The Ledes

Friday, January 17, 2025

The New York Times' live udpates on the Los Angeles-area fires are here.

New York Times: “Bob Uecker, the clubhouse wit who turned his tales of inferiority as a major league catcher into a comic narrative that animated his second career as a sportscaster and commercial pitchman, died on Thursday at his home in Menomonee Falls, Wis. He was 90. His family announced the death in a statement released by the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he had long been a broadcaster.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Thursday, January 16, 2025

New York Times: “David Lynch, a painter turned avant-garde filmmaker whose fame, influence and distinctively skewed worldview extended far beyond the movie screen to encompass television, records, books, nightclubs, a line of organic coffee and his Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, has died. He was 78..”

New York Times: “Dangerous winds were subsiding in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, but frustration was growing among displaced residents desperate to return to their neighborhoods after more than a week of devastating wildfires. Nine days after the blazes ignited, no timeline has been announced for lifting evacuation orders that have affected tens of thousands of Southern California residents. Firefighters were still working to contain the biggest blazes in the region, the Palisades and Eaton fires. Experts said it could take weeks before people can return to the hardest-hit neighborhoods.” This is a liveblog.

New York Times: “On Thursday morning..., Jeff Bezos’ space company sent its first rocket into orbit. At 2:03 a.m. Eastern time, seven powerful engines ignited at the base of a 320-foot-tall rocket named New Glenn. The flames illuminated night into day at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket, barely moving at first, nudged upward, and then accelerated in an arc over the Atlantic Ocean.” This is a liveblog.

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

New York Times: “The president of MSNBC, Rashida Jones, is stepping down from that position, the company said on Tuesday, a major change at the news network just days before ... Donald J. Trump takes office. Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president for content strategy at MSNBC, will succeed Ms. Jones as interim president, effective immediately. Ms. Jones will stay on in an advisory role through March.... MSNBC is among a bundle of cable channels that its parent company, Comcast, is planning to spin out later this year into a new company.” ~~~

~~~ MSNBC: “On Monday, Jan. 20, MSNBC will present wall-to-wall coverage of the inauguration of ... Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance and will kick off special programming for the first 100 days of the new Trump administration.... On the heels of her field reporting during the last 100 days of the 2024 presidential campaign, Alex Wagner will travel the country to follow the biggest stories as they develop in real-time during Trump’s first 100 days in office, reporting on the impact of his early promises and policies on the electorate for 'Trumpland: The First 100 Days.'... During the first 100 days, Rachel Maddow will bring her signature voice and distinct perspective to the anchor desk every weeknight at 9 p.m. ET, offering viewers in-depth analysis of the key issues facing the country at the outset of Trump’s second term. After April 30, 'The Rachel Maddow Show' will return to its regular schedule of Mondays at 9 p.m. ET and Wagner will return to anchoring 'Alex Wagner Tonight' Tuesday through Friday.”

New York Times: "Neil Cavuto, a business journalist who hosted a weekday afternoon program on the Fox News Channel since the network began in 1996, signed off for the final time on Thursday[, December 19]. Mr. Cavuto could be an outlier on Fox News, often criticizing President Trump and his policies, and crediting the Covid-19 vaccination with saving his life."

Have Cello, May Not Travel. New York Times: “Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a rising star in classical music who performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 and has since become a regular on many of the world’s most prestigious concert stages, was forced to cancel a concert in Toronto last week because Air Canada refused to allow him to board a plane with his cello, even though he had purchased a separate ticket for it.... 'Air Canada has a comprehensive policy of accepting cellos in the cabin when a separate seat is booked for it,' it said in a statement. 'In this case, the customers made a last-minute booking due to their original flight on another airline being canceled.' The airline’s policy for carry-on instruments, outlined on its website, specifies that travelers must purchase a seat for their instruments at least 48 hours before departure.”

Here are photos of the White House Christmas decorations, via the White House. Also a link to last year's decorations. Sorry, no halls of blood-red fake trees.

Yes, You May Be a Neanderthal. Me Too! Washington Post: “A pair of new studies sheds light on a pivotal but mysterious chapter of the human origin story, revealing that modern humans and Neanderthals had babies together for an extended period, peaking 47,000 years ago — leaving genetic fingerprints in modern-day people.... [According to the report in Science,] Neanderthals and humans interbred for 7,000 years starting about 50,500 years ago.... Modern humans, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa about 300,000 years ago. Somewhere around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, a key group left the continent and encountered Neanderthals, a hominin relative that was established across western Eurasia but went extinct about 39,000 years ago.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe you parents were upset when you told them you planned to marry someone of a different race or religion. But, hey, think how distressed they would have been if you'd told them you were hooking up with a person of a different species!

There's No Money in Bananas. New York Times: “A week after a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur bought an artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape for $6.2 million at auction, the man, Justin Sun, announced a grand gesture on X. He said he planned on purchasing 100,000 bananas — or $25,000 worth of the produce — from the Manhattan stand where the original fruit was sold for 25 cents. But at the fruit stand at East 72nd Street and York Avenue, outside the doors of the Sotheby’s auction house where the conceptual artwork was sold, the offer landed with a thud against the realities of the life of a New York City street vendor. [Even if it were practicable to buy that many bananas at once,] the net profit ... would be about $6,000. 'There’s not any profit in selling bananas,' [the vendor Shah] Alam said.”

Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post on what's to become of MSNBC: “In the days that followed [the November election], MSNBC began seeing a significant decline in viewership (as has CNN), as left-leaning viewers opted to turn off the channel rather than watch the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory. One of the network’s most valuable franchises, 'Morning Joe,' faced backlash after hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed Nov. 18 that they had traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in an effort to 'restart communications.'... Questions about the future of the network picked up considerably Nov. 20, when parent company Comcast announced that it would spin off MSNBC and some of its other cable channels into a separate company.... The fear inside the building is about whether the move could portend a less ambitious future for MSNBC — with a smaller, lower-compensated staff and a lot less journalism, considering the network will be separated from the NBC News operation that contributes much of the reporting.”

The Washington Post introduces us to Lucy, the small, hominid ancestor of humans who lived 3.2 million years ago. American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered her skeleton in Ethiopia exactly 50 years ago, beginning on November 24, 1974. Eventually, about 40 percent of Lucy's skeleton was recovered.

New York Times: “Chris Wallace, a veteran TV anchor who left Fox News for CNN three years ago, announced on Monday that he was leaving his post to venture into the streaming or podcasting worlds.... He said his decision to leave CNN at the end of his three-year contract did not come from discontent. 'I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN was very good to me,' he said.”

New York Times: In a collection of memorabilia filed at New York City's Morgan Library, curator Robinson McClellan discovered the manuscript of a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania as well as other experts authenticated the manuscript. Includes video of Lang Lang performing the short waltz. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Times article goes into some of Chopin's life in Paris at the time he wrote the waltz, but it doesn't mention that he helped make ends meet by giving piano lessons. I know this because my great grandmother was one of his students. If her musical talent were anything like mine, those particular lessons would have been painful hours for Chopin.

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Thursday
Dec192024

The Conversation -- December 19, 2024

Once again, Not-President Trump -- this time with his co-president* (or his puppetmaster) Elon Musk -- has sent a normally-chaotic Washington into utter disarray. Why, one just might think this is what they want. ~~~

One or two puppet masters weigh in and extreme MAGA Republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well-connected, the millionaires and billionaires, not working-class people all across America.... The bill that is before us today is just part of an effort to shut down the government. -- Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on the House floor, Thursday ~~~

~~~ Jacob Bogage & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The federal government moved closer to a weekend shutdown Thursday, after the House overwhelmingly voted down Speaker Mike Johnson’s new plan to extend the deadline despite support from ... Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk. The GOP proposal would have extended federal operations into mid-March, sent more than $100 billion to natural-disaster survivors and suspended the country’s borrowing limit for two years. But it needed the support of two-thirds of the House to pass, and it went down by a 235-174 vote, with one member voting present. It wasn’t clear Thursday night what the next move will be....

"Only two Democrats supported the legislation, with 197 of them opposing it. But 38 Republicans also voted no — an indication of how difficult finding an alternative solution before the shutdown deadline may be for the GOP leader. The bipartisan legislation the House GOP scrapped Wednesday was substantially similar to the bill that Johnson tried to advance Thursday, though he dropped some provisions unrelated to spending and added — at Trump’s request — a suspension of the debt limit." This is an update of a story linked earlier Thursday.

You know those classic rom-coms where a couple meets at work, hilarity ensues, and everything works out in the end? They are fiction, people! ~~~

~~~ Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Georgia’s Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified the Atlanta prosecutor who brought an election interference case against ... Donald J. Trump and his allies, a surprise move that threw the entire case into disarray. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel reversed the trial judge, who in March had allowed Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., to keep the case, despite revelations about a romantic relationship she had with the lawyer who was hired to manage the prosecution. All three of the appeals judges are Republican appointees. While the decision is likely to be appealed to the full court, if it stands, it could doom the entire case, which is the last active criminal prosecution involving charges against Mr. Trump."

Jeanna Smialek & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy is pulling ahead of its global peers. Inflation is moderating, and the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates.... The unemployment rate is low. Consumers are spending.... Add in a decrease in unlawful southern border crossings and revved-up domestic production in several critical industries and they amount to a rough list of Donald J. Trump’s campaign promises. It’s a list of economic wins that Mr. Trump is inheriting in large part because of policies that the Federal Reserve and Biden administration have pursued in recent years.... But a variety of risks — some sheer happenstance, some floated by Mr. Trump — could interfere with that rosy outcome just as ... [he] takes office.... Economists have ... warned that Mr. Trump’s own policies could lift inflation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Partly but not wholly because Congressional Republicans oppose most laws designed to help ordinary Americans, Joe (Biden) & Jay (Powell) did not do enough to make the U.S. economy work ideally for its people. But in an irony upon irony, Joe & Jay did manage to make ours the best economy in the world, and now Trump, who promised butterflies and rainbows, is poised to wreck all that.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The 26-year-old man accused of murdering a health care executive in Manhattan agreed at a court hearing on Thursday to be extradited to New York, where he is facing a first-degree murder charge. The man, Luigi Mangione, was being held at a prison in Pennsylvania after he was spotted in a McDonald’s in the central part of the state and arrested by the local police. The Manhattan district attorney’s office sought to bring him to New York to prosecute him for the death of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare.... After his arrest last week, Mr. Mangione initially indicated through his lawyer that he would contest extradition to New York. Mr. Mangione has been represented by a lawyer in Pennsylvania, but he has also hired a prominent New York defense lawyer who formerly worked as a top prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the United States would aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by between 61 and 66 percent by 2035, compared with 2005 levels, even as the nation remains far off-track from meeting the climate goal he laid out for the end of the decade. The action comes despite the fact that ... Donald Trump has vowed to scrap dozens of climate rules and policies."

This is extraordinary. The Count of Mar-a-Lardo, who is currently an unemployed layabout, is about to shut down the government of one of the most important countries on Earth (as of this writing): ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "A bipartisan spending deal to avert a shutdown was on life support on Wednesday after ... Donald J. Trump condemned it, leaving lawmakers without a strategy to fund the government past a Friday night deadline. Mr. Trump issued a scathing statement ordering Republicans not to support the sprawling bill, piling on to a barrage of criticism from Elon Musk, who spent Wednesday trashing the measure on social media and threatening any Republican who supported it with political ruin. It was not yet clear how Speaker Mike Johnson planned to proceed as the package.... The bill appeared doomed when Mr. Trump weighed in late Wednesday afternoon, saying lawmakers needed to pass a 'temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS,' and said it should be combined with an increase in the debt ceiling.... It reflected a recognition by the president-elect that his party would have a difficult time raising the limit next year when they have full control of Congress, and that he would not want to sign such a measure." JayDee cosigned Trump's statement, and apparently Elon has a sidekick, too, as the report notes that Vivek Ramaswamy "joined" him in deriding the deal. Kinda sweet. Everybody will have someone to dance with at the inaugural ball. The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jacob Bogage & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The federal government is careening toward a weekend government shutdown deadline as congressional Republicans, egged on by ... Donald Trump and Elon Musk, feud over legislation to keep agencies open over the Christmas holiday. Republicans on Wednesday rejected a plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for a three-month stopgap funding extension, called a continuing resolution or CR, with more than $100 billion in aid for natural disaster survivors, bipartisan health-care policy changes and other unrelated provisions. In scrapping Johnson’s plan, Republicans cast doubt on his ability to maintain the speaker’s gavel in next year’s Congress."

     ~~~ Marie: The NYT report linked above says the government will probably run out of money in January. Still, it seems to me that Trump's push to raise the debt ceiling also is a tacit acknowledgment that he's going to drive up the national debt with his plans to continue tax cuts for corporations & the wealthy. ~~~

     ~~~ Or Is Trump Merely Elon's Puppet? Faiz Siddiqui, et al., of the Washington Post: "With a five-word post on X, [Elon] Musk threw the process [of passing a CR to keep the government runnin] into chaos. 'This bill should not pass,' [Musk] wrote at 4:15 a.m. Eastern time.... Over the ensuing 12 hours, Musk went on a prolific tirade against the bill — with more than 60 updates, some of which boosted false claims — that stood out even for a chronic poster who has commanded an audience of more than 200 million followers by broadcasting his largely uninhibited views on the site he owns. By midday, Musk’s barrage was increasingly acerbic, decrying the bill as 'terrible,' criminal,' '“outrageous,' 'horrible,' 'unconscionable,' 'crazy' and, ultimately, 'an insane crime.'... 'Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!' Musk wrote shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday.... Trump stayed largely silent on the measure through Wednesday afternoon, putting Musk in the unusual position of exerting more influence on the bill than the incoming president. Finally, by late afternoon, Trump, too, aired his opposition." ~~~

     ~~~ Apparently "Vice President Trump" and "President Musk" were trending on X. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: “'What was confusing to me is Musk sends out one of his tweets, and he says no one should do anything until January 20th when Trump gets there,' [David Alexrod] noted [on CNN last night]. 'Trump sends out a tweet saying they ought to pass a clean, a clean [continuing resolution]… So they seem to be saying different things, and eventually they’re gonna have to get together and decide who the president is.' The crack prompted former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to laugh. Earlier in the segment, Kinzinger referred to Musk as 'President Elon.'” AND ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) accused ... Donald Trump of being Elon Musk’s 'puppet' on Wednesday after Trump followed Musk’s lead in opposing House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) continuing resolution to keep the government open. 'As the shadow Pres-Elect, Elon Musk is now calling the shots for House Rs on government funding while Trump hides in Mar-a-Lago behind his handlers,' Goldman wrote on X...." MB: Ha ha. All this has to really irritate Trump.

~~~ Daniella Diaz & Katherine Tully-McManus of Politico: "Among the 100-plus tweets Musk sent as part of his campaign were a number of misleading or outright false claims — a possible preview of the mogul’s new role as co-leader of a Trump-blessed effort to slash government funding. Musk didn’t seem to think a government shutdown would have significant consequences for the country.... [But] a A five-week shutdown from 2018 to 2019 caused the economy to lose about $3 billion, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. The billionaire falsely claimed that members of Congress would get a 40 percent pay raise as part of the package — something both Musk and the X account for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency got wrong.... Musk reposted a claim that the bill would provide $3 billion for a new NFL stadium in Washington. Not true.... He’s also wrong that the bill shields the Jan. 6 committee — a claim that may have helped draw Trump further into the debate." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Surely a number of GOP Congressmen who swore off the bill knew Musk was lying about it. But that didn't matter. ~~~

~~~ Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan deal announced a day before, accusing GOP leaders of reneging on the agreement at risk of a government shutdown. In a brief statement, Jeffries invoked the growing conservative outcry over the negotiated continuing resolution (CR) — including opposition from ... Trump — and warned Republicans that they will 'own' the economic and political fallout if a shutdown occurs."

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The electoral college convened in all 50 states Tuesday to elect Donald Trump to be the 47th president of the United States over Vice President Kamala Harris by a vote of 312 to 226. The gatherings unfolded uneventfully.... Although Trump won the electoral college comfortably this time, and he defeated Harris in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes, his share of the popular vote when third-party candidate totals are included falls slightly below a majority, at 49.9 percent, according to data compiled by the Associated Press." (Also linked yesterday.) MB: Despite this, we are now unsure as to who will be the new president*.

Note to Justin: Relentless Bullies Are Relentless. Elena Giordiano of Politico: "Early on Wednesday ... [Donald Trump] suggested turning Canada into a part of the U.S., calling it 'a great idea.'... 'No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense! Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!! he boomed on his social media platform.... [This and earlier] mocking posts land amid tensions between the two countries after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and accused the government of failing to address trade and immigration issues." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dani Anguiano of the Guardian: "Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, reportedly asked the newspaper’s editorial board to 'take a break' from writing about Donald Trump, in the latest report of the billionaire owner’s growing influence over the newspaper’s coverage. The newspaper and its owner were embroiled in controversy for weeks this fall after Soon-Shiong blocked the board from endorsing Kamala Harris for president. The decision led to a wave of resignations on the editorial board and the loss of thousands of subscriptions.... Earlier this month, Soon-Shiong announced plans to incorporate an artificial intelligence-powered 'bias meter' into newspaper articles. He also reportedly barred the newspaper’s editorial board from publishing an editorial about Trump’s cabinet picks unless it also published a piece with an opposing view.... The extent of Soon-Shiong’s involvement was detailed in a memo from members of the opinion section to the newspaper’s executive editor that was published in the Status newsletter by the media reporter Oliver Darcy."

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "Titans of industry and commerce, beware. When you bend the knee to the Mad King, when you shower him with money and bathe him in flattery, he will receive your gifts with apparent gratitude. But he will want more. He will always want more.... In Trump’s worldview, loyalty flows in one direction: toward him. Don’t take my word; ask Mike Pence.... Iif history is any guide, reasonable people who try to work with Trump eventually reach a point where they feel they have to part ways with him. And when those reasonable people tell the world why, Trump lashes out at them."

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "For years..., Donald J. Trump has made it known that people he believes to be his enemies should be prosecuted.... In a report released on Tuesday, House Republicans said [former Rep. Liz] Cheney [R-Wy.] should face an F.B.I. investigation for work she did for the congressional committee that examined Mr. Trump’s attempts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election.... The House subcommittee’s report detailed a road map for what [a Justice Department] inquiry might ultimately look like — while also relieving Mr. Trump of the potentially fraught step of explicitly ordering the inquiry himself. Appearing to have it both ways, Mr. Trump seized on the House report on Wednesday morning, saying that it could present problems for Ms. Cheney, but avoiding responsibility for havi;ng been the cause of them." A similar AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wait! Doesn't Trump like to take credit for every turn of events he favors? Even if he had nothing to do with it? Well, yes, but here Trump wants the public to think that other, legitimate investigators -- prosecutors, members of Congress -- independently discovered Trump's enemies' wrongdoing and acted out of principle and the rule of law to punish/correct the bad guys. Trump can still boast that he "predicted" such actions would befall his perceived enemies. And he thinks people are dumb enough (many are!) to believe that "investigations" by toadies like Bill Barr & John Durham were a legitimate inquiries.

But the Emails! Trump & Co. Continue to Be a Major Security Threat. Alice Ollstein of Politico: "Federal officials say they’re worried about sharing documents via email with Donald Trump’s transition team because the incoming officials are eschewing government devices, email addresses and cybersecurity support, raising fears that they could potentially expose sensitive government data. The private emails have agency employees considering insisting on in-person meetings and document exchanges that they otherwise would have conducted electronically, according to two federal officials granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation. Their anxiety is particularly high in light of recent hacking attempts from China and Iran that targeted Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and other top officials....

Trump — who attacked his then-opponent Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server for official business during his first presidential run — is overseeing a fully privatized transition that communicates from an array of @transition47.com, @trumpvancetransition.com and @djtfp24.com accounts rather than anything ending in .gov, and uses private servers, laptops and cell phones instead of government-issued devices.... The White House has sent guidance to federal agencies to be cautious when communicating with the Trump transition...."

Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice reviews Trump's "Person of the Year" interview with Time magazine and is reminded "He's staggeringly unfit. Always has been. Always will be.... When it’s possible to decipher what Trump is trying to say, it’s apparent he was trying to strike what for him him is a conciliatory tone, at least in comparison with the terrifying interview he did with Time last spring. This time around, he made mouth noises about compromise on abortion, on Ukraine, on Israel, and even, startlingly, on trans issues.... [But] even when Trump is trying to sound reasonable, he’s hampered by the fact that his knowledge of issues never goes deeper than talking points. Perhaps even worse, he’s clearly in thrall to the world’s worst conspiracy theorists and authoritarian rulers.... Amidst all the misty and disingenuous belching of verbiage, Trump did manage to demonstrate that to the extent he’s able to actually follow through on his policy agenda, it’ll be very bad news for the country." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A fun read, I guess, if you like scary stories. Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead, which he got via digby, who embeds an interview of Joe Biden & notes: "By contrast here’s a 15 minute interview with the president everyone says is demented. Joe Biden is no Barack Obama or Bill Clinton when it comes to oratory or political analysis. But he’s not Donald Trump either. It’s amazing that America hates this man and loves the addled weirdo who clearly has no idea what he’s talking about."

Olivia Rubin & Peter Charalambous of ABC News: "The state prosecution of Donald Trump on election interference charges in Georgia may be able to continue despite his impending inauguration, a lawyer for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis signaled in a court filing that urged an appeals court to reject the president-elect's request to throw out the case based on presidential immunity. The filing argued that Trump's lawyers failed to demonstrate why a state prosecution would be subject to the Department of Justice memorandum prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting presidents -- which was cited by special counsel Jack Smith when he wound down his federal cases against Trump -- or impede Trump's duties as president."

Dominick Mastrangelo & Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "... Trump’s attorney unsuccessfully asked a federal judge to move forward with his lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward over published audio tapes of interviews the famed Watergate reporter conducted with Trump for a 2020 book. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who is overseeing the case, denied the request to expedite it around five hours after the request was filed.... The case has stalled for months as the judge weighs the defendants’ bid to dismiss the lawsuit, but the sudden activity comes as Trump assumes a more emboldened posture in scrutinizing media outlets in the wake of his November presidential victory." (Also linked yesterday.)

Joe Gould of Politico: "At least a dozen senators are pushing to see the FBI’s background check on Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s embattled pick for Pentagon chief — a rare move for the committee that oversees his confirmation and a sign the former Fox News host still faces hurdles in the Senate. Unlike some other committees, the Senate Armed Services usually limits access to these types of background checks to its two lead senators. But pressure is building from both Democrats and Republicans to provide more lawmakers with the ongoing report, whose contents could determine whether Hegseth makes it to the Pentagon.... The FBI’s background investigation is expected to thoroughly examine Hegseth’s personal and professional history, including interviews with associates, reviews of financial records, and queries into past legal issues."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.) on Tuesday blocked a request by Democratic senators to pass legislation to protect federal workers from civil service reforms that President-elect Trump has endorsed to fight what he calls the 'deep state' in Washington, D.C. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) stood on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon to ask for unanimous consent to pass the Saving the Civil Service Act, warning there have been 'attempts in recent years to erode the independence of the federal civil service,' referring to Trump’s efforts during his first term. Kaine and other Democrats fear that Trump, now reelected, may attempt to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers as political appointees who could be hired and fired at will." (Also linked yesterday.)

And a Very Icky Christmas to All. Alayna Treene, et al.,  of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources.... The report is now expected to be made public after the House’s final day of votes this year.... The vote, which has not previously been reported, amounts to a stark reversal for the panel after it had voted along party lines in late November not to release the results of the investigation. The decision to release the report suggests that some Republicans ultimately decided to side with Democrats on the matter.... When the committee voted last month to shelve the report, Gaetz was ... Donald Trump’s choice to be attorney general. Since then, Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration..., though he maintains frosty relations with many in his party and is still active in GOP politics." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Matt Plots His Revenge. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "In the wake of Wednesday’s surprising report that the House Ethics Committee had taken a secret vote to release its investigatory report into Gaetz’s conduct, the former congressman first replied with defiance — insisting he had been 'FULLY EXONERATED' and his behavior had merely been 'embarrassing, though not criminal' — before taking an even more aggressive stance.... Gaetz posted a new tweet that an unnamed person had “suggested the following plan” to him, detailing how, despite his previously stated intentions to not return to Congress in January, he would nonetheless show up and briefly take his seat.... [Here's the plan, via Gaetz's tweet:] '1. Show up 1/3/2025 to congress 2. Participate in Speaker election (I was elected to the 119th Congress, after all…) 3. Take the oath 4. File a privileged motion to expose every “me too” settlement paid using public funds (even of former members) 5. Resign and start my @OANN program at 9pm EST on January 6, 2025."

Paul Kiel of ProPublica: "Fourteen years ago, Congress ... created a new type of Medicare tax to capture the kinds of income the rich often enjoy: interest, dividends and capital gains from investments. A host of billionaires — sports team owners, oil barons, Wall Street traders and others — have managed to avoid paying it, ProPublica found.... We identified 17 people who, in the first six years of the law, 2013 through 2018, each shielded at least $1 billion in capital gains from the tax. Together, this small group, by collectively exempting more than $35 billion, saved about $1.3 billion in taxes. Most members of the group were able to sidestep the tax because of a huge gap written into the law, which allows owners to exempt gains from the sale of their businesses.... But others eluded the tax in ways that raise questions about how the law is being enforced." (Also linked yesterday.) 

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Federal Reserve officials made their third and final rate cut of 2024 at their meeting on Wednesday. They also forecast two fewer rate reductions in 2025 than they had previously expected, as inflation lingers and the economy holds up.... Officials thought that it was clear that rates needed to come down notably from their 5.3 percent peak, and they have steadily lowered them to about 4.4 percent by making three back-to-back reductions. Policymakers do not want to cut rates so much that they reignite the economy, though — and they have now arrived at a point where it is uncertain how much further rates should fall.... Markets shuddered at [the Fed's] assessment, with the dollar soaring and stocks plummeting. The S&P 500 index fell nearly 3 percent, its worst tumble since August. The Dow Jones industrial average fell for a 10th-straight day, its longest losing streak since October 1974." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oddly, Smialek doesn't mention anywhere in her report (as of 5 am ET) what the rate cut yesterday was, though the number does show up in an embedded chart. ~~~

     ~~~ Rob Wile of NBC News: "The Federal Reserve announced a quarter-point cut to its key interest rate Wednesday, an effort to keep what appears to be a steady but cooling economy stable." ~~~

     ~~~ John Towfighi & David Goldman of CNN: "The Dow plunged Wednesday on a disappointing outlook from the Federal Reserve. In the process, the blue-chip index extended its losing streak to 10 days — the longest such stretch since Gerald Ford was president. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down about 1,123 points, or 2.6%, after the Fed indicated in a policy statement that it is forecasting just two interest rate cuts in 2025, not the previously projected four. The Fed now anticipates inflation will remain stubbornly above its target range for longer than it had initially expected. The Dow has fallen for 10 days in a row, the first time it has had a losing streak that long since September 20 through October 4, 1974, when the index fell for 11 sessions in a row."

Chelsia Marcius, et al., of the New York Times: "The suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive on a Manhattan sidewalk this month will now face federal charges in addition to the state murder indictment brought against him, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. It was not immediately clear what charges the suspect, Luigi Mangione, would face in the federal case, which is being brought by prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. On Tuesday, state prosecutors in the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, indicted Mr. Mangione, 26, on three murder charges in the shooting of the executive, Brian Thompson, two of which branded him a terrorist. Federal charges, though, would potentially allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been outlawed in New York for decades. It was not clear whether federal prosecutors would seek the death penalty, and any decision about capital punishment would most likely fall to the Justice Department once ... Donald J. Trump has taken office."

Lauren Gurley & Carolina O'Donovan of the Washington Post: "The Teamsters are launching strikes against seven Amazon warehouses Thursday, in the union’s biggest provocation yet against the nation’s second-largest private employer, threatening to delay some package delivery during the busy Christmas season. The strikes will take place at sites in New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco, Skokie, Ill., and Southern California. Roughly 9,000 Amazon workers around the country have joined the Teamsters, according to the union, but Amazon has refused to recognize their union and bargain with them. The Teamsters are hoping to force Amazon to the bargaining table...."

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California. L.A. Deputy Mayor in Charge of Public Safety Likely Sent Bomb Threat to City Hall. Will McCarthy of Politico: "FBI agents searched the home of Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Brian Williams this week as part of an investigation into a bomb threat made against City Hall, where Williams oversees public safety. The threat came earlier in the year and was quickly investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, which concluded there was no imminent danger and referred the investigation to the FBI.... City police department officials in a statement said their initial investigation found Williams was 'likely' the source of the threat, and that they referred the case because the deputy mayor supervises their department. Williams has since been placed on administrative leave."

Louisiana, California. Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "An individual in Louisiana has the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the United States, federal health officials said Wednesday.... It’s the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States that has been linked to exposure to a backyard flock, and news of the infection comes the same day California officials declared a state of emergency to confront the outbreak spreading among dairy cows."

Michigan. Chris Benson of UPI: "A Michigan man pleaded guilty to plotting a mass shooting at a local bar and Democratic Party office over his hatred for gay people after a string of other related charges, according to court documents. Mack Davis, 22, of Owosso, pleaded guilty to a single count of committing a hate crime, according to a release Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department. He faces a maximum penalty of life in a federal prison.... The local Owosso police previously had arrested Davis in connection to separate incidents. It's alleged he fired 60 bullets from a rifle into the property of several neighbors and vandalized the car of a neighbor he knew to be gay. He then was transferred to federal custody, where he remains."

Montana. Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "Montana’s permitting of oil, gas and coal projects without consideration for climate change violates residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, upholding a landmark ruling in a case brought by youth activists. The 6-1 ruling is a major, and rare, victory for climate activists.... In their decision, the Montana justices affirmed an August 2023 ruling by a state judge, who found in favor of young people alleging the state violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting the use of fossil fuels."

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France. Leo Sands of the Washington Post: "Judges on Thursday convicted a Frenchman of aggravated rape and other charges, after the 72-year-old admitted to repeatedly drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of other men to rape her over almost a decade. The court in Avignon, southern France, sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison — the maximum sentence allowed in French law — after finding him guilty on all charges in a case that has shocked the world. The other 50 defendants were also found guilty of various charges: 46 of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault.... The three-month trial, which took place in an open court at the request of Pelicot’s former wife Gisèle Pelicot, 72 — who said she wanted the world to know what had happened to her — shook the country, triggering a nationwide debate about rape as well as international scrutiny of the case."

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Israeli's wars are here: "The United States and Arab mediators continued to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held there, as CIA Director William J. Burns arrived in Qatar on Wednesday for the latest round of talks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.... Meanwhile, Israeli forces are continuing to carry out airstrikes in Gaza City and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. A strike on one of the last functioning medical facilities in northern Gaza on Tuesday killed at least eight people, according to medics.... Israel’s military said Thursday it had carried out retaliatory strikes on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, including ports and energy infrastructure, after intercepting a projectile that was launched from Yemen. Human Rights Watch in a report Thursday accused Israel of killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by denying them adequate access to water since October 2023, which the organization said amounts to a 'crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide.'”

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Wednesday
Dec182024

The Conversation -- December 18, 2024

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The electoral college convened in all 50 states Tuesday to elect Donald Trump to be the 47th president of the United States over Vice President Kamala Harris by a vote of 312 to 226. The gatherings unfolded uneventfully.... Although Trump won the electoral college comfortably this time, and he defeated Harris in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes, his share of the popular vote when third-party candidate totals are included falls slightly below a majority, at 49.9 percent, according to data compiled by the Associated Press."

Note to Justin: Relentless Bullies Are Relentless. Elena Giordiano of Politico: "Early on Wednesday ... [Donald Trump] suggested turning Canada into a part of the U.S., calling it 'a great idea.'... 'No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense! Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!! he boomed on his social media platform.... [This and earlier] mocking posts land amid tensions between the two countries after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and accused the government of failing to address trade and immigration issues." 

Dominick Mastrangelo & Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "... Trump’s attorney unsuccessfully asked a federal judge to move forward with his lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward over published audio tapes of interviews the famed Watergate reporter conducted with Trump for a 2020 book. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who is overseeing the case, denied the request to expedite it around five hours after the request was filed.... The case has stalled for months as the judge weighs the defendants’ bid to dismiss the lawsuit, but the sudden activity comes as Trump assumes a more emboldened posture in scrutinizing media outlets in the wake of his November presidential victory."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.) on Tuesday blocked a request by Democratic senators to pass legislation to protect federal workers from civil service reforms that President-elect Trump has endorsed to fight what he calls the 'deep state' in Washington, D.C. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) stood on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon to ask for unanimous consent to pass the Saving the Civil Service Act, warning there have been 'attempts in recent years to erode the independence of the federal civil service,' referring to Trump’s efforts during his first term. Kaine and other Democrats fear that Trump, now reelected, may attempt to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers as political appointees who could be hired and fired at will."

And a Very Icky Christmas to All. Alayna Treene, et al.,  of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources.... The report is now expected to be made public after the House’s final day of votes this year.... The vote, which has not previously been reported, amounts to a stark reversal for the panel after it had voted along party lines in late November not to release the results of the investigation. The decision to release the report suggests that some Republicans ultimately decided to side with Democrats on the matter.... When the committee voted last month to shelve the report, Gaetz was ... Donald Trump’s choice to be attorney general. Since then, Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration..., though he maintains frosty relations with many in his party and is still active in GOP politics."

Paul Kiel of ProPublica: "Fourteen years ago, Congress ... created a new type of Medicare tax to capture the kinds of income the rich often enjoy: interest, dividends and capital gains from investments. A host of billionaires — sports team owners, oil barons, Wall Street traders and others — have managed to avoid paying it, ProPublica found.... We identified 17 people who, in the first six years of the law, 2013 through 2018, each shielded at least $1 billion in capital gains from the tax. Together, this small group, by collectively exempting more than $35 billion, saved about $1.3 billion in taxes. Most members of the group were able to sidestep the tax because of a huge gap written into the law, which allows owners to exempt gains from the sale of their businesses.... But others eluded the tax in ways that raise questions about how the law is being enforced."

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How Not to Treat a Neighbor & Close Ally. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and his government were in serious trouble well before Donald J. Trump was re-elected in November.... Opinion polls show that, in national elections that must take place by the fall under Canadian electoral rules, Mr. Trudeau is unlikely to win a fourth term as prime minister. Mr. Trump has tapped into this brewing trouble, even before taking office. He has threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian goods, sending the country into panic mode. He has trolled Mr. Trudeau as the 'governor' of the 'Great state of Canada,' putting his disdain on public display and triggering debates about how or whether Mr. Trudeau should respond. And on Monday, Mr. Trump offered gleeful, acerbic commentary on the bombshell resignation of a top Canadian minister he had long disliked, showing that he is happy to mine this fraught moment in Canadian politics." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sure, we can attribute a lot of Trump's disgusting behavior to little quirks like racism, misogyny and xenophobia, but a lot of it comes down to this: he's just uncouth. He doesn't know how to behave in polite company; he has never been polite company. He's a lout and a philistine, and at some level he knows it; at some level he's ashamed of it. And he deals with that secret shame with a continual bullying, bad-ass performance. He's pathetic. ~~~

~~~ Oh, Trump seems to be trolling the Bahamas, too: ~~~

~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump selected Herschel Walker on Tuesday to be the U.S. ambassador to the small Caribbean nation of the Bahamas, turning to a longtime ally and former football star who generated national headlines in his failed run for a Senate seat in Georgia in 2022.... Mr. Walker rose to the national political stage in 2022 after he was handpicked by Mr. Trump to challenge Senator Raphael Warnock for his Senate seat in Georgia. A political neophyte buoyed by his football stardom, Mr. Walker ran a campaign shadowed by incendiary statements and damaging revelations about his personal life and business career. Mr. Warnock ultimately defeated Mr. Walker even as Republicans won every other statewide race.... Mr. Walker has no previous diplomatic experience, and no obvious ties to the Bahamas, an island nation of about 400,000 people just off the coast of Florida.... The announcement also caps a run of potential appointments for Republicans who lost recent Senate races in Georgia. Former Senator Kelly Loeffler, who was unseated by Mr. Warnock, was picked to run the Small Business Administration. And former Senator David Perdue, who lost his seat to Senator Jon Ossoff, was selected to be ambassador to China."

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Some of Trump’s 1930s-ish plans [to Make America the Great Depression Again] have received a fair amount of media coverage, such as his anti-vaccine nominees for senior health jobs and his thirst for new trade wars. But less attention has been afforded to his threats to the U.S. banking system, which Trump seems intent on making more vulnerable to crises. Consider the troubling idea to abolish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.... [established in 1933] in response to a series of painful, 'It’s a Wonderful Life'-style bank runs.... Right now seems like a peculiar time for any pre-FDIC-era nostalgia. After all, last year was the biggest year for bank failures in modern history, thanks to a crisis that took down Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic. Runs on these regional banks threatened contagion across the rest of the financial system — at least until federal regulators (including the FDIC) stepped in to stem the panic and protect depositors."

Capitulation. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: "When Disney reached a settlement last week with ... Donald J. Trump in his defamation case against ABC News, it led to accusations that the company had caved to him.... Disney executives had anticipated the blowback. But they also determined that they had a flawed case.... At a minimum, the $205 billion company would be litigating against a vindictive sitting president and risking harm to its brand.... The concerns about the case among Disney executives, and the eventual decision to settle, involved multiple considerations, according to three people inside the company.... The settlement was recommended by Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s general counsel, and approved by Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's another lawsuit Disney just settled. (This story seems to have received much less attention. Hmmm, could that be because the press is so much more interested in writing about, um, the press? ~~~

     ~~~ Judd Legum of Popular Information: "This week, Disney agreed to settle [a] class action lawsuit for $233 million, the largest settlement for wage theft in California history. The settlement includes over $100 million in back wages that Disney, with the help of the City of Anaheim, attempted to steal from Disneyland workers. The remainder of the settlement includes interest on the back pay, penalties, and legal fees." In 2018, an Occidental College study found that workers at Disneyland in California earned less than a living wage and their income in real dollars was dropping. Meanwhile, Legum writes, "Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger was paid $65.6 million in 2018, as much as 'the total pay of 9,284 Disneyland workers.'"

Pre-Capitulation. Nicole Sperling of the New York Times: "Pixar, a division of Walt Disney Studios, removed a transgender story line from its animated series 'Win or Lose,' which is set to start streaming in February, Disney said on Tuesday. The series follows a middle school coed softball team in the week leading up to the championship game, and each episode is told from the perspective of a different character. The character will remain in the show, Disney said, but a few lines of dialogue focused on her gender, a plot point that appeared near the end of the eight-episode series, have been edited out.... The decision to remove the story arc was made over the summer," Disney said. ~~~

     ~~~ The Hollywood Reporter story, which broke the news, is here. Reporter Pamela McClintock, BTW, writes that Trump won "a sweeping victory," which he did not. (MB: Not sure if this link [to a Politico Magazine piece] will work because the publication is billing the link as some kind of special log-in. There's a WashPo op-ed here with a similar message.) ~~~

~~~ Here's the New York Times story on Trump's suing the Des Moines Register, its parent company Gannett, and its pollster Ann Selzer. (Also linked yesterday.) I cited a Fox story in yesterday's Conversation.

Deep state traitors are coming after me, using their paid shills in legacy media.... I prefer not to start fights, but I do end them … -- Elon Musk, in a post on his failing social media platform, after the NYT article linked next was published ~~~

~~~ Kirsten Grind, et al., of the New York Times: "Elon Musk and his rocket company, SpaceX, have repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of his meetings with foreign leaders, according to people with knowledge of the company and internal documents. Concerns about the reporting practices — and particularly about Mr. Musk, who is SpaceX’s chief executive — have triggered at least three federal reviews, eight people with knowledge of the efforts said. The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General opened a review into the matter this year, and the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security separately initiated reviews last month. The Air Force also recently denied Mr. Musk a high-level security access, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire. Several allied nations, including Israel, have also expressed concerns that he could share sensitive data with others, according to defense officials....

For years, SpaceX workers responsible for upholding disclosure rules grudgingly allowed Mr. Musk to disregard many of the reporting procedures, as they did not want to lose their jobs.... Some SpaceX workers have become concerned about Mr. Musk’s ability to handle sensitive information, especially as he posts openly on X.... It is unclear why Mr. Musk did not report some of this information to the government, especially since he sometimes posts on X about matters that he does not relay to the Defense Department.... As a matter of constitutional law, Mr. Trump could grant a security clearance to anyone after his inauguration, even if others in the government object." Thanks to laura h. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Aye, there's the rub." Until Donald turns on Elon, Elon will do what he wants and Trump will facilitate his flouting the law & passing secrets to foreigners when he's high or whatever. And just as Trump did in 2018 when he ordered John Kelly to grant a top-secret security clearance to young Jared when numerous officials "expressed concern" about it, he will grant clearance to old Elon. "The very rich are different from you and me." Oh, and here's one of a number of reasons, all rooted in jealousy, that Donald will turn on Oligarch No. 1: ~~~

~~~ Jeremy Merrill, et al., of the Washington Post: Elon Musk, "who is the world’s richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has the most followed account on X and an audience that eclipses other top political accounts, including those of President Joe Biden, "Vice President Kamala] Harris and Trump himself, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Musk’s posts have received a total of 133 billion views since July.... That’s 15 times Trump’s audience in the same period and more than 16 times the combined reach of all accounts belonging to members of the incoming Congress."

Donald's Little Elves Hop on the Retribution Sleigh. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Tuesday said their one-time colleague, former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, should face a criminal investigation for her role on the select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A 128-page report from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight said Ms. Cheney should be investigated for witness tampering. It accuses her of colluding with Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who became the committee’s star witness as it examined Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The report — released as Mr. Trump, now the president-elect, has been promising retribution against his political enemies, including Ms. Cheney — accused Ms. Cheney of using the select committee as a tool to attack Mr. Trump. It was spearheaded by Representative Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, the chairman of the oversight subcommittee. Ms. Cheney defended her work on the select committee in a detailed statement, and called the Republicans’ report 'a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "The findings issued Tuesday show the Republican Party working to reinforce Trump’s desire to punish his perceived enemies including Cheney and members of the Jan. 6 committee that the president-elect has said should be in jail."

     ~~~ Marie: Okay, Kash & Pam, this is an action item for you. Make sure Liz is on your "Naughty" list, then ram a big lump of coal down her throat.

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Congressional leaders on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan deal to punt a government shutdown deadline into March, but House Republican infighting could still endanger any agreement and push federal agencies to the brink of shuttering this weekend.... The measure includes $110.4 billion for disaster relief and approves a pair of local priorities, clearing the way for the District of Columbia to take over land so it can negotiate with the NFL’s Washington Commanders for a possible stadium and committing the federal government to pay the full cost to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.... Congressional Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson (Louisiana), originally sought to restrict the bill to a simple funding extension.... But the non-spending priorities ... threatened to turn a routine spending short-term bill into a dreaded end-of-year 'Christmas tree,' decorated with lawmakers’ pet projects, and to imperil Johnson’s speakership."

Farnoush Amiri of the AP: "House Democrats on Tuesday picked 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly to lead the party next year atop an influential congressional committee, pushing aside growing calls for generational change in leadership ahead of a second term for Donald Trump. In a closed-door meeting, the majority of the caucus voted for Connolly to be the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee over 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned on calls to pass the torch to younger leaders. Connolly has seniority on the committee, having served on it for 16 years. The vote was 131-84.... Connolly had unsuccessfully run for the Oversight role twice before. He was facing concerns from colleagues over his recent cancer diagnosis." ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos of LG&$: "Somebody posted on one of them newfangled social media sites you can access from your 'smartphone' that this feels like the dinosaurs staring dumbly up at that meteor streaking across the Atlantic, and wondering what it all means. Over the past seven years AOC has gone from a potential flash in the pan to the most impressive Democratic politician of her generation. Speaking of which, Joe Biden had been in the Senate for nearly 17 years already on the day Ocasio Cortez was born." ~~~

     ~~~ As Steve M. posted yesterday, this was Nancy Pelosi's doing. MB: Pelosi is 84 years old, and she couldn't be there for the votes in committee & in the entire caucus because she was in Luxembourg recovering from him-replacement surgery (typically, a procedure for old people), which she needed because she fell down some stairs (often happens to old people). So according to an uncredited report Campos linked, she had Steny Hoyer (Md.) -- aged 85 -- stand up and make the case for seniority -- and Connelly.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Like other senators leaving the chamber next month, Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, on Tuesday marked the end of his three terms with an emotional, highly personal floor speech. But he refused to call it a farewell. 'It is not — I promise you — the last time you will hear from me,' Mr. Brown assured his applauding colleagues as he concluded remarks that caused him to choke up several times. In an interview, Mr. Brown, 72, a progressive labor champion in the Senate since 2007, would not say what form his future political activism might take.... But he also would not rule out running for office back in Ohio or trying to return to the Senate in two years, when a special election is scheduled to be held to fill the unexpired term of JD Vance...." Video of Sen. Brown's speech is here.

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday released a long-awaited analysis of the dangers that liquefied natural gas exports pose to the environment and the economy, raising a potential hurdle to a central part of ... Donald Trump’s energy agenda. The Energy Department study could undermine Trump’s plans to immediately issue permits for billions of dollars’ worth of facilities that export liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Environmentalists plan to cite the analysis in future lawsuits over the Trump administration’s approvals of these projects, which some have called 'climate bombs' because of their enormous environmental footprints.... Trump has promised to end the pause [which President Biden imposed on LNG exports] on his 'very first day back' in the White House, saying it has stifled investments and jobs in the domestic gas industry. The Trump administration is expected to rebut the study and replace it with more industry-friendly findings." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That's right. If you don't like a scientific analysis, just make up stuff and merrily go about your corrupt business.

Andrew Ackerman of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve is poised to lower interest rates Wednesday by an additional quarter percentage point while probably signaling a slower pace of cuts next year as the fight against inflation stalled this fall.... Wednesday’s announcement is set to come at 2 p.m. Eastern time, at the end of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting. Then, at 2:30 p.m., Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell will appear at what will be a closely watched news conference...."

Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Luigi Mangione on Tuesday was accused of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, a charge that branded him a terrorist.... A grand jury formally indicted [him].... 'This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,' said Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, at a news conference on Tuesday.... Prosecutors said that Mr. Mangione’s actions were meant to further terrorism and therefore merited a charge of first-degree murder. While some states define first-degree murder as a premeditated killing, New York requires an additional aggravating circumstance, one of which is terrorism.... Prosecutors also charged Mr. Mangione, 26, with second-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and another count of second-degree murder. He also faces weapons charges."

News from Guantanamo. Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it had repatriated two Malaysian men from its prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who admitted to committing war crimes for an affiliate of Al Qaeda that carried out a deadly bombing in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002. The rare transfer, a day after the Pentagon released another prisoner to the custody of Kenya, reduced the detainee population to 27 men. The freed prisoners, Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, 47, and Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, 49, have been held by the United States since 2003.... Before they left, the men gave sworn testimony that prosecutors hope will be useful in the eventual trial of Encep Nurjaman, the Indonesian prisoner known as Hambali. Mr. Hambali is accused of being the mastermind of the Bali bombing and other terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2003...."

Clay Risen of the New York Times: "Jim Leach, a soft-spoken, cerebral Iowa Republican who spent three decades in Congress tirelessly lofting the banner for the moderate political center — so much so that he endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and switched parties in 2022 — died on Dec. 11 in Iowa City. he was 82."

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Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with military officers in territory Israel recently took control of in Syria, and vowed that Israeli troops would remain in the country for the foreseeable future. In a statement issued from Mount Hermon, about six miles from the border of the Israeli-held Golan Heights, Mr. Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain on the mountain 'until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.' The prime minister’s trip was likely to be viewed as provocative by Syria’s new leadership, which has criticized Israel’s expanded military presence across the de facto border since rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Today, Mount Hermon may be the site of a ski resort, but it figured into a number of Old Testament stories, & it is the source of the Jordan River. It is considered a sacred mountain, and you can bet its significance was not lost on Bibi. (Some Christians place the supernatural Transfiguration there, too, so that should ensure that King Donald will support Israel's continued occupation of the area.)

Ukraine/Russia, et al. Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "The Russian authorities said on Wednesday that they had detained a suspect in the killing of a senior military officer, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, a major development in the most prominent political assassination case in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine. The suspect, a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan whose name was not released, was detained in a village outside Moscow, a spokeswoman for Russia’s prosecutor’s office said. The spokeswoman said the detainee had confessed that Ukrainian intelligence agencies recruited him to kill General Kirillov, 54, who was in charge of the Russian military’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces. An official with Ukraine’s security service, known as the S.B.U., said on Tuesday that Ukraine had been responsible for the killing, which took place in central Moscow on Tuesday." ~~~

~~~ Aric Toler & Eve Sampson of the New York Times: "A video that an official with Ukraine’s security service shared with The New York Times and other news outlets, recorded from the interior of a car, appears to show the moment that an explosion killed General Kirillov and an aide as they walked out onto a snowy Moscow street." MB: As far as I can tell (though the fault could be with my computer), the Times story includes only stills from the video. The Guardian has posted a few seconds of the video here. 

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Tuesday
Dec172024

The Conversation -- December 17, 2024

How Not to Treat a Neighbor & Close Ally. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and his government were in serious trouble well before Donald J. Trump was re-elected in November.... Opinion polls show that, in national elections that must take place by the fall under Canadian electoral rules, Mr. Trudeau is unlikely to win a fourth term as prime minister. Mr. Trump has tapped into this brewing trouble, even before taking office. He has threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian goods, sending the country into panic mode. He has trolled Mr. Trudeau as the 'governor' of the 'Great state of Canada,' putting his disdain on public display and triggering debates about how or whether Mr. Trudeau should respond. And on Monday, Mr. Trump offered gleeful, acerbic commentary on the bombshell resignation of a top Canadian minister he had long disliked, showing that he is happy to mine this fraught moment in Canadian politics." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sure, we can attribute a lot of Trump's disgusting behavior to little quirks like racism, misogyny and xenophobia, but a lot of it comes down to this: he's just uncouth. He doesn't know how to behave in polite company; he has never been polite company. He's a lout and a philistine, and at some level he knows it; at some level he's ashamed of it. And he deals with that secret shame with a continual bullying, bad-ass performance. He's pathetic.

Here's the New York Times story on Trump's suing the Des Moines Register , its parent company Gannett, and its pollster Ann Selzer.

Deep state traitors are coming after me, using their paid shills in legacy media.... I prefer not to start fights, but I do end them … -- Elon Musk, in a post on his failing social media platform, after the NYT article linked next was published ~~~

~~~ Kirsten Grind, et al., of the New York Times: "Elon Musk and his rocket company, SpaceX, have repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of his meetings with foreign leaders, according to people with knowledge of the company and internal documents. Concerns about the reporting practices — and particularly about Mr. Musk, who is SpaceX’s chief executive — have triggered at least three federal reviews, eight people with knowledge of the efforts said. The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General opened a review into the matter this year, and the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security separately initiated reviews last month. The Air Force also recently denied Mr. Musk a high-level security access, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire. Several allied nations, including Israel, have also expressed concerns that he could share sensitive data with others, according to defense officials....

For years, SpaceX workers responsible for upholding disclosure rules grudgingly allowed Mr. Musk to disregard many of the reporting procedures, as they did not want to lose their jobs.... Some SpaceX workers have become concerned about Mr. Musk’s ability to handle sensitive information, especially as he posts openly on X.... It is unclear why Mr. Musk did not report some of this information to the government, especially since he sometimes posts on X about matters that he does not relay to the Defense Department.... As a matter of constitutional law, Mr. Trump could grant a security clearance to anyone after his inauguration, even if others in the government object." Thanks to laura h. for the link.

     ~~~ Marie: "Aye, there's the rub." Until Donald turns on Elon, Elon will do what he wants and Trump will facilitate his flouting the law & passing secrets to foreigners when he's high or whatever. And just as Trump did in 2018 when he ordered John Kelly to grant a top-secret security clearance to young Jared when numerous officials "expressed concern" about it, he will grant clearance to old Elon. "The very rich are different from you and me."

Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with military officers in territory Israel recently took control of in Syria, and vowed that Israeli troops would remain in the country for the foreseeable future. In a statement issued from Mount Hermon, about six miles from the border of the Israeli-held Golan Heights, Mr. Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain on the mountain 'until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.' The prime minister’s trip was likely to be viewed as provocative by Syria’s new leadership, which has criticized Israel’s expanded military presence across the de facto border since rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Today, Mount Hermon may be the site of a ski resort, but it figured into a number of Old Testament stories, & it is the source of the Jordan River. It is considered a sacred mountain, and you can bet its significance was not lost on Bibi. (Some Christians place the supernatural Transfiguration there, too, so that should ensure that King Donald will support Israel's continued occupation of the area.)

~~~~~~~~~~

News of the Felon Who Will Be President*. Ben Protess & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: New York Justice Juan M. Merchan "on Monday rejected Donald J. Trump’s argument that a recent Supreme Court ruling had nullified his criminal case in New York, upholding the former and future president’s felony conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.... If the decision withstands an appeal, Mr. Trump could become the first felon to serve as president. The ruling, which addressed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant presidents broad immunity for their official actions, thwarted only the first of several legal maneuvers Mr. Trump has concocted to clear his record of 34 felonies before returning to the White House." Reuters' story is here.

Donald Trump gave a press conference Monday afternoon and here's some of the stuff he said, via a New York Times liveblog: ~~~

Michael Shear: "In his first wide-ranging news conference since the election..., Donald J. Trump cited debunked data linking vaccines and autism, vowed to slash taxes and resume construction of his border wall, and accused the Biden administration of hiding the truth about recent drone sightings. Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Mr. Trump announced a $100 billion investment from SoftBank, a Japanese technology company. But he used the appearance before reporters to jump from one topic to another....

Speaking directly to the reporters, he called the press 'very corrupt' and promised to continue pursuing legal action against news organizations that he believes have not quoted him correctly. He said he planned to sue the Des Moines Register for having a poll before the election that turned out to be wrong. And he said he was pursuing legal action against '60 Minutes' for what he said was a misquote.... Mr. Trump also said that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will cut $2 trillion out of the $6.8 trillion annual federal budget and “it’ll have no impact on people.” In fact, if you rule out cuts to Social Security, Medicare and defense, as Mr. Trump has, cutting $2 trillion would require shutting down almost the entire federal government.”

Peter Baker: "Trump cites the horrors of the war in Ukraine and says he is working on it, but makes no mention of his promise to resolve it in 24 hours and to do so before he is sworn in."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs: "As he talks about migration, Trump repeats misleading claims about Latin American nations sending their prisoners to the United States. Most migrants crossing the border are those fleeing poverty, persecution and violence."

Baker: "Trump says Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine on his watch. In fact, Russia had already invaded Ukraine’s eastern sections in 2014, during the Obama administration, and Trump did nothing to stop the war, which then expanded with the full-scale invasion in 2022.... Trump again throws out numbers about autism that have been debunked. Time magazine fact-checked his answer to the question during its interview.... 'We won in a landslide,' Trump claims, again. In fact, he won the popular vote by just 1.5 percentage points, one of the smallest margins of victory since the 19th century."

Maggie Haberman: "Trump says he would consider pardoning Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, who has praised Trump repeatedly." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "Donald Trump warned Republican senators who oppose his Cabinet nominees that they would likely face primary challenges at a press conference on Monday.... 'If they’re unreasonable, if they’re opposing somebody for political reasons or stupid reasons, I would say — has nothing to do with me – I would say they probably would be primaried'.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Rules for Thee Are Not for Me. Curt Devine of CNN: "... Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to do everything in his power to benefit American workers. 'We will build American, buy American and hire American,' he said during a rally in August. Despite that pledge, Trump’s own businesses sought to hire more foreign guest workers this year than any other year on record, according to a CNN review of government labor data. Companies linked to some of Trump’s top political backers and administration picks also have been given the green light to use guest workers this year. Trump’s businesses, including the Mar-a-Lago Club, some of his golf courses and a Virginia winery, have collectively increased their reliance on temporary foreign laborers over the years. Just this year, Trump’s businesses received approval from the US government to hire 209 foreign workers, nearly double the number of such laborers his companies received permission to hire about a decade ago." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog republished a portion of a Fox "News" story: "... Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register and its top pollster J. Ann Selzer for “brazen election interference” and fraud over its final 2024 presidential poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris leading him in Iowa, despite his ultimate victory in the state by more than 13 percentage points, Fox News Digital has learned.  The lawsuit was filed Monday night in Polk County, Iowa under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions." Hasen writes, "I don’t expect this lawsuit to go anywhere." Well, yes but there's ~~~

~~~ "The Great Capitulation." Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Since Trump won re-election — this time with the popular vote — many of the most influential people in America seem to have lost any will to stand up to him as he goes about transforming America into the sort of authoritarian oligarchy he admires.... Displays of submission aren’t limited to tech [Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Time's owner Marc Benioff, L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong] and media [ABC/Disney]. Christopher Wray, the head of the F.B.I., agreed to step aside before the end of his 10-year term rather than make Trump fire him. Several Democrats have signaled their willingness to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What you are witnessing in all of these dickheads is the calculated fear of irrelevance. All of them did something bold once, and now they (even the youngish ones) are petrified they have passed their prime. People who maintain their liberal values -- Elizabeth Warren, Marc Elias, Paul Krugman -- even when it may not be convenient to do so, are the real heroes. Musk, Zuck, & Co. -- they have proved they are meek, hollow has-beens. And no matter how many billions of bucks they amass now cannot cure the injury to the knee they have bent to the most despicable one of them all. ~~~

~~~ Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "ABC News will never live down this capitulation. Never.... The posture of ABC News progressed from unreasonably dismissive (rejecting legitimate demands for correction) to unreasonably accommodating (giving away the store to Trump via $15 million, a note of contrition and so on)." Wemple provides considerable detail on the case. ~~~

~~~ Richard Tofel in the Columbia Journalism Review: The ABC News case "is the only one against a media defendant of which I am aware in which Donald Trump either prevailed or settled for a cash payment.... I — and every experienced press lawyer not involved in the case with whom I have discussed it — considered the case one in which ABC was likely to eventually prevail." Tofel also goes into some detail on the particulars of the case. He then asks questions which ABC has refused to to answer. A number are of a technical legal nature but some are not. Like, "Have any ABC employees been disciplined with respect to this segment?"

Dave Philipps & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "When Pete Hegseth visited senators on Capitol Hill this month in an effort to show that he has the qualifications and judgment to lead the Defense Department, he was escorted by a security guard with a dark episode in his past. The guard, a former Army Special Forces master sergeant named John Jacob Hasenbein, left the military after a 2019 training event in which witnesses said he beat a civilian role player — kicking him, punching him and leaving him hogtied in a pool of his own blood. Mr. Hegseth’s choice of Mr. Hasenbein as a security escort is the latest instance in which he has stood by soldiers accused of crimes. He has repeatedly criticized military leaders as being too 'woke' and waging a 'war on warriors.'” Read on. A military jury convicted Hasenbein of assault, but the judge declared a mistrial, & it appears Hasenbein left the military in order to avoid a second trial. The reporters write, "It is unclear whether Mr. Hegseth ... knew of Mr. Hasenbein’s record when he hired him. But some details of his case have been online for years."

Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: "In a speech at the New York Young Republican Club’s gala on Sunday night, Steve Bannon ... floated the prospect of Trump making a fourth consecutive run for the White House in 2028.... 'Since [the Constitution] doesn’t actually say consecutive, I don’t know, maybe we do it again in ’28?' Bannon said, to cheers from the crowd.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Lindsay Whitehurst of the AP: "The Supreme Court turned back an appeal Monday from Peter Navarro, the former White House official who is set to return in Donald Trump’s second term after serving prison time on contempt of Congress charges. The court declined to hear the appeal in a brief order without explanation, as is typical. It comes after the Justice Department sued Navarro, saying he had retained presidential records on an unofficial email account he used during his previous White House tenure under Trump. The government says the records must be turned over to the National Archives. Lower courts have agreed, but Navarro argues that the Presidential Records Act doesn’t allow the federal government to search email accounts and retrieve records. He indicated in court documents that he expects to file additional appeals in the case." MB: Gosh, even the Trumpist Supremes are sick of Whiney Pete.

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan framework to put off a government shutdown appeared to hit snags over the weekend, and lawmakers continued bickering Monday over a federal funding bill that will lay the groundwork for the early days of the incoming Trump administration. Without new legislation, government agencies will shutter just after midnight Saturday. Lawmakers are on the cusp of approving a stopgap bill to extend federal funds into mid-March, but new disputes over farm aid and disaster recovery spending have stalled progress near the final stages.... Dduring last-minute negotiations, the speaker [Mike Johnson] attempted to tack on more financial assistance for farmers, according to two people familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Democrats responded by seeking federal funds to reconstruct Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. Maryland’s congressional delegation, which holds outsize sway on the appropriations process, issued additional demands, too, related to negotiations over the future home of the Washington Commanders." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Ah, what could be more quintessentially American than shutting down the government at Christmas-time because of a dispute over a football stadium?

The Gentlemen of the Senate Take Umbrage. Anthony Adragna of Politico: A few "federal judges who previously announced retirements are pulling back those decisions. Most prominent among the federal jurists to reverse a retirement announcement is Judge James Wynn of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. His name vanished from a list of pending vacancies over the weekend, joining two district court judges in North Carolina — Algenon Marbley and Max Cogburn — in pulling back their decisions once it became clear President Joe Biden would not be able to appoint their successors.... All three were appointed by Democratic presidents.... 'Never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election,' [Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell said on the Senate floor on Dec. 2. 'It’s literally unprecedented. And to create such a precedent would fly in the face of a rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies.'... '“When I hear the senator [McConnell] come to the floor … and talk about whether there is any gamesmanship going on..., I can tell you we saw it at the highest possible level in filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court when Antonin Scalia passed away,' said Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on the floor following McConnell’s remarks.” Read on, if only for the staement by Adeel Mangi. ~~~

     ~~~ Well, here's more on Manji: ~~~

This unfortunate fact remains: We have a fundamentally broken process for choosing federal judges.... This is no longer a system for evaluating fitness for judicial office. It is now a channel for the raising of money based on performative McCarthyism before video cameras, and for the dissemination of dark-money-funded attacks that especially target minorities.... I entered this nomination process as a proud American and a proud Muslim. I exit it the same way, unbowed. -- Adeel Manji, to President Biden ~~~

     ~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The first Muslim American to be nominated for a federal appellate court judgeship lashed out at senators and the judicial confirmation process in a letter to President Biden on Monday, saying he had been the victim of a bigoted smear campaign. Adeel Mangi, a New York lawyer picked for a spot on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, wrote the letter after Democratic senators cut a deal that in effect left him and other Biden appeals court nominees with no path to confirmation.... The nomination of the Pakistani-born Mr. Mangi stalled under withering assault from Republicans.... But the insurmountable obstacle was the refusal of at least three Democrats to support him, leaving him short of the votes needed for confirmation." ~~~

     ~~~ Hulse's article has a link to Manji's letter. Or you can read it here, on an NJ.com page.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Three Democratic senators unveiled a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College system Monday, just more than a month after President-elect Trump stunned the Democrats by sweeping all seven battleground states, knocking off three Senate Democratic incumbents in the process. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii,) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), three leading progressive Senate voices, say it’s time to 'restore democracy' by allowing for the direct election of presidents through the popular vote alone." MB: I don't know why they're introducing this bill now, when it has no chance of getting through Congress before the term ends -- this week. The bill is essentially "dead" and would have to be refiled in the new Congress.

Betsy Klein of CNN: "Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is making an all-out push in the waning days of the Biden administration that she believes could bolster reproductive rights, calling on the president to certify the Equal Rights Amendment and enshrine its protections into the Constitution. The move, the New York Democrat wrote in a memo to interested parties, gives Joe Biden a way to 'codify women’s freedom and equality without needing anything from a bitterly divided and broken Congress' in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Biden has taken some executive actions to protect abortion rights following the decision, but the White House has essentially exhausted its options short of Congress codifying Roe’s protections, which remains unlikely. Gillibrand contends Biden could simply direct the archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen Shogan, to certify and publish the ERA, a bill approved by Congress in 1972 that enshrines equal rights for women.... But legal experts contend it isn’t that simple: Ratification deadlines lapsed and five states [of the Constitutionally-required 38] have rescinded their approval, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school...."

Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has charged two men with illegally supplying parts used in an Iranian-backed militia’s drone attack in January that killed three U.S. service members and injured more than 40 others at an American military base in Jordan, federal prosecutors in Boston announced on Monday. Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Mass., and Mohammad Abedini, 38, of Tehran, were charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components to Iran, violating American export control and sanctions laws. Mr. Abedini was also charged with providing material support, resulting in death, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Mr. Sadeghi was arrested on Monday and made an initial appearance in the federal court in Boston. Mr. Abedini was arrested, also on Monday, in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States."

Nobody Loves Clarence. Or John or Sam. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Public confidence in the American legal system has plunged over the past four years, a new Gallup poll found, putting it in the company of nations like Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela. 'These data on the U.S. courts are stunning,' said Tom Ginsburg, an authority on comparative and international law at the University of Chicago. After the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the several prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, Professor Ginsburg said, 'there is a perception that the judiciary has become inexorably politicized.'... Public confidence in the judiciaries of other developed nations has remained stable.”

That didn't take long. Krugman is on Substack: ~~~

~~~ "Crypto Is for Criming." Paul Krugman: "The tech bros who helped put Trump back in power expect many favors in return; one of the more interesting is their demand that the government intervene to guarantee crypto players the right to a checking account, stopping the 'debanking' they claim has hit many of their friends. The hypocrisy here is thick enough to cut with a knife. If you go back to the 2008 white paper by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto that gave rise to Bitcoin, its main argument was that we needed to replace checking accounts with blockchain-based payments because you can’t trust banks; crypto promoters also tend to preach libertarianism, touting crypto as a way to escape government tyranny. Now we have crypto boosters demanding that the evil government force the evil banks to let them have conventional checking accounts.... The real reason banks don’t want to be financially connected to crypto is that they believe, with good reason, that to the extent that cryptocurrencies are used for anything besides speculation, much of that activity is criminal.... [And] what [Elon] Musk and [Marc] Andreesen are demanding could be seen as a call for the U.S. government to intervene to make life easier for criminals. And if you think such a thing would be inconceivable under the second Trump administration, you haven’t been paying attention." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Stargazing in Maryland. You know those drones over New Jersey, mose of which seem to be small planes or little hobby drones? Well, down in Maryland, former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Natch) is seeing stars: ~~~

     ~~~ Victor Tangermann of Futurism, republished by Yahoo! News: "Former governor of Maryland Larry Hogan shared a video on Friday, claiming to have 'personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland.'... A community note appended to Hogan's original tweet notes that the 'stars at the 39-second mark are recognizably the constellation Orion.... From this, you can determine that the bright lights behind the trees are the stars Sirius and Procyon.... No anomalous objects are apparent in this video.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This "official" sighting, however, is not quite as moronic (or knee-jerk violent) as the assessment of the person (R-Natch) who will soon have the power to decide what to do about UFOs: "Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so.... Let the public know, and now.... Otherwise, shoot them down!!!" Yeah, when in doubt, shoot.

~~~~~~~~~~

Canada. Ian Austen & Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister who led Canada’s response to the first Trump administration, resigned abruptly on Monday from her cabinet role in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, marking the first open dissent from any cabinet member and raising questions about his hold on power. The revelation, in a letter of resignation, came hours before Ms. Freeland, who had been the finance minister, was scheduled to outline the government’s commitments to improve border security with the United States. Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, which was meeting in Ottawa soon after the letter was made public, seemed stunned by the development.... In her resignation letter, Ms. Freeland indicated that Mr. Trudeau had attempted to force her out of the position on Friday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Germany. Christopher Schuetze & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German Parliament on Monday, a defeat that effectively ended the increasingly unpopular government he has led since 2021 and set the stage for elections early next year. The collapse of the government just nine months before elections had been scheduled was an extraordinary moment for Germany. This will be only the fourth snap election in the 75 years since the modern state was founded, and it reflected a new era of more fractious and unstable politics in a country long known for durable coalitions built on plodding consensus. German lawmakers voted to dissolve the existing government by a vote of 394 to 207, with 116 abstaining." (Also linked yesterday.) 

Israel/Palestine, et al. Miriam Berger & Hazem Balousha of the Washington Post: "With its military power depleted and its political influence on the wane, Hamas is under growing public pressure to help bring the war in Gaza to an end.... Last week, Hamas publicly softened its negotiating position with Israel. A new proposal for a 60-day pause in hostilities and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners includes key concessions from Hamas, which relented on its demands for a complete halt to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces, a Hamas official told The Washington Post."

Ukraine/R/ussia. Anton Troianovski & Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "A general in charge of the Russian military’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces was killed by a bomb on a Moscow street on Tuesday, the Russian authorities said, in one of the most brazen assassinations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The general, Igor Kirillov, died along with an aide after an explosive device planted in a scooter was detonated on Tuesday morning near the entryway to a residential building, Russia’s Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency, said in a statement. An official with Ukraine’s security service, known as the S.B.U., said that Ukraine was responsible for the killing.... A day before his killing, the S.B.U. had charged General Kirillov in absentia, saying he was responsible for the 'massive use of banned chemical weapons' in Ukraine."

News Lede

New York Times: “The shooter who killed at least two people on Monday at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., was identified as Natalie Rupnow, a 15-year-old student who later died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the police said. The shooter, who went by 'Samantha,' opened fire in a study hall classroom with students from several grades at Abundant Life Christian School, said Shon F. Barnes, the Madison police chief. Officers arrived after a second-grade student placed a 911 call to report the shooting. A teacher and a teenage student were killed, and five students and another teacher were injured, the authorities said. The shooter was found with a gunshot wound inside the school when police officers arrived and was pronounced dead soon after.”

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