December 6, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Goldstein & David Enrich of the New York Times: "Securities regulators have opened investigations into the planned merger of a nascent social media company backed by ... Donald J. Trump with a so-called blank-check company that raised nearly $300 million in an initial public offering in September. The investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority were disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing by Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the special purpose acquisition company that intends to merge with Trump Media Technology Group. Both regulators are looking for information regarding the trading in shares of Digital World. The S.E.C. is also looking into 'documents and communications' between Digital World and Trump Media.... The investigation ... comes after The New York Times reported that the chief executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, had talks with representatives of Trump Media as far back as March about doing a deal." The report is part of the Times' business updates for Monday. The Washington Post story is here. MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a business deal involving Donald Trump could be suspect.

Emma Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months after ... Donald Trump lost the November election, lawyer Sidney Powell raised large sums from donors inspired by her fight to reverse the outcome of the vote. But by April, questions about where the money was going -- and how much there was -- were helping to sow division between Powell and other leaders of her new nonprofit, Defending the Republic.... Records reviewed by The Washington Post show that Defending the Republic raised more than $14 million, a sum that reveals the reach and resonance of one of the most visible efforts to fundraise using baseless claims about the 2020 election. Previously unreported records also detail acrimony between Powell and her top lieutenants over how the money -- now a focus of inquiries by federal prosecutors and Congress -- was being handled." MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a fundraising scheme cooked up by Donald Trump's lawyer could be suspect.

Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11, the election of Barack Obama and the destabilizing presidency of Donald Trump, died Dec. 6 at a hospital in New York City. He was 66. He had sudden cardiac arrest on Nov. 24 while visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, said his wife, Margaret 'Pooh' Shapiro, and did not regain consciousness. He had been treated for heart ailments in the past."

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Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources. The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing."

Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "[A family] photo was posted on Twitter by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Saturday, along with the caption: 'Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.... Everyone in the image is holding a long gun.... Both Democratic and Republican elected officials, Michigan residents still reeling from the school shooting last week that left four dead, and parents of gun violence victims all took to Twitter to criticize Massie's Christmas photo. Meanwhile, some conservative politicians, pundits and media personalities jumped to his defense.... 'I'm pro second amendment, but this isn't supporting right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish,' Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "In describing the photo, [conservative commentator Charles] Sykes, [speaking on MSNBC,] called it nothing more than a 'd*ck pic,' photos that men send unsolicited to women of their penis to show off their masculinity. Sykes explained that Massie's need to show off how big his gun is.... [Host Lindsey] Reiser came back after the panel discussion and apologized to 'families' who may have been watching and heard Sykes refer to Massie's guns the way he did." MB: Yeah, "What's a dick pic, Mommy?"

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Bob Dole, the plain-spoken son of the prairie who overcame Dust Bowl deprivation in Kansas and grievous battle wounds in Italy to become the Senate majority leader and the last of the World War II generation to win his party's nomination for president, died on Sunday. He was 98." (Also linked yesterday.) Dole's Washington Post obituary is here. An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Leaders from across the political spectrum offered tributes to Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee who died on Sunday, hailing him as a war hero and statesman who dedicated his life to public service. 'Bob Dole was a man to be admired by Americans,; President Biden said on Twitter. 'He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor.'" Biden's full statement is here. ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "President Biden has ordered U.S. flags at the White House, federal buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, embassies and consulates to be flown at half-staff until Dec. 9 to honor former senator Robert J. Dole...." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times repeats some of Bob Dole's acerbic jokes. Some are funny; some not so much.

Betsy Swan & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "A former D.C. National Guard official is accusing two senior Army leaders of lying to Congress and participating in a secret attempt to rewrite the history of the military's response to the Capitol riot. In a 36-page memo, Col. Earl Matthews, who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon roles during the Trump administration, slams the Pentagon's inspector general for what he calls an error-riddled report that protects a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours. Matthews' memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by Politico, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals -- Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff -- 'absolute and unmitigated liars' for their characterization of the events of that day.... Matthews' memo does not insinuate that Gen. Charles Flynn's actions on Jan. 6 were shaped by his brother [Michael], who has been subpoenaed by the select committee, and does not mention Michael Flynn."

News from the Funny Papers. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The double negative, a common grammatical elephant trap, claimed a high-profile victim on Saturday night. Donald Trump. In a statement, the former president said: 'Anybody that doesn't think there wasn't massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!' There was no massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote. But Trump thinks, or at least says, that there was massive election fraud. Though his own formula would therefore make him 'very stupid, or very corrupt', his claims have had deadly effect, stoking the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January." When a person who claims to have "a very good brain" turns out to be "very stupid, or very corrupt," it's "Sad!" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Props to PD Pepe & Forrest M. for pointing out in yesterday's thread how very smart Dr. Margie Greene (or, as she's known in the home of the unwashed, Majorette Traitor Gangrene) is: ~~~

Every single year more than 600,000 people in the US die from cancer. The country has never once shut down. Not a single school has closed. And every year, over 600,000 people, of all ages and all races will continue to die from cancer. -- Majorie Taylor Greene, in a tweet

** Trump, One-man Super-spreader, Ctd. Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post follow Donald Trump's seven-day reckless coronavirus trail: "From the day he tested positive until his hospitalization [about a week later], Trump came in contact with more than 500 people, either those in proximity to him or at crowded events, not including rallygoers, according to a Washington Post analysis of the president's interactions during that period. That seven-day window reveals a president and chief of staff who took a reckless, and potentially dangerous, approach to handling the coronavirus, including Trump's own positive test. Trump and [Chief-of-Staff Mark] Meadows hid Trump's positive test not just from the public, but also from his inner circle and from his top public health officials. He took part in a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden three days later, never revealing the test result to Biden or event organizers. And Trump took no extra precautions, such as mask-wearing or social distancing, to protect those he came in contact with in the days following the positive test. By the end of October, more than two dozen people in Trump's orbit would test positive for the coronavirus."

Louisiana. AP: "A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the Norwegian Breakaway had arrived in the city. The ship departed New Orleans on Nov. 28. The Louisiana Department of Health said in a late Saturday news release that over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico." MB: "Breakaway" is an appropriate name for a ship carrying passengers with breakaway cases of the virus.

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Santa's Got a Gun. Jacklyn Peiser of the Washington Post: The Colorado Springs sheriff's department tweeted out a photo of a man dressed as Santa Claus who had stopped in the sheriff's office to get a concealed-carry permit. The tweet, according to the sheriff, "was meant to advertise concealed handgun permits, [but] was swiftly met with outrage and condemnation. Three hours later, the department in Colorado Springs apologized.... 'What is your message to children here?' [one person] tweeted. 'Santa has a legally concealed weapon? For protection against elves, reindeer, children who take a peek on Xmas eve? There is enough anxiety among children already.'" MB: I dunno. It's beginning to look a lot like an iconic American image of Christmas, isn't it? ~~~

Guess who came in to receive his Concealed Handgun Permit today? 🎅

Did you know the El Paso County Sheriff's Office has issued 49,750 Concealed Handgun Permits with another 2,560 awaiting to be issued?

For more info please visit our website: https://t.co/AbGrPigOUZ pic.twitter.com/ELmffXcfjA

— EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) December 3, 2021

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Richard Fausset & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and ally of Donald Trump, plans to announce on Monday that he will run in a Republican primary against the state's incumbent governor, Brian Kemp, according to people familiar with Mr. Perdue's plan. Mr. Trump has vowed to orchestrate Mr. Kemp's defeat as payback for the governor's refusal to help overturn the former president's November election loss in the state. The news of Mr. Perdue's pending announcement, first reported on Sunday by Politico, illustrates both the grip the former president still wields over the G.O.P. and his willingness to upend state races entirely because of his personal pique toward Republicans he feels are insufficiently loyal to him.... The Republican nominee will likely face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war chest."

North Carolina Senate Race. Natalie Allison of Politico: "Donald Trump brokered a deal this weekend to clear the North Carolina GOP Senate field for Rep. Ted Budd, the candidate he endorsed in June but who has failed to emerge so far as the clear frontrunner. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump pledged to endorse former GOP Rep. Mark Walker, who is currently in third place in the Senate primary, if Walker leaves the race and runs again for the House instead, according to multiple sources present at the gathering."

Tennessee. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Symbols of the Confederacy filled the room where an all-White Tennessee jury last year decided to convict Tim Gilbert, a Black man. Gold lettering on the door welcomed people to the 'U.D.C. Room' honoring the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Framed on the wall: the flag known as the 'Blood Stained Banner.' A portrait of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis watched over the deliberations. Three state appeals court judges agreed last week that Gilbert, 55, deserves a new trial on counts of aggravated assault and other charges. They said that some evidence in Gilbert's trial was improperly admitted and that officials failed to show that the Confederate memorabilia did not interfere with the verdict. The defendant had said the decorations 'embolden' juries to act with racial prejudice." MB: The only surprise to me is that there are three state judges in Tennessee who found the memorabilia racist. Good for them.

Way Beyond

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis returned Sunday to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the site of one of the definitive moments of his papacy, seeking to elevate the plight of migrants -- what he called a 'shipwreck of civilization' -- to the top level of global concerns, along with the pandemic and climate change.... Francis' remarks came at one of the concluding, and in many ways culminating, events of a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece meant to renew focus on migration, an issue he has never wavered on, even as the world's attention has faltered. And when the world has paid attention, it has usually been in a way opposite from how he had hoped. Migrant flows have fueled nationalist and populist surges in majority-Catholic countries like Italy and Poland. Hungary has claimed that its antimigrant policies and border towers protect Christian culture. And while Europe's populist season has somewhat abated, a politically amenable hard line against asylum seekers has seeped into the status quo."

Myanmar. New York Times: "A court in Myanmar on Monday sentenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's ousted civilian leader, to four years on charges of inciting public unrest and breaching Covid-19 protocols. She is facing a series of rulings that could keep her locked up for the rest of her life. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in a military coup in February, had been facing a maximum imprisonment of 102 years on a total of 11 charges." This is a live-updates page. An AP story is here.

Russia. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "When cybersleuths traced the millions of dollars American companies, hospitals and city governments have paid to online extortionists in ransom money, they made a telling discovery: At least some of it passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow. The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital. The United States has targeted several companies in the tower as it seeks to penalize Russian ransomware gangs, which encrypt their victims' digital data and then demand payments to unscramble it.... That this high-rise in Moscow's financial district has emerged as an apparent hub of such money laundering has convinced many security experts that the Russian authorities tolerate ransomware operators. The targets are almost exclusively outside Russia, they point out, and in at least one case documented in a U.S. sanctions announcement, the suspect was assisting a Russian espionage agency."

Comments

[Forrest Morris]

The former leader of Myanmar charged with inciting public unrest
and breaching Covid-19 protocols. Dang, that sounds familiar.
Didn't a former leader of the U.S. incite public unrest and breach
Covid-19 protocols by spreading the virus to unwitting worshipers?
Where's justice when it's most needed?
But 102 years sounds a little harsh. I'd settle for giving him 50.

[P.D. Pepe]

JUST A SHOT AWAY:

In the film, "As Good As it Gets,"Jack Nicholson plays a misanthropic, homophobic and obsessive compulsive novelist. I thought of this film after reading this morning about Colorado's Santa greetings and then this from El Paso County Sheriff's office:

Did you know the El Paso County Sheriff's Office has issued 49,750 Concealed Handgun Permits with another 2,560 awaiting to be issued?

Well, no ––I did not know that but now that I do I want to put my hands on my head and tear out my hair just like Jack and yell: I'M DYING HERE!!!" and besides that feeling I'm also fairly certain we house many citizens with the same attributes as Nicholson's character, only adding the love of guns into the pot.

Someone once said that men love guns because it's a substitute for the male organ–- but that leaves the ladies' label "penis envy"?

[Ken Winkes]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/06/rep-devin-nunes-leave-congress-become-trump-media-company-ceo/?

Purrr-fect. But for the unlikelihood we'll see more videos of Devin hiding in the White House bushes...

[unwashed]

Is Devin's cow going to be seated to fill out the remainder of his term?