The Ledes

Friday, January 17, 2025

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

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

The Wires
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The Ledes

Thursday, January 16, 2025

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

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

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

Help!

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

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

Public Service Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

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

Wednesday
Jan152025

The Conversation -- January 15, 2025

⭐New York Times: “Negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza after more than 15 months of devastating war, officials said on Wednesday. The agreement needs to be formally ratified by the Israeli cabinet, two senior Israeli officials said. In the run-up to the deal, officials said there was last-minute wrangling over the Egypt-Gaza border, which Israeli forces currently control. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said in a statement that a number of clauses in the agreement still remained unresolved, but that it was hoped that they would be worked out on Wednesday night. The cease-fire would take effect immediately, according to a White House official. Its first phase will last six weeks, and hostages will start being released during that phase, though it was not clear when that could begin.” This is a liveblog. ~~~

Aaron Boxerman: “The current outline of a cease-fire deal in Gaza is broadly similar to a three-phase framework publicized by President Biden in late May, according to several officials familiar with the talks. Negotiators have yet to confirm the start date and other technical issues, officials said, and the agreement could still be derailed.”

Maggie Haberman: “... Donald J. Trump got ahead of the the Biden White House announcement about a cease-fire deal. 'WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!' he wrote. But Trump’s win in the election and coming return to Washington, as well as his team’s work, was according to multiple people a factor in the deal getting done.”

The New York Times is liveblogging the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing of Pam Bondi, whom Donald Trump named as his second choice for attorney general after his first nominee Matt Gaetz flamed out.

Erica Green of the New York Times: “President Biden plans to deliver a prime-time farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, putting a capstone on his five-decade political career just days before he leaves an office he has long revered and is leaving only reluctantly. The White House would not disclose what Mr. Biden plans to say in his speech, set for 8 p.m. Eastern.”

Here's a pretty good discussion of Jack Smith's report on Trump's leadership of the insurrection of 2021: ~~~

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Abigail Hauslohner, et al., of the New York Times: “Senate Democrats on Tuesday hammered Pete Hegseth..., Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, in a tense confirmation hearing during which lawmakers scrutinized his romantic relationships and alcohol use, cast doubt on his qualifications, and condemned his political rhetoric and past assertions that women do not belong in combat.... [Senate Republicans] deliver[ed] a resounding defense of Hegseth’s selection, which has been plagued by claims of misconduct ranging from an alleged sexual assault in 2017 to accusations of financial mismanagement, excessive drinking and sexism in his previous jobs — all of which he denies.... Tuesday’s hearing ... quickly became a heated rhetorical battle — marked at times by raised voices — as Democrats repeatedly quoted Hegseth’s divisive past statements and Republicans offered him opportunities to clarify controversial views, praised his claims of being a God-fearing and changed man, and chastised Democrats for 'hypocrisy' and being 'ignorant of the facts.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Romantic relationships"? Really? I don't see where (alleged!) drunken sexual assault, multiple infidelities and hitting on work colleagues are in any sense "romantic." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' liveblog of Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Commitee's confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth is here. “Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, sought to defend himself against a raft of criticism during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, as Democrats pressed him on his views about women in combat and support for convicted war criminals. Mr. Hegseth also claimed to have been the victim of a 'smear campaign' that raised allegations of past misconduct. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement that he believed Mr. Hegseth was not qualified to serve as defense secretary, adding that accusations against him, which include an allegation of sexual misconduct and episodes of drinking to excess, were 'alarming.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has some takeaways: “Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) ... was the first senator to ask tough questions about parts of Hegseth’s past that have dogged him, including affairs and allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement. Kaine wound up laying some gloves on Hegseth, who strained to talk around the subjects the senator was broaching.... He had said for years that women shouldn’t serve in combat. But he recently walked that back after meeting with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran who initially balked at his selection.... Democrats made a point throughout the hearing to suggest that Hegseth and Republicans were trying to avoid tough questions.... [Hegseth] largely avoided a game-changing moment, even as his nomination is still somewhat in doubt.” The AP's “key takeaways” are here. ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare: Hegseth, when addressing his lack of qualifications to head the DOD, testified, “'... as President Trump ... told me, we’ve repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly “the right credentials” . . . and where has it gotten us? He believes, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.' This is actually a radical position — and very Trumpy.... You can see in it so many of the central tenets of Trump’s approach to governance: the contempt for expertise and traditional qualifications; the insistence that the only real qualification is authenticity — and that authenticity is somehow wrapped up in performative masculinity; the belief that sounding tough and being tough are the same thing; and the conviction that complexity necessarily reduces to weakness. It’s all right there in the nomination of a proudly unqualified individual who frames his lack of qualifications as qualification of a different, more authentic, variety that reflects what he calls a 'warrior ethos' America has somehow lost in its infatuation with equity.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, although the National Security Act of 1947 specifies that the Secretary of Defense must come "from civilian life," many of our recent secretaries have had military experience & did get "dust on their boots." In fact, both Secretaries Mattis & Austin had to get waivers of the "civilian" requirement of the 1947 law, because they had so recently served on active duty. ~~~

~~~ Here's Another Kind of Nonqualification "Qualification." Jonathan Last of the Bulwark poses the theory that Hegseth (and other Republicans) are attractive because of their vices, not in spite of them: "My theory is this: Republicans embrace vice not because they believe that the accused Republican figures are innocent, but because they believe they are guilty. And so these voters exist in the hope that their champion will go on to hurt their enemies on their behalf. After all: If a guy is willing to rape a woman, surely he can be counted on to visit destruction on Democrats, or woke generals, or whoever." ~~~

~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: “Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, announced on a local news radio show on Tuesday that she would vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense, ending weeks of speculation over whether she would break with ... Donald J. Trump over his pick.... Her decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Mr. Hegseth will have enough votes to be confirmed by the Senate. Because Democrats are expected to oppose him en masse, Mr. Hegseth can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes. After Ms. Ernst’s announcement, only a handful of G.O.P. senators’ votes may be in play; Senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana have not yet said how they will vote.” Politico has an item here. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic: “Hegseth’s liabilities can be divided into four categories, each of them individually disqualifying: 1. personal behavior, including allegations of drunkenness on the job, of maintaining a hostile workplace, and of sexual assault[;] 2. lack of managerial experience, or at least positive managerial experience (According to The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, Hegseth ran two tiny advocacy groups so poorly that he was forced to step down.) 3. a disregard for the laws of war and a habit of excusing the actions of  convicted war criminals[;] 4. an enthusiasm for domestic political combat that blends into an inability to distinguish Democrats from enemy combatants[.]... Democrats tried to probe Hegseth’s long record, only to meet endless evasions.” Thanks to laura h. for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Chait provides a fair summary of the hearing, but he isn't harsh enough. The hearing was an utter farce, worse than the Kavanaugh hearing where Republicans at least found a woman to sit at a tiny desk & ask Bart a few real questions. Joy Reid of MSNBC captured the Republicans' performance when she put her head in her hands, batted her false eyelashes at the camera and sweetly asked, "Do tell us why you're so wonderful, Mr. Hegseth." (or words to that effect) ~~~

~~~ ⭐Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: “A gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump-directed FBI. That is a harsh but unavoidable assessment of the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth to serve as Donald Trump’s defense secretary. Both institutions should be ashamed of their performance — Republican senators most of all, as, bullied by the president-elect and intimidated by deep-pocketed, no-holds-barred pressure campaigns, they abdicate their constitutional advice-and-consent responsibility.” MB: Hard to believe that squishy liberal Ruth Marcus wrote such a strong condemnation of Republican senators & Chris Wray's FBI (RAS pointed to Wray's failure in yesterday's Comments). But she did. Even if you don't have a subscription to the WashPo, Marcus' column might be a good place to “spend” one of your freebies. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “... this is Trump’s America; abusing and degrading women is obviously not disqualifying for high office.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: David Ignatius, Eugene Robinson & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post make some sensible observatons in their discussion of the hearing, but IMO, they mostly nibble around the edges of the overarching catastrophe Hegseth's confirmation may foretell. Oh, and in the end, they both-sides their little chat by faulting Senate Democrats for being "ill-prepared" to rebut MAGA doctrine. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During the hearing, “Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) ... [asked Hegseth,] 'In June of 2020, then-President Trump directed former secretary of defense Mark Esper to shoot protesters in the legs in downtown D.C., an order Secretary Esper refused to comply with... Would you carry out such an order from President Trump?' [After some back-and-forth during which Hegseth deflected the question, and Hirono persisted, she concluded,] 'That sounds to me that you will comply with such an order.... You will shoot protesters in the leg.' Hegseth didn’t reject her conclusion.” MB: And this (along with other non-answer answers Hegseth gave during the hearing) brings me to drawing my own, larger, conclusion: ~~~

~~~ Marie: The U.S. has the strongest, or certainly one of the strongest, armed forces in the world. Trump not only plans to control those forces; he has set up a method for doing so. He will install an extremely weak Secretary of Defense who is completely in his control. That weak Defense Secretary has pledged to purge the armed services of "woke" (i.e., [progressive or assertive] leaders. The Secretary-in-Waiting yesterday also refused to say he would countermand an unconstitutional or illegal order if issued. (Trump demonstrated a few times in his first term that he was willing to do that; it was only because of pushback from Secretaries of Defense Mattis & Esper that he did not succeed.) Trump has bullied GOP weaklings in the Congress to do his bidding. In addition, Trump has the Supremes under his thumb. That is, there will be absolutely no checks on Trump's schemes and no one in the military chain of command to stop Trump from initiating violent attacks against Americans who cross him, no one to stop him from attacking other countries without provocation. The campaign and election constituted our first live lesson in how democracy dies. We are now witnessing the second phase of that rapid death spiral.

Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post write a useful overview of some of the highlights of Jack Smith's report on Donald Trump's direction of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The report itself (also linked yesterday), via the Justice Department, is here.

Jacob Bogage & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will create an 'External Revenue Service' to collect revenue from tariffs, a signal of his determination to impose sweeping duties on imports. In a post on ... his social media platform, Trump said the External Revenue Service will collect revenue from tariffs starting Monday, after he is inaugurated for a second term. The structure of the new government operation was unclear from his post, although two outside advisers ... suggested it could involve renaming an existing office within the Treasury Department.”

S.E.C. Sues Musk. Matthew Goldstein & Kate Conger of the New York Times: “U.S. securities regulators sued Elon Musk in federal court in Washington on Tuesday in an enforcement action arising from his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now called X. The lawsuit against Mr. Musk, who has become a close adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, is likely to be one of the more contentious final acts of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Gary Gensler, its departing chair. It could also be undercut in just a few days, when Mr. Trump appoints new leadership to take charge of the regulator. The S.E.C. contends that in buying Twitter in 2022, Mr. Musk violated securities laws by amassing a large stock position in the social media company without filing the proper notification. The complaint said he had waited 11 days before filing the required disclosure with the S.E.C. The regulatory filings are required so investors in the marketplace can monitor the moves of large investors and potential takeover bids.” A CNBC report is here.

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. -- Michelle Obama, Democratic National Convention speech, August 2024 ~~~

~~~ Only Black U.S. First Lady Will Skip White Racist's Inauguration. Erica Green & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “Michelle Obama ... will not attend the inauguration of ... Donald J. Trump, her office said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies,' the statement said. 'Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.'... It is the second high-profile event in the past two weeks that she has declined to take part in that would have brought her face-to-face with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump and the former first lady, Melania Trump, did not attend President Biden’s inauguration in 2021, after Mr. Trump falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him.” ~~~

~~~ BUT There Will Be Billionaires! Cat Zakrzewski, et al., of the Washington Post: “Tech moguls Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are planning to attend ... Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, underscoring the deepening ties between prominent tech leaders and the incoming administration after years of acrimony. The billionaire trio is expected to sit together on the dais, a prominent location alongside former presidents, Trump’s family, Cabinet picks and lawmakers, according to a Trump official....” The NBC News story is here. MB: Nothing says “populist” like inviting a trio of billionaires to replace Michelle Obama on the dais. ~~~

~~~ AND There Will Be Flags Flying High! Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “Flags at the U.S. Capitol will now fly at their full height on Inauguration Day and be lowered again the following day in honor of president Jimmy Carter’s death, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced Tuesday.... After Carter’s death, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days 'at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds … of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions' as well as at federal facilities, military installations and vessels abroad.... Republican governors in at least five states — Florida, Iowa, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee — have also ordered U.S. flags be raised on Inauguration Day and lowered again to half-staff on Jan. 21 in honor of Carter.”


Karen DeYoung & Mary Beth Sheridan of the Washington Post: “Less than a week before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden is lifting the state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, nearly four years to the day from when ... Donald Trump, in one of his own last acts in office, put Havana back on the list. The Cuban government is 'concurrently' expected to free 'a significant number of political prisoners' under an agreement it has made with the Catholic Church, including an unspecified number 'before the end of the Biden administration on Jan. 20,' said a senior Biden administration official.... Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has been one of the most vociferous critics of Cuba’s communist government and has long advocated harsher sanctions.” The AP's report is here.

Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: “For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that 'forever chemicals' present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks, saying in a study on Tuesday that, in some cases, the risks could exceed the agency’s safety thresholds “sometimes by several orders of magnitude.” The agency maintained, however, that the general food supply was not at risk. A growing body of research has shown that the sludge can be contaminated with manmade chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment, and, when tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Marie: Gosh, sure looks to me as if Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) would like to beat up on Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Luckily, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is here to set me straight: according to Brianna Tucker of the Washington Post, Comer ruled that ruled that “take it outside” “could mean 'you could go outside and have a cup of coffee or have a cup of beer' and did not go against [House] committee rules.” Update: Here's the NBC News story.

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Wafaa Shurafa & Samy Magdy of the AP: “Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.”

South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun, et al., of the New York Times: “President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first sitting South Korean leader to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators on Wednesday, ending a weekslong standoff over his declaration of martial law that thrust the country into a political crisis. Mr. Yoon’s security guards successfully blocked the investigators from detaining him on Jan. 3, when they made their first attempt to serve a court-issued detention warrant. Since then, the country has been gripped by fears that a violent clash might occur if both sides refused to back down. But when the investigators returned on Wednesday morning with far more police officers, some of them carrying ladders to scale defensive barricades, Mr. Yoon’s bodyguards put up no obvious resistance. Mr. Yoon then struck a deal with massed law enforcement officials to go with them. He was not handcuffed and was allowed to travel to the investigators’ headquarters in a presidential motorcade, rather than in a police car. In a video message released shortly afterward, Mr. Yoon said he agreed to submit to questioning in order to prevent a 'bloody' clash between his bodyguards and the police. But he called the investigation and warrant to detain him illegal.”

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: “Catherine, Princess of Wales, said on Tuesday that her cancer was in remission, lifting a major cloud from the British royal family, which had struggled with serious health concerns for both her and King Charles III.... Her announcement that she was in remission came as she visited the hospital, the Royal Marsden, in west London, where she had been treated.... During the visit to the hospital, Catherine thanked staff members and spoke with other cancer patients..”

Comments Off
Tuesday
Jan142025

The Conversation -- January 14, 2025

The New York Times' liveblog of the Senate Armed Services Commitee's confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth is here. “Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, sought to defend himself against a raft of criticism during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, as Democrats pressed him on his views about women in combat and support for convicted war criminals. Mr. Hegseth also claimed to have been the victim of a “smear campaign” that raised allegations of past misconduct. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement that he believed Mr. Hegseth was not qualified to serve as defense secretary, adding that accusations against him, which include an allegation of sexual misconduct and episodes of drinking to excess, were 'alarming.'”

Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: “For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that 'forever chemicals' present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks, saying in a study on Tuesday that, in some cases, the risks could exceed the agency’s safety thresholds “sometimes by several orders of magnitude.” The agency maintained, however, that the general food supply was not at risk. A growing body of research has shown that the sludge can be contaminated with manmade chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment, and, when tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock.”

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⭐Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted ... Donald J. Trump on charges of illegally seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early Tuesday that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Mr. Trump in a trial.... '... but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.' The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume — representing half of Mr. Smith’s overall final report, with the volume about Mr. Trump’s other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, still confidential — to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday.

“The report amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a president-elect.... Mr. Smith laid the attack on the Capitol squarely at Mr. Trump’s feet, quoting from the evidence in several criminal cases of people charged with taking part in the riot who made clear that they believed they were acting on Mr. Trump’s behalf. In several lengthy footnotes, Mr. Smith explored the trauma experienced by Capitol Police officers who were attacked during the riot, including 'shell-shock' and the inability to move.” Read on.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “Trump is only off the hook, the special counsel wrote, because he won back the White House in 2024, forcing the Justice Department to shut down the historic prosecution.... The report draws from 250 interviews his staff conducted, as well as information gleaned from 55 grand jury witnesses and transcripts from congressional investigations.... The report describes a multifaceted scheme, orchestrated by Trump, to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election. That plan, Smith said, included spreading false claims of election fraud to drive up public distrust in the results. Trump then used that sentiment to lean on GOP allies in statehouses and Congress — as well as his own vice president — to help him corrupt the results, the report says....

“The details [in the report] underscore claims by [Merrick] Garland’s defenders that the investigation was active earlier than many people realize. Smith also said his own team worked at an extraordinary pace to make sure charges were ready before Trump’s reelection campaign began in earnest.... In a letter accompanying the report, Smith directly challenged Trump’s repeated claims that the election case ended in his 'complete exoneration.' 'That is false,' the special counsel wrote....

“The unusual overnight release of the first volume of the report followed last-ditch legal maneuvering by Trump on Monday night seeking to persuade U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to keep the entire report secret.... 'Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide,' Trump wrote in an early-morning taunt Tuesday on social media. 'THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!'”

Marie: IOW, Trump is not on his way to Club Fed because Republicans, specifically those in the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, who refused to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, and specifically the Republican-appointed "jurists" on the Supreme Court, who slow-walked the various appeals Trump made to them. They are all accessories-after-the-fact. I mean that.

⭐The report, via the Justice Department, is here.

"He Got Away with Everything." digby: "It’s pretty clear from the report, although he doesn’t say it, that [Jack Smith] believes the Supreme Court decision was an abomination, not least because it left so many loose ends that it would have taken years to unravel (which I assume was a feature not a bug.) I’d guess that was all for the purpose of protecting Dear Leader had he lost the election. They were never going to let him be tried. I think they would have dragged it out until he was in his grave if need be."

Alana Richer & Eric Tucker of the AP: “The Justice Department can publicly release its investigative report on ... Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case, [Judge Aileen Cannon] said Monday. But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and ... defense lawyers may seek to challenge it all the way up to the Supreme Court.... She set a hearing for Friday on whether the department can release to lawmakers the volume on the case that accused Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House in 2021. The department has said it will not publicly disclose that volume as long as criminal proceedings against two of Trump’s co-defendants remain pending.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ From Cheney & Gerstein's Politico report, also linked above: Cannon “wrote in a brief order that she only had authority to act in connection with the classified-documents case that she previously presided over. She lacked the power, she acknowledged, to dictate what the Justice Department made public about the 2020 election-focused case brought in Washington.”

Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: “Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, over the weekend implored Cannon, the presiding judge in their criminal case, to extend the order blocking both volumes of the report, arguing the release of the first volume would unconstitutionally prejudice their due process rights.... Nauta and De Oliveira on Sunday filed a 12-page reply [to a DOJ filing reiterating that publication of the first part of Smith's report] seeking to keep Cannon’s order in place, arguing that the government was motivated by politics ahead of Trump taking office. 'The Government, driven by political priorities that have no place in a criminal trial setting, seeks to strong-arm its way through this orderly process and has repeatedly failed to abide by established rules and procedure,' the filing states. 'Political preference must yield to due process of law.'” MB: As Cheney & Gerstein remind us in their report linked above, Nauta & De Oliveira's “defense is being bankrolled by Trump political committees.” 


Devlin Barrett & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “David C. Weiss, the special counsel who spent years investigating Hunter Biden, criticized President Biden for making 'baseless accusations' about his inquiry that threatened 'the integrity of the justice system as a whole' in a final report made public on Monday. 'The president’s characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and on a more fundamental level, they are wrong,' Mr. Weiss wrote. His inquiry had been a subject of fierce debate until the president issued a broad pardon that ended the case against his son, saying that the prosecution was the result of 'raw politics.'...

“'Like all his court filings, David Weiss’s 27-page report continues to ignore some of the major mysteries of his seven-year investigation,” said [a] lawyer for Hunter Biden, Abbe Lowell, adding that 'what is clear from this report is that the investigation into Hunter Biden is a cautionary tale of the abuse of prosecutorial power.'... Because the presidential pardon had effectively ruled out any such analysis, the report said, Mr. Weiss reached no conclusions about the possibility that Hunter Biden had committed other crimes.” (The embedded link to Weiss's report is to a DOJ file, not a subscriber-firewalled NYT file.) The CBS News report is here.

 

My administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play And we’re leaving them an America with more friends and stronger alliances, whose adversaries are weak and under pressure — an America who once again is leading. -- President Biden, in a foreign-policy speech yesterday ~~~

~~~ Cleve Wootson & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: “Speaking as much to the history books as to the civil servants gathered at the State Department on Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden said U.S. foreign policy during his term had put the United States and its allies on a stronger footing, another effort to use his final days in office to burnish his presidential legacy. The nearly 30-minute speech touched on dozens of issues on nearly every continent, from fraying alliances Biden said he encountered after he took office to recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks that he expressed optimism about as he makes his exit. Biden said he had sought at nearly every turn to have the United States lead alliances on global issues — a rebuke, if oblique, to the 'America First' agenda of Donald Trump....” A CBS News report is here. You can watch the speech on this YouTube video.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: “The Education Department announced on Monday that it had canceled student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers, bringing the tally of Americans whose loans were forgiven under President Biden to over five million.... The latest cancellations were most likely the administration’s final round of relief. They covered borrowers who have worked in public service for at least 10 years, students who had applied after being defrauded or misled by their school, and some students with disabilities.

“With Monday’s authorization and 27 previous ones, the Biden administration has canceled more than $183 billion in outstanding student loans.... Mr. Biden will leave office next week with many of his boldest ambitions for student debt reform stymied, after a wave of legal challenges brought by Republican attorneys general chipped away at plans that once envisioned student loan forgiveness for over 40 million people.... Both ... Donald J. Trump and the America First Policy Institute, where his pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, has served as a chair, have been intensely critical of the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness policies.” Politico's report is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Opposition to student loan forgiveness programs arises out of cruelty, stupidity or both. It's true that the federal government is losing the debt-repayment revenue stream in the short run. But in the long run, consider this a stimulus package that is bound to pay dividends: well-educated, working-aged people freed from burdensome, expanding debt will be among the greatest contributors to the U.S. economy as well as some of the highest taxpayers. 

Paul McLeary of Politico: “The nation’s next two aircraft carriers will feature the names of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden announced Monday in a bipartisan salute that might irritate the next occupant of the White House. The new, nuclear-powered carriers will be officially named the USS William J. Clinton and the USS George W. Bush when they enter service in the mid-2030s, the White House said in an announcement. Biden said in the statement that he personally delivered the news to 'Bill and George.' It’s a traditional honor for former presidents but somewhat unusual decision since Bush’s appearance on an aircraft carrier marked an awkward point of his tenure — when he made a speech on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a 'Mission Accomplished' banner in May 2003 to incorrectly proclaim major combat over in Iraq.” ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here.

Harris Is Bitter. Jennifer Jacobs of CBS News: "Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended an invitation [to JD & Usha Vance] for a formal sit-down or tour [of the Naval Observatory residence], multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News. In November, Usha Vance, via intermediaries, reached out to staff for the home's current occupants, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, seeking details including what they would need to childproof it. Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance are all under the age of eight. The questions were initially rebuffed by a Harris political appointee. But there has since been communication between the Vance team and Navy aides who oversee the residence. Before Christmas, Navy officials provided an overview of the house to discuss the layout of the residence, logistics and practicalities of the move-in, and to help answer any questions the Vances had, a person familiar with the call said. Usha Vance spoke with Emhoff for about 40 minutes last week, sources said. Harris sources said that arrangements are underway to accommodate the Vance children." Read on for an account of Pence-Harris transition.


Darlene Superville of the AP: “U.S. flags at ... Donald Trump‘s private Mar-a-Lago club are back to flying at full height. Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect for former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29. A large flag on Trump’s property in Palm Beach was initially lowered to half-staff according to protocol but has since been raised in the days after Carter was buried Thursday in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Both President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, directed that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days from the date of Carter’s death — or through Jan. 28. Trump has expressed annoyance that flags will be at half-staff on Jan. 20 when he takes the oath of office for his second term. During the presidential campaign, the Republican repeatedly criticized Carter, a Democrat, but offered praise for the 39th president in a statement after his death at the age of 100.” Related story linked below under “Texas.”

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: “Some may think Trump’s remarks on taking Greenland and the Panama Canal are just a joke from an attention-seeking leader with no filter. They are not a joke. They are a prescription for chaos.... If the U.S. president can decide that he wants to seize Greenland and explicitly refuses to rule out the use of force to do so, that is like a giant permission slip for China to seize Taiwan.... Trump’s remarks are reckless stupidity beyond belief.... How does America get off telling [Putin] that by invading Ukraine he has violated international laws and norms..., while Trump muses about seizing Greenland and forcibly reimposing U.S. sovereignty over the Panama Canal? Ukraine’s territory was once part of Mother Russia, as was Crimea, which Putin has already fully taken back. No wonder Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told CNBC on Thursday that Russia is 'watching the rhetoric on these topics coming out of Washington with great interest.'” More on Greenland linked below.

Aamer Madhani & Zeke Miller of the AP: “Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by ... Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signaled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump’s agenda.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “Pete Hegseth..., Donald J. Trump’s pick to head the Pentagon, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday to answer questions on a range of issues, including a sexual assault allegation, his lack of management experience and his comments against women serving in combat. Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has a slew of commentary, opinions and allegations to explain, as Democratic lawmakers get their chance to question him about his qualifications to lead the Defense Department, an $849 billion enterprise with nearly three million employees. Eyes will also be on Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, who is an Army Reserve and National Guard veteran and a sexual assault survivor. Ms. Ernst received a barrage of criticism from Trump supporters last month after she said that Mr. Hegseth needed to address issues including the role of women in the military and sexual assault prevention. Her support is viewed as critical to Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation chances. Whether Mr. Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed remains an open question.” ~~~

~~~ Looks Like the Dog Ate Part of the FBI's Homework. Julie Tsirkin, et al., of NBC News: "The FBI background check on Pete Hegseth... does not include interviews with Hegseth’s ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017, according to three sources with direct knowledge.... It is standard protocol to interview current and former spouses in conducting FBI background checks.... But it is also contingent on cooperation from the interviewees, and it is not clear whether the FBI attempted outreach to those people. Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth's confirmation hearing Tuesday, also sent inquiries to counsel for Hegseth’s ex-wives, but they did not share information with the committee.... Senate Democrats have already been raising alarms about delays producing the FBI check and concerns about its thoroughness...." ~~~

     ~~~ Liz Goodwin & Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: “Democratic senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee are now slamming the report as inadequate as they prepare to question the candidate picked to lead the Defense Department at Tuesday’s public confirmation hearing. 'Several of the witnesses were not interviewed by the FBI, even though they wanted to be,' Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) said as she left a meeting of committee Democrats on Monday, declining to say which witnesses she was referring to.”

Dr. Paul Offit in a New York Times op-ed: “The news media labels [label!] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a 'vaccine skeptic.' He’s not. I’m an actual vaccine skeptic. In fact, everyone who serves with me on the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee is a vaccine skeptic. Pharmaceutical companies must prove to us that a vaccine is safe, that it’s effective.... Mr. Kennedy, on the other hand, is a vaccine cynic, failing to accept studies that refute his beliefs. He claims that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism despite more than a dozen studies performed in seven countries on three continents involving thousands of children showing that it doesn’t. He has claimed that 'there is no vaccine that is safe and effective.' (Childhood vaccines have prevented more than one million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations over the past three decades). He has encouraged people not to vaccinate their babies.... [And more.] Given the lack of appropriate guardrails that would normally prevent an anti-vaccine activist, science denialist and conspiracy theorist from heading the country’s most important public health agency, it’s a dangerous time to be a child in the United States.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: “Elon Musk is expected to use office space in the White House complex as he launches the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash government spending in the Trump administration, according to two people briefed on the plans. The space anticipated for Mr. Musk’s use is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the White House. The location would allow Mr. Musk, who owns companies with billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, to continue to have significant access to ... Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month.... DOGE staff members are currently working out of the Washington, D.C., offices of Mr. Musk’s SpaceX company.... The work around DOGE has so far been shrouded in secrecy, with the transition revealing little to nothing about how it will function, or how it will be budgeted for.”

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: “Melania Trump ... said in an interview broadcast on Monday that she planned to live and work full time in the White House during Donald J. Trump’s second term, addressing speculation about whether she would be a regular presence in Washington. Mrs. Trump told 'Fox and Friends' that she would travel as needed to New York, her longtime home where she stayed regularly during Mr. Trump’s first term, and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become Mr. Trump’s official state of residence. 'When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,' she said. 'When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.'” MB: I dunno. Doesn't sound too definitive to me. At least we know Donald comes after Barron & the blood-red Christmas decor. (Also linked yesterday.)

Meredith Hill of Politico: “A group of House Republicans and ... Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations.” MB: This is sort of ironic-laced cruelty -- as Krugman points out in the post linked below, the debt would be a lot higher if not for Californians' contributions to the federal coffers. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's Philip Bump of the Washington Post forcefully backing me up: “Within hours [of the fires' spreading], Republicans and others on the right were spreading claims (often false ones) presenting the disaster as fundamentally a function of Democratic mismanagement. With that baseline established, various legislators have suggested that the state needs to change its policies before it should receive federal funding.... [This] rhetoric ... is not only disingenuous; it presents the state as supplicant. In reality, California pays far more to the federal government than it receives in benefits — one of only a handful of states for which that is true.... IRS data looking at the 2021 tax year shows that residents of [Los Angeles] county filed tax returns owing a cumulative $20 billion — more in L.A. itself than in all but four entire states. The funding to which those Republicans are tying political strings can accurately be described as California’s money in the first place.” Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Meredith Hill of Politico: “House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed to reporters Monday there’s 'been some discussion' of tying California wildfire aid to a debt limit increase, after GOP members raised the issue with Donald Trump in several meetings at the President-elect’s Florida resort this weekend.... Johnson told reporters, 'we’ll see where it goes,' acknowledging that he, personally, supported putting 'conditions' on California wildfire aid. 'That’s my personal view,' he said.... The notion that Congress could make the release of disaster relief dollars conditional upon also agreeing to raise the debt ceiling is already facing pushback from some Democrats.” ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the WashPo writes in his analysis linked above, “On Monday afternoon, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) ... said that it 'appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects,' bolstering the idea that 'there should be conditions on that aid.'” ~~~

~~~ "Bumbling Callousness." Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: Donald Trump "and his minions are already using the fires to score cheap political points while Americans suffer. It’s an ominous reminder of, and prelude to, Trump’s mob boss approach to disaster relief in particular and to the presidency in general." Berlatsky reminds us that Trump's reactions to disasters -- as occurred when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the pandemic hit the whole country -- could not be worse: "a cocktail of incompetence and malice." Definitely worth a read. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump notes in the analysis linked above that Trump, in the midst of decrying "incompetent" California politicians, wrote, “'There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country.' There have been 24 confirmed fatalities in the fires, as of writing. Scores more are missing. But contrast that with the nearly 3,000 people killed by Hurricane Maria on the island of Puerto Rico.... Maria struck the island when Trump was president. His response was to downplay the death toll and to insist that the extent of the damage was the fault of Puerto Rican leaders.” MB: AND of course to toss a few residents rolls of paper towels so they could do their own damned clean-up.

Andrew Solender of Axios: "House Republicans on Monday introduced a bill that would allow ... Trump to enter into negotiations with Denmark to acquire Greenland.... It's the latest in a series of proposed Republican legislation to bring Trump's vision of a new, sprawling American empire to fruition....Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) also introduced a bill last week along with 15 other Republicans that would authorize talks to repurchase the Panama Canal.... Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) is introducing the two-page 'Make Greenland Great Again Act.'... The bill would authorize the president — at the moment of Trump's swearing in on Jan. 20 — to seek to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.'... Ogles, a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, has 10 GOP co-sponsors, including some moderate and establishment members like Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Mike Rulli (R-Ohio)."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd.

Dave Enrich & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: “With ... Donald J. Trump returning to the White House, media outlets large and small are taking steps to prepare for what they fear could be a legal and political onslaught against them from the new administration and Mr. Trump’s allies inside and outside the government.... Mr. Trump’s choice to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel, said before the election that a new Trump administration would 'come after the people in the media.' Brendan Carr, the expected chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, recently raised the prospect of revoking federal broadcast licenses for television stations that he perceived as biased against conservatives.... Among the most pressing concerns, media lawyers said, was that the Trump administration would increase the use of subpoenas to ferret out journalists’ confidential sources.” Read on.

Brian Stelter of CNN: “Veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list of Washington Post figures to leave the troubled institution. Rubin is partnering with former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and launching something new: a startup publication called The Contrarian. The startup’s tagline, 'Not owned by anybody,' is a pointed reference to billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and other moguls who, in Rubin’s view, have 'bent the knee' to ... Donald Trump.... Rather than anti-Trump, the founders describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including people who played prominent roles in debunking 2020 election denialism and investigating the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian, a Substack site: “Corporate and billionaire owners of major media outlets have betrayed their audiences’ loyalty and sabotaged journalism’s sacred mission — defending, protecting and advancing democracy. The Washington Post’s billionaire owner and enlisted management are among the offenders. They have undercut the values central to The Post’s mission and that of all journalism: integrity, courage, and independence. I cannot justify remaining at The Post. Jeff Bezos and his fellow billionaires accommodate and enable the most acute threat to American democracy — Donald Trump — at a time when a vibrant free press is more essential than ever to our democracy’s survival and capacity to thrive. I therefore have resigned from The Post, effective today.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)


Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic considers why Bidenomics or "post-neoliberalism" was not enough to give either Biden or Harris a win over the Bloated Buffoon. Thanks to laura h. for the gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) See discussion of Chait's hypothesis in yesterday's Comments.

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California. A $50MM Anti-Trump Bill. Blake Jones & Lindsey Holden of Politico: “California Democrats have reached a $50 million agreement to shore up state and local legal defenses against the incoming Trump administration just a week ahead of the president-elect’s inauguration. Half the money would go to fending off any mass deportation plan the new president might enact early in his administration. The move — the first of its kind in the nation that positions California to lead a second term resistance against Donald Trump — comes as Republicans bash state Democratic leaders for focusing on a highly partisan issue even as the southern part of the state suffers from historically devastating fires. The deal includes $25 million Newsom had proposed for the state Department of Justice to fight the federal government in court shortly after Trump’s reelection in November — plus $25 million more proposed by state Senate leaders to defend immigrants against deportation, detention and wage theft. The $25 million proposed by the Senate would fund grants for legal nonprofits and immigration support centers.”

MEANWHILE. Florida. Kate Payne of the AP: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling state lawmakers into a special session to help carry out ... Donald Trump’s promises for a swift crackdown on immigration. But he’s facing pushback from the legislature’s Republican leaders, who have pledged their support for the incoming president but said a special session would be 'premature' and 'irresponsible.'”

Texas. Steven Rosenbaum of CBS News: “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed that American flags on state property be flown at full staff to mark ... Donald Trump's inauguration next week, bypassing the national mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter. The move has sparked both praise and criticism on social media. On Dec. 29, President Biden ordered flags across the country to fly at half-staff for 30 days following Carter's death. On Monday, Gov. Abbott released a statement that he would be directing flags on state property to be flown at full staff on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. 'While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America,' Abbott's statement said in part.” Thanks to laura h. for the link.

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Israel/Palestine et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in Israel's wars are here: “Israel and Hamas are at their 'closest point' in months to agreeing on a ceasefire deal that could halt the devastating 15-month-long war in Gaza and release hostages, Qatar said Tuesday. 'We believe that we have reached the final stages,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in Doha, where negotiators are meeting, while seeking to temper expectations until a final deal is in place. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the deal is now in Hamas’s hands. The first phase of the proposed deal would involve the release of 33 living hostages during a 42-day ceasefire, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to U.S. officials. Over the course of the war, ceasefire negotiations have faltered at the 11th hour on several occasions.”

U.K. Musk Defends Another Violent Nazi. Megan Specia of the New York Times: “Hours after a deadly knife attack in the northern English town of Southport last July, [Neo-Nazi] Andrew McIntyre set up a Telegram channel called 'Southport Wake Up.' Amid posts riddled with anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti-immigrant abuse, he urged people to take to the streets, directing them to a mosque and calling for 'war.'... On July 30, a violent mob targeted the mosque that Mr. McIntyre had highlighted, and dozens of police officers were injured.... Mr. McIntyre, 39, who took part in two of several riots that rattled Britain last summer, was sentenced to seven years in prison last Monday. He pleaded guilty to encouraging violent disorder and criminal damage, and to possession of a knife. A day after his conviction, Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, bemoaned Mr. McIntyre’s sentencing in a post on his social media platform X, declaring: 'Over 7 years prison for social media posts … Whoever gave that sentence deserves prison themselves.'... 'I think it’s really important to note here just how extreme the individuals that Musk has been defending and engaging with in Europe and in the U.K. in recent months are,' said Joe Mulhall of Hope Not Hate....”

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Monday
Jan132025

The Conversation -- January 13, 2025

Alana Richer & Eric Tucker of the AP: “The Justice Department can publicly release its investigative report on ... Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case, [Judge Aileen Cannon] said Monday. But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and ... defense lawyers may seek to challenge it all the way up to the Supreme Court.... She set a hearing for Friday on whether the department can release to lawmakers the volume on the case that accused Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House in 2021. The department has said it will not publicly disclose that volume as long as criminal proceedings against two of Trump’s co-defendants remain pending.”

Aamer Madhani & Zeke Miller of the AP: “Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by ... Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signaled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump’s agenda.”

Meredith Hill of Politico: “A group of House Republicans and ... Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations.” MB: This is sort of ironic-laced cruelty -- as Krugman points out in the post linked below, the debt would be a lot higher if not for Californians' contributions to the federal coffers. ~~~

~~~ "Bumbling Callousness." Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: Donald Trump "and his minions are already using the fires to score cheap political points while Americans suffer. It’s an ominous reminder of, and prelude to, Trump’s mob boss approach to disaster relief in particular and to the presidency in general." Berlatsky reminds us that Trump's reactions to disasters -- as occurred when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the pandemic hit the whole country -- could not be worse: "a cocktail of incompetence and malice." Definitely worth a read.

Meredith Hill of Politico: “A group of House Republicans and ... Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations.” MB: This is sort of ironic-laced cruelty -- as Krugman points out in the post linked below, the debt would be a lot higher if not for Californians' contributions to the federal coffers. ~~~

~~~ "Bumbling Callousness." Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: Donald Trump "and his minions are already using the fires to score cheap political points while Americans suffer. It’s an ominous reminder of, and prelude to, Trump’s mob boss approach to disaster relief in particular and to the presidency in general." Berlatsky reminds us that Trump's reactions to disasters -- as occurred when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the pandemic hit the whole country -- could not be worse: "a cocktail of incompetence and malice." Definitely worth a read.

Brian Stelter of CNN: “Veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list of Washington Post figures to leave the troubled institution. Rubin is partnering with former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and launching something new: a startup publication called The Contrarian. The startup’s tagline, 'Not owned by anybody,' is a pointed reference to billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and other moguls who, in Rubin’s view, have 'bent the knee' to ... Donald Trump.... Rather than anti-Trump, the founders describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including people who played prominent roles in debunking 2020 election denialism and investigating the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian, a Substack site: “Corporate and billionaire owners of major media outlets have betrayed their audiences’ loyalty and sabotaged journalism’s sacred mission — defending, protecting and advancing democracy. The Washington Post’s billionaire owner and enlisted management are among the offenders. They have undercut the values central to The Post’s mission and that of all journalism: integrity, courage, and independence. I cannot justify remaining at The Post. Jeff Bezos and his fellow billionaires accommodate and enable the most acute threat to American democracy — Donald Trump — at a time when a vibrant free press is more essential than ever to our democracy’s survival and capacity to thrive. I therefore have resigned from The Post, effective today.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

Dr. Paul Offit in a New York Times op-ed: “The news media labels [label!] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a 'vaccine skeptic.' He’s not. I’m an actual vaccine skeptic. In fact, everyone who serves with me on the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee is a vaccine skeptic. Pharmaceutical companies must prove to us that a vaccine is safe, that it’s effective.... Mr. Kennedy, on the other hand, is a vaccine cynic, failing to accept studies that refute his beliefs. He claims that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism despite more than a dozen studies performed in seven countries on three continents involving thousands of children showing that it doesn’t. He has claimed that 'there is no vaccine that is safe and effective.' (Childhood vaccines have prevented more than one million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations over the past three decades). He has encouraged people not to vaccinate their babies.... [And more.] Given the lack of appropriate guardrails that would normally prevent an anti-vaccine activist, science denialist and conspiracy theorist from heading the country’s most important public health agency, it’s a dangerous time to be a child in the United States.”

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: “Melania Trump ... said in an interview broadcast on Monday that she planned to live and work full time in the White House during Donald J. Trump’s second term, addressing speculation about whether she would be a regular presence in Washington. Mrs. Trump told 'Fox and Friends' that she would travel as needed to New York, her longtime home where she stayed regularly during Mr. Trump’s first term, and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become Mr. Trump’s official state of residence. 'When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,' she said. 'When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.'” MB: I dunno. Doesn't sound too definitive to me. At least we know Donald comes after Barron & the blood-red Christmas decor.

Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic considers why Bidenomics or "post-neoliberalism" was not enough to give either Biden or Harris a win over the Bloated Buffoon. Thanks to laura h. for the gift link. MB: I tend to agree with Ken W.'s commentary below on Chait's theory.

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Quack, Quack. Brian Beutler: “After two months of watching American corporate and opposition-party officials 'obey in advance' or, worse, choose to align with Donald Trump for selfish reasons, it’s nice to see leaders in foreign countries recognize something that hasn’t really sunk in among U.S. elites: Donald Trump is a lame duck.... I suspect this is why he and his fellow trolls suggest he may seek an unconstitutional third term — it’s not just to trigger the libs, it’s also to paper over this definitional vulnerability.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

Marie: I didn't bother to read this article yesterday, but fortunately laura h. did: ~~~

     ~~~ Billionaires v. Us. Theodore Schleifer & Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: “An unpaid group of billionaires, tech executives and some disciples of Peter Thiel, a powerful Republican donor, are preparing to take up unofficial positions in the U.S. government in the name of cost-cutting.... On the eve of Mr. Trump’s presidency, the structure of DOGE is still amorphous and closely held. People involved in the operation say that secrecy and avoiding leaks is paramount, and much of its communication is conducted on Signal, the encrypted messaging app.... DOGE is also expected to have an office in the Office of Management and Budget, and officials have also considered forming a think tank outside the government in the future.... The DOGE team, including those paid engineers, is largely working out of a glass building in SpaceX’s downtown office located a few blocks from the White House.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is not about the proverbial $400 hammer. This is about slashing & eliminating programs & whole departments we all depend upon to assist us in our daily lives -- whether we realize it or not. It isn't about reducing your taxes, either; it's about reducing theirs. Unfortunately, besides their general disdain for all Americans, Musk himself has a specific hatred of certain Americans: ~~~

~~~ Pranshu Verma, et al., of the Washington Post (Jan. 10): Elon “Musk has posted or replied to more than 80 posts about the fire, many of which pinned the devastation on liberal policies, in some cases based on false claims or racist ideas, according to a Washington Post analysis. He downplayed the role of climate change, placing blame on individual female firefighters of color and lesbian firefighters, including posting their names and faces. He boosted an hour-long propaganda video by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that claimed the fires were 'part of a larger globalist plot' to cause the collapse of the United States; Musk replied simply, 'True.' And he repeatedly amplified claims that the Los Angeles Fire Department’s investments in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs cost lives by wasting money that could have been spent on disaster response, suggesting that the destruction could have been mitigated if more White men had been retained.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It should be abundantly clear by now that in one week, the federal government will be controlled by people who are insane megalomaniacs. “Stable geniuses?” Nowhere to be found. ~~~

~~~ Maegan Vazquez, et al., of the Washington Post: “Instead of offering words of sympathy or pledges of rebuilding [after the devastating Los Angeles fires, Donald] Trump, his billionaire ally Elon Musk and top Republicans have spent much of the past several days blaming Democratic leadership in the state for the crisis, exacerbating the already high tensions between the Republicans set to soon be in charge of the federal response and the mostly Democratic officials on the ground. Many of Trump and Musk’s attacks are rooted in misinformation, but their responses to the ongoing destruction could pose a political risk to incumbent California Democrats, who are already seeking investigations and accountability efforts over the fires.... 'I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist,' [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom said of his invitation to Trump in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s 'Meet the Press.' When NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff asked Newsom if he had received a response from Trump, he answered, 'No.'”

Immigrants Are Building the United States. León Krauze, in a Washington Post op-ed: “Rebuilding [Los Angeles & surrounding communities] will be a monumental task fraught with uncertainty.... One thing, however, is certain: the rebuilding of Los Angeles will rely heavily on immigrants.... According to a 2020 report by the American Immigration Council, 43 percent of construction workers in California are immigrants. Among these, a majority are of Mexican origin, reflecting a long history of Mexican labor contributing to the city’s development.... According to the National Association of Home Builders, 31 percent of workers in construction trades nationwide are foreign born.... As Trump takes power, vowing to implement punitive immigration policies to vigorously go after the undocumented, it is crucial to acknowledge who truly builds America.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I live in New Hampshire, which is nearly as far away from Mexico as one can get & still be in the U.S. I recently had a house built here. I would say that a third of the people who worked on the house were Hispanic. As Krauze suggests, 100% of the plasterers & roofers were Hispanic. I didn't ask where they came from; I just tried to remember my high-school Spanish.

MAGA Civil War. Now Is the Winter of Their Discontent. Chris Michael of the Guardian: “In an escalation of discontent among the highest-profile far-right followers of Donald Trump, his former adviser Steve Bannon has called Trump’s newest favorite, Elon Musk, 'racist' and a 'truly evil guy', pledging to 'take this guy down' and kick him out of the Maga movement. In an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper in Italy, excerpts of which were published this weekend by Breitbart, Bannon criticised Musk’s embrace of some forms of immigration and vowed to ensure that Musk does not have top-level access to the White House.... Bannon further widened his aim to attack Musk’s fellow tech giants Peter Thiel and David Sacks for having South African heritage. 'He [Musk] should go back to South Africa,' Bannon said. 'Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?'” A Washington Post story is here.

Cagan Koc of Bloomberg, reprinted by Yahoo!: "Europe’s largest pension fund sold its entire €571 million ($585 million) stake in Tesla Inc. in the third quarter partly due to disagreement with Elon Musk’s remuneration package.... The fund also considered costs, return and responsible investment requirements in its decision to sell its investment. The news was first reported by Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, which also cited poor working conditions at the company among ABP’s reasons to ditch Tesla."

Lauren Irwin of the Hill: “Vice President-elect JD Vance said people who 'committed violence' on Jan. 6, 2021, 'obviously' shouldn’t be pardoned.... 'I think it’s very simple, look, if you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,' Vance said during an interview on 'Fox News Sunday.... If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.... And there’s a little bit of a gray area there.' Vance said he and Trump are 'very much committed' to the equal administration of law. He added that they believe there were people who were 'prosecuted unfairly.... We need to rectify that.'...” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems unlikely that JayDee is going rogue here, so I'd guess he's walking back Trump's pardon promises. This is fine because reneging on campaign promises is what Trump does. In that sense, he is consistent. The big back-pedal came when he intimated he could not, after all, reduce the price of g-r-o-c-e-r-i-e-s. Nor will he end the war between Russia & Ukraine on Day One. For the most part, the country's best hope is that Trump does not keep his draconian promises, because the promises are either (a) really bad for ordinary Americans, or (b) the ways he would try to keep them would be really bad for ordinary Americans. 

Peter Wade of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo!: “Americans who are sick and dying should mostly blame themselves for their health condition. That’s what Sen. Roger Marshall said as Republicans are poised to cut health care access and increase costs for millions of Americans. 'Look, about 70 percent of your health outcomes are determined by you,' Marshall said Sunday on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. 'It’s determined by what you eat and what you’re surrounded by. By the time you come to my office as a doctor, I can impact maybe 10 or 20 percent of your health outcomes.' Marshall did not cite where he got those percentage figures from. A former OBGYN, he is a leader of the newly-formed Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Caucus. He has said the caucus will work with Dr. Mehmet Oz and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ... to 'improv[e] health outcomes by prioritizing nutrition, providing access to affordable, nutrient-dense foods, and focusing on primary care availability to tackle the root causes of chronic diseases.'”

Ben Blanchet of the Huffington Post: “Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) on Friday sounded off about his 'problem' with California’s policies as he threatened to withhold disaster relief aid amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. 'If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies,' said Davidson in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.... Davidson [took] issue with the state’s forest management.... Right-wing media figures have recently pushed misleading claims that California’s 'bad forest management' is to blame for the fires while ignoring how climate change impacts measures to prevent the spread of fires.... Davidson’s policy 'problem' adds to a right-wing blame game for the recent Los Angeles fires which includes everything from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to — in Trump’s case — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wanting to protect an 'essentially worthless fish' species, the delta smelt.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, if lazy liberal lesbians are not willing to get out & sweep California's forest floors, then they have only themselves to blame when their houses burn down. ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman on Substack: "One of the unwritten rules of American politics is that it’s OK to sneer at and smear our big cities and the people who live in them, while it’s an outrageous act of disrespect to suggest that there’s anything wrong with the Heartland. And many people believe the smears.... These delusions of dystopia ... can have real consequences. As you read this, much of America’s second-largest city is an actual hellscape. But many politicians, from the president-elect on down, are showing zero sympathy, insisting that California — which in its own way gets trash-talked as much as New York —somehow brought this disaster on itself by being too liberal, too woke, or something. And this lack of sympathy may translate into refusal to provide adequate disaster aid.... This ... seems like a good time to remind people just how much the Golden State contributes to American greatness.... California is ... an economic and technological powerhouse; without it America would be a lot poorer and weaker than it is. Most narrowly, at a time when Donald Trump is making nonsensical claims that America is subsidizing Canada via our bilateral trade deficit, California is literally subsidizing the rest of the United States, red states in particular, through the federal budget.... California, in particular, pays a lot in federal taxes because it’s so much richer and more productive than most of the rest of America." Nice musical coda.

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Israel's Wars. Reuters, republished by Yahoo!: "U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as U.S. officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.... 'We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,' [Biden's national security advisor Jake] Sullivan said, 'and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I hope I'm wrong, but my guess is that this will be a repeat of January 20, 1981, when Iran waited to release U.S. hostages until a few minutes after Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency, even as it honored an agreement made under Jimmy Carter's presidency. Bibi will not likely give Biden's team any credit for coddling him for more than a year & he'll thank Trump for his support. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the White House's readout of the phone call.

News Lede

New York Times: “Dangerous winds were again expected to sweep through Los Angeles late Monday, threatening the progress that firefighters have made in recent days against the devastating wildfires that have raged across the city. Forecasters have issued a rare fire danger alert for Monday night through Wednesday morning. That is the same level of alert that was issued a week ago, as strong wind gusts fueled some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in California history.” This is a liveblog.

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