The Conversation -- December 10, 2024

Hannah Rabinowitz, et al., of CNN: "The Justice Department secretly obtained phone records from two members of Congress and 43 staffers -- including Kash Patel..., Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI -- during sweeping leak investigations during Trump's first term, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday. [The MOCs the DOJ targeted were California Democrats Adam Schiff & Eric Swalwell.] The new report from the Justice Department's inspector general raises concerns about how the department tried to root out reporters' sources from a sprawling and bipartisan list of federal employees who had access to classified information because of their job.... Prosecutors also sought records including emails from journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times, according to the report.... Seeking records based only on 'the close proximity in time between access to classified information and subsequent publication of the information ... risks chilling Congress's ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch,' the inspector general wrote.... The inspector general did not recommend charges against anyone in their review and did not find any indication that the career prosecutors assigned to the leak investigation were motivated by politics." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Right. And we're all sure Trump has learned his lesson from this embarrassing report, and will never allow the DOJ to get involved in any similar invasive activity ever, ever again. Oh, wait, Trump fired at least five inspectors general in 2020, and there's a big question about what he's gonna do during what is shaping up to be a totally lawless "administration." Here's the NBC News story, which RAS linked earlier today. ~~~

~~~ Kerry Picket of the (right-wing) Washington Times: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray plans to resign on or before Inauguration Day, The Washington Times has learned. Mr. Wray is calling it quits because he doesn't want to get fired by ... Donald Trump, according to sources inside the bureau who are familiar with the director's thinking." MB: Wray, a Republican, is falling on his sword for the Dear Leader. A principled director would make Trump fire him.

Adam Cancryn of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday took direct aim at ... Donald Trump's economic agenda, denigrating his plan to impose sweeping tariffs and cut taxes as a 'major mistake' that will weaken the economy. In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Biden warned that Trump's plans would largely benefit the wealthy, reversing what he described as progress made over the last four years toward strengthening the working class.... The remarks represented the president's sharpest and most extensive criticism of Trump since the November election, with his attacks growing more direct as he got deeper into the nearly 40-minute speech."

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says Donald Trump's imminent return to the presidency is not a reason to throw out the 34-count conviction that jurors delivered in the hush money case earlier this year. Bragg conceded in a court filing that Trump cannot be sentenced while he is president. But he said Justice Juan Merchan has a variety of options to put the case on hold during Trump's second term -- and then issue a sentence after he leaves office in January 2029." ~~~

     ~~~ Bragg's filing opposing Trump's Motion to Dismiss is here.

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The New York Attorney General's Office on Tuesday rejected a demand from Donald Trump's lawyer to drop the massive civil business fraud case that has put the president-elect on the hook for more than $480 million in fines. 'This Office will not stipulate to vacate the final judgment already entered by Supreme Court, New York County, in this action or otherwise seek to dismiss the action,' Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote in a letter to Trump defense attorney John Sauer."

Dream On. Shia Kapos of Politico: "Donald Trump's choice to lead border security efforts promised a hard line on enforcement in a speech Monday to Chicago Republicans, with apparently little room for leniency even for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Tom Homan, who has been picked to serve as 'border czar' in the new administration, said the children of non-citizens would be part of the wave of deportations promised by the incoming administration.... His remarks showed none of the flexibility that Trump himself seemed to suggest in a weekend interview, when he said that he favored some kind of resolution for the status of people brought to the country long ago as children by illegal immigrants -- so-called 'dreamers.' 'We have to do something about the dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age,' Trump said in an interview with NBC News' 'Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.'"

Allison Pecorin of ABC News: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell fell during the Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday. It was initially unclear if McConnell, 82, was injured or what the severity of the fall was. Two medical responders were seen briefly entering his office and then departed. Shortly afterward, McConnell's office put out a statement that he had sustained a 'minor cut' to the face and a 'sprained wrist' from the incident. 'Leader McConnell tripped following lunch. He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule,' his spokesperson said."

Marie: In today's (Tuesday's) Comments, RAS linked to a bizarre post by Donald Trump, embedded in a Bluesky post by Josh Marshall. I put up Marshall's post here, and it worked until it didn't. Anyway, it's worth your checking out RAS's link because ... WTF?

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Marie: Still no computer, but I've got heat! My new computer should be ready by early afternoon, and if I can get out of here -- it won't get up to freezing and lots of snow fell yesterday afternoon -- I'll pick up the computer today. Best Buy's Geek Squad could not recover the data from my old computer, but they are tailoring the software to my usual personal "system," so I should be able to go back to work tomorrow.

In the meantime, many thanks to those who have done their bit to do my bit. There are a number of excellent links in yesterday's Comments. laura h. gift-linked a couple of Atlantic articles in yesterday's thread that the Atlantic won't let me share -- I guess they're sick of my accepting laura's gifts -- but the Atlantic's system might not have caught up with you yet, so it's worth going back and checking out laura's links.

A Grifter's Gotta Grift. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald Trump is "tying the high-profile visuals of his political life to perfumes, watches, sneakers and digital trading cards. Everything around Mr. Trump has become something to monetize, including a moment of comity with Jill Biden, the first lady, at Notre-Dame over the weekend. 'Here are my new Trump Perfumes & Colognes!' Mr. Trump wrote on social media on Sunday, along with a picture of his interaction with the faintly smiling first lady. 'I call them Fight, Fight, Fight, because they represent us WINNING. Great Christmas gifts for the family.' Under the photo was another caption, an apparent dig at Dr. Biden: 'A FRAGRANCE YOUR ENEMIES CAN'T RESIST!'... With weeks until he takes office, Mr. Trump is capitalizing on the attention of his election victory, hawking fragrances and footwear.... The playbook goes like this: Mr. Trump creates companies that function like bank accounts, allowing the people or companies making the products to pay him royalties for the cost of licensing his name.... The identities of his current merchandise business partners are shielded through the creation of limited liability companies, which are structured to allow those partners to remain anonymous.... Jordan Libowitz, the vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that this practice posed several ethical issues." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Love the headline: "Trump Tests Ethical Boundaries With Branded Merch. (And All Sales Are Final.)" Trump isn't "testing" ethical boundaries. He is only flouting laws meant to establish ethical standards for public officials.

Digby on "Trump's J6 Delusion.... We know that happened on January 6th. We saw it with our own eyes, heard the testimony of his own staff and read the reports. The facts cannot be disputed. Trump lied about the election of 2020, called people to Washington, incited an insurrection in which they stormed the Capitol and hunted for the Vice President chanting 'Hang Mike Pence!' And we know that Trump took no action and let it unfold until late in the day he finally told the rioters that he loved them and asked them to go home. According to the once and future president, Donald Trump, none of that is what happened[.]" Digby goes on to extensive cite the WashPo story (which she links here) on Kristen Welker's interview of Delusional Donald. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: digby points out that Welker did not do her job of fact-checking Trump's absurdist take on the insurrection he led. I also saw a bit of yesterday's "PBS New Hours" where a reporter described Trump's interview as full of "lies" -- yes, she used the word "lies" -- and said Welker gave Trump very little pushback and did little fact-checking. So good for PBS for once. ~~~

     ~~~ UPDATE: Nonetheless, Trump managed to complain about Welker's performance in the interview, telling her that she and/or her questions were "hostile," "nasty" and "biased." (See Kimmel video above.)

Where Trump Is the Bull & the Senate Is the China Shop, Stocked with Very Breakable Senators. Meredith McGraw & Natalie Allison of Politico: "Donald Trump's transition team entered a critical week of nomination meetings on Capitol Hill with a new head of steam, emboldened by a swarm of grassroots support and a pressure campaign that has revived Pete Hegseth's hopes for Defense secretary and given them confidence about other controversial nominees, too. In recent days, allies of Trump adopted an approach that is not novel for the president-elect and his followers: Make life extremely uncomfortable for anyone who dares to oppose him. The swarm of MAGA attacks that Sen. Joni Ernst has experienced is a warning of what's in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices. Days after signaling she continued to have serious concerns about confirming Hegseth, Ernst on Monday sounded a different note. She described their conversation Monday afternoon as 'encouraging,' said she would 'support' Hegseth through the process, touted some of the commitments he made to her.... The change in tune followed an aggressive push for Hegseth by top Trump allies and supporters, as well as a defiant performance by the Defense secretary nominee that has Trump's team bullish on him getting confirmed.... Trump allies believe his choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, and his nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, are in a stronger position as well."

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, referring to him as 'Governor' of 'the Great State of Canada' after floating the possibility of Canada becoming part of the United States. 'It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,' wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. 'I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in-depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT.'" MB: I told Justin not to go hat-in-hand to Mar-a-Lardo.

Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times: "More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr...., Donald J. Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The letter ... marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice, according to Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, who helped draft the letter. The group tries to stay out of politics whenever possible, he said. But the confirmation of Mr. Kennedy, a staunch critic of mainstream medicine who has been hostile to the scientists and agencies he would oversee, is a threat that the Nobel laureates could not ignore, Dr. Roberts said. 'These political attacks on science are very damaging,' he said. 'You have to stand up and protect it.'" The Hill's report, which is based on the NYT report, is here.

Susan Svrluga, et al., of the Washington Post: "University leaders are bracing for an onslaught of aggressive legislation and regulations amid growing hostility from an ascendant Republican Party that depends less and less on college-educated voters. For years, conservatives have seen colleges and universities as unwelcoming and disdainful of their values. Tensions between Republicans and higher education have been rising over questions of free speech, the cost of college, diversity, race and more. Now that rift has become a rupture. As ... Donald Trump prepares to take office, many colleges are preparing for threats to research funding, endowments, diversity efforts, student financial aid, visas for foreign students and more.... Universities ... had become accustomed to reverence for their contributions to society and now find themselves tarred as 'the enemy.' The shift is not just political, but cultural, with a hardening skepticism of expertise and academia, rather than faith in research, science and scholarship."

⭐Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "Luigi Mangione was arrested after a tip from a McDonald's in Altoona[, Pennsylvania]. On Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with [the] murder [of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson].... The Altoona officers who took Mr. Mangione into custody found that he had several telltale items that might tie him to Mr. Thompson's killing, a crime that has riveted the nation while exposing Americans' deep-seated anger toward the U.S. health insurance industry.... Mr. Mangione, 26, was charged with second-degree murder [and other crimes] in New York, according to online court records.... He had been charged earlier in Pennsylvania with five crimes, including carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities and possessing 'instruments of crime.'... He could fight extradition from Pennsylvania." Shanahan reports on how the arrest & subsequent developments went down. The ABC News report is here. An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Corey Kilgannon, et al., of the New York Times: "Luigi Mangione, the online version of him, was an Ivy League tech enthusiast who flaunted his tanned, chiseled looks in beach photos and party pictures with blue-blazered frat buddies. He was the valedictorian of a prestigious Baltimore prep school who earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a head counselor at a pre-college program at Stanford University.... Mr. Mangione came from a privileged upbringing, part of an influential real estate family in the Baltimore area..... Mr. Mangione was in regular contact with friends and family until about six months ago when he suddenly and inexplicably stopped communicating with them. He had been suffering from a painful back injury, friends said, and then went dark, prompting anxious inquiries from relatives to his friends.... Mr. Mangione left behind a long series of postings about self-improvement, healthy eating and technology — and a review of the Unabomber's manifesto." ~~~

     ~~~ Marina Dunbar & Johana Bhuiyan of the Guardian have background on Mangione, and this: "The US ranked 42 in life expectancy in 2007, per an Associated Press story from August 2007, and was ranked 49 as of 2022. However, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the country is expected to drop to 66th in the world in 2050." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: As Krugman outlines in his final column for the NYT (linked below) Americans have grown skeptical of the elites' ability to lead the nation. Krugman was writing primarily about the elites' failures in the running the economy and protecting ordinary workers in a nation where "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." But obviously the same is true of the leaders' massive general failure to protect "our unalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." They're killing us.

~~~ Caroline O'Donovan of the Washington Post: "Even before police identified a person of interest in the hunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, merchandise proclaiming an apparent message that police found at the scene of the shooting began appearing at craft fairs and online shopping platforms. Pint glasses, wine tumblers, sweatshirts and baseball caps emblazoned with the phrase 'Deny, Defend, Depose' -- words written on ammunition casings found near where Thompson was shot in midtown Manhattan -- popped up on eBay, Etsy, TikTok and Amazon.... [The merchandise's] spread across online storefronts echoes the swell of anger at health insurance companies and support for the shooter on social media.... Amazon removed the merchandise after being reached for comment by The Washington Post. The company said the products violated their guidelines, but declined to specify which. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post."

Toluse Olorunnipa & Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "President Joe Biden designated a new national monument focused on Indian boarding schools on Monday, using the final Tribal Nations Summit of his presidency to further acknowledge the trauma inflicted on thousands of Native American children by the federal government. The Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument will be located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, at the campus of a former flagship facility for reeducating tribal children, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by The Washington Post. The White House said the monument will speak to 'the oppression endured by thousands of Native children and their families at this site,' part of the broader Indian boarding school system operated or supported by the federal government for 150 years."

Jonathan Mahler & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "A Nevada commissioner ruled resoundingly against Rupert Murdoch's attempt to change his family's trust to consolidate his eldest son Lachlan's control of his media empire and lock in Fox News's right-wing editorial slant, according to a sealed court document obtained by The New York Times. The commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman Jr., concluded in a decision filed on Saturday that the father and son, who is the head of Fox News and News Corp., had acted in 'bad faith' in their effort to amend the irrevocable trust, which divides control of the company equally among Mr. Murdoch's four oldest children -- Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence -- after his death. The ruling was at times scathing. At one point in his 96-page opinion, Mr. Gorman characterizes the plan to change the trust as a 'carefully crafted charade' to 'permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch's executive roles' inside the empire 'regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries' of the family trust. A lawyer for [Rupert] Murdoch, Adam Streisand, said Mr. Murdoch and Lachlan were disappointed with the ruling and intended to appeal." Ken W. linked this story in yesterday's Comments.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. "Stand up to the Kakistocracy." Paul Krugman writes his last regular column for the New York Times: "This is my final column for The New York Times, where I began publishing my opinions in January 2000. I'm retiring from The Times, not the world, so I'll still be expressing my views in other places.... What strikes me, looking back, is how optimistic many people, both here and in much of the Western world, were back then and the extent to which that optimism has been replaced by anger and resentment. And I'm not just talking about members of the working class who feel betrayed by elites; some of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now -- people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration -- are billionaires who don't feel sufficiently admired.... [Don't blame] politically correct liberals. Basically it comes down to the pettiness of plutocrats who used to bask in public approval and are now discovering that all the money in the world can't buy you love.... But if we stand up to the kakistocracy -- rule by the worst -- that's emerging as we speak, we may eventually find our way back to a better world." laura h. linked Krugman's column in yesterday's Comments.

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David Lieb of the AP: "As ... Donald Trump assembles his administration, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him carry out his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. Lawmakers in a growing number of states are proposing to give local law officers the power to arrest people who entered the country illegally, mirroring recent laws in Texas and elsewhere that have been placed on hold while courts weigh whether they unconstitutionally usurp federal authority. Other legislation ... would require local law enforcement agencies to notify federal immigration officials when they take someone into custody who is in the country illegally, even if the charges have nothing to do with their immigration status.... A ... bill by Missouri state Sen.-elect David Gregory would offer a $1,000 reward to informants who tip off police about people in the country illegally and allow private bounty hunters to find and detain them.... Some Democratic-led states already are raising resistance."

New York. Hurubie Meko & Anusha Bayya of the New York Times: "Daniel Penny, a former Marine who choked a fellow subway rider on an uptown F train last year, was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, ending a case that had come to exemplify New York City's post-pandemic struggles. The jurors decided that Mr. Penny's actions were not criminal when he held the rider, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold as the two men struggled on the floor of a subway car on May 1, 2023. Mr. Neely, who was homeless and had a history of mental illness, had strode through the subway car that afternoon, yelling at passengers and frightening them, according to witnesses." The AP story is here.

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel has deployed troops across the Syrian border, beyond a U.N.-monitored buffer zone, for the first time since the official end of the Yom Kippur War in 1974 and has conducted airstrikes inside the country.... Israel seeks to gain 'complete control over the buffer zone' separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria and seize weapons and 'terrorist infrastructure' so they can't be used to target Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz's office said. In Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started testifying at his corruption trial on Tuesday morning, becoming the country's first sitting leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant."

Adam Rasgon, et al., of the New York Times: "Cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages are quietly advancing behind the scenes, mediators and officials say, after the Israel-Hezbollah truce in Lebanon and pressure from ... Donald J. Trump. While details about the latest proposals remain murky, several officials briefed on the negotiations said the talks are picking up steam. 'We have sensed after the election that the momentum is coming back,' the prime minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is one of the main mediators, said at a conference in Doha on Saturday.... In November, Steve Witkoff, who will serve as Mr. Trump's Middle East envoy, met Mr. Al Thani in Doha to discuss the negotiations. The following day, Mr. Witkoff met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.... Since those meetings, the pace of the talks has quickened, said [an] official...."

Patrick Kingsley & Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: "Eight years after the police started investigating him and four years after his trial began, Israel's longest-serving prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] was taking the stand for the first time to respond to accusations of corruption that have defined and disrupted Israeli public life for nearly a decade.... The charges against Mr. Netanyahu have been a part of Israeli discourse for so long that the spectacle of a prime minister on trial no longer seems as shocking as it once did.... Mr. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate but related cases. The charges center on claims that he gave regulatory favors and diplomatic support to prominent businessmen in exchange for gifts and sympathetic media coverage. The trial is expected to continue for years, and Mr. Netanyahu will likely take the stand several times a week for several months." MB: Huh. Sounds like Israel could use the steady hand of Merrick Garland the Unready to help lead a judicial system that appears to be even slower and less efficient than our own. ~~~

     ~~~ Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times provides some background on the trial.

Syria. The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in the Syrian rebellion are here: "The leader of the rebel alliance said its amnesty for rank-and-file members of the Assad government would not extend to senior officials, as uncertainty persisted about who would lead Syria.... Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that led the lightning assault that ousted the Assad government, is in control of Damascus, the Syrian capital, and has been taking steps to assert its control, though fighting persists in other areas of Syria." ~~~

~~~ From the Washington Post's live updates of developments in Israel/Palestine & the Middle East, linked above: "The U.S. Justice Department has leveled war crimes charges against two men who it said served as high-ranking officials under Assad. The DOJ said Jamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud engaged 'in a conspiracy to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees, including U.S. citizens,' during Syria's decade-long civil war. The United States is focused on ensuring that the Islamic State does not reemerge in Syria, said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, a day after Washington launched airstrikes against 75 Islamic State targets in the Syrian desert."

The Conversation -- December 9, 2024

Marie: Still no computer, still no heat. But I'm half-sure I'll get my heat back today and, well, hopeful I'll get my computer.

Excellent comments in yesterday's thread about Assad's flight and Trump's, er, NBC "interview."

How the Dictatorship Will Begin, According to Trump. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump outlined an aggressive plan for opening his second term in an interview [with Kristen Welker of NBC News] that aired on Sunday, vowing to move immediately to crack down on immigration and pardon his most violent supporters while threatening to lock up political foes like Liz Cheney. In his first sit-down broadcast network interview since being re-elected, Mr. Trump said that on Day 1 of his new administration next month, he would extend clemency to the hundreds of his backers who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and try to bar automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to immigrant parents. Without giving a time frame, Mr. Trump also indicated that he would fire the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, out of personal pique because 'he invaded my home' and was insufficiently certain at first whether Mr. Trump's wound during an assassination attempt this year was caused by a bullet or shrapnel. And he said members of Congress who investigated his role in the Jan. 6 attack should be thrown behind bars....

"At the same time, Mr. Trump seemed to signal that he would not appoint a special counsel to investigate President Biden and his family, as he once vowed. And he signaled that he would not take the most assertive position on several other issues, saying that he would not seek to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve or restrict the availability of abortion pills." Here's the AP's story on the interview. The NBC News report is here.

The full transcript of the "interview," via NBC News, is here. ~~~

~~~ Dumb & Dumber Rule! Allan Smith and Aria Bendix of NBC News: "... Donald Trump suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his pick to run Health and Human Services, will investigate supposed links between autism and childhood vaccines, a discredited connection that has eroded trust in the lifesaving inoculations. 'I think somebody has to find out,' Trump said in an ... interview with 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker. Welker noted in a back-and-forth that studies have shown childhood vaccines prevent about 4 million deaths worldwide every year, have found no connection between vaccines and autism, and that rises in autism diagnoses are attributable to increased screening and awareness. 'If you go back 25 years ago,' Trump claimed, 'you had very little autism. Now you have it.' '"Something is going on,' Trump added. 'I don't know if it's vaccines. Maybe it's chlorine in the water, right? You know, people are looking at a lot of different things.' It was unclear whether Trump was referring to opposition by Kennedy and others to fluoride being added to drinking water."

~~~ David McAfee of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump lied about a variety of subjects in his latest NBC interview, according to a report from Rolling Stone.... 'Donald Trump gave his first network interview since the election and spread falsehoods about immigrants, the Affordable Care Act and -- of course -- the 2020 election,' the report states.... The article goes on to call out the moment Trump claimed that the U.S. had '13,099 murderers released into our country over the last three years' who were undocumented immigrants.'... Read the full report here (subscription required)." MB: Without reading the transcript, I can't tell how much Welker fact-checked Trump, but the suggestion from McAfee's account is "not much."

Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A coalition of former prison officials, relatives of homicide victims, civil rights advocates and religious leaders are urging President Joe Biden to empty federal death row before he cedes the White House to ... Donald Trump, who staunchly supports capital punishment. Letters to Biden that are slated to be made public Monday ask him to commute all federal death sentences to life without parole, invoking the president's Catholic faith and public opposition to capital punishment, and criticizing the death penalty as arbitrary, unfair and biased."

Here are the New York Times' updates on developments Monday in Syria: "The rebels who ended the Assad family's brutal, decades-long rule of Syria began trying on Monday to bring stability, taking up positions outside banks and public buildings and directing traffic in the capital, Damascus, as enormous questions loomed over the future of the country. The stunning rebel offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad and forced him into exile in Russia ended a 13-year civil war and drove out a regime that had used terror and chemical weapons on its own citizens. On Monday, New York Times reporters entering Syria on a highway from Lebanon saw abandoned Syrian military tanks, empty checkpoints and ripped-up posters of Mr. al-Assad littering the road to Damascus." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Osborn & Maxine Rodionov of Reuters: "Syria's former President Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow with his family after Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds, a Kremlin source told Russian news agencies on Sunday, and a deal has been done to ensure the safety of Russian military bases. Russia's Foreign Ministry said earlier that Assad had left Syria and given orders for a peaceful transfer of power, after rebel fighters raced into Damascus unopposed on Sunday, ending nearly six decades of his family's iron-fisted rule." ~~~

~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times on the fall of Assad and what's next (maybe). David Ignatius of the Washington Post on the same.

~~~ Eve Sampson of the New York Times: "The Turkish military fired on U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria this weekend, a war monitoring group and a spokesman for the Kurdish group said on Sunday, illuminating the tangle of competing interests and alliances in Syria in the wake of the government's collapse. Fighting erupted on Saturday in Manbij, a Kurdish-controlled city near Syrias border with Turkey, between rebel groups, one backed by the United States and the other by Turkey. At least 22 members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were killed in and around Manbij, and 40 others were wounded, according to the Kurdish group. The clashes preceded a call on Sunday between Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and his Turkish counterpart, Defense Minister Yasar Guler."

The Conversation -- December 8, 2024

Marie: Okay, a few more days in Reality Chex limbo. However, it's quite a decent limbo, as contributors have linked to some very good articles in the Comments section yesterday and the day before. The result is sort of what I originally envisioned for Reality Chex when I started it in 2008 -- that is, that there would be only about five or six articles we should all read every day to know what was going on. What happened, however, was that the right wing went really crazy really fast in 2009, so that government-as-usual, both of the federal and local levels, became crazy enough to gain attention. The result was that often I couldn't keep up with the news, because the right was sending up dangerous flares everywhere. Millions of Americans still don't get it (RAS found one good reason why in yesterday's links), but those warnings of what could happen were real. Some of the dangers have come to pass, and a much bleaker future seems imminent.

⭐AP: "The Syrian government collapsed early Sunday, falling to a lightning rebel offensive that seized control of the capital of Damascus and sent crowds into the streets to celebrate the end of the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule. Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of men saying that President Bashar Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been set free."

AP: "As the search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killer goes on, investigators are reckoning with a tantalizing dichotomy: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. Police don't know who he is, where he is, or why he did it, though they are confident it was a targeted attack instead of a random act."