Friday
Jul292022
July 30, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus again on Saturday morning, a rebound attributed to the Paxlovid treatment he was taking, but he has not experienced a recurrence of symptoms, the White House physician said. Mr. Biden 'continues to feel quite well,' the physician, Dr. Kevin C. O'Connor, said in a memo released by the White House. 'This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation,' he added. The positive test, however, means that Mr. Biden will resume 'strict isolation procedures,' as Dr. O'Connor put it, in keeping with medical advice."
From Prima Donna #1 to Prima Donna #2. Hans Nichols of Axios: Sen. Kyrsten "Sinema [D-Az.] has given no assurances to colleagues that she'll vote along party lines in the so-called 'vote-a-rama' for the $740 billion [Schumer-Manchin] bill next week, according to people familiar with the matter.... Not only is Sinema indicating that she's open to letting Republicans modify the bill [during the vote-a-rama], she has given no guarantees she'll support a final 'wrap-around' amendment, which would restore the original Schumer-Manchin deal.... [For instance,] the private equity industry, which has contributed heavily to Sinema, is hopeful that she'll knock [out the $14BB provision on carried interest]." That could kill the deal.
And to Big, Fat, Phony Liar #1. Thanks to Rockygirl for the lead. ~~~
Well, we lost all the texts of Trump telling Cuccinelli to collect all the votng machines & Secret Service agents assuring the director they had cuffed Trump in the limo & were returning him to the White House on January 6, but we do have Matt Gaetz caught on tape revealing state secrets to Roger Stone. ~~~
~~~ Jon Swaine & Dalton Bennett of the Washington Post: "As Roger Stone prepared to stand trial in 2019, complaining he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to incriminate Donald Trump, a close ally of the president repeatedly assured Stone that 'the boss' would likely grant him clemency if he were convicted, a recording shows. At an event at a Trump property that October, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) predicted that Stone would be found guilty at his trial in Washington the following month but would not 'do a day' in prison. Gaetz was apparently unaware they were being recorded by documentary filmmakers following Stone.... The lawmaker also told Stone during their conversation that Stone was mentioned 'a lot' in redacted portions of Mueller's report, appearing to refer to portions that the Justice Department had shown to select members of Congress confidentially in a secure room.... The committee's agreement not to discuss the redacted material with outsiders was formalized in a written deal with the Justice Department.... 'They're going to do you, because you're not gonna have a defense,' Gaetz told Stone.... At the time of the conversation, the committee was investigating whether Trump might have obstructed justice by floating possible pardons to Stone and other allies who were swept up in Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election.... Trump, who publicly praised Stone for not 'flipping' on him, commuted his prison sentence before it began and eventually pardoned him." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This should, at the very least, get Matty Bumppo bumped off the Judiciary Committee.
~~~~~~~~~~
** The Cover-up, Ctd. Maria Sachetti & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security's chief watchdog scrapped its investigative team's effort to collect agency phones to try to recover deleted Secret Service texts this year, according to four people with knowledge of the decision and internal records reviewed by The Washington Post. In ... February..., Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari's office ... decided it would not collect or review any agency phones.... After discovering that some of the text messages the watchdog sought had been deleted, the Federal Protective Service ... offered their phones to the inspector general's investigators.... But late on the night of Friday, Feb. 18, one of several deputies who report to Cuffari's management team wrote an email to investigators instructing them not to take the phones and not to seek any data from them. [Cuffari is a Trump appointee.]... In addition to the Secret Service, text messages for Trump acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.... But Cuccinelli and Wolf both said they turned in their phones, as Wolf put it in a tweet, 'fully loaded,' and said it was up to DHS to preserve their messages.... Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement Friday calling the missing messages 'an extremely serious matter' and said he would ask the Justice Department to intervene." ~~~
~~~ Whitney Wild, et al., of CNN: "The embattled inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security first learned of missing Secret Service text messages in May 2021 -- months earlier than previously known and more than a year before he alerted the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, that potentially crucial information may have been erased, according to multiple sources.... Earlier this month, Secret Service officials told congressional committees that DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, the department's independent watchdog, was aware that texts had been erased in December 2021. But sources tell CNN, the Secret Service had notified Cuffari's office of missing text messages in May 2021, seven months earlier.... [A source told CNN] that key Secret Service personnel didn't realize data was permanently lost until after the data migration was completed, and erroneously believed the data was [were!] backed up. In July 2021, inspector general investigators told DHS they were no longer seeking Secret Service text messages, according to two sources. Cuffari's office then restarted its probe in December 2021. ~~~
~~~ Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Cybersecurity experts and former government leaders are stunned by how poorly the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security handled the preservation of officials' text messages and other data from around Jan. 6, 2021, saying the top agencies entrusted with fighting cybercrime should never have bungled the simple task of backing up agents' phones.... The failure has raised suspicions about the disposition of records that could provide intimate details about what happened on that chaotic day, and whose preservation was mandated by federal law.... Paul Rosenzweig, a senior policy official at the Department of Homeland Security during the George W. Bush administration..., said he polled 11 of his friends with cybersecurity backgrounds, including information-security chiefs at federal agencies, on whether any of them had ever done a migration without a plan for backing up data and restoring it. None of them had.... Several experts were critical of the Secret Service's explanation that it had asked agents to upload their own phone data to an agency drive before their phones were wiped. Cybersecurity professionals said that policy was 'highly unusual,' 'ludicrous,' ... and not something any other organization would ever do.'..." ~~~
~~~ Marie: IMO, there is no innocent explanation. The oopsies! and finger-pointing don't cut it.
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "... Fox News..., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and boosted [Donald] Trump's ascension from real estate developer and reality television star to the White House, is now often bypassing him in favor of showcasing other Republicans. In the former president's view, according to two people who have spoken to him recently, Fox's ignoring him is an affront far worse than running stories and commentary that he has complained are 'too negative.' The network is effectively displacing him from his favorite spot: the center of the news cycle.... The snubs are not coincidental, according to several people close to Mr. Murdoch's Fox Corporation.... The skepticism toward the former president extends to ... Mr. Murdoch, the chairman, and his son Lachlan, the chief executive.... It also reflects concerns that Republicans in Washington, like Senator Mitch McConnell.... Some of the people acknowledged that Fox's current approach to Mr. Trump could be temporary." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Peters doesn't mention it, but I suspect Rupert soured on Trump the day Dominion Voting Systems filed its multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Fox "News." Dominion has accused Fox of defamation for spreading lies about Dominion systems. The case is moving along, & Fox's attempts to get the case dismissed have failed. The lies about Dominion began with Trump & the Trumpettes, but Fox personalities adopted and repeated the lies on-air.
David Smith of the Guardian: "Over two days [during which Donald Trump gave an even darker 'American carnage'-type speech,] Trump's allies and alumni laid out a blueprint for a return to power and a second term more authoritarian, more extreme and more ruthless than the first. The institute -- evidently untroubled by the associations of the phrase 'America First' with Nazi sympathisers who wanted to keep the US out of the second world war -- has 150 staff, including nine former Trump administration cabinet officials and more than 50 former senior staff and officials. Familiar faces such as Kellyanne Conway, Larry Kudlow and Mark Meadows were feted at the conference.... Critics have described the AFPI as a 'grift' for Trump hangers-on to make money but others perceive a 'White House in waiting', determined to avoid the mistakes of his uniquely turbulent presidency and, through 22 'policy centres', guarantee the survival of Trumpism beyond Trump."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "After announcing in early July that she would step down, Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director and an adviser to President Biden for years, abruptly changed her mind.... Ms. Bedingfield's about-face ... came as turnover in the West Wing has picked up, although it is still nowhere comparable to the revolving door of ... Donald J. Trump's administration." The CNN story, which broke the news, is here.
That's Better. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "President Biden is nominating Julie Rikelman, who represented the abortion clinic in the Supreme Court case that would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade, for a judgeship on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in Boston. Rikelman serves as the litigation director at the Center for Reproductive Rights and previously worked at NBC Universal as vice president of litigation."
Annie Karni & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Responding to a string of mass shootings, a divided House passed a ban on assault weapons on Friday, moving over the near-unanimous opposition of Republicans to reinstate a prohibition that expired nearly two decades ago.... The legislation would make it illegal to sell, manufacture, transfer, possess or import assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. It stands no chance of passing in the evenly divided Senate.... Still, the vote provided a way for Democrats to demonstrate to voters months before the midterm elections that they were trying to address the epidemic of gun violence in America." CNN's report is here.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) turned with fury on ... [Joe Manchin (D-ish-W.Va.]. 'It was obviously a double-cross by Joe Manchin,' he declared on Fox News. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) alleged ;bad faith.' Rep. Kevin Brady (Tex.), the top Republican on the Ways and Means committee, perceived 'deceit.' What terrible thing had Manchin done...? Well, it seems Manchin, the Republicans' formerly favorite Democrat, had dared to act like a Democrat.... The episode is a key reminder that the supposed 'polarization' in American politics is not symmetrical. Democrats, after a long struggle, are finally making a bid to hold the political center.... And Republicans responded by voting against veterans and U.S. manufacturing.... Manchin, no doubt, has given his fellow Democrats fits for two years. But in one sense, he is very much one of them: He still wants to get things done. In the current American political system, only one side is even trying."
GOP Presses Google to Mail Its Spam. Isaac Stanley-Becker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The [Republican] party's online fundraising has fallen off in recent months, declining by about 11 percent in the second quarter of the year, compared with the first, according to federal filings from WinRed, the main donation-processing portal for the Republicans. Online fundraising by Democrats increased by more than 21 percent, according to filings from the Democrats' main portal, ActBlue. It's unclear what impact Google's spam filters have had on the GOP's fundraising, if any. Nevertheless, Republicans have waged a pressure campaign that has included public Twitter offensives and private discussions with Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. GOP lawmakers have introduced draft legislation in both chambers of Congress.... The GOP's full-court press drew on the party's longtime protest that Silicon Valley is biased against conservatives -- a claim disputed by the companies.... In recent election cycles, the Republican fundraising apparatus, led by Gary Coby, a strategist for ... Donald Trump, has ratcheted up email solicitations for small-dollar contributions. Trump's PAC often sends out more than a dozen pitches a day. Many are misleading, with promises of a '700%' match but with fine print showing that donations may not specifically benefit the advertised cause...."
Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Notorious conspiracy theory promoting Alex Jones is again seeking bankruptcy protection since losing a defamation lawsuit after he denied that the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre occurred. 'The parent company of far-right conspiracy website InfoWars filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Friday as the company and its founder Alex Jones faces up to $150 million in damages in a trial over longstanding falsehoods he perpetuated about the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre,' Reuters reported Friday. 'Three other companies associated with InfoWars filed for bankruptcy protection in April, but they voluntarily ended their own case in June after failing to secure a settlement with plaintiffs in the Sandy Hook defamation lawsuit. InfoW, IW Health and Prison Planet were the debtors in that case.' The parent company is Free Speech Systems, LLC."
Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Monkeypox, once a relatively obscure virus endemic to Africa, has bloomed into a global threat, infecting more than 20,000 people in 75 countries and forcing the World Health Organization to declare a worldwide health emergency.... This virus -- unlike the coronavirus -- is a known enemy, officials say.... But ... the virus remains a mystery in some important ways, not exactly behaving in ways that researchers saw during sporadic outbreaks in African countries. Scientists are racing to answer three questions in particular that will determine how quickly monkeypox can be stopped -- if it can be stopped at all. Exactly how is the virus spreading?... Is one dose of the vaccine sufficient?... How well does drug treatment work?"
Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency as cases of monkeypox continue to increase rapidly in New York. The outbreak has been concentrated in New York City and reached close to 1,400 cases across the state on Friday, according to the governor's disaster declaration. The declaration authorizes state agencies to assist localities in responding to the outbreak. The governor said on Twitter that it would allow the state 'to respond more swiftly' to the outbreak."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. "Medical Freedom." Right-Wing Loons Could Take Over Your Public Hospital. Tim Craig of the Washington Post: "... a slate of four conservative candidates [is] trying to take over control of the board that oversees Sarasota's flagship public hospital, highlighting how once-obscure offices are emerging as a new front in the political and societal battles that have intensified across the country since the start of the pandemic in 2020.... Health policy experts say the campaign is a troubling sign of how ideological divisions are spilling into the world of medical care as fights over abortion, the coronavirus and vaccines increasingly fall across party lines -- alarming doctors, hospital administrators and medical experts.... The Sarasota candidates, at least three of whom are skeptical of coronavirus vaccine mandates, are rallying behind the theme of 'medical freedom.' The term is increasingly being utilized by the conservative movement nationwide and hits a belief that patients aren't given enough control over their medical care. Proponents point to vaccine mandates and difficulty accessing unproven coronavirus treatments like Ivermectin that were touted by politicians but rejected by physicians." ~~~
~~~ Marie: We are seeing more & more that right-wingers are not only endangering our way of life but also our very lives. So if you're thinking, "Well, I'm not a young woman, so at least the Dobbs decision isn't going to kill me," or "I'm fully vaccinated & wear a mask, so I'm safe from Republicans' anti-vax rules," or "I'm not a veteran, so I don't have to worry about not receiving treatment for cancer caused by burn-pit exposure," etc., the right has news for you. They're gonna getcha, getcha, getcha.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here.
Canada/Vatican. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has called the devastation visited on generations of Indigenous people in Canada by European colonizers -- carried out with the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church -- a 'genocide' as he returned to Rome after a six-day trip to the North American country. As well as again denouncing the abuse against Indigenous people, which he had previously called 'evil,' the pope noted that the Canada visit had showed that the limitations of his mobility and the advancement of his age would force him to slow down and possibly reduce the tours that have been a hallmark of his papacy."
Netherlands. David Segal of the New York Times in a very pleasing essay on why the people of Rotterdam were incensed when a beloved (and nonfunctioning) bridge known as the Hef, was being partially & temporarily dismantled so that a super-yacht being built up-river for Jeff Bezos could pass through. The article may make you wish you lived in Rotterdam or some quaint Dutch village.
News Ledes
New York Times: "The response to some of the worst flooding in Kentucky's history was entering a pivotal phase on Saturday morning, with the confirmed death toll at 25 and the search for victims poised to accelerate over a battered stretch of central Appalachia. A cold front is expected to bring clearer weather to flood-stricken areas on Saturday, giving rescue personnel one less obstacle to contend with as they work to pluck more residents off rooftops. Nearly 300 people have been rescued in Kentucky so far, about 100 of them by aircraft, Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters on Friday." An AP report is here.
AP: "Someone beat the odds and won the $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot. According to megamillions.com, there was one winning ticket in the draw Friday night, and it was bought in Illinois. The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14." MB: Somewhere there is another couple who picked the same first five numbers & a wife is telling her husband, "I told you to pick 14."
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Reader Comments (13)
Re: the Secret Service “now you see ‘em, now you you don’t”, text messages.
I’m no statistician, but I’ve run across enough eye popping statistical anomalies over the years to feel fairly in confident in my ability to spot one of these one in seventeen gigantabilllion chances.
The idea that the Not so Discreet Secret Service bungled a new cell phone software rollout is one such. Then add to this statistical whackadoodle the fact that this “ooops, sooorrryy” business happened ONLY on the day the Fat Fascist went full Reichstag Fire, AND, add to that the fact that ONLY phones affected were agents surrounding Fatty at his democracy roast, well, now we’re talkin’ statistical probabilities that make the prefrontal cortex do a double jig, suck down a bottle of Jack, and run off to Tahiti with a stewardess named Bambi.
Ain’t no way, no how this is a mistake. Seriously? Joe’s Hardware does a more secure and careful update of employee cell phones than the Secret Service??
I realize incompetence is too often a culprit in governmental cluster fucks, but the statistical probability here is on a par with Trump releasing his tax returns, live on TV, wearing yellow crossed garters and a T shirt that reads “Yes, I am an amoral slug”.
Balderdash. No, make that Baldergallop.
Here's a comment from Tommy B. that came in late yesterday:
"I haven't been here in a long time but with the toxic goings-on in the right-wing I decided to check back in and was very glad to find it is still out here and I was especially glad to see Akhillius is still here. It wouldn't be the same without his "colorful" comments. I always enjoyed them."
@Tommy B.: Me too, re: Akhilleus. I was never so proud as when someone once "accused" me of being Akhilleus. I should be so smart.
Yep, the Secret Service, or at least substantial parts of it, were in on the coup. And Pence knew it. Remember that he refused to get in the car driven by SS, probably knowing he would not be coming back...
Go get 'em, Liz!
AK: While one might be thinking of sucking down a bottle of Jack and running off to Tahiti with a stewardess named Bambi, I am announcing that I've packed a bag, put on my best flowered strapless, the one with the side pockets, plenty of skittles to whittle my whistle and a duffel to set up under that bridge just in case there is no rooms at the inns and am on my way to Rotterdam where the sensible people reside and fight like hell to keep it that way. Wish me luck!
A few days ago I heard someone on tv point out that phone companies usually keep user data for a year before they purge it. That means that when the IG and his office found out about the missing data there might have been something the phone company could do to retrieve it. Cuffari waited until the texts were most likely permanently gone before notifying the committee that anything was missing.
There were dozens of Secret Service agents at the White House leading up to January 6th and every one should be asked under oath about backing up their phone. The idea that not a single agent followed back up instructions is ridiculous.
PD,
Well, veel plezier, as the Dutch might say. Of course they also might say “Donald Trump? Vat ze fook?” At which point you can tell them you’re a Democrat and never voted for that sack of kak.
So enjoy! And if someone invites you to put your finger in a dike, tell them you have an appointment back in CT.
Before I go here's a wonderful piece about Sinclair Lewis and how he came up with a character much like Trump except I think Buzz in "It Could Happen Here" wasn't AS pathetic and psychologically damaged.
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/sinclair_lewis_invented_donald_trump
Spelling: Dyke, abbreviation for bull-dyke. (According to my
dictionary).
The Future
This should be played nonfuckingstop on the teevee from now until Nov 9 (an extra day just for good measure)
https://twitter.com/jonstewart/status/1553127778169536513?s=20&t=jfEOtHlXx5Z0v4jp-nl0gQ
Why are all of the Bill Barr the Door redactions still in the Mueller report? I’m sure some things need to be redacted, but stuff that would incriminate roger stone? Sunlight.
@NiskyGuy: Good point. Especially because Roger will never have to pay for what-all he did, we might as well find out what it was. But I'd still like to see Gaetz kicked off the Judiciary Committee -- before he goes to jail. (Not that he can't continue his great service to the nation from his jail cell. Because he can.)