: "China will have installed 54 gigawatts of new solar energy by the end of 2017, instead of the 15 gigawatts forecast last January or the 30 gigawatts forecast as late as last June. As of last June, the US installed solar capacity was only 47 gigawatts, accounting for less than 2% of American electricity generation. That is, China is putting in more solar energy in 2017 than has ever been installed in the whole history of the United States.... Not only is the sheer amount of solar power generation increasing at blinding speed but the cost is plummeting in unrigged markets, as well. Mexico just accepted bids of 1.77 cents per kilowatt hour.... In most states in the US it would now cost you 8 cents to 22 cents, if the electricity were generated by coal and natural gas." --safari

Jessica Brown of the Guardian: "[T]he battle against sugar might have begun sooner if the industry hadn't kept secrets to protect its commercial interests.... In 1967, when scientists were arguing over the link between sugar consumption and increased risk of heart disease, researchers now claim that the International Sugar Research Foundation (ISRF) withheld findings that rats that were fed a high-sugar diet had higher levels of triglycerides (a fat found in the blood) than those fed starch.... The researchers conclude that the debates we now have on sugar's effects on our health are potentially rooted in six decades of the sugar industry's manipulation of scientific evidence." --safari

Beyond the Beltway

Frances Robles of the New York Times: "With less than half the power on Puerto Rico restored two months after a deadly hurricane hit the island, the company hired to help bring back the electricity is 'standing down,' it said, because it is owed tens of millions of dollars for weeks of work. Whitefish Energy Holdings had already been fired last month by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority after widespread criticism and multiple investigations of a $300 million contract it received to help repair the island's power grid. Even with the cancellation of the contentious contract, the company and its 500 workers were supposed to stay on the job until the end of the month. Puerto Rico's bankrupt electric company, known as Prepa, is behind in its payments and Whitefish cannot continue fronting the cash needed to hire subcontracted workers, Whitefish said. Dozens of line workers from Florida have already begun heading home, because the utilities they work for are nervous about payment, the company said in a letter to Prepa. It added that it hoped to resume work once the payment issue was resolved."

Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) has chosen an official charged with obstruction of justice in the Flint water crisis to head up the state's Public Health Advisory Council. According to WUOM-FM, Snyder selected Michigan's chief medical executive, Dr. Eden Well[s], to head up the agency tasked with anticipating and preparing and responding to public health crises. Wells was expected to appear in court on Tuesday on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to an officer in connection to the Flint water crisis, with threat of manslaughter charges looming due to the deaths of Flint residents according to prosecutors.... Snyder's office defended the controversial appointment, issuing a statement reading, 'Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.'"--safari

WWJGrab? Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "An LDS church in Berkeley County, West Virginia has been hit with a massive lawsuit for knowingly allowing a pedophile to serve as a youth leader despite accusations of child molestation dating back to 2007. According to Fox13, Michael Jensen was sentenced to 35 to 75 years in prison in 2013 for first-degree sexual assault, after he was convicted of abusing minors, including one as young a[s] 4-years-old. Now twelve plaintiffs -- identified in court documents as 'John and Jane Doe' — are suing the church and church officials, including Jensen’s parent, after it was revealed they allowed the man to oversee children despite knowing about complaints." --safari

Way Beyond

Norimitsu Onishi & Jeffrey Moyo of the New York Times: "Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, resigned as president on Tuesday shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against him, according to the speaker of Parliament. The speaker of Parliament read out a letter in which Mr. Mugabe said he was stepping down 'with immediate effect' for 'the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Shaun Walker & Hannah Devlin of the Guardian: "A secretive Russian nuclear facility has denied it was behind high atmospheric concentrations of the radioactive isotope ruthenium-106, after Russia's meteorological service confirmed levels several hundred times the norm were found in several locations in the country during tests in late September.... Russia’s nuclear agency had denied European reports of increased ruthenium-106 levels.... Nuclear experts also said there was no evidence to suggest the leak posed a significant hazard to human health or the environment." --safari

News Lede

New York Times: "David Cassidy, the actor, singer and teen heartthrob best known for his role as the band member with the green eyes and the feathered haircut on the 1970s television sitcom 'The Partridge Family,' died on Tuesday. He was 67. His death was confirmed by his publicist, Jo-Ann Geffen, who said the cause was liver failure."

The Commentariat -- November 21, 2017

Late Morning Update:

Say What? AP: "Longtime Michigan Rep. John Conyers on Tuesday denied settling a complaint in 2015 from a woman who alleged she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances.... Conyers, who answered the door at his Detroit home, told The Associated Press that he knows nothing about any claims of inappropriate touching and learned of the story from television just hours earlier. 'I have been looking at these things in amazement,' he said, referring to allegations of sexual harassment and assault being made against politicians and others." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Um, this won't be the end of the story. BTW, Conyers didn't deny the allegations; he denied knowledge that anyone had made a claim.

Jason Szep & Matt Spetalnick of Reuters: "A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal government documents reviewed by Reuters. A confidential State Department 'dissent' memo not previously reported said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries.... Keeping the countries off the annual list makes it easier to provide them with U.S. military assistance. Iraq and Afghanistan are close allies in the fight against Islamist militants, while Myanmar is an emerging ally to offset China's influence in Southeast Asia."

Norimitsu Onishi & Jeffrey Moyo of the New York Times: "Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, resigned as president on Tuesday shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against him, according to the speaker of Parliament. The speaker of Parliament read out a letter in which Mr. Mugabe said he was stepping down 'with immediate effect' for 'the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power.'"

Gary Cohn wants to save morons from the estate tax. Spirit of the season, Gary; you're a great guy. New York Times Editors reprise some of the lies & fake rationales Republicans are pushing to eliminate the estate tax on the top 0.02 percent of Americans. Mrs. Mc. C: BTW, the No. 1 moron Cohn is sparing is his boss (and needy little heirs).

*****

@ay back yesterday (and the day before), Trump reminded us that every day is Pick on Black People Day. Looks as if his most recent performances were preludes to this: ...

... Karen DeYoung & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has given nearly 60,000 Haitians with provisional legal residency in this country 18 months to leave, announcing Monday that it will not renew the Temporary Protected Status that has allowed them to remain here for more than seven years. The decision came after the Department of Homeland Security determined that the 'extraordinary conditions' justifying their presence in the United States following a 2010 earthquake 'no longer exist,' according to a senior administration official."

Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump's charitable foundation, which last year admitted violating federal rules on 'self-dealing,' is in the process of dissolving, according to newly filed documents.... The move fulfills a promise Trump made last December, when he said he would wind down the Donald J. Trump Foundation to avoid conflicts of interest. New York's attorney general ordered the foundation to stop soliciting contributions in October 2016.... The [state] attorney general's press secretary, Amy Spitalnick, said the foundation can't close just yet, however. 'As the foundation is still under investigation by this office, it cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,' said Spitalnick.... Trump has not donated to the foundation since 2008 but it has received tens of millions of dollars during the past 10 years." ...

... BUT His "Charity" Is Still Doing Funny Business. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "One of President Trump's golf courses paid back more than $158,000 to Trump's charitable foundation this year, reimbursing the charity for money that had been used to settle a lawsuit against the club, according to a new tax filing. The March 2017 payment came after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, launched an investigation into how the Donald J. Trump Foundation collects and disburses funds. The inquiry is ongoing.... During the probe, the foundation cannot raise money or give it away.... Along with that payment [from the Westchester golf club], the foundation received another $62,184 in reimbursements from unidentified sources.... Nonprofits are prohibited from participating in political campaigns. But the most prominent thing the Trump Foundation did in 2016 was to take part in a TV event advertised by Trump's political campaign, in which Trump held a fundraiser for veterans while skipping a Fox News-run GOP debate. Trump brought in more than $2 million to his foundation at that event, and gave some of the proceeds away during his presidential campaign rallies."

Trump Is a Moron, Ctd. Joseph Bernstein of BuzzFeed: "National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster mocked President Trump's intelligence at a private dinner with a powerful tech CEO, according to five sources with knowledge of the conversation. Over a July dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz -- who has been mentioned as a candidate for several potential administration jobs -- McMaster bluntly trashed his boss, said the sources, four of whom told BuzzFeed News they heard about the exchange directly from Catz. The top national security official dismissed the president variously as an 'idiot' and a 'dope' with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner,' the sources said. A sixth source who was not familiar with the details of the dinner told BuzzFeed News that McMaster had made similarly derogatory comments about Trump's intelligence to him in private, including that the president lacked the necessary brainpower to understand the matters before the National Security Council. Both Oracle and the Trump administration heatedly denied the comments that Catz later recounted.... Three of the sources said that McMaster disparaged multiple members of the administration to Catz, including [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, and ... Jared Kushner.... '[Catz] said the conversation was so inappropriate that it was jaw-dropping,' another source told BuzzFeed News." ...

... digby: "I could easily see him saying it. I could just as easily see someone lying about it to cause a rift between McMaster and Trump. But it doesn't really matter. He is an idiot and a dope who has the intelligence of a kindergartener and he does not have the necessary brainpower to understand matter before the NSC. Nobody needs McMaster to say it privately. He's a fucking moron and everyone knows it." ...

... ** Adam Serwer of the Atlantic puts the fucking moron's candidacy & his presidency in its historical context: "It was not just Trump's supporters who were in denial about what they were voting for, but Americans across the political spectrum, who, as had been the case with those who had backed [David] Duke, searched desperately for any alternative explanation -- outsourcing, anti-Washington anger, economic anxiety -- to the one staring them in the face [-- racism]. The frequent postelection media expeditions to Trump country ... are a direct outgrowth of this mistake. These supporters will not change their minds because this is what they always wanted: a president who embodies the rage they feel toward those they hate and fear, while reassuring them that that rage is nothing to be ashamed of." ...

... AND, Speaking of History..., Dana Milbank: "... there is something truly historic about Trump -- his histrionics. He surely has no rival in trying to assert the historic nature of everything he does. A search of the White House website finds that the president and his team have declared their actions historic nearly 400 times in their first 10 months in office. Trump has always asserted that he is the best and the greatest, but his attempts to write himself into the history books have truly been history-making." Milbank goes on to name some of the things that Trump & mike pence have labelled "historic." pence is especially ridiculous; he calls the most routine functions "historic."

Exploding Thanksgiving Turkey? Jonathan Chait: "... in the face of this mounting evidence and the warnings of some allies, Trump has remained -- by Trump's standards -- fairly calm [about the Mueller investigation]. Obviously, by the standards of a normal president, he is acting like a complete lunatic. But given Trump's patterns of spewing indiscriminate rage and abuse and lashing out at his enemies in wildly counterproductive fashion, he has conducted himself with notable restraint. Despite his barely concealed impulses, Trump has refrained from mass pardons or attempting to fire Mueller. The apparent reason for his serenity is that his lawyer, Ty Cobb, has placated Trump with promises that Mueller's probe would be over ... by Thanksgiving.... If Cobb has bought time with Trump by blowing sunshine up his ass, at some point Trump will stop believing his lawyer's absurdly copacetic analysis and start believing the people who are warning him about the Gambino-style roll-up under way.... At some point, Trump is going to blow." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a pretty funny column. Chait equates a personal situation he & his wife endured with Trump's Cobb-induced expectation that everything will be fine. If you've ever taken off work to wait for the cable guy or sat by the phone like a teenager waiting for an important call that never came, you'll relate. ...

... Matthew Mosk of ABC News: "Travels by Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to meet with senior officials in Hungary during the 2016 presidential election are being closely examined by congressional investigators, given the increasingly close ties between Hungary and Russia and the role of the country as a hub for Russian intelligence activity. The Hungarian prime minister was the first foreign leader to endorse Donald Trump's candidacy. Though characterized as a low-level volunteer, Page held high-level foreign policy meetings with Hungarian officials before the 2016 presidential election.... The meetings included a 45-minute session in September 2016 with Jeno Megyesy, who is a close adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and focuses on relations with the United States, at his office in Budapest, where Page presented himself as a member of then-candidate Trump's foreign policy team."

Cecilia Kang & Michael de la Merced of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Monday sued to block AT&T's $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner, setting up a showdown over the first blockbuster acquisition to come before the Trump administration. By challenging the deal, the Justice Department is taking a starkly different approach to antitrust issues than the Obama administration did. In 2011, for instance, the department approved a similar deal -- Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal -- after imposing numerous conditions on the transaction." ...

... Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "The move by the Justice Department's antitrust division is unusual because it challenges a deal that would combine two different kinds of companies -- a telecom with a media and entertainment company. Antitrust officials are relatively untested in the courts on opposing such deals and have rarely tried to squash them. If successful, however, the government's case would send a strong signal across the business world that Washington is no longer looking as kindly on such mergers.... There is also political risk for the Justice Department. Some Democrats have expressed concern that antitrust officials could be seeking to block the deal because the Trump administration has been highly critical of CNN, which is owned by Time Warner -- a charge that the department and the White House have denied." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So is this JeffBo's gift to Trump? Just asking. It seems a little odd that the anti-regulation Trump administration would suddenly get all anti-trust.

Traffic Jam. Welcome to the Slow Lane of the Information Superhighway: Cecilia Kang: "The Federal Communications Commission is preparing a full repeal of net neutrality rules that require broadband providers to give consumers equal access to all content on the internet, putting more power in the hands of those companies to dictate people's online experiences. Ajit Pai, the chairman of the F.C.C., plans to reveal a sweeping proposal to scrap the net neutrality rules on Tuesday.... A rollback of net neutrality regulations would represent a significant victory for broadband and telecom companies like AT&T and Comcast and would amount to a strike against consumers."

Euan McKirdy of CNN: "A federal judge has permanently blocked ... Donald Trump's executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with US immigration authorities. US District Court Judge William Orrick issued the ruling on Monday in lawsuits brought by two California counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara. Orrick said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress. The ruling nullifies the executive order Trump signed in January, shortly after taking office, which was designed to crack down on so-called 'sanctuary cities,' municipalities that do not comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests for assistance with identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants.... A Department of Justice spokesman said the court had 'exceeded its authority' in its ruling, and vowed that the department would continue to follow Trump's direction with regard to the January executive order." Mrs. McC: Orrick is an Obama appointee. It would be such a shame of AG JeffBo, Evil Elf & Number 1 fan of Trump's sanctuary cities order, ended up in prison for defying a court order.

All the Best People, Ctd. Danny Vinik & Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "The Trump administration is leaning toward naming Thomas Brunell, a Texas professor with no government experience, to the top operational job at the U.S. Census Bureau, according to two people who have been briefed on the Bureau's plans. Brunell ... has testified more than half a dozen times on behalf of Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts, and is the author of a 2008 book titled 'Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America.'... The pick would break with the long-standing precedent of choosing a nonpolitical government official as deputy director of the U.S. Census Bureau. The job has typically been held by a career civil servant with a background in statistics. It does not require Senate confirmation, so Congress would have no power to block the hire.... The fate of the Census under Trump has been closely watched by voting-rights advocates worried that the administration -- which has already made unsupported claims about voter fraud -- might nudge it in directions that over- or under-count some Americans. Subtle bureaucratic choices in the wording and administration of the Census can have huge consequences for who is counted, and how it shifts American voting districts."

** Tax "Reform." The GOP lie machine is cranked up to maximum, but it's Paul Krugman who's exploding: "... we're really looking at an unprecedented level of dishonesty here. But what happens when you try to explain what's going on? When Senator Sherrod Brown tried to point out, correctly, that the Senate G.O.P.'s tax bill heavily favors the rich, Senator Orrin Hatch exploded, calling it 'bull crap' and asserting that he grew up poor (which is relevant why, exactly?). Sorry, but this isn't the righteous anger of a man falsely accused of wrongdoing. It';s the rage con men always exhibit when caught out in their con." Mrs. McC: And here's a line for P.D. Pepe & me: "Oh, and a memo to journalists: If you play it safe by reporting this as 'Democrats say' that middle-class taxes will go up, you're misleading your readers: Those estimates come from the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's own nonpartisan scorekeeper." In reading Krugman's column, one might think he wrote parts of it off Reality Chex. ...

... Kevin Drum: For some reason Republicans were all upset that their own Joint Committee on Taxation had calculated the effects of their tax "reform" bill on what-all was in the Senate version -- including repeal of the ObamaCare mandate. So the Tax Policy Center obliged their concern, & analyzed the bill minus the effects of repealing the mandate. "Among middle-class families, 50-70 percent will see a tax increase by 2027. Among the rich, that number is only 15-30 percent. And among the super-duper rich, almost no one sees a tax increase.... These charts ... come out every few days, and they're from reputable sources. And they all show a massive preference toward the rich. But Republicans like Orrin Hatch pretend to be outraged when anyone points this out. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan stay scarce so they don't have to answer questions. Other Republicans insist that these analyses are totally bogus because they don't account for supercharged growth, and Fox News eagerly joins in. Donald Trump, who would reap tens of millions of dollars from this tax bill, routinely lies in public about how he'd 'get killed' -- and then tosses in a real thigh slapper: 'The deal is so bad for rich people, I had to throw in the estate tax just to give them something.'"

Derek Hawkins, et al., of the Washington Post: "A U.S. Border Patrol agent who was killed while on patrol in southwest Texas may have been beaten to death by attackers wielding rocks, according to the president of the National Border Patrol Council. Brandon Judd, president of the labor union, said Agent Rogelio Martinez died Sunday of blunt force trauma to the head.... Authorities have been searching for witnesses and potential suspects after Martinez was killed and a fellow agent was seriously injured.... By Monday afternoon, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for what he called the ;murder; of a Border Patrol agent." Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday night, "Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!"

** Today in Sexual Harassment News:

M.J. Lee of CNN: "A woman says Sen. Al Franken inappropriately touched her in 2010, telling CNN that he grabbed her buttocks while taking a photo at the Minnesota State Fair. It is the first allegation of improper touching by Franken, who is a Democrat, while he was in office.... Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old woman..., reached out to CNN on Thursday hours after [Leeann] Tweeden made her story public. Menz said she wanted to share an 'uncomfortable' interaction that left her feeling 'gross.'... As her husband held up her phone and got ready to snap a photo of the two of them, Franken 'pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear,' Menz said. 'It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek.'" Menz told her husband & other family members at the time about the incident & wrote about it on Facebook as well. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Menz's account seems completely credible to me. I'm afraid Al is toast. If he did this once, he likely did it many times. Ask professional ass-grabber & retired President George H.W. Bush. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "What makes this allegation different from the earlier accusation by TV personality Leeann Tweeden (other than the lack of photo evidence) is that it occurred after Franken was elected to the Senate. That makes it squarely within the jurisdiction of the Senate Ethics Committee, which was already expected to investigate the Minnesotan, at his own request. The fate of Al Franken's political career, if it has not already been sealed, may depend on whether other women now come forward in response to fresh evidence that the senator had a problem that led to inappropriate if not criminal conduct." ...

... Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Two prominent progressive groups are calling on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against him. Credo Action and Indivisible called for Franken's resignation Monday after a second woman accused Franken of groping her without her consent. 'Sen. Al Franken had the chance last week to take full responsibility for past sexual harassment, sexual assault and any other behavior that demeaned women. He failed to do so,' Credo said in a statement. 'We believe that Sen. Franken should immediately resign from the U.S.Senate and that Gov. Mark Dayton should appoint a progressive woman to replace him.'" ...

... Nicole LaFond of TPM: "Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) tribute to David Letterman will be [was] cut from Monday night's PBS special honoring the longtime comedian, according to a PBS spokesperson, who said including Franken would be a distraction in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against the senator."

... Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times is troubled by her call last week for Franken to resign, even in light of the new accusation by Lindsay Menz.

** Paul McLeod & Lissandra Villa of BuzzFeed: "Michigan Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 with a former employee who alleged she was fired because she would not 'succumb to [his] sexual advances.' Documents from the complaint obtained by BuzzFeed News include four signed affidavits ... from former staff members who allege that Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sexual favors, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs, caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public. Four people involved with the case verified the documents are authentic.... And the documents also reveal the secret mechanism by which Congress has kept an unknown number of sexual harassment allegations secret: a grinding, closely held process that left the alleged victim feeling, she told BuzzFeed News, that she had no option other than to stay quiet and accept a settlement offered to her.... The Conyers documents ... give a glimpse into the inner workings of the office, which has for decades concealed episodes of sexual abuse by powerful political figures." ...

     ... Margaret Hartmann has a good summary of the Conyers story, with additional commentary. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: There is no doubt that the allegations against Conyers are true. He really must resign now, & if he will not do so, the House must oust him, with full Democratic support. And, no, I don't care that BuzzFeed got its story from a right-wing nut.

Irin Carmon & Amy Brittain of the Washington Post: "Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas. The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the 'Charlie Rose' show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS and Bloomberg TV, also co-hosts 'CBS This Morning' and is a contributing correspondent for '60 Minutes.'... Within hours of the publication of this story, PBS and Bloomberg LP immediately suspended distribution of the 'Charlie Rose' show. CBS announced that it was suspending Rose as it looked into the matter.... Rumors about Rose's behavior have circulated for years." "That's just Charlie being Charlie." his long-time producer Yvette Vega allegedly told one of Rose's victims when the victim told Vega of Rose's behavior toward her. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The stories the women tell are awful -- and credible. If you're curious about how "respectable" men get away with this crap, the article is a short course.

Laura McGann of Vox reports on an incident in which New York Times White House reporter Glenn Thrush "caught me off guard, put his hand on my thigh, and suddenly started kissing me. Thrush says that he recalls the incident differently.... Three young women I interviewed ... described to me a range of similar experiences, from unwanted groping and kissing to wet kisses out of nowhere to hazy sexual encounters that played out under the influence of alcohol.... I was -- and am -- angry. Details of their stories suggest a pattern. All of the women were in their 20s at the time. They were relatively early in their careers compared to Thrush, who was the kind of seasoned journalist who would be good to know. At an event with alcohol, he made advances. Afterward, they (as I did) thought it best to stay on good terms with Thrush, whatever their feelings." Thrush presents himself as an advocate for female journalists. "Eileen Murphy, the senior vice president of communications for the New York Times..., [wrote], 'We intend to fully investigate and while we do, Glenn will be suspended. We support his decision to enter a substance abuse program....'" ...

     ... The New York Times story, by Sydney Ember, is here.

** Kyle Whitmire of AL.com: Many Alabama voters say they believe Roy Moore but not his accusers. Then these voters should believe what Roy has said about how he first scoped out his wife -- it was at a junior college dance recital in which she performed a "special dance." Kayla would have been 15 years old at the time, by Whitmire's calculation. Years later, when he met her again, he said he remembered her from that "special dance." Kayla Moore is 14 years younger than Roy. ...

Jonathan Stempel of Reuters: "Twenty-First Century Fox Inc has reached a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims arising from the sexual harassment scandal at its Fox News Channel, which cost the jobs of longtime news chief Roger Ailes and anchor Bill O'Reilly. The settlement, which requires a judge's approval, resolves what are known as 'derivative' claims against Fox officers and directors, including: Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who are Fox's executive chairmen; James Murdoch, another son and its chief executive, and Ailes' estate. The defendants did not admit wrongdoing.... Monday's settlement calls for insurers of Fox officers, Fox directors and Ailes' estate to pay the $90 million to the New York-based company for the benefit of shareholders.... In a typical derivative case, shareholders sue in the name of a company to remedy wrongs inflicted by an alleged lack of oversight by a company's officers and directors."

Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "Jeanine F. Pirro, the high-octane host of a Fox News Channel show, was given a summons on Sunday for driving 119 miles per hour in upstate New York, according to the State Police. Ms. Pirro ... said in a statement that she was unaware that she was going nearly double the speed limit of 65 miles an hour." Mrs. McC: She should get her good friend & promoter Donald Trump to pardon her.