Christmas Day 2019

King's College, Cambridge, Boys' Choir sings "Once in Royal David's City":

U.S. Navy Band: Senior Chief Petty Officer Keith Arneson, banjo; Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Friedman, guitar. Dueling "Jingle Bells.":

Rufus Wainwright & 1,500 Canadian sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at the Hearn Generating Station in Toronto:

When we lived in Florence, Italy, we bought a small black-and-white TV for our apartment on the Via de' Cerretani, a couple of blocks from the Duomo. It was on that cheap little box with its tinny audio that I watched in awe the opening ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics. As someone we deplore might say, "There's never been anything like it." In this case, for me, that was true. A complication: Click to play the video; then click to play on YouTube:

My candidate for the Worst Christmas Song Ever is Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Well, it can be worse!

In a nod to climate change, let's not forget Leon Redbone & Dr. John's "Frosty the Snowman":

It wouldn't be Christmas without the Drifters:

The Commentariat -- December 24, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump spent Christmas Eve morning complaining that Democrats had treated him unfairly during the impeachment inquiry and insisting that Republican leaders in the Senate should run a trial however they see fit." Here's an NBC News story on crazy things Trump said Tuesday.

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is weighing proposals for a major reduction -- or even a complete pullout -- of American forces from West Africa as the first phase of reviewing global deployments that could reshuffle thousands of troops around the world, according to officials.... The discussions of a large-scale pullback from West Africa include abandoning a recently built $110 million drone base in Niger and ending assistance to French forces battling militants in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.... Mr. Trump is not so much ending wars as he is moving troops from one conflict to another, and Mr. Esper's initiative aims to carry out that rebalancing.... Officials say the overhaul of Africa deployments will be followed by one in Latin America, and that drawdowns will happen in Iraq and Afghanistan, as has been expected."

In case you thought Trump was all interested in saving birds from the ravages of demon windmills: ~~~

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "... dozens of bird-preservation efforts that have fallen away in the wake of [a federal] policy change in 2017 that was billed merely as a technical clarification to a century-old law protecting migratory birds.... Not only has the administration stopped investigating most bird deaths, the documents show, it has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking precautionary measures to protect birds.... The revised policy -- part of the administration's broader effort to encourage business activity — has been a particular favorite of President Trump's, whose selective view of avian welfare has ranged from complaining that wind energy 'kills all the birds' to asserting that the oil industry has been subject to 'totalitarian tactics' under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918."

Nathalie Baptiste of Mother Jones: "Last week, Christianity Today drew ire from Donald Trump after publishing an editorial calling for the president's removal, citing the Ukraine scandal and his moral deficiencies.... Now more than 200 evangelical leaders have ... sign[ed] a letter to the Christian magazine decrying the op-ed as offensive and dismissive of their views."

Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "Journalist Napp Nazworth, who has worked for the Christian Post website since 2011, said he quit his job Monday because the website was planning to publish a pro-Trump editorial that would slam Christianity Today. Nazworth, who sits on the editorial board as politics editor, said the website has sought to represent both sides and published both pro- and anti-Trump stories."

Alexandra Hutzler of Newsweek: "Attorney General William Barr's defense of ... Donald Trump amid impeachment is raising questions about potential conflicts of interest as legal experts accuse the Justice Department chief of ignoring his responsibility as the nation's top prosecutor. 'This is a really strange situation with Barr, who has so many conflicts and is up to his eyeballs in all of the corruption surrounding Trump,' attorney Nick Akerman told Newsweek. Akerman served an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. The attorney general plays no official role in impeachment, but that hasn't stopped Barr from coming to Trump's defense on multiple occasions. The Justice Department's top official often protected the Trump administration throughout the inquiry and went so far as to suggest that Democrats are 'trivializing' impeachment by using it as a 'political tool.' Michael J. Stern, a former federal prosecutor, asserted that Barr's loyalty to the White House is a 'perversion' of his job as attorney general.... Common Cause, a national government watchdog, sent a letter last week to every member of Congress urging them to impeach the attorney general. The nine-page document details several instances of Barr's alleged ethical failures, including his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report and his regular defiance of congressional subpoenas."

Vote for Mike Bloomberg -- Or Else, Buddy. John Washington in the Intercept: “Former New York City mayor and multibillionaire Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg used prison labor to make campaign calls. Through a third-party vendor, the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign contracted New Jersey-based call center company ProCom, which runs calls centers in New Jersey and Oklahoma. Two of the call centers in Oklahoma are operated out of state prisons. In at least one of the two prisons, incarcerated people were contracted to make calls on behalf of the Bloomberg campaign.... 'We didn't know about this and we never would have allowed it if we had,' said Bloomberg spokesperson Julie Wood. 'We don't believe in this practice and we've now ended our relationship with the subcontractor in question.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Impeachopalooza. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House is open to the prospect of impeaching ... Donald Trump a second time, lawyers for the Judiciary Committee said Monday. House Counsel Douglas Letter said in a filing in federal court that a second impeachment could be necessary if the House uncovers new evidence that Trump attempted to obstruct investigations of his conduct. Letter made the argument as part of an inquiry by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals into whether Democrats still need testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn after the votes last week to charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 'If McGahn's testimony produces new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses that are not covered by the Articles approved by the House, the Committee will proceed accordingly -- including, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment,' Letter wrote."

But the E-Mails! Sheryl Stolberg & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Senator Chuck Schumer said on Monday that newly released emails showing that military aid to Ukraine was suspended 90 minutes after President Trump demanded 'a favor' from Ukraine's president were 'explosive.' They strengthened, he said, Democratic demands for far more internal administration documents ahead of Mr. Trump's impeachment trial. The emails, made public over the weekend, included one from a White House budget office aide, Michael Duffey, telling Pentagon officials to keep quiet 'given the sensitive nature of the request.' The timing of the email -- just an hour and a half after Mr. Trump raised investigations of his Democratic rivals with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine -- added an element to Democrats' contentions that they say become clearer with every new release of evidence: Mr. Trump abused the power of his office to solicit Ukraine to help him win re-election in 2020.... In a letter to his Senate colleagues, Mr. Schumer laid out a long list of records that Democrats would like to see, including internal emails and documents from the White House, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget relating to the president's effort to press Ukraine's leader to investigate Mr. Trump's political rivals.... Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, showed no sign that he would comply with Mr. Schumer's request." ~~~

~~~ Burgess Everett of Politico: Chuck Schumer & Mitch McConnell " on Monday appeared deadlocked on the key questions surrounding the trial more than a week after Minority Leader Schumer made his opening bid. The stalemate raises the prospect of a partisan set of rules for the trial, which would be a black eye for a chamber that kicked off former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial with a unanimous vote. Schumer has called for subpoenaing key administration officials and requesting documents withheld by Trump. On Monday, he zeroed in on the case for new documents, emphasizing that the paper trail from the White House's Ukraine decision-making is just as important as his call for administration witnesses.... In a letter to his 99 Senate colleagues, Schumer argued the Senate should obtain records from the Department of State, Office of Management and Budget and the White House. McConnell remains unmoved." Mrs. McC: A pretty good example of both-siderist reporting, though in fairness to Everett, that's a bit hard -- but not impossible -- to get around when a standoff is the subject matter. ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller of the AP: "... Mitch McConnell said Monday that he was not ruling out calling witnesses in ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial -- but indicated he was in no hurry to seek new testimony either -- as lawmakers remain at an impasse over the form of the trial by the GOP-controlled Senate.... 'We haven't ruled out witnesses,' McConnell said Monday in an interview with 'Fox and Friends.' 'We've said let's handle this case just like we did with President Clinton. Fair is fair.' That trial featured a 100-0 vote on arrangements that established two weeks of presentations and argument before a partisan tally in which then-minority Republicans called a limited number of witnesses. But Democrats now would need Republican votes to secure witness testimony -- and Republicans believe they have the votes to eventually block those requests." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Mitch, of course, is playing to a bad hand. He is guilty defending a guilty man whom he is supposed to be trying. But bad facts only embolden Mitch. Remember that time when all he had was a dead justice and an obligation to replace the dead guy? He bluffed. And it worked. Chuck & Barry just lay down & took it when they had ways to make Mitch & the boys cringe & snivel. (If they couldn't figure out how to play their cards, they should have asked Nancy.)

Steve Benen of MSNBC: "Much to the GOP's chagrin, [DOJ inspector general Michael] Horowitz found that the FBI's Russia investigation was legitimate, fully justified, and untainted by political bias. As his report makes clear, some of the more ridiculous conspiracy theories -- such as the idea that a nefarious 'deep state' was trying to 'spy' on Team Trump -- have no basis in reality. And yet, there was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appearing on Fox News yesterday, sharing a very different interpretation of the report's findings.... 'Well, if you pause for one moment and you read this I.G. report by Horowitz, here's the FBI, they broke into President Trump -- at the time, candidate Trump's -- campaign, spied on him, and then they covered it up. It is a modern-day Watergate. And you've got Democrats who aren't willing to even look into that.... It's a modern-day coup, the closest this country's ever came to....'... [Then] he used his social-media account to promote the aforementioned quote, as if he were proud of his lie. Donald Trump himself retweeted the clip soon after, which was likely the validation the GOP leader was looking for." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I assume that the interviewer, whoever he or she may be, never corrected McCarthy (I checked the clip, & it's just a McCarthy monologue. so no way to tell). It's Fox "News." ~~~

     ~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN fact-checks McCarthy's false claims.

Olivia Nuzzi of New York had a conversation with Rudy Giuliani at the Mark Hotel on December 8. His fly was unzipped. "When his mouth closed, saliva leaked from the corner and crawled down his face through the valley of a wrinkle. He didn't notice, and it fell onto his sweater." He carried three phones, which he could not control. He said he was "more of a Jew&" than George Soros is. [Mrs. McC: As NBC News points out, Soros is a Holocaust survivor.] Giuliani is being persecuted: "In order to take out the president, Giuliani believes you must first take out his men, so he's under siege, the victim of a conspiracy to remove Trump from office that includes the media and the Democrats and the deep state and even some people he thought he really knew." If federal prosecutors at his old office are investigating him, "they're assholes" who might be jealous of him. "While attempting to argue that, despite what has been written, 'I have no business interests in Ukraine,' he told me about his business interests in Ukraine." He recited some conspiracy theories. ~~~

~~~ digby: "In a world that you and I would recognize as normal, this would be an overwhelming embarrassment to the White House and result in his immediate dismissal. Indeed, anyone this crazy would never have been allowed ... within a mile of the White House. We do not live in that world." ~~~

~~~ Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "The Anti-Defamation League on Monday strongly rebuked Rudy Giuliani, calling the Trump attorney's assertion that liberal philanthropist George Soros is 'hardly a Jew' a dog whistle to anti-Semites."

Desmond Butler & Michael Biesecker of the AP: "In a back corner of the swank H Bar in Houston..., [Lev & Igor,] two Russian-speaking men offered a Ukrainian gas executive what seemed like an outrageous business proposal. Andrew Favorov, the No. 2 at Ukraine's state-run gas company Naftogaz, says he sat on a red leather bench seat and listened wide-eyed as the men boasted of their connections to ... Donald Trump and proposed a deal to sell large quantities of liquefied natural gas from Texas to Ukraine. But first, Favorov says, they told him they would have to remove ... Favorov's boss and the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Favorov says he hardly took the proposal at the early March meeting seriously.... What he didn't know ... was that high-ranking officials in the Ukrainian government were already taking steps to topple his boss, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev. And two months later, Trump recalled U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.... The gas deal sought by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman never came to pass. But their efforts to profit from contacts with GOP luminaries are now part of a broad federal criminal investigation into the two men and their close associate, Rudy Giuliani.... [Lev & Igor's] campaign culminated in May, at a meeting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington that included a lobbyist with deep ties to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and a Republican fundraiser from Texas close to Donald Trump Jr." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: We have to assume two things here: (1) Congressional Republicans know at least the broad outlnes of these nefarious deals, and (2) they're okay with these methods of doing business and most probably are not above making similar deals themselves.

The Closer. Vicky Ward of CNN: "When Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman traveled to Ukraine last winter to help Rudy Giuliani dig up dirt on ... Donald Trump's political opponents, they were accompanied by a 44 year-old American named David Correia. A former pro golfer and restaurateur, Correia had gotten to know Parnas and Fruman in South Florida, where he'd gone into business with Parnas years earlier. While Parnas and Fruman, who had high-level contacts in Ukraine, worked to gather documents that they believed showed evidence of corruption by Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Correia was there to make the effort pay off in lucrative business deals, according to people who talked to him at the time, as well as copies of text messages obtained by CNN.... Correia was often the trio's point person in dealing with business contacts in Ukraine, and his work included drafting contracts and memorandums of understanding that the group could present to potential business partners, according to four sources who deal with them. Sources who dealt with the men said that Correia's smooth, conscientious manner was a helpful contrast to Parnas and Fruman, who sometimes struck people as hustlers." Includes video that features a posed photo of Correia & Trump; Trump is grinning & giving a thumbs-up. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Hustlers? Nah. Butler & Biesecker of the AP (linked above), in describing a meeting among Lev, Igor & Andrew Favorov write that Lev & Igor "sported open shirts showing off thick gold chains at a conference where most wore business attire...." Even Giuliani, not exactly an arbiter of good taste, felt obliged to make excuses for Lev & Igor to Oliva Nuzzi (linked above), "They look like Miami people. I know a lot of Miami people that look like that that are perfectly legitimate and act like them."

Spencer Kimball of CNBC: "The Christian magazine that published a blistering editorial calling for ... Donald Trump's removal from office over his 'blackened moral record' has received a boost in subscribers despite a public backlash among leading evangelicals, according to the publication's editor in chief. Mark Galli, the editor in chief of Christianity Today who authored the op-ed, acknowledged to MSNBC on Sunday that the magazine has lost subscribers, but he said there has also been an outpouring of support. 'A stereotypical response is "thank you, thank you, thank you" with a string of a hundred exclamation points -- "you've said what I've been thinking but haven't been able to articulate, I'm not crazy,"' Galli said of the response from supporters. 'We have lost subscribers but we've had 3 times as many people start to subscribe.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Betsy Swan of the Daily Beast: "In a detailed memo to senators, the Trump administration is fighting a bill that would punish Turkey for buying Russian missiles, arguing it would drive the countries closer together. Of note, Team Trump opposes a provision in the bill that would help Syrian Kurdish refugees immigrate to the United States. The case is laid out in a seven-page document obtained by The Daily Beast. The memo was sent by the State Department to Capitol Hill ahead of the Senate mark-up of a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ)...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Passing Wind. John Bowden of the Hill: "President Trump lashed out again at wind farms on Saturday, claiming that the production of wind turbines causes a large carbon footprint. During a speech to the conservative student group Turning Point USA, Trump told attendees that he 'never understood' the allure of wind power plants, according to a report from Mediaite. 'I never understood wind,' Trump said, according to Mediaite. 'I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous -- if you are into this -- tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?'" Mrs. McC: As you may have noticed, Trump simultaneously "lashed out again" against the English language, presuming the speech was intended to be delivered in English. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Philip Bump of the Washington Post translates Trump's remarks. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Matt Novak of Gizmodo: “... Donald Trump said a bunch of bizarre shit about windmills over the weekend at a conference in Florida for conservative college students, ranting about the size of the universe and saying 'I know windmills very much.'... Trump, whose brain is mostly just KFC gravy at this point, told college kids at the Turning Point USA conference that the Green New Deal was threatening the very existence of the country.... 'We're in a battle of survival of this nation,' Trump said before using a racial slur against Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in a rambling diatribe. 'When you look at these people talk, with their Green New Deal. But I don't want to knock it now, if you don't mind,' Trump said. 'I don't want to knock it. I knocked... I knocked the hell out of Pocahontas. I got her down.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Contributor Patrick was able to get hold of the entertainment portion of the conference. There was, for instance, this singalong:

~~~ AND Digby, in Salon, perfectly describes Trump's speech to the kids: "... his standard Festivus airing of grievances, whining and wailing about the impeachment and the unfairness of everything, especially the scourge of -- wind?" Here's a description of Festivus. Digby's Salon post is mostly about the big party Trump threw at Mar-a-Lago, largely at our expense: "War criminals, Rudy Giuliani, '70s nostalgia and some shameless self-dealing. It's the spirit of Christmas present!"

Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "For years, members of a secret team, Unit 29155, operated without Western security officials having any idea about their activities. But an attack on an arms dealer in Sofia helped blow their cover.... Western security and intelligence officials say the Bulgaria poisonings were a critical clue that helped expose a campaign by the Kremlin and its sprawling web of intelligence operatives to eliminate Russia's enemies abroad and destabilize the West.... Russia cannot compete economically or militarily with the United States and China, so Mr. Putin is waging an asymmetric shadow war." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This cloak-and-dagger story provides an outline, BTW, of how the CIA & other Western intelligence agencies actually go after international malefactors. They do not ask the POTUS* to call up the new president of Ukraine & ask him to investigate a U.S. politician -- in exchange for $391MM in military aid.

Republicans Have Given Scrooge a Bad Name. Paul Krugman: "It's common, especially around this time of year, to describe conservative politicians who cut off aid to the poor as Scrooges; I've done it myself. But ... this is deeply unfair to Scrooge. For while Dickens portrays Scrooge as a miser, he's notably lacking in malice. True, he's heartless until he's visited by various ghosts. But his heartlessness consists merely of unwillingness to help those in need. He's never shown taking pleasure in others' suffering, or spending money to make the lives of the poor worse.... Many conservative politicians only pretend to be Scrooges, when they're actually much worse -- not mere misers, but actively cruel. This was true long before Donald Trump moved into the White House. What's new about the Trump era is that the cruelty is more open, not just on Trump's part, but throughout his party."

Presidential Race 2020

Amie Parnes of the Hill: "... behind the scenes in recent months, former President Obama has gone to bat for [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren (D-Mass.) when speaking to donors reluctant to support her given her knocks on Wall Street and the wealthy. And if Warren becomes the nominee, Obama has said they must throw the entirety of their support behind her. The former president has stopped short of an endorsement of Warren in these conversations and has emphasized that he is not endorsing in the Democratic primary race. But he also has vouched for her credentials, making it clear in these private sessions that he deems her a capable candidate and potential president, sources say." (Also linked yesterday.)

Blaze Lovell of Honolulu Civil Beat: "Former Gov. Neil Abercrombie Monday called on U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to resign her seat in Congress. 'I feel very strongly the 2nd District of Hawaii must be fully represented,' said Abercrombie, who served 20 years in Congress before becoming governor. Gabbard is running a long-shot campaign for president and recently moved to New Hampshire, an early Democratic primary state. Abercrombie emphasized that Gabbard has already said she will not be seeking reelection for her congressional seat, which represents rural Oahu and the neighbor islands."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A spokeswoman and outreach staffer on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential bid, A.J. Delgado, is suing Trump and his campaign for pregnancy and sex discrimination. Delgado's suit, filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, claims she was sidelined by campaign officials about six weeks after the 2016 election -- shortly after she told senior officials that she was pregnant. The lawsuit refers only in passing to a sensational, headline-grabbing aspect of Delgado's pregnancy: She said the father of her unborn child was a married, senior staffer on the campaign, senior communication adviser Jason Miller. (The child was born in July 2017.) In addition to the campaign and the president, the lawsuit names Trump's transition organization, Trump for America, as a defendant, along with Trump aides Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon."

David Gelles of the New York Times: "Boeing on Monday fired its chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, whose handling of the company's 737 Max crisis had angered lawmakers, airlines, regulators and victims' families. The company said Dave Calhoun, the chairman, would replace Mr. Muilenburg on Jan. 13. Until then, Boeing's chief financial officer, Greg Smith, will serve as interim chief executive, the company said. The Boeing board made the decision on a call on Sunday, after a string of disastrous announcements for the company, according to two people briefed on the matter.... Mr. Muilenburg has stepped down effective immediately.Boeing has been mired in the worst crisis in its 103-year history since the crashes of two 737 Max jets killed 346 people. The plane has been grounded since March, and Boeing has faced cascading delays as it tries to return the Max to the air." The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Yesterday morning, there was so little news that I thought it might be a good idea to put up videos of cats. Ever helpful, contributor Forrest M. found a still photo that fit both the theme & the season:

"Baby Jesus is fuzzier than I expected."

Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post met a real Santa Claus.

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Phillip Bailey & Tom Loftus of the Louisville Courier Journal: "The FBI is asking questions about the pardons Matt Bevin issued during his last weeks as Kentucky governor, The Courier Journal has learned. State Rep. Chris Harris, D-Forest Hills, told reporters that a criminal investigator contacted him last week and asked what he knew about Bevin's pardons. Harris did not elaborate on what questions were asked, and he declined to say which law enforcement agency contacted him.... Two sources with knowledge of the inquiry told The Courier Journal on Monday that an FBI agent had spoken with Harris. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the agency could 'neither confirm nor deny the existence of said investigation' when reached late Monday night." Mrs. McC: It would be a perfect irony if Bevin ended up in a federal pen for letting criminals out of theirs.

Washington State. Mrs. McCrabbie: Last week, I linked to a Seattle Times story about state legislator Matt Shea [R], whom the Legislature had determined report commissioned by the State Legislature asserted that Shea had engaged in domestic terrorism in the infamous takeover of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. It's worse than that. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "He networked with local militia groups, talked about plans to create a 51st state called Liberty and distributed to his closest followers a 'Biblical Basis for War' document that calls for the 'surrender' of those who favor abortion rights, same-sex marriage, 'idolatry' and communism. 'If they do not yield -- kill all males,' it said.... [Shea & his allies] compiled manuals on everything from how to escape handcuffs to the operation of military weaponry and, according to the report to the legislators, laid the groundwork to form an alternative government that would be poised to take over after the expected fall of the United States government."

Way Beyond

Algeria. Adam Nossiter of the New York Times: "Algeria's de facto ruler, Gen. Ahmed Gaïd Salah, who this year managed the ouster of one president and the ascent of another amid deep civil unrest, died on Monday, according to the state news agency and Algerian press reports. General Gaïd Salah's unexpected death at 79 -- his official age, though he was most likely older -- less than two weeks after the army's favored candidate was elected president, creates a power vacuum in the vast North African nation, a major oil and gas producer. A survivor from the generation that led Algeria to independence from France in the early 1960s, General Gaïd Salah was the man who increasingly blocked the demands of the popular protest movement that has rocked the country's politics since last February." A BBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

U.K./China. "Help!" -- The Slaves Who Made Your Christmas Card. Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "China has denied using forced prison labour after reports that a six-year-old girl in England had discovered a cry for help inside a Tesco card allegedly made by inmates. Qingpu prison in Shanghai has come under scrutiny after a note was found in a Christmas card that read: 'We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation'.... Tesco, which has withdrawn the card from shelves, said the Christmas card in question was made by the Zhejiang Yunguang printing factory, about 60 miles from Qingpu prison. On its website, the factory lists Tesco and Disney as its main clients."

The Commentariat -- December 23, 2019

Late Morning Update:

Zeke Miller of the AP: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he was not ruling out calling witnesses in ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial -- but indicated he was in no hurry to seek new testimony either -- as lawmakers remain at an impasse over the form of the trial by the GOP-controlled Senate.... 'We haven't ruled out witnesses,' McConnell said Monday in an interview with 'Fox and Friends.' 'We've said let's handle this case just like we did with President Clinton. Fair is fair.' That trial featured a 100-0 vote on arrangements that established two weeks of presentations and argument before a partisan tally in which then-minority Republicans called a limited number of witnesses. But Democrats now would need Republican votes to secure witness testimony -- and Republicans believe they have the votes to eventually block those requests."

Desmond Butler & Michael Biesecker of the AP: "In a back corner of the swank H Bar in Houston..., [Lev & Igor,] two Russian-speaking men offered a Ukrainian gas executive what seemed like an outrageous business proposal. Andrew Favorov, the No. 2 at Ukraine's state-run gas company Naftogaz, says he sat on a red leather bench seat and listened wide-eyed as the men boasted of their connections to ... Donald Trump and proposed a deal to sell large quantities of liquefied natural gas from Texas to Ukraine. But first, Favorov says, they told him they would have to remove ... Favorov's boss and the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Favorov says he hardly took the proposal at the early March meeting seriously.... What he didn't know ... was that high-ranking officials in the Ukrainian government were already taking steps to topple his boss, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev. And two months later, Trump recalled U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.... The gas deal sought by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman never came to pass. But their efforts to profit from contacts with GOP luminaries are now part of a broad federal criminal investigation into the two men and their close associate, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney.... [Lev & Igor's] campaign culminated in May, at a meeting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington that included a lobbyist with deep ties to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and a Republican fundraiser from Texas close to Donald Trump Jr." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: We have to assume two things here: (1) Congressional Republicans know at least the broad outlines of these nefarious deals, and (2) they're okay with these methods of doing business and most probably are not above making similar deals themselves.

Betsy Swan of the Daily Beast: "In a detailed memo to senators, the Trump administration is fighting a bill that would punish Turkey for buying Russian missiles, arguing it would drive the countries closer together. Of note, Team Trump opposes a provision in the bill that would help Syrian Kurdish refugees immigrate to the United States. The case is laid out in a seven-page document obtained by The Daily Beast. The memo was sent by the State Department to Capitol Hill ahead of the Senate mark-up of a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ)...."

Passing Wind. John Bowden of the Hill: "President Trump lashed out again at wind farms on Saturday, claiming that the production of wind turbines causes a large carbon footprint. During a speech to the conservative student group Turning Point USA, Trump told attendees that he 'never understood' the allure of wind power plants, according to a report from Mediaite. 'I never understood wind,' Trump said, according to Mediaite. 'I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous -- if you are into this -- tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?'" Mrs. McC: As you may have noticed, Trump simultaneously "lashed out again" against the English language, presuming the speech was intended to be delivered in English. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Philip Bump of the Washington Post translates Trump's remarks. ~~~

~~~ Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "... Donald Trump said a bunch of bizarre shit about windmills over the weekend at a conference in Florida for conservative college students, ranting about the size of the universe and saying 'I know windmills very much.'... Trump, whose brain is mostly just KFC gravy at this point, told college kids at the Turning Point USA conference that the Green New Deal was threatening the very existence of the country.... 'We're in a battle of survival of this nation,' Trump said before using a racial slur against Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in a rambling diatribe. 'When you look at these people talk, with their Green New Deal. But I don't want to knock it now, if you don't mind,' Trump said. 'I don't want to knock it. I knocked... I knocked the hell out of Pocahontas. I got her down.'"

Spencer Kimball of CNBC: “The Christian magazine that published a blistering editorial calling for ... Donald Trump's removal from office over his 'blackened moral record' has received a boost in subscribers despite a public backlash among leading evangelicals, according to the publication's editor in chief. Mark Galli, the editor in chief of Christianity Today who authored the op-ed, acknowledged to MSNBC on Sunday that the magazine has lost subscribers, but he said there has also been an outpouring of support.' A stereotypical response is "thank you, thank you, thank you" with a string of a hundred exclamation points -- "you've said what I've been thinking but haven't been able to articulate, I'm not crazy,"' Galli said of the response from supporters. 'We have lost subscribers but we've had 3 times as many people start to subscribe.'"

Amie Parnes of the Hill: "... behind the scenes in recent months, former President Obama has gone to bat for [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren (D-Mass.) when speaking to donors reluctant to support her given her knocks on Wall Street and the wealthy. And if Warren becomes the nominee, Obama has said they must throw the entirety of their support behind her. The former president has stopped short of an endorsement of Warren in these conversations and has emphasized that he is not endorsing in the Democratic primary race. But he also has vouched for her credentials, making it clear in these private sessions that he deems her a capable candidate and potential president, sources say."

David Gelles of the New York Times: "Boeing on Monday fired its chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, whose handling of the company's 737 Max crisis had angered lawmakers, airlines, regulators and victims' families. The company said Dave Calhoun, the chairman, would replace Mr. Muilenburg on Jan. 13. Until then, Boeing's chief financial officer, Greg Smith, will serve as interim chief executive, the company said. The Boeing board made the decision on a call on Sunday, after a string of disastrous announcements for the company, according to two people briefed on the matter.... Mr. Muilenburg has stepped down effective immediately.Boeing has been mired in the worst crisis in its 103-year history since the crashes of two 737 Max jets killed 346 people. The plane has been grounded since March, and Boeing has faced cascading delays as it tries to return the Max to the air." The AP story is here.

Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "For years, members of a secret team, Unit 29155, operated without Western security officials having any idea about their activities. But an attack on an arms dealer in Sofia helped blow their cover.... Western security and intelligence officials say the Bulgaria poisonings were a critical clue that helped expose a campaign by the Kremlin and its sprawling web of intelligence operatives to eliminate Russia's enemies abroad and destabilize the West.... Russia cannot compete economically or militarily with the United States and China, so Mr. Putin is waging an asymmetric shadow war." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This cloak-and-dagger story provides an outline, BTW, of how the CIA & other Western intelligence agencies actually go after international malefactors. They do not ask the POTUS* to call up the new president of Ukraine & ask him to investigate a U.S. politician -- in exchange for $391MM in military aid.

Adam Nossiter of the New York Times: "Algeria's de facto ruler, Gen. Ahmed Gaïd Salah, who this year managed the ouster of one president and the ascent of another amid deep civil unrest, died on Monday, according to the state news agency and Algerian press reports. General Gaïd Salah's unexpected death at 79 -- his official age, though he was most likely older -- less than two weeks after the army's favored candidate was elected president, creates a power vacuum in the vast North African nation, a major oil and gas producer. A survivor from the generation that led Algeria to independence from France in the early 1960s, General Gaïd Salah was the man who increasingly blocked the demands of the popular protest movement that has rocked the country's politics since last February." A BBC story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Happily, there is no news. I guess I could post some cat videos.

S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump has pushed his taxpayer-funded golf tab past $118 million on his 26th visit to Mar-a-Lago, his for-profit resort in Palm Beach, Florida, with a Saturday visit to his course in neighboring West Palm Beach. The new total is the equivalent of 296 years of the $400,000 presidential salary that his supporters often boast that he is not taking. And of that $118.3 million, at least several million has gone into Trump's own cash registers, as Secret Service agents, White House staff and other administration officials stay and eat at his hotels and golf courses.... If Trump continues golfing at the pace he has set in his first three years, he will surpass in just one term the total number of days [President] Obama spent golfing over two full terms -- despite having repeatedly criticized Obama for playing too much golf and having promised, as a candidate, that he would be too busy to play any golf at all."

Brief Encounter. John Bowden of the Hill: "President Trump briefly met with his attorney Rudy Giuliani on Saturday as Giuliani faces a federal investigation over possible campaign finance violations, Bloomberg News reported. The two men met Saturday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump spent the weekend ahead of this week's Christmas holiday. It was unclear what the two men discussed, according to Bloomberg."

Presidential Race 2020

Thomas Beaumont of the AP: "'Field of Dreams' actor Kevin Costner returned to Iowa on Sunday to go to bat for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, pitching the small-town mayor as someone worth listening to in the crowded lineup of White House hopefuls. 'Whether your road leads you to Pete, like mine has, that's for you to judge,' Costner, a self-described independent, told more than 1,000 people in the high school gymnasium of Indianola, a town of about 16,000 people located south of Des Moines. 'When Pete speaks of unity, it's the kind of unity I've been waiting and hoping to hear about.'" Mrs. McC: Huh. I would have guessed Costner was a John Wayne sort of jerk. Turns out he's not. Good for him and my bad.

"Libel Tourism." Why POS Devin Nunes Filed Frivolous Lawsuits in Virginia. Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "The suits are part of a string of splashy defamation claims by politicians and the A-list star seeking nearly $1 billion in damages in Virginia courts this year, even though many of the cases have only loose connections to the state.... Several of the defendants -- including Twitter ... -- say the filing location is aimed at exploiting the state's weak protections for defamation defendants. Some legal experts say Virginia law allows those with deep pockets to bulldoze targets with frivolous, protracted and expensive litigation they couldn't pursue in many other states. The true goals of the suits, the defendants argue, are to stifle critics, blunt aggressive journalism and settle scores. Some deride the legal maneuvers as 'libel tourism' and see a growing trend not just in Virginia but in other states that similarly lack safeguards. The suits have prompted Virginia lawmakers to look at changing the law." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the spirit of the season, the best thing would be to put Nunes and, say, Ken Cuccinelli or Stephen Miller in a locked room with some lethal weapons, right after telling each of them that the other made a yo-mama-type insult against the other. Let them fight it out. Gruesome & macabre? Yes. But just what the rat-bastards deserve.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Saudi "Justice." Bethan McKernan of the Guardian & Agencies: "Five men have been sentenced to death and another three face 24 years in prison for their roles in the gruesome murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year, the Saudi public prosecutor's office has said. All 11 people on trial were found guilty of the killing, which triggered the kingdom's biggest diplomatic crisis since the 9/11 attacks as world leaders and business executives sought to distance themselves from Riyadh. However, Saudi state television also reported the Saudi attorney general's investigation showed that the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's former top adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, had no proven involvement in the killing, after being investigated and released without charge. Al-Qahtani has been sanctioned by the US for his alleged role in the operation. The court also ruled that the Saudi consul-general in Istanbul at the time, Mohammed al-Otaibi, was not guilty. He was released from prison after the verdicts were announced." Those convicted can appeal the verdicts. Update: The Washington Post story is here.