The Ledes

Sunday, March 30, 2025

New York Times: “The official death toll of the earthquake that shattered central Myanmar surpassed 1,600 people, the country’s military leaders said on Saturday, as desperate rescue workers raced to find survivors and began grappling with a monumental disaster in a nation already racked by civil war.”

New York Times: “About 300,000 electricity customers in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, were without power early Sunday as a spring storm brought freezing rain and sleet to the Great Lakes region.”

New York Times: “Richard Chamberlain, who rose to fame as the heartthrob star of the television series “Dr. Kildare” in the early 1960s, proved his mettle by becoming a serious stage actor and went on to a new wave of acclaim as the omnipresent leading man of 1980s mini-series, died on Saturday night at his home in Waimanalo, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. He was 90.”

The Wires
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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.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

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."

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

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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.

Saturday
Mar012025

The Conversation -- March 1, 2025

"Go Ski in Russia." Common Dreams: "Over a thousand Vermonters lined both sides of Route 100 in Waitsfield, Vermont, Saturday morning protesting Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting nearby Sugarbush Resort this weekend with his family.... Protesters shouted obscenities and waved signs as the Vance motorcade rolled past. 'Vance is a traitor. Go Ski in Russia,' one sign read." MB: Thank you, Vermont.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Sorry, I've been adding links up past 10 am ET.

So here we are, for the first time in our lives, the enemy of democratic Europe.

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: "One of the most surreal moments of Friday's Oval Office showdown between ... [Donald] Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine came at the very end. After all the shouting and the saber-rattling and the lecturing and the pleading and the politicking had ceased, the American president shifted a little in his seat and shared an observation. 'This is going to be great television,'.... It was a conclusion as startling as it was fundamentally Trumpian." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Although video of the encounter will be studied as long as anyone cares about how this country fell, it is not "great television." Trump and his collaborators wrote the script & produced the show, but it was a monumental dud. It depicts, not great television but the sickening climactic moment in a thumping American tragedy. A tragedy is self-imposed. Trump, Vance and their Republican quislings caused the debacle, but voters who set them in position to do so are ultimately responsible. If you missed it, watch as much as you can stomach: ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times excerpts parts of a transcript of the meeting.

I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace. -- Donald Trump, lying in a media post ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The United States' relationship with Ukraine erupted in a storm of acrimony on Friday as ... [Donald] Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in an explosive televised Oval Office showdown and abruptly cut short a visit meant to coordinate a plan for peace. In a fiery public confrontation unlike any seen between an American president and foreign leader in modern times, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in Ukraine's war with Russia, and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictated. With his voice raised and temper flaring, Mr. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine altogether if Mr. Zelensky did not go along. After journalists left the Oval Office, Mr. Trump canceled the rest of the visit, including a planned joint news conference and signing ceremony for a deal on rare minerals, and U.S. officials told the Ukrainians to leave.... ...

"Even as he shouted at the Ukrainian leader..., the president spoke of Mr. Putin as if they were friends, saying that the Russian leader has 'been through a lot with me' in enduring the 'Russia hoax,' referring to the investigation of Mr. Putin's clandestine efforts to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election. The confrontation provided a major boost to Mr. Putin.... The White House later sent out Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a close Trump ally, to tell reporters that Mr. Zelensky should consider stepping down. 'He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with or he needs to change,' Mr. Graham said on the White House driveway. In a later interview with Fox News, Mr. Zelensky refused to apologize to Mr. Trump, but expressed regret about the exchange and appreciation to the United States for its support. 'We are thankful and sorry for this,' he said."

     ~~~ Michael Birnbaum & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump ripped into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, in a remarkable encounter that could determine a generation of war and peace in Europe but that at times felt more like a barroom brawl with furious demands from Trump and Vice President JD Vance for respect and gratitude from the wartime Ukrainian leader. The heated back and forth -- with Trump, Zelensky and Vance at times shouting over each other -- was a striking breach of Oval Office comity, where even tough encounters have typically happened with calm voices and diplomatic language.... Zelensky pushed back against Trump, urging him to offer security guarantees, emphasizing Putin's aggression, and, as things grew heated, chided Vance for speaking about Ukraine without having visited the country. Zelensky left shortly after 1:40 p.m., with a planned press conference canceled and Trump writing on social media: 'He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he's ready for Peace.' Also cut short were plans for Trump and Zelensky to finalize an agreement granting the U.S. limited access to Ukraine's mineral rights." (Also linked yesterday.)

Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge. -- European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas ~~~

~~~ Tim Balk of the New York Times: "European leaders quickly pledged their continued support for Ukraine on Friday after ... [Donald] Trump's blistering criticism of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a meeting at the White House. Leaders lined up behind Ukraine and praised its embattled president, the statements coming one after the other: from France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Norway, Finland, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Ireland. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand leaders added their voices to the Europeans'. Even as Western leaders generally shied away from explicitly criticizing Mr. Trump..., many in Europe addressed their statements of encouragement directly to Mr. Zelensky." Politico's report is here.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "After five weeks in which President Trump made clear his determination to scrap America's traditional sources of power -- its alliances among like-minded democracies -- and return the country to an era of raw great-power negotiations, he left one question hanging: How far would he go in sacrificing Ukraine to his vision? The remarkable showdown that played out in front of the cameras early Friday afternoon from the Oval Office provided the answer.... What Mr. Trump really wants, one senior European official said this week before the blowup, is a normalization of the relationship with Russia.... If that means rewriting the history of Moscow's illegal invasion three years ago, dropping investigations of Russian war crimes or refusing to offer Ukraine long-lasting security guarantees, then Mr. Trump ... is willing to make that deal.... Mr. Trump makes no secret of his view that the post-World War II system, created by Washington, ate away at American power.... In the five weeks since his second inauguration, Mr. Trump has begun exercising a plan to destroy that system."

Marie: Robert Farley of LG&$ also speaks for me when he writes, "I don't know if I've ever been this ashamed of a US President."

M. Gessen of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine understands the enormity of the threat [posed by Vladimir Putin's plan to reorganize the world as Joseph Stalin did at the 1945 Yalta Conference], not only to his country but to Europe, for which Ukraine has served as a deadly buffer zone. But on Friday, when he tried to talk about this threat during an Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance became furious.... What happens if Russia unleashes its aggression against Europe, unchecked or even aided by the United States? The exact contours of the looming catastrophe are impossible to predict." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One piece of this tragedy: in his desperate campaign to cement his place in the dictators' club, Trump has no idea that he is not a strong man aligning himself with other strongmen, but a pawn of Putin. And his place in the dictators' club, if indeed the others fully accept him, will not be at the top. He's merely an aged, middling, pathetic dictator-among-others.

Tom Nichols of the Atlantic: "All of the ghastliness inflicted on Zelensky today should not obscure the geopolitical reality of what just happened: The president of the United States ambushed a loyal ally, presumably so that he can soon make a deal with the dictator of Russia to sell out a European nation fighting for its very existence.... This meeting reeked of a planned attack, with Trump unloading Russian talking points on Zelensky (such as blaming Ukraine for risking global war), all of it designed to humiliate the Ukrainian leader on national television and give Trump the pretext to do what he has indicated repeatedly he wants to do: side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring the war to an end on Russia's terms. Trump is now reportedly considering the immediate end of all military aid to Ukraine because of Zelensky's supposed intransigence during the meeting. Vance's presence at the White House also suggests that the meeting was a setup.... Marco Rubio -- in theory, America's top diplomat -- was also there, but he sat glumly and silently while Vance pontificated like an obnoxious graduate student." Read on. Thank you to laura h. for this gift link.

Bret Stephens of the New York Times: "Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's embattled democratic leader, came to Washington prepared to sign away anything he could offer ... [Donald] Trump except his nation's freedom, security and common sense. For that, he was rewarded with a lecture on manners from the most mendacious vulgarian and ungracious host ever to inhabit the White House.... This was a day of American infamy.... If there's one silver lining to this fiasco, it's that Zelensky did not sign the agreement on Ukrainian minerals that was forced on him this month by Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary who's the Tom Hagen character in this protection-racket administration.... But if it's a financial payback that the Trump administration seeks, the best place to get it is to seize, in collaboration with our European partners, Russia's frozen assets and put them into an account by which Ukraine could pay for American-made arms. If the United States won&'t do this, the Europeans should...."

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "... Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance moved to betray a key U.S. ally that has lost hundreds of thousands of people in fending off a Russian invasion on Friday, taunting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at an Oval Office meeting after spending weeks trying to undermine the bilateral relationship. The Oval Office blowup, in which Trump and Vance berated Zelensky as ungrateful while dismissing the prospect that Russian President Vladimir Putin might renege on a potential ceasefire agreement, is a culmination in a weeks-long campaign to choreograph an end to U.S. support for Ukraine."

David Frum of the Atlantic: "... Trump and Vance have revealed to Americans and to America's allies their alignment with Russia, and their animosity toward Ukraine in general and its president in particular. The truth is ugly, but it's necessary to face it.... The national-security system of the West is led by two men who cannot be trusted to defend America's allies -- and who deeply sympathize with the world's most aggressive dictator.... We're witnessing the self-sabotage of the United States. 'America First' always meant America alone, a predatory America whose role in the world is no longer based on democratic belief.... The American people need to reckon with the mess Trump and Vance are making of this country's once-good name -- and the services they are performing for dictators and aggressors.... The pro-Trump party exposed its face to the world in the Oval Office today. Nobody who saw that face will ever forget the grotesque sight." Thanks to laura h. for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times points to some of the ironies of the Trump/Vance ambush: "It was a sickening spectacle: the man who tried to upend democracy bullying the man who is fighting for democracy.... Pretty rich for a draft dodger to lecture a man whose name has become synonymous with wartime bravery.... JD Vance, a malign presence who has said he does not care a fig about Ukraine, chided Volodymyr Zelensky for not being grateful enough to America, i.e. Trump.... The bust of Churchill so beloved by Trump watched over the three men as they sparred.... Can you imagine Churchill's chilly disdain for Trump's protection-racket demand for Ukraine's minerals?" Trump's calling out Zelensky for wearing an outfit a little fancier than Elon Musk wears to formal White House meetings. Trump's finding common cause with Putin for the hardship poor Vlad "went through" in during the Russia election-tampering investigation. Trump's complaining that Zelensky showed "hatred" for Putin, who without provocation has been waging war on Ukraine for years in an attempt to take over all or parts of it; Trump "doesn't understand why Zelensky is not happy with Putin for invading the smaller country and beating the bejesus out of it, for decimating a generation of young Ukrainian soldiers, for breaking cease-fires and committing war crimes."

Oh, How Could This Have Happened? Giselle Ewing of Politico: "A staffer from TASS, a Russian [state media] outlet that often promotes glorified coverage of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, was briefly in the room for ... Donald Trump's bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. American media mainstays Reuters and the Associated Press were not granted access. According to the White House, the Russian reporter's presence was unplanned [and unapproved].... The White House did not address how the unapproved reporter was able to gain access to the Oval Office. The moment marks just the latest turn in the ongoing saga of the White House backlash against mainstream news." ~~~

~~~ AND This. Anthony Orrico of the Irish Star: "The boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) mocked the outfit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the chaotic Oval Office meeting with ... Donald Trump and Vice President J.D Vance. Real America's Voice host Brian Glenn, who is dating the MAGA congresswoman..., apparently took exception with the fact that the Ukrainian leader was not wearing a suit. 'I will wear [a suit] after this war finishes. Maybe something like yours, maybe something better,' Mr. Zelensky retorted."

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States, three White House officials told CNBC on Friday. The order would establish a national language for the first time in U.S. history. Trump's order would also rescind former President Bill Clinton's August 2000 directive requiring agencies and other recipients of federal funds to provide services for those with limited English proficiency, according to a fact sheet shared with CNBC." MB: This is embarrassing, especially in a country where so many native-born Americans speak only English (that includes me). We are such undereducated rubes, and now Trump plans to remind us of it. (Also linked yesterday.)

Digby, in Salon, psychoanalyzes Little Donnie: "... the motive that is driving him to do everything he's doing is simple: vengeance.... It's now gone far beyond his desire to hurt individuals -- he's intent upon seeking revenge against the country itself, maybe even the whole world. Trump is seething with anger and resentment at having been officially exposed as a sexual predator, a fraud, a coup plotter and a thief. He's still upset about the Russia Investigation, which he even brought up again on Thursday, explaining that he and Vladimir Putin were bonded over it so he feels he can trust the Russian dictator. Imagine the fury and frustration he feels at people knowing, no matter how much he says otherwise, that he lost the 2020 election and couldn't admit it. The damage to his fragile psyche is overwhelming and all he wants now is to wreak revenge on his enemies.... Donald Trump is 78 years old and he's been frustrated his whole life that he couldn't ever seem to get the respect he believed he deserved. Now, having been restored to this position of power with no one to stop him, he's settling accounts." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary in today's thread.

Peter Navarro Is Still Crazy. Connor Stringer of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: "A top White House official has threatened to redraw the Canadian border amid Donald Trump's ambition to turn the country in America's '51st state'. Peter Navarro ... is pushing US negotiators to discuss reworking the border with their Canadian counterparts, The Telegraph can reveal. 'Navarro recommended revising the Canada-US border, which is just crazy and dangerous,' a source close to negotiations told The Telegraph. Canada has now instructed its delegates to withdraw from negotiations with the US until Jameson Greer and Howard Lutnick, two incoming members of Mr Trump's cabinet, are confirmed by the senate. Mr Greer and Mr Lutnick are viewed by Ottawa as being less extreme." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Madeleine Ngo & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "Federal workers started to receive emails late Friday evening asking them to provide a list of accomplishments from the week, a reprise of a request by Elon Musk that spread fear and confusion through the government just days ago.... Like the earlier email..., the email on Friday from the Office of Personnel Management ... directed [employees] to send approximately five bullets describing what they achieved this week. But it also said that, going forward, employees would be expected to complete the task weekly by Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.... It is unclear what consequences, if any, there will be if employees fail to comply with the new directive."

Julian Mark, et al., of the Washington Post: "Agencies across the federal government are dismantling offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws under a Trump administration push to shrink the workforce, weakening the government's ability to deliver on legal obligations to protect workers' rights. [For instance,] the Social Security Administration this week announced it was closing its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, where about 150 people worked investigating civil rights complaints, preventing harassment and ensuring accommodations for people with disabilities.... Leaders at the Labor Department are planning to cut by 90 percent the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.... The moves signal the Trump administration's intent to deliver on U.S. DOGE Service plans for workforce cuts laid out in a series of documents..., which initially contemplated eliminating the civil rights functions altogether in violation of federal law. The in-agency equal opportunity offices are mandated by statute to ensure employees receive equal opportunity...." (Also linked yesterday.)

This is Donald Trump making good on a very specific promise from Project 2025, and that is dismantling and privatizing NOAA, forcing Americans to pay for things like weather data and lifesaving weather alerts. This is going to have profound negative consequences on the day-to-day lives of Americans. -- Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), at a news conference Friday ~~~

~~~ Christopher Flavelle, et al., of the New York Times: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world's leading centers of climate research, has been hit by a new round of departures, just 24 hours after [about 800 probationary] employees were fired. About 500 employees left the agency on Friday after taking the so-called deferred resignation offer.... Under that program, staff at NOAA and other agencies have been told that they can stop working now and be paid through September.... The two rounds of departures together represent about 10 percent of NOAA's roughly 13,000 employees.... Almost 200 of the roughly 500 departures were by people who work in the National Weather Service, a division within NOAA.... NOAA has been singled out for especially deep cuts by members of the Trump administration. Project 2025, the policy blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation that is reflected in many of the actions taken by the administration so far, calls the agency 'one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.'" ~~~

~~~ Scott Dance & Kasha Patel of the Washington Post: "The National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union representing 4,000 workers, argued the [employee terminations], part of the administration's swift and broad moves to shrink the federal workforce, could leave some offices incapable of tracking weather hazards around the clock.... Private-sector forecasters, meteorologists and researchers around the world rely on the agencies' weather and climate data.... About half of the Weather Service's forecast offices were already understaffed, according to a congressional analysis released last year." The article examines ways in which the weather services may/will be affected.

Nick Miroff & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has directed federal officers to identify immigrants who can be rapidly removed from the United States without a court hearing... [A] memo circulated at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Feb. 18 details the agency's latest strategy to accelerate removals and identifies their potential targets. More than 1 million migrants who were admitted to the United States through an array of initiatives during President Joe Biden's administration could be flagged for 'expedited removal' proceedings, though officials have instructed immigration officers to pore over the nearly 8 million deportation cases on their dockets to find more. Migrants could be speedily deported if they crossed the border illegally, were waved into the country on parole or with a notice to report to immigration authorities, and have not applied for asylum, the memo said. Immigrants who arrived legally through a port of entry also may be targeted if they lacked immigration documents or misrepresented themselves, the memo said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, not criminals and rapists. ~~~

~~~ Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: "Internal Revenue Service leaders rejected a recent request from immigration enforcement officials to divulge the home addresses of 700,000 people suspected of being in the country illegally, rebuffing a Trump administration attempt to leverage the tax service to assist a sweeping immigration crackdown. In a memo obtained by The Washington Post, Department of Homeland Security authorities asked the IRS on Thursday to connect the names of potentially undocumented immigrants with the people's last known addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. It follows a DHS request roughly two weeks ago that would allow immigration officials to provide a list of names to the IRS in hopes of obtaining home addresses from the tax agency.... DHS's Thursday memo also asked the IRS to deploy dozens of highly skilled IRS auditors and criminal investigators to launch probes of businesses suspected of hiring immigrants not authorized to work in the United States....

"At the end of the workday Friday..., a new acting IRS commissioner, Melanie Krause, took over the agency and quickly indicated she was interested in exploring how to comply with the DHS request.... The memo and requests have prompted deep alarm within the IRS, the people said. Providing taxpayer information to third parties is punishable by civil and criminal penalties, and other government entities are forbidden from ordering tax investigations. People familiar with the DHS's requests described them as 'Nixonian.'... The IRS has reassured undocumented immigrants for years that their information is confidential and that it would be safe for them to file income tax returns reflecting their earnings without fear of being deported." Emphasis added. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Seven top leaders of the U.S. attorney's office for Washington, D.C., were demoted to misdemeanor and entry-level intake positions Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest Trump administration purge of career Justice Department prosecutors who handled politically sensitive cases. The prosecutors are among a larger group targeted for 'retribution' by ... Donald Trump and loyalists, including interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin, because of their roles in Jan. 6 Capitol seditious conspiracy and riot cases and others, including ones involving Trump allies such as advisers Stephen K. Bannon and Peter Navarro.... The seven prosecutors were notified by email Friday morning of their immediate removal from high-ranking supervisory or senior roles in the federal criminal division of the nation's largest U.S. attorney's office."

Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Joshua Stueve, a top spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ), has resigned, citing a 'toxic work environment' in his letter to leadership. 'Simply put, I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic work environment, one where leadership at the highest levels makes clear we are not welcomed or valued, much less trusted to do our jobs,' wrote Stueve, who is not a political appointee and has served in administrations run by both parties." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. on Friday gave ... [Donald] Trump the boxes of materials the bureau had seized during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2022, the White House announced." MB: The article does not make clear whether or not Trump received the classified documents and other government-owned property & docs the National Archives asked for. Shear writes that "the president and his allies said they would seek the return of the files that had been seized.... Alina Habba, the counselor to the president, told reporters that the boxes included personal items from Mr. Trump and his family." But IMO "included personal items" does not mean "excluded government-owned property." And it does seem highly likely that Patel or Bove would give Trump everything he (allegedly!) stole. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "White House spokesperson Steven ... Cheung did not say Friday whether the classified items found by the FBI were among the materials being handed over."

Martin Matishak of the Record: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hegseth gave the instruction to Cyber Command chief Gen. Timothy Haugh, who then informed the organization's outgoing director of operations, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, of the new guidance, according to these people.... While the full scope of Hegseth's directive to the command remains unclear, it is more evidence of the White House's efforts to normalize ties with Moscow after the U.S. and international allies worked to isolate the Kremlin over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine." MB: I'm not familiar with the Record, but Matiskak reported for Politico for five years, so he knows how to do the job.

DOD Spokesman Wants Press to Root for Trump. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell had an off-the-record meeting with reporters Thursday afternoon that did not go well, according to a report by Status newsletter scribe Oliver Darcy.... Parnell's media confab came just a few weeks after the DOD booted The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, Politico, and NPR from their physical offices within the Pentagon and replaced them with more MAGA-friendly outlets like Breitbart and One America News Network, although the left-leaning Huffington Post was also included.... '... the meeting quickly went off the rails' when the reporters started asking questions, and 'things grew quite strange and adversarial' as Parnell began firing questions back at them.... Parnell 'then asked the room full of assembled journalists whether they were "rooting" for the president to succeed.' Wrote Darcy: '... Parnell ... questioned why it would be unfair for him to expect that the reporters cheer on Trump. A reporter answered that it was not their job to root for or against a subject that they cover, but to simply report the facts.... Parnell quipped back, 'So it's our job to let you publish stories that trash the warfighter?'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. Darcy's post is firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As far as I can tell, Parnell has no journalistic experience, which many departmental spokespeople do, for obvious reasons. He does, however, have a few things in common with Pete Hegseth: he has served in the military and his ex-wife accused him of physical abuse.

DEA Pauses Help for Poorer Student Borrowers. Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "Federal student loan borrowers are temporarily unable to apply to income-driven repayment plans, a decades-old safety net that ties their monthly loan payment size to household income levels, as the U.S. Education Department reviews a recent federal court ruling. The department closed applications to the repayment plans last week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld and expanded a temporary suspension of the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, known as SAVE. That income-driven program, a centerpiece of the Biden administration's policy agenda with eight million enrolled borrowers, generated lower payments than previous plans. Given its high cost, SAVE became the target of two separate legal challenges last spring by two groups of Republican-led states, which argued that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority. The SAVE plan has been in legal limbo ever since, and participants' payments have been on hold since last summer. But last week, applications to the three other income-driven plans were also taken down -- older programs that hadn't been subject to any litigation."

Judge Calls Bull on DOJ Lawyers. Aishvarya Kavi & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal judge said on Friday that it seemed 'factually inaccurate' for the Trump administration to keep insisting that Elon Musk has no formal position in an operation that has led to mass firings of federal workers and the hobbling of the nation's foreign aid agency. The judge, Theodore D. Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, prodded government lawyers repeatedly for additional clarity on Mr. Musk&'s role in a case that directly challenges the constitutionality of the task force known as the Department of Government Efficiency.... On Friday, Joshua E. Gardner, a lawyer in the Justice Department's civil division, denied that Mr. Musk had any role with the Department of Government Efficiency.... The judge declined to issue an immediate decision." The article details an instance in which Judge Chuang tripped up the government's lawyer.

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "The Democratic Party sued ... [Donald] Trump on Friday, contending that his assertion of control over independent executive-branch agencies, which include the bipartisan Federal Election Commission, violated federal election law."

Tesla Fires Employee for Objecting to Musk's Pro-Nazi Post. Jack Ewing, et al., of the New York Times: "Tesla has fired a manager who objected to a social media post by Elon Musk, the chief executive, that referred to Nazi leaders. It was the latest example that public criticism of the boss was unacceptable in the Musk business empire. Jared Ottmann, a manager and engineer who worked with Tesla's battery suppliers, said he had been fired because he criticized Mr. Musk for a post on X that used the names of Nazis like Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring in a series of wordplay. 'Stop Göring your enemies,' Mr. Musk wrote on Jan. 23, adding, 'Bet you did Nazi that coming.' He punctuated the post with a laughing-while-crying emoji. Mr. Ottmann said on LinkedIn in late January that he was offended that Mr. Musk had referred 'as a joke' to Nazis who were responsible for genocide.... Mr. Musk's companies, which include SpaceX and X, have a history of punishing dissent.... The firings are at odds with Mr. Musk's often-stated goal to defend free speech."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. David Folkenflik of NPR: "More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced on Wednesday that he would radically overhaul the paper's opinion pages to reflect libertarian priorities and to exclude opposing points of view." MB: I doubt Bezos cares much; his goal is to please Trump, et al., in order to increase the bottom line of his other, lucrative enterprises. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ There Are No Concidences in Washington. Jaden Amos of Axios: Donald "Trump said in an interview with The Spectator that he had dinner Wednesday night with Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.... The dinner between Trump and Bezos happened the night Bezos announced changes to the Washington Post opinion section." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "After days of a cautious optimism and two weeks in a hospital with pneumonia in both lungs, Pope Francis on Friday suffered another respiratory crisis, renewing concerns about the prognosis for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican said on Friday night that Francis, who is 88 and has a history of respiratory ailments, suffered a bronchial spasm that caused him to inhale his vomit after a coughing fit. That, in turn, caused a 'worsening of the respiratory picture,' and required aspiration."

New York Times: "The actor Gene Hackman most likely died nine days before his and his wife's bodies were found in their secluded home near Santa Fe, N.M., the authorities said on Friday, as the central question of how they died remained unanswered. By examining Mr. Hackman's pacemaker, a pathologist determined that the device's last recorded 'event' was on Feb. 17, indicating that Mr. Hackman died then, Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a news conference. Mr. Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead on Wednesday, in separate rooms of their home in a gated community."

Comments Off
Friday
Feb282025

The Conversation -- February 28, 2025

Marie: I have to leave as the news is just breaking, but it sounds as if JayDee picked a fight with President Zelensky in the Oval Office, and a shouting match among JayDee, Trump & Zelensky ensued. ~~~

~~~ Michael Birnbaum & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump ripped into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, in a remarkable encounter that could determine a generation of war and peace in Europe but that at times felt more like a barroom brawl with furious demands from Trump and Vice President JD Vance for respect and gratitude from the wartime Ukrainian leader. The heated back and forth -- with Trump, Zelensky and Vance at times shouting over each other -- was a striking breach of Oval Office comity, where even tough encounters have typically happened with calm voices and diplomatic language.... Zelensky pushed back against Trump, urging him to offer security guarantees, emphasizing Putin's aggression, and, as things grew heated, chided Vance for speaking about Ukraine without having visited the country. Zelensky left shortly after 1:40 p.m., with a planned press conference canceled and Trump writing on social media: 'He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he's ready for Peace.' Also cut short were plans for Trump and Zelensky to finalize an agreement granting the U.S. limited access to Ukraine's mineral rights." ~~~

     ~~~ Peter Baker & other correspondents kept calling the spectacle "astonishing" and saying that nothing like this has ever happened in the Oval. ~~~

     ~~~ Pundits are wondering if JayDee & the Fat Bastard set up Zelensky, and they may be right. They certainly ambushed him. But I think Trumpty Dumpty & Amourus Couch just don't know how to behave in public, they have no idea (and don't care) what diplomacy is, and they absolutely cannot handle the truth. Of greater importance, this looks like one of the opening salvos (albeit not the first) in a global political realignment, where the U.S. joins non-democratic countries in opposition to nominally democrat nations. Given all that, I think Zelensky is well-rid of these two Putin puppets. I've never understood why Trump would be the guy to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine & Russia. This is a job for diplomats, not for Vlad's ignorant slut. In the meantime, I'm with Jeanne: dumping Trump & his holier-than-thou sidekick into an active volcano seems like a good idea: ~~~

~~~ Marie: Robert Farley of LG&$ also speaks for me when he writes, "I don't know if I've ever been this ashamed of a US President."

~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: "... Trump and Vance have revealed to Americans and to America's allies their alignment with Russia, and their animosity toward Ukraine in general and its president in particular. The truth is ugly, but it's necessary to face it.... The national-security system of the West is led by two men who cannot be trusted to defend America's allies -- and who deeply sympathize with the world's most aggressive dictator.... We're witnessing the self-sabotage of the United States. 'America First' always meant America alone, a predatory America whose role in the world is no longer based on democratic belief.... The American people need to reckon with the mess Trump and Vance are making of this country's once-good name -- and the services they are performing for dictators and aggressors.... The pro-Trump party exposed its face to the world in the Oval Office today. Nobody who saw that face will ever forget the grotesque sight." Thanks to laura h. for this gift link.

David Folkenflik of NPR: "More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced on Wednesday that he would radically overhaul the paper's opinion pages to reflect libertarian priorities and to exclude opposing points of view." MB: I doubt Bezos cares much; his goal is to please Trump, et al., in order to increase the bottom line of his other, lucrative enterprises. ~~~

     ~~~ There Are No Coincidences in Washington. Jaden Amos of Axios: Donald "Trump said in an interview with The Spectator that he had dinner Wednesday night with Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.... The dinner between Trump and Bezos happened the night Bezos announced changes to the Washington Post opinion section."

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States, three White House officials told CNBC on Friday. The order would establish a national language for the first time in U.S. history. Trump's order would also rescind former President Bill Clinton's August 2000 directive requiring agencies and other recipients of federal funds to provide services for those with limited English proficiency, according to a fact sheet shared with CNBC." MB: This is embarrassing, especially in a country where so many native-born Americans speak only English (that includes me). We are such undereducated rubes, and now Trump plans to remind us of it.

Julian Mark, et al., of the Washington Post: "Agencies across the federal government are dismantling offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws under a Trump administration push to shrink the workforce, weakening the government's ability to deliver on legal obligations to protect workers' rights. [For instance,] the Social Security Administration this week announced it was closing its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, where about 150 people worked investigating civil rights complaints, preventing harassment and ensuring accommodations for people with disabilities.... Leaders at the Labor Department are planning to cut by 90 percent the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.... The moves signal the Trump administration's intent to deliver on U.S. DOGE Service plans for workforce cuts laid out in a series of documents obtained by The Post, which initially contemplated eliminating the civil rights functions altogether in violation of federal law. The in-agency equal opportunity offices are mandated by statute to ensure employees receive equal opportunity...."

Peter Navarro Is Still Crazy. Connor Stringer of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: "A top White House official has threatened to redraw the Canadian border amid Donald Trump's ambition to turn the country in America's '51st state'. Peter Navarro ... is pushing US negotiators to discuss reworking the border with their Canadian counterparts, The Telegraph can reveal. 'Navarro recommended revising the Canada-US border, which is just crazy and dangerous,' a source close to negotiations told The Telegraph. Canada has now instructed its delegates to withdraw from negotiations with the US until Jameson Greer and Howard Lutnick, two incoming members of Mr Trump's cabinet, are confirmed by the senate. Mr Greer and Mr Lutnick are viewed by Ottawa as being less extreme." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Joshua Stueve, a top spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ), has resigned, citing a 'toxic work environment' in his letter to leadership. 'Simply put, I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic work environment, one where leadership at the highest levels makes clear we are not welcomed or valued, much less trusted to do our jobs,' wrote Stueve, who is not a political appointee and has served in administrations run by both parties."

~~~~~~~~~~

Chandelis Duster of NPR: "An organization is calling for a national boycott in the form of an 'economic blackout' on Friday, urging Americans not to shop for 24 hours. This movement, spearheaded by The People's Union USA, a grassroots group, follows the rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at several companies, including Target. The boycott coincides with protests against ... Donald Trump's plans to reduce the government workforce and mass firings at federal agencies." Thanks to RAS for the reminder. MB: I am going out today and had planned to make some small purchases, and now I won't.

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, presented ... [Donald] Trump with a royal invitation and scored several political wins. But his top goal -- a security guarantee for Ukraine -- remained elusive.... With Mr. Trump on the brink of an epochal split with Britain and the rest of Europe over how to deal with Russia's war on Ukraine, Mr. Starmer apparently calculated that a little royal stardust might bridge the gap -- or at least paper it over.... Mr. Trump gave Mr. Starmer little comfort on his biggest ask: that the United States provide a security 'backstop' for British and European troops that could keep the peace after a potential Trump-brokered settlement between Ukraine and Russia.... Mr. Trump insisted Mr. Putin would 'keep his word' if a peace deal was reached.... But he won Mr. Trump's endorsement of a deal relinquishing British sovereignty over a string of strategically important islands [the Chagos islands] in the Indian Ocean. And he got a welcome sign that Britain might wriggle out of American tariffs." ~~~

~~~ Victor Goury-Laffont of Politico: "Former French President François Hollande said the United States government under ... Donald Trump is 'no longer an ally.' '[Trump] is no longer an ally, he is consorting with our adversaries,' Hollande, current President Emmanuel Macron's predecessor, said in a blunt interview with Le Monde published Friday. 'Even if the American people remain our friends, the Trump administration itself is no longer our ally.'"

NYT Says Stupid Trump Tricks Are Straining the Economy. Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "The United States economy is starting to show signs of strain as ... [Donald] Trump's abrupt moves to shrink federal spending, lay off government workers and impose tariffs on America's largest trading partners rattle businesses and reverberate across states and cities. Funding freezes and firings of federal workers combined with the prospect of costly trade wars are souring consumer sentiment, raising inflation expectations and stalling business investment plans, according to recent economic surveys. Local economies are also bracing for a sudden withdrawal of fiscal support, forcing officials to contemplate tax increases or municipal bond offerings to stabilize their budgets. While Mr. Trump has acknowledged that his policies could bring some initial pain, the early warning signs suggest that his blunt approach could come with more ominous risks to the economy." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nevertheless, He Persists. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would go into effect on March 4 'as scheduled...,' [Donald] Trump said on Thursday morning, claiming that those countries were still not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. China will also face an additional 10 percent tariff next week, on top of the 10 percent he imposed earlier this month, the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,' he said. 'A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.' He added that the levies were necessary until the flow of drugs 'stops, or is seriously limited.'... The post Thursday appeared to be an attempt by Mr. Trump to clarify his plans, after his remarks at the White House on Wednesday sowed confusion about whether the tariffs had been delayed." MB: Because Trump doesn't know WTF he's doing. This is an item in a liveblog. Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Everything Trump Does Is Wrong. Annabelle Timset of the Washington Post: "Openly transgender service members will be disqualified from serving in the U.S. military and will soon be removed from the ranks, according to a Pentagon memo that marks a significant shift from previous Defense Department policy that prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. The memo was made public Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ rights groups against an executive order signed last month by ... Donald Trump, which stated that the 'medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria' were 'inconsistent' with the high standards expected of U.S. troops. An earlier memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said that people with a history of gender dysphoria would no longer be able to join the military, but that they would be 'treated with dignity and respect.' The new memo goes a step further in stating that current service members will be removed if they have gender dysphoria or a history of it." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Five former defense secretaries on Thursday denounced ... Donald Trump's firing last week of the Joint Chiefs chairman and several other senior military officials, urging Congress to hold hearings and declaring they have concluded the officers were 'fired for purely partisan reasons.' The extraordinary public appeal was signed by Lloyd Austin, Jim Mattis, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and William Perry -- who served in Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to the 1990s -- after Trump's Friday night firings caused an uproar on Capitol Hill and among many military veterans.... 'The President offered no justification for his actions, even though he had nominated these officers for previous positions and the Senate had approved them,' the letter says. 'These officers' exemplary operational and combat experience, as well as the coming dismissals of the Judge Advocates General of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, make clear that none of this was about warfighting.'" The AP report is here.

Ha Ha. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "A hot mic caught ... Donald Trump telling a Fox News host to praise his first cabinet meeting as the press filed out -- a moment that was cut off in the official White House feed.... TRUMP [to Lawrence Jones of Fox]: 'Lawrence, say we did a great job, please. Okay? Say it was unbelievable!'" MB: Oh, and that bit that didn't make it into the White House feed: it came from the AP -- you know, the news outlet Trump banned from some availabilities. Thanks to Akhilleus & RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to retract directives that prompted the firing of thousands of federal workers, saying that those directives were 'illegal' and suggesting that the layoffs be stopped. The ruling, by Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California, stopped short of ordering a halt in the firings and added to the confusion for federal employees, who have been rattled by the mass firings in recent days. But Judge Alsup found that the government's human resources division had exceeded its authority when it issued a pair of memos outlining steps to fire an estimated 200,000 probationary workers. That division, the Office of Personnel Management, is meant to guide agencies but not order them to take action, he said. But government agencies responded to the O.P.M. memos with sweeping firings, a first step in the drastic overhaul of the federal bureaucracy ... [Donald] Trump promised to carry out alongside Elon Musk.... The judge's decision was limited to the agencies and offices that employ workers represented by a coalition of unions that had brought the lawsuit." The Guardian's report is here. Politico's report is here.

Federica Coco of the Washington Post: "Unemployment claims in Washington, D.C., jumped to 2,046 for the week ending Feb. 22, a 20 percent increase from the previous week as ... Donald Trump and Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service rolled out federal layoffs and buyouts. Since Trump assumed office, some 8,730 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance. It is unknown how many are federal workers." (Also linked yesterday.)

This loss of talent at NOAA is going to set the agency back years and compromise the integrity of missions that directly support human health and safety, economic prosperity and national security.... This is not a move toward efficiency; it's a move toward putting Americans in danger every day. -- NOAA Policy Analyst, on mass firings at the agency ~~~

~~~ Christopher Flavelle, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world's premier centers for climate science. The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out on Thursday afternoon. A policy analyst at the National Ocean Service, a NOAA agency office near Washington, described a scramble as supervisors frantically tried to help probationary employees download relevant documents like pay slips and performance reviews before they lost access to computers." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Dance of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration on Thursday informed hundreds of probationary employees responsible for producing critical weather forecasts, maintaining radar systems, gathering data from satellites and monitoring key commercial fisheries that they were fired.... The terminations come days before a potential severe weather outbreak in the southeastern U.S. -- and just months ahead of the next Atlantic hurricane season.... In many cases, fired employees had years of tenure working with the agencies, but they were on probationary status because they had been working as contractors and had only recently become federal employees." The CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ James Fallows explains that the U.S. has a viable aircraft-making industry only because it has so many other successful factors working together. Just one of those factors he lists is "a precise and reliable weather forecasting system, since bad weather is aviation's worst enemy." Of course weather forecasting is by no means all NOAA does, but the point is that many different systems work together to make the aviation industry possible here. Marie: Of all people -- Musk, who owns Starlink & SpaceX, should know that. Yet he's willing to tear it all down so he can avoid dealing with regulators -- who -- as Fallows points out -- are one of the many integral parts of what makes aircraft manufacturing work. Thanks to RAS for the link.

⭐Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times: "Starting Wednesday afternoon, a wave of emails went out from the State Department in Washington around the world, landing in inboxes for refugee camps, tuberculosis clinics, polio vaccination projects and thousands of other organizations that received crucial funding for lifesaving work. 'This award is being terminated for convenience and the interest of the U.S. government,' they began. The terse notes ended funding for some 5,800 projects that had been financed by the United States Agency for International Development, indicating that a tumultuous period when the Trump administration said it was freezing projects for ostensible review was over, and that any faint hope American assistance might continue had ended. Many were projects that had received a waiver from the freeze because the State Department previously identified its work as essential and lifesaving.... The projects terminated include H.I.V. treatment programs that had served millions of people, the main malaria control programs in the worst-affected African countries and global efforts to wipe out polio." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why doesn't Marco Rubio have the guts to stand up for these programs? Is his huge fancy office & limo service so enticing that it's worth killing one child, let alone tens of thousands? Trump & Musk have no sense of decency, but how is it that a whole Cabinet full of -- ha ha ha -- public servants won't en masse tell Trump & Musk to lay off? ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times suggest that a few Cabinet secretaries are "uncomfortable" about the Trump/Musk chainsaw massacre, but they haven't the guts to stand up and say so: "Cabinet secretaries at major agencies found themselves struggling to figure out how to respond to a directive [ordering each employee to list five things she had accomplished] from the president's most powerful adviser without compromising their own staff.... [FBI Director Kash] Patel was the first to push back publicly.... At his first cabinet meeting [on Wednesday], Mr. Trump responded to a reporter's question ... by asking, 'Is anyone unhappy with Elon?' After a few awkward moments, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, started clapping loudly. The rest of the cabinet members followed soon after with their own applause for Mr. Musk. It was a collective endorsement under pressure and with Mr. Trump right there watching. Some of the secretaries looked uncomfortable as Mr. Musk lectured them about his activities at the president's invitation." ~~~

~~~ Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "A handful of Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in expressing alarm over the Trump administration's foreign aid freeze and gutting of USAID, writing to Marco Rubio that they believe the State Department is not operating in accordance with the law by neglecting to notify and consult with Congress during the process according to correspondence obtained by The Washington Post. The senators have also asked Rubio to defend the freeze in a hearing on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks.... GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote to Rubio earlier this month with their Democratic colleagues that although they supported the secretary of state's right to review federal programs and eliminate waste and abuse, they were 'concerned' that Rubio and the State Department had not notified and consulted with Congress as it gutted USAID and canceled foreign aid programs, which they noted is required by law." ~~~

~~~ Lisa Rein & John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The watchdog for the U.S. Agency for International Development has yet to release two critical reports on the consequences of President Donald Trump's funding freeze on crucial services in Africa and the Middle East, amid fears of retaliation from the White House, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post. One of the unreleased reports says the cutbacks threaten the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, jeopardizing more than $300 million in humanitarian aid for the devastated Palestinian enclave.... And an unpublished global audit found security dangers, risks of widespread looting and disease, and tens of millions of dollars in new costs brought about by the withdrawal of foreign aid and mass relocation of USAID staff, according to documents and interviews. Conditions are particularly dire across southern Africa, South Sudan and Senegal, where initial findings by auditors in the field predict heightened hunger and desperation caused by the ongoing dismantling of USAID, documents show." ~~~

~~~ Ellen Knickmeyer, et al., of the AP: "The Trump administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. The cuts detailed by the administration would leave few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles with the administration. The Trump administration outlined its plans in both an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press and filings in one of those federal lawsuits Wednesday.... Wednesday's disclosures also give an idea of the scale of the administration's retreat from U.S. aid and development assistance overseas, and from decades of U.S. policy that foreign aid helps U.S. interests by stabilizing other countries and economies and building alliances....

"Widely successful USAID programs credited with containing outbreaks of Ebola and other threats and saving more than 20 million lives in Africa through HIV and AIDS treatment are among those still cut off from agency funds, USAID officials and officials with partner organizations say. Meanwhile, formal notifications of program cancellations are rolling out." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Sam Stein of the Bulwark: "On Thursday morning, foreign aid officials woke up to see the details of [Marco Rubio's] cuts [to USAID program]. The reaction was justified shock. Programs that the administration had suggested it believed were worth continuing were now being terminated. That includes efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic -- such as George W. Bush's famed PEPFAR program -- that have been a source of bipartisan pride for decades.... It wasn't lost on those inside the agency that news of the terminations was leaked to the Free Beacon, the conservative outlet that has become a clearinghouse for critical reporting on USAID functions." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marcia Brown of Politico: "The Trump administration touted a nearly $1 billion plan Wednesday to combat the spread of avian flu and mitigate skyrocketing egg prices as the outbreak rips through poultry flocks across the United States. But the measures come as the Agriculture Department is struggling to rehire key employees working on the virus outbreak who were fired as part of the administration's sweeping purge of government workers. Roughly a quarter of employees in a critical office testing for the disease were cut, as well as scientists and inspectors." (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Weiner of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until mid-April to suggest relocations of bureaus and offices out of the D.C. region, a move that would have widespread impacts on the local economy. In a guidance issued Wednesday to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management laid out steps for compliance with ... Donald Trump's order to eliminate 'waste, bloat and insularity' in the government. Part of that is a directive to submit 'any proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country' by April 14." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I propose moving the White House and all executive offices to Guam. (Sorry, Guam.) It's "where America's day begins" and the weather is pretty nice, so Trump & the Trumpettes should be fine in tents. (Hope they do okay in the typhoons.) Guess they'll have to get used to the "biodiversity." (Don't worry, Donald; it's not what you think!) But the beach-front real estate development potential is phee-nominal!

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times on "how Elon Musk executed his takeover of the federal bureaucracy[:] The operation was driven with a frenetic focus by the billionaire, who channeled his resentment of regulatory oversight into a drastic overhaul of government agencies.... Without ceding control of his companies, the richest man in the world has embedded his engineers and aides inside the government's critical digital infrastructure. Already, his Department of Government Efficiency ... has inserted itself into more than 20 agencies.... Mr. Musk's strategy has been twofold. His team grabbed control of the government's human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management, commandeering email systems to pressure civil servants to quit so he could cull the work force. And it burrowed into computer systems across the bureaucracy, tracing how money was flowing so the administration could choke it off."

Understanding Elon. William Shoki in a New York Times op-ed: "He is a white South African, part of a demographic that for centuries sat atop a racial hierarchy maintained by violent colonial rule. That history matters.... He is in fact a distinctly ideological figure, one whose worldview is inseparable from rearing in apartheid South Africa.... [For instance,] in response to a bill passed in January that allows in specific circumstances the expropriation of land without compensation, Mr. Musk used his platform to suggest that white South Africans are uniquely persecuted.... In effect, his politics reprise apartheid's economic principles on a global scale: maintaining zones of privilege under the guise of 'free enterprise' while resisting any moves toward redistribution as threats."

Marie: About that Essential Minerals Shakedown where Ukraine must fork over its valuable minerals in exchange for, well, nothing from the U.S. It's been irritating the hell out of me and maybe for no good reason: ~~~

     ~~~ digby: It turns out those essential minerals may not be so valuable, after all. "Trump will claim that he just made a thousand trillion dollar deal that will make America rich and end the war and bring peace on earth or whatever. But in reality, it looks like it's much less than meets the eye. If it guaranteed continued support for Ukraine, it would definitely be worth it. But as it stands it's just another fluff job to make Dear Leader feel like a winner. But since Trump's almost completely drive by a seething desire for revenge against people he believes have wronged him (and Zelensky is one of them) maybe it makes sense for Zelensky to pretend like he's been forced to grovel and capitulate to Trumps demands in order to at least keep him from making things worse." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: I really, really hope digby is right. (Also linked yesterday.)

More News from the Kleptocracy. Rebecca Crosby & Judd Legum of Popular Information: "In March 2023, the SEC Justin] Sun and three of his companies, accusing him of marketing unregistered securities and 'fraudulently manipulating the secondary market' for a crypto token. The SEC accused Sun of wash trading, which involves buying and selling a token quickly to fraudulently manufacture artificial interest. Sun was also charged with paying celebrities ... for endorsing his crypto 'without disclosing their compensation,' which violates federal law.... In December..., Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), a new venture backed by ... Donald Trump and his family. Sun's purchase resulted in a cash windfall for Trump. On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Sun sent a joint letter to a federal judge, asking for a stay of Sun's case. Today, the judge <granted the SEC's request.... Now, the SEC seems poised to negotiate a favorable settlement with Sun or drop the case entirely."

Big Shock. Pam Bondi Is a Phony. Matthew Goldstein & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "For days, Attorney General Pam Bondi had talked about releasing the 'Epstein files,' supposedly secret documents the federal government has on some of the powerful men who were in the orbit of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. But the roughly 200 pages of documents that Ms. Bondi released on Thursday contained little new information pointing to wrongdoing by anyone other than Mr. Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in jail. The document dump largely consisted of flight logs for Mr. Epstein's planes -- long ago made public -- and contact information for hundreds of associates, along with brief descriptions of items found at his residences. The release was billed as a gesture ushering in a new era of transparency at the Justice Department. But the hyped first release of documents (which Ms. Bondi teased as 'breaking news' in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday night) appeared to be mostly political theater." The AP's story is here.

Spencer Hsu, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents this week questioned Environmental Protection Agency employees regarding a Biden administration grant program for climate and clean-energy projects, escalating a criminal probe that already caused one veteran prosecutor to resign.... The move came after the Justice Department in recent weeks took unusual steps to advance the investigation, having a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney submit a warrant request when career prosecutors were unwilling and seeking prosecutors in other offices who would agree to participate in the case.... The Trump-appointed EPA administrator has alleged publicly that the money was awarded with little oversight and said the agency would try to claw back the money from Citibank, which was tasked with disbursing the funds." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The scandal here is not that the prosecutor was forced to resign in disgrace or something; rather, the scandal is the investigation itself: "... a senior career prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. resigned rather than carry out the administration's demand to freeze the funds over possible wire fraud.... Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin then personally submitted a seizure warrant application without any other prosecutors in his office that was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., who found that the request and accompanying FBI agent affidavit failed to establish a reasonable belief that a crime occurred.... Meanwhile, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove's office approached at least one other U.S. attorney's office in the southeastern United States to launch a grand jury investigation and seek a court-ordered bank freeze, but prosecutors in the office again refused the warrant request.... At least three groups that had been awarded money said their accounts have been frozen, and the bank won't tell them why."

DOE Establishes Snitch Line. Russell Payne of Salon: "The Department of Education is teaming up with the far-right activist group Moms for Liberty, launching a portal Thursday where parents can submit tips to the department to investigate as part of the crusade to end diversity and inclusion efforts in schools. In a press release, the department announced it was launching the portal so that anyone can 'submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools,' which the department would then use as a guide 'to identify potential areas for investigation.'" The idea here is to create a clearing-house where parents -- or whoever -- can accuse teachers of promoting diversity & then the feds can "investigate" (harass) these miscreants.

Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: "... the economic agenda Republicans are now putting together on Capitol Hill would by and large help rich Americans, all while teeing up cuts to programs that provide health care and food to the poor.... Democrats ... are hammering Republicans for planning to take from the poor to give to the rich.... 'They're cutting taxes in a regressive manner and cutting spending, which is also regressive,' said Kyle Pomerleau, who studies tax policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "For ambitious women who wanted to climb the ranks of Republican politics, anti-feminism has long been the steadiest of ladders. The propaganda value of their gender outweighed their party's larger hostility to women in leadership. But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Donald Trump is back in the White House, many on the right feel they no longer need to hide the naked sexism fueling their movement.... There has been growing support in Christian nationalist circles 'for the repeal of the 19th Amendment and support a "household vote" system in which men vote on behalf of their families.' Hegseth's former sister-in-law reports she heard him echo similar sentiments.... House Republicans passed a bill (which stalled in the Senate) this session to require citizens to have a passport or birth certificate matching their name to vote. This would be a back-door ban on voting for any woman who took her husband's last name and doesn't have a passport, an estimated 69 million women.... Similarly, there's been a slowly rising volume on the right of talk about banning no-fault divorce...." Read on. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "The singer and songwriter Katy Perry and the broadcast journalist and show host Gayle King will be among the all-female crew on the next mission of New Shepard, the space tourism rocket that is operated by Jeff Bezos' private company, Blue Origin." MB: Perry and especially King, who plays a journalist on teevee, should be ashamed of themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~

Iowa. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Iowa lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday that would end state civil rights protections for transgender people. Advocates for L.G.B.T.Q. rights said that Iowa would become the first state to remove such broad and explicit protections for trans people if the Republican-backed measure was signed into law. The bill, which now goes to the desk of the Republican governor, passed 18 years after the state, then led by Democrats, enshrined those discrimination protections into Iowa code. The debate this week in Des Moines, where protesters and Democrats tried without success this week to persuade Republican lawmakers to reconsider, reflected how much the discourse over transgender issues has shifted in the country, and how much Iowa has changed." An AP story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Boris Spassky, the world chess champion whose career was overshadowed by his loss to Bobby Fischer in the 'Match of the Century' in 1972, died on Thursday in Moscow. He was 88."

New York Times: "The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak. The maintenance workers who found them said they had not been in contact with the couple for two weeks. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that 'there were no apparent signs of foul play.'... The causes of their deaths had not been determined."

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Thursday
Feb272025

The Conversation -- February 27, 2025

Here's Lawrence O'Donnell Thursday night on that lying Cabinet meeting:

NYT Says Stupid Trump Tricks Are Straining the Economy. Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "The United States economy is starting to show signs of strain as ... [Donald] Trump's abrupt moves to shrink federal spending, lay off government workers and impose tariffs on America's largest trading partners rattle businesses and reverberate across states and cities. Funding freezes and firings of federal workers combined with the prospect of costly trade wars are souring consumer sentiment, raising inflation expectations and stalling business investment plans, according to recent economic surveys. Local economies are also bracing for a sudden withdrawal of fiscal support, forcing officials to contemplate tax increases or municipal bond offerings to stabilize their budgets. While Mr. Trump has acknowledged that his policies could bring some initial pain, the early warning signs suggest that his blunt approach could come with more ominous risks to the economy." ~~~

~~~ Nevertheless, He Persists. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would go into effect on March 4 'as scheduled...,' [Donald] Trump said on Thursday morning, claiming that those countries were still not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. China will also face an additional 10 percent tariff next week, on top of the 10 percent he imposed earlier this month, the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,' he said. 'A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.' He added that the levies were necessary until the flow of drugs 'stops, or is seriously limited.'... The post Thursday appeared to be an attempt by Mr. Trump to clarify his plans, after his remarks at the White House on Wednesday sowed confusion about whether the tariffs had been delayed." MB: Because Trump doesn't know WTF he's doing. This is an item in a liveblog. Politico's story is here.

Ha Ha. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "A hot mic caught ... Donald Trump telling a Fox News host to praise his first cabinet meeting as the press filed out -- a moment that was cut off in the official White House feed.... TRUMP [to Lawrence Jones of Fox]: 'Lawrence, say we did a great job, please. Okay? Say it was unbelievable!'" MB: Oh, and that bit that didn't make it into the White House feed: it came from the AP -- you know, the news outlet Trump banned from some availabilities. Thanks to Akhilleus & RAS for the link.

Federica Coco of the Washington Post: "Unemployment claims in Washington, D.C., jumped to 2,046 for the week ending Feb. 22, a 20 percent increase from the previous week as ... Donald Trump and Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service rolled out federal layoffs and buyouts. Since Trump assumed office, some 8,730 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance. It is unknown how many are federal workers."

Ellen Knickmeyer, et al., of the AP: "The Trump administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. The cuts detailed by the administration would leave few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles with th administration. The Trump administration outlined its plans in both an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press and filings in one of those federal lawsuits Wednesday.... Wednesday's disclosures also give an idea of the scale of the administration's retreat from U.S. aid and development assistance overseas, and from decades of U.S. policy that foreign aid helps U.S. interests by stabilizing other countries and economies and building alliances....

"Widely successful USAID programs credited with containing outbreaks of Ebola and other threats and saving more than 20 million lives in Africa through HIV and AIDS treatment are among those still cut off from agency funds, USAID officials and officials with partner organizations say. Meanwhile, formal notifications of program cancellations are rolling out."

     ~~~ Sam Stein of the Bulwark: "On Thursday morning, foreign aid officials woke up to see the details of [Marco Rubio's] cuts [to USAID program]. The reaction was justified shock. Programs that the administration had suggested it believed were worth continuing were now being terminated. That includes efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic -- such as George W. Bush's famed PEPFAR program -- that have been a source of bipartisan pride for decades.... It wasn't lost on those inside the agency that news of the terminations was leaked to the Free Beacon, the conservative outlet that has become a clearinghouse for critical reporting on USAID functions."

Marcia Brown of Politico: "The Trump administration touted a nearly $1 billion plan Wednesday to combat the spread of avian flu and mitigate skyrocketing egg prices as the outbreak rips through poultry flocks across the United States. But the measures come as the Agriculture Department is struggling to rehire key employees working on the virus outbreak who were fired as part of the administration's sweeping purge of government workers. Roughly a quarter of employees in a critical office testing for the disease were cut, as well as scientists and inspectors."

Aaron Weiner of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until mid-April to suggest relocations of bureaus and offices out of the D.C. region, a move that would have widespread impacts on the local economy. In a guidance issued Wednesday to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management laid out steps for compliance with ... Donald Trump's order to eliminate 'waste, bloat and insularity' in the government. Part of that is a directive to submit 'any proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country' by April 14." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I propose moving the White House and all executive offices to Guam. (Sorry, Guam.) It's "where America's day begins" and the weather is pretty nice, so Trump & the Trumpettes should be fine in tents. (Hope they do okay in the typhoons.) Guess they'll have to get used to the "biodiversity." (Don't worry, Donald; it's not what you think!) But the beach-front real estate development potential is phee-nominal!

Everything Trump Does Is Wrong. Annabelle Timset of the Washington Post: "Openly transgender service members will be disqualified from serving in the U.S. military and will soon be removed from the ranks, according to a Pentagon memo that marks a significant shift from previous Defense Department policy that prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. The memo was made public Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ rights groups against an executive order signed last month by ... Donald Trump, which stated that the 'medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria' were 'inconsistent' with the high standards expected of U.S. troops. An earlier memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said that people with a history of gender dysphoria would no longer be able to join the military, but that they would be 'treated with dignity and respect.' The new memo goes a step further in stating that current service members will be removed if they have gender dysphoria or a history of it."

Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: "... the economic agenda Republicans are now putting together on Capitol Hill would by and large help rich Americans, all while teeing up cuts to programs that provide health care and food to the poor.... Democrats ... are hammering Republicans for planning to take from the poor to give to the rich.... 'They're cutting taxes in a regressive manner and cutting spending, which is also regressive,' said Kyle Pomerleau, who studies tax policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank."

Marie: About that Essential Minerals Shakedown where Ukraine must fork over its valuable minerals in exchange for, well, nothing from the U.S. It's been irritating the hell out of me and maybe for no good reason: ~~~

     ~~~ digby: It turns out those essential minerals may not be so valuable, after all. "Trump will claim that he just made a thousand trillion dollar deal that will make America rich and end the war and bring peace on earth or whatever. But in reality, it looks like it's much less than meets the eye. If it guaranteed continued support for Ukraine, it would definitely be worth it. But as it stands it's just another fluff job to make Dear Leader feel like a winner. But since Trump's almost completely drive by a seething desire for revenge against people he believes have wronged him (and Zelensky is one of them) maybe it makes sense for Zelensky to pretend like he's been forced to grovel and capitulate to Trumps demands in order to at least keep him from making things worse." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: I really, really hope digby is right.

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "For ambitious women who wanted to climb the ranks of Republican politics, anti-feminism has long been the steadiest of ladders. The propaganda value of their gender outweighed their party's larger hostility to women in leadership. But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Donald Trump is back in the White House, many on the right feel they no longer need to hide the naked sexism fueling their movement.... There has been growing support in Christian nationalist circles 'for the repeal of the 19th Amendment and support a "household vote" system in which men vote on behalf of their families.' Hegseth's former sister-in-law reports she heard him echo similar sentiments.... House Republicans passed a bill (which stalled in the Senate) this session to require citizens to have a passport or birth certificate matching their name to vote. This would be a back-door ban on voting for any woman who took her husband's last name and doesn't have a passport, an estimated 69 million women.... Similarly, there's been a slowly rising volume on the right of talk about banning no-fault divorce...." Read on. Thanks to RAS for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "The Trump administration moved forward on Wednesday with plans for more mass firings across the government, hours after ... [Donald] Trump reiterated his support for Elon Musk and his effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy.... Russell T. Vought, the head of the White House budget office, and Charles Ezell, the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management, circulated a memo to government leaders calling for agencies to prepare plans for additional 'large-scale reductions' in the federal work force in March and April. Denigrating the federal bureaucracy as 'bloated' and 'corrupt,' the seven-page memo called for agencies to be drastically cut -- in some instances to the fullest extent allowed by the law. One line in the memo said agencies 'should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated.' The memo said that plans for the next stage of the cuts should be submitted by March 13. Plans for 'phase 2' of the cuts should be submitted by April 14....

"Late on Wednesday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that further empowered DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, to scrutinize and withhold payments by agencies.... The order also appeared to enact a freeze on all government credit cards used by employees -- with exceptions for disaster relief and 'other critical services' -- for the next 30 days." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Doesn't "bloated and corrupt" better describe Donald Trump? ~~~

~~~ President* Musk Holds His First Cabinet Meeting. Alex Gangitano of the Hill: Elon "Musk ... was dominant at the opening of the Cabinet meeting, offering a number of sharp comments toward the federal workforce while standing and taking questions from the press.... Musk ... defended his email demanding all federal workers report their accomplishments to his office, calling it a 'pulse check' and saying anyone with a heartbeat and neurons could complete it.... 'There are fictional individuals collecting paychecks,' Musk said of the government, though he did not offer specific evidence that people are fraudulently getting paychecks.... 'Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If you are, we'll throw them out of here,' Trump asked the room [of actual Cabinet secretaries] at one point...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ In the Court of the Deranged, a Black-Capped Man Is King. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: "About 12 minutes into the first meeting of his new cabinet..., [Donald] Trump addressed the elephant in the room.... The elephant was standing 10 feet away, dressed all in black, hovering over the head of the table at which the president and the members of his cabinet sat.... The president tried to pretend all was well, but he seemed to understand on Wednesday that there was trouble in his court. 'ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON,' he posted a few hours before the meeting. 'The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!' The cabinet members stared expectantly at Mr. Musk as he stood up a few minutes into the meeting and began to hold forth.... Mr. Musk spent much of the rest of the meeting standing over the table at which the cabinet sat. He spoke far more than anyone else, other than Mr. Trump.

"Mr. Musk explained to the cabinet members that he had sent that demand to their employees only after clearing it with the president.... This was a reversal of the way things usually work in Washington -- it used to be that underlings would take the fall even if the boss was to blame. Now the underling was publicly pointing the finger at the boss to mollify the other underlings he had trampled over, while the boss nodded along."

     ~~~ Where's Amy? Marie: Wait, wait! I read that the White House has confirmed that a woman named Amy Gleason was in charge of DOGE. Why wasn't she the person lording it over the Trump Cabinet? ~~~

Dan Diamond & John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk on Wednesday acknowledged that the U.S. DOGE Service 'accidentally canceled' efforts by the U.S. Agency for International Development to prevent the spread of Ebola -- but the billionaire entrepreneur insisted that the initiative was quickly restored. 'We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. But when we make a mistake we'll fix it very quickly,' Musk said at a meeting of ... Donald Trump's Cabinet officials.... 'So we restored the Ebola prevention immediately. And there was no interruption.' Yet current and former USAID officials said that ... USAID's Ebola prevention efforts have been largely halted since Musk and his DOGE allies moved last month to gut the global-assistance agency and freeze its outgoing payments, they said. The teams and contractors that would be deployed to fight an Ebola outbreak have been dismantled, they added. While the Trump administration issued a waiver to allow USAID to respond to an Ebola outbreak in Uganda last month, partner organizations were not promptly paid for their work, and USAID's own efforts were sharply curtailed compared to past efforts to fight Ebola outbreaks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rachel Maddow said last night on-air that Musk treated the "accidental cancellation" as a joke; he chuckled when he falsely congratulated his team and himself for restoring aid with no interruption of service. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "During his cabinet meeting on Wednesday..., [Donald] Trump casually mentioned that Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, intended to fire 65 percent of employees, an incision so deep that officials said it would hobble the E.P.A. Mr. Trump said Mr. Zeldin 'thinks he's going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental. And we're going to speed up the process, too, at the same time.' Within minutes, managers at the agency said they received a White House memo telling them to prepare for mass layoffs. The memo, which was sent to leaders of multiple agencies, said that the federal government 'is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt.' It did not mention the 65 percent goal, but laid out steps for the E.P.A. to prepare for what is known as a reduction in force, which would result in eliminating jobs. Hours later, an E.P.A. official said Mr. Trump was referring to overall agency budget cuts and not a 65 percent reduction in personnel." MB: Because Donald is a figurehead and doesn't know what's really going on. ~~~

~~~ Unvaccinated Child Dies in Measles Outbreak. RFKJ Says "Meh." Devi Shastri & Amanda Seitz of the AP: "A child who wasn't vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious respiratory disease since 2015. The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas' largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties.... Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation's top health official and a vaccine critic, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is 'watching' cases, though he did not provide specifics on how the federal agency is assisting. He dismissed Texas' outbreak as 'not unusual' during a Wednesday meeting of ... Donald Trump's Cabinet members." MB: A "rash" of cases? Really? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No, RFKJ is wrong. This outbreak is unusual, and the death of a child (in the Cabinet meeting, he said two children, so maybe he knows something we don't) from measles is the first U.S. death from measles in a decade, according to ABC News. Dismissing this outbreak as "not unusual" is horrifying. Not only that, RFKJ claimed that the people hospitalized were in placed hospitals only so they could be "quarantined." No, they're in hospital because they have severe respiratory difficulties caused by measles; they can't breathe, you lying POS.

~~~ Lena Sun & Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post: "Trump officials have canceled a federal vaccine advisory committee meeting expected to be held next month that was intended to help select the makeup of next winter's influenza vaccine. This is the second federal vaccine advisory panel that has been postponed or canceled since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, was sworn in as health and human services secretary." The NBC News story is here.

No More Birds, No More Bees. No More Bushes, No More Trees. Marie: I thought Akhilleus was kidding when he wrote in yesterday's Comments "that a biodiversity conference in Hawaii was canceled because Fat Hitler's Agriculture Secretary thinks biodiversity is DEI." But no. He found that Secretary Brooke Rollins has proudly posted a press release announcing the Department has cancelled a "frivolous Biden-era contract" for $11K for a conference room rental for a USDA biodiversity meeting in Hawaii. It's quite impressive that in only a month, the Trump administration has figured out how to end life on earth. In addition, Karl Schneider of the Indy Star reports that "The USDA revoked a federal tree-planting grant to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful in a move the nonprofit's CEO said may be the result of anti-DEI initiatives coming from the Trump Administration.... The use of the words 'biodiversity' and 'equity' may have been the reason the grant was revoked, [Jeremy] Kranowitz [-- president of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful --] hypothesized." They. Are. Nitwits. (Also linked yesterday.)

Supposed DOGE "Savings" Are So Much Bull. Jane Timm of NBC News: "DOGE's 'wall of savings' and list of canceled contracts include many eye-popping 'receipts.'... There's just one problem: Many of the so-called receipts aren't receipts at all. They're negotiated agreements with known government contractors, who might provide future services.... The agreements are known as blanket purchase agreements (BPAs), working more like a catalog of things the government might buy than a placed order. But listed alongside actual orders for goods and services on DOGE's 'wall of savings,' they create a wildly exaggerated and false impression of government spending. The wall of savings includes more than 60 listed 'contracts' that are clearly labeled as BPAs on the DOGE site, while many others are identified as BPAs in federal records -- often easily spotted because of their high, round numbers. NBC News counted more than $1 billion value in DOGE's list of canceled contracts from BPAs."

FAA Joins Team Corruption. Ian Duncan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Federal Aviation Administration is close to canceling a $2.4 billion contract to overhaul a communications system that serves as the backbone of the nation’s air traffic control system and awarding the work to Elon Musk's Starlink.... The move to cancel a major contract in favor of a venture led by Musk ... would represent a significant test of protections against conflicts of interest in government projects. It would be an especially extraordinary step for the typically cautious FAA, whose systems are vital to the safety of millions of air travelers every day. The existing contract was awarded to Verizon in 2023, with the aim of upgrading a platform that different air traffic control facilities and FAA offices use to communicate with one another. Musk has personally taken aim at Verizon on his social media platform X in recent days, saying on Monday: 'The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk.'... A team of employees from SpaceX, Starlink's parent company, has been working inside the FAA in recent days, charged by the Trump administration with helping modernize the agency's aging technology."

Erich Wagner & Natalie Alms of Government Executive: "Most of the Social Security Administration's regional commissioners have decided to retire at the end of this week, following mysterious meetings with agency leaders about plans to slash its workforce. At least five of the eight regional commissioners whose offices oversee and support the agency's frontline offices across the country are leaving.... The Social Security Administration had largely been spared by the Trump administration's early efforts to cut staff across government, receiving exemptions for frontline workers from the 'deferred-resignation' program, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, and the purge of workers who had been recently hired or promoted. But that apparently changed this week, triggering the wave of retirement announcements."

VA Chief Doesn't Know What He's Doing. Tara Copp & Carla Johnson of the AP: "The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans' health services, lawmakers and veterans service organizations said Wednesday. The pause affects hundreds of VA contracts that Secretary Doug Collins a day earlier described as simply consulting deals, whose cancellation would save $2 billion as the Trump administration works to slash costs across the federal government. 'No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes!' Collins posted to X Tuesday, in a post that was then lauded by Elon Musk.... The Associated Press has obtained the full list of 875 affected contracts, which shows the cuts would affect everything from cancer care to the ability to assess toxic exposure. The list ... generat[ed] significant concern not just among Democrats but also Republican lawmakers. The VA said in a statement to the AP that its review of the contracts 'is ongoing and not final.'" The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I get that incompetence is part of the plan. Unfortunately, that's the part of the plan these dimwits are most successful at carrying out.

Sabrina Rodriguez & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account late Tuesday an apparently AI-generated video that takes viewers on a dreamlike journey through an alternate-reality version of the Gaza Strip, remade according to his proposal for the United States to 'own' the territory.... 'No more tunnels, no more fear. Trump Gaza is finally here,' a voice sings to an electronic dance beat. 'Trump Gaza, shining bright. Golden future, a brand-new life.'... It features AI-generated shots of a massive gold statue of Trump towering over a traffic circle, a toddler holding a large gold balloon of Trump's head and bazaar-like gift shops lined with Trump figurines. In several scenes, dollar bills fall from the sky, including over a suit-clad Musk dancing on the beach.... On Wednesday morning, critics of the president took to social media to slam his posting of the video, with many describing it as callous and disturbing.... Even on his own platform, Truth Social, some viewers found the video strange or distasteful." Thanks to RAS for the heads-up. MB: I thought about posting the video here. But, no, it's too offensive. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Akhilleus had some thoughts about the video in yesterday's Comments.

Evan Hurst reports on how JayDee defines masculinity. Whatever your own thoughts may be, I doubt they're the same as JayDee's. Thanks to RAS for the link. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying a beer with the boys and yukking it up over some trash talk about the ladies.

DOJ Nominees Testify Trump Can Ignore Court Orders. Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... [Donald] Trump in line to take top jobs at the Justice Department sparred with Democrats on Wednesday over whether the administration could simply ignore some court orders -- an early skirmish in a larger fight over the White House's efforts to claim more sweeping presidential powers. The debate, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, unfolded as three nominees testified during a confirmation hearing to join the upper ranks of the Justice Department. Two of the nominees, Harmeet K. Dhillon and D. John Sauer, have long worked as personal lawyers for Mr. Trump. The third, Aaron Reitz, selected to lead the Office of Legal Policy, was questioned about an old social media post in which he suggested that Mr. Trump follow the example set by President Andrew Jackson, who ignored a Supreme Court order in 1832. 'There is no hard and fast rule about whether, in every instance a public official is bound by a court decision,' he said Wednesday.... Democrats have raised concerns that the Trump administration might ignore not just lower court decisions, but also appellate decisions or Supreme Court rulings.... Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said some Supreme Court decisions were wrong and should have been fought more vigorously by government officials." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sauer was the attorney who argued before the Supreme Court that the president* should be immune from prosecution for ordering a Navy SEAL team to assassinate his political opponent.

⭐The Chief Justice Enabler. Zach Montague, et al., of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday night handed the Trump administration a victory for now in saying that the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department did not need to immediately pay for more than $1.5 billion in already completed aid work. A federal judge had set a midnight deadline for the agencies to release funds for the foreign aid work, which was withheld in the wake of the president's Day 1 directive to gut U.S. spending overseas.... Chief Justice Roberts issued an 'administrative stay,' an interim measure meant to preserve the status quo while the justices consider the matter in a more deliberate fashion. The chief justice ordered the challengers to file a response to the application on Friday, and the court is likely to act not long after." The CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Roberts is likely one of those undeserving federal bureaucrats who wastes our hard-earned money by receiving free copies of newspapers -- like Washington, D.C.'s Bezos Post -- AND Roberts is not stupid. So he knows he is killing people, including children. But, hey, let's go with an "administrative stay." Now, if anything sounds like the "deep state," that's it.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday over an employment discrimination suit filed by a straight woman who twice lost positions to gay workers. The case comes two years after the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions programs in higher education and amid the Trump administration's fierce efforts to root out programs that promote diversity. While some conservative groups have hoped the case will yield a major statement on efforts to diversify the workplace, it seemed likely to produce a modest decision saying merely that a key civil rights law applied equally to all employees.... The court seemed likely to issue a brief and perhaps unanimous decision in favor of the woman, Marlean A. Ames." (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Baker seems very exercised these days and is being exceptionally prolific: ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The decision by President Trump's team to handpick which news organizations can participate in the White House press pool that questions him in the Oval Office or travels with him on Air Force One is a step in a direction that no modern American president of either party has ever taken. The White House said it was a privilege, not a right, to have such access, and that it wanted to open space for 'new media' outlets, including those that just so happen to support Mr. Trump. But after the White House's decision to bar the venerable Associated Press as punishment for its coverage, the message is clear: Any journalist can be expelled from the pool at any time for any reason." Baker likens Trump's move to the time 15 years ago when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia pushed journalist Yelena Tregubova out of the Kremlin press pool. "The rest of the press pool got the message and eventually became what the Kremlin wanted it to be: a collection of compliant reporters who knew to toe the line or else they would pay a price.... One day, a bomb exploded outside Tregubova's apartment.... In the years since, independent journalists have been fired, arrested, poisoned or even killed.... Yevgenia Albats, a leading Russian journalist who had to flee her country under threat of arrest after the 2022 invasion [of Ukraine], said the developments in Washington over the past five weeks resemble the early days of Mr. Putin's reign." ~~~

~~~ Ben Johansen of Politico: "Reversing decades of precedent, the White House Correspondents' Association announced Wednesday that it would no longer coordinate shared coverage of ... Donald Trump in an escalating dispute over press access to official events. The association, which represents more than 60 news organizations that regularly cover the president, said it would no longer manage the rotating cast of reporters who attend White House events or compile the shared accounts of news.... 'This board will not assist any attempt by this administration or any other in taking over independent press coverage of the White House,' WHCA President Eugene Daniels, a Politico journalist, said in a statement to association members. 'Each of your organizations will have to decide whether or not you will take part in these new, government-appointed pools.' Their decision came after the White House, angered over coverage of the administration, has excluded certain organizations from news events in what the correspondents association see as retribution that undermines freedom of the press under the First Amendment and exceeds familiar tensions between presidents and the media." ~~~

Bezos argues for personal liberties. But his news organization now will forbid views other than his own in its opinion section.... There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of fear of the consequences for his other business interests. -- Marty Baron, former WashPo executive editor, in a statement

This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like.... The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns The Washington Post. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing. Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on X ~~~

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. This Is Not Mrs. Graham's Washington Post. Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: "Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, announced a major shift to the newspaper's opinion section on Wednesday, saying it would now advocate 'personal liberties and free markets' and not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics. Mr. Bezos said the section's editor, David Shipley, was leaving the paper in response to the change. 'I am of America and for America, and proud to be so,' Mr. Bezos said. 'Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical -- it minimizes coercion -- and practical; it drives creativity, invention and prosperity.' In his note, Mr. Bezos said that he had asked Mr. Shipley whether he wanted to stay at The Post, and that Mr. Shipley had declined. 'I suggested to him that if the answer wasn't "hell yes," then it had to be "no,"' Mr. Bezos wrote." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Washington Post Staff: "Bezos said that The Post no longer needs to offer a 'broad-based opinion section' because of a diversity of opinions available online.... Post publisher and CEO William Lewis told staffers in an email Wednesday that the change was not about 'siding with any political party.'" MB: Looks as if Jennifer Rubin, a Post columnist who left the paper a couple of weeks ago, saw the Bezos scrawl on the wall. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I suppose we can't be sure that this is what Bezos actually believes (it probably is) or just another gesture of "anticipatory obedience." But the effect is the same. ~~~

     ~~~ Margaret Sullivan in the Guardian: "Especially in light of the billionaire's other blatant efforts to cozy up to Donald Trump, Bezos's move is ... like a death knell for the once-great news organization he bought in 2013.... Bezos no longer wants to own an independent news organization. He wants a megaphone and a political tool that will benefit his own commercial interests. It's appalling. And, if you care about the role of the press in America's democracy, it's tragic.... Bezos is sacrificing the Post's reputation and any hope for its financial stability on the altar of personal gain.... I foresee a mass subscriber defection from an outlet already deep in red ink; that must be something businessman Bezos is willing to live with.... It's all about getting on board with Trump...." ~~~

     ~~~ Robert Reich: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk & Mark Zuckerberg "were in the first row at Trump's inauguration. They, and other billionaires, have now exposed themselves for what they are. They are the oligarchy. They continue to siphon off the wealth of the nation. They are supporting a tyrant who is promising them tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks that will make them even richer, and destroying democracy so they won't have to worry about 'parasites' (as Musk calls people who depend on government assistance) demanding anything more from them.... When [billionaires] talk of 'personal liberties and free markets' they mean their own liberties to become even richer and more powerful, as the rest of America slides into worse economic insecurity and fear." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jared Sexton: "Presently, the oligarchical class is carrying out a bold-faced takeover of the federal government, deleting the social safety net as if it is an unused icon on a desktop, solidifying complete control over our economy and culture, and working hand-in-hand with despotic regimes around the world in order to quell resistance and gain complete dominion over the resources necessary to sustain themselves and continue their personal pursuits. As climate change worsens and the consequences come into sight, and as the Neoliberal order fractures and evolves into authoritarianism, they fully recognize it is time to pounce and take what they believe is rightfully theirs.... Both parties laid this foundation. The rank and file in Washington, D.C. and in corporate America fed this thing until it grew into this form.... We are witnessing the moment they have chosen to assert what they believe is their right to take control." Thanks to laura h. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sexton's essay is very much worth reading. He doesn't offer an antidote, but I have one. It's quite simple, and Congress enshrined it in our Constitution more than a hundred years ago. It's the income tax. Of course more than one type of tax would be required to rein in the oligharchs. But the real problem is both simple and obvious: they have too much money. What if the maximum any American could take home was $500,000 a year? That's plenty of incentive -- along with social incentives like fame and admiration -- for these titans to be inspired to do what innovative work they may do. It's also -- in today's dollars -- more than enough to live on very comfortably. It is not enough to buy corrupt politicians and take over the federal government (or as Musk, for instance, is trying to do in Wisconsin, to take over state governance as well). What the corrupt Congress is doing right now -- lowering taxes on the oligarchs at the expense of the needy -- is precisely the opposite of what the country needs to survive them.

Marie: It appears that the Bezos Post opinion page has not been activated just yet. ~~~

~~~ Lee Hockstader of the Washington Post: During an Oval Office meeting Monday, "Trump, indulging his passion for fairy tales, said Europeans were just lending aid to Kyiv and would 'get their money back.' That's when [French President Emmanuel] Macron cut him off, placing a hand gently on Trump's forearm. 'No,' said the French president, who had already deployed ample flattery for 'dear Donald.' 'In fact, to be frank, we paid 60 percent of the total effort, and it was through -- like the U.S. -- loans, guarantees, grants.' Macron ignored Trump's yeah-sure-pal smirk and pressed his point: Europe, whose total aid to Ukraine exceeds Washington's, has 'provided real money, to be clear.' And it would not be joining Trump in gouging Kyiv with demands for payback.... As for Trump's demand that Kyiv sign over future proceeds from state-owned mineral rights as recompense for past U.S. aid -- half a trillion dollars was his original demand -- Europeans are appalled. 'It's mafia stuff,' an ambassador told me.... Europe's sense of panic is mounting."

~~~~~~~~~~

Ohio. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: "In early February, a truck of neo-Nazis ... -- some carrying rifles -- hurled racist slurs and waved flags with red swastikas on a highway overpass leading into [Lincoln Heights, Ohio, a majority-Black town]. Two weeks later, on Sunday, another agitator struck, spreading racist pamphlets from the Ku Klux Klan across Lincoln Heights.... The town originated as a self-governing Black community -- the oldest north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it proclaims on its website -- that lacked public services.... Residents say they are ... suspicious of police officers whom county officials criticized for not cracking down on the neo-Nazi march.... Many of the town's residents are adamant that taking up arms is the only solution, even as some have questioned whether they want their neighbors taking advantage of Ohio's open-carry law to begin an armed watch program.... Residents took up arms shortly after the neo-Nazis left, and community leaders formed the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program to organize them, according to ... the group's spokesman."

~~~~~~~~~~

Austria. Jim Tankersley & Christopher Schuetze of the New York Times: "Three mainstream political parties in Austria said on Thursday that they had reached an agreement to form a new government that excludes the far right, ending five months of roller coaster negotiations after an election last fall. The coalition is set to announce ministerial posts on Friday, but the new chancellor is likely to be Christian Stocker, the head of the People's Party, the biggest coalition partner. The new government is set to include left- and right-of-center parties but not the far-right Freedom Party, which finished first in the September vote."

Israel, et al. Aaron Boxerman, et al., of the New York Times: "Hamas turned over what it said were the remains of four Israeli hostages early on Thursday, according to the Israeli military, and Israel began releasing Palestinian prisoners, in the latest such exchange during the initial stage of a fragile cease-fire. Hamas's military wing on Wednesday afternoon named the four Israelis as Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mansour and Tsachi Idan. They ranged in age from 85 to 49 when they were abducted, and their remains were to be swapped for a group of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Unlike previous handovers, this time, Hamas carried out the transfer without staged displays, which Israel had condemned as 'humiliating ceremonies.' Around the same time on Thursday, a white bus and two cars bearing the emblem of the International Committee of the Red Cross were shown live on Palestinian television departing from Ofer Prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the city of Ramallah in the same territory. Dozens of prisoners stepped off the bus. Hundreds more were expected to be released once Israel identified the bodies turned over."

News Ledes

CNBC: "Initial filings for unemployment benefits hit their highest level of the year last week in another potential signs of weakness in the labor market. Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 22 totaled a seasonally adjusted 242,000, up 22,000 from the previous week's revised level and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. The level of claims matched the highest since early October 2024 and comes amid questions over broader economic growth and worrying signs in recent consumer sentiment surveys."

CNBC: "High mortgage rates and elevated home prices combined to crush home sales in January. Pending sales, which are based on signed contracts for existing homes, dropped 4.6% from December to the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this metric in 2001. Sales were down 5.2% from January 2024. These sales are an indicator of future closings."

New York Times: "Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star, but who became one all the same, playing seemingly ordinary characters with deceptive subtlety, intensity and often charm in some of the most noted films of the 1970s and '80s, has died, the authorities in New Mexico said on Thursday. He was 95. Mr. Hackman and his wife were found dead on Wednesday afternoon at a home in Santa Fe., N.M., where they had been living, according to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies found the bodies of Mr. Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64; and a dog, according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New York Times: "An investigation was underway on Thursday after the prolific actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead along with their dog at a house in New Mexico, the local authorities said. The bodies of Mr. Hackman, 95, and Ms. Arakawa, 64, were found by sheriff's deputies in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Santa Fe on Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The couple had lived in the Santa Fe area for years. Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that an associate of Mr. Hackman and his family had placed an emergency call on Wednesday afternoon after discovering the bodies of the actor and his wife."

New York Times: "Michelle Trachtenberg, a touchstone of millennial youth culture who grew up onscreen, rising to fame as a troubled teenager on the supernatural 1990s series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and as a conniving young socialite on 'Gossip Girl,' was found dead on Wednesday in Manhattan. She was 39. The New York Police Department said in a statement that officers, responding to a 911 call just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, found Ms. Trachtenberg unconscious and unresponsive in a Manhattan apartment. She was pronounced dead by emergency medical workers, who had also responded."

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