The Commentariat -- December 1, 2019

Afternoon Update:

So yesterday we learned via the Hill (linked below) that "Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) demanding that he expand the panel beyond the four constitutional law scholars from whom the committee plans to hear.... The letter did not clarify which witnesses the Republicans would seek to call." ~~~

     ~~~ Now, today we learn from Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Rep. Doug Collins (Ga.), the top GOP member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is the most important witness Republicans want to question in the upcoming phase of the impeachment inquiry." Mrs. McC: Right.

Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "A week after claiming that he didn't know whether Russia or Ukraine was responsible for hacking the DNC server during the 2016 election, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) left Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd astounded when he accused the former president of Ukraine of working for Hillary Clinton's campaign.... '... the fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that [Ukraine] President Poroshenko actively worked for Secretary Clinton,' [Kennedy said]. 'Actively worked for Secretary Clinton?! My goodness, wait a minute, Senator Kennedy,' Todd shot back. 'You now have the president of Ukraine saying he worked for the Democratic nominee for president. C'mon. You realize the only other person selling this argument outside the United States is this man, Vladimir Putin!'... Todd further pushed back on Kennedy's assertion, asking him if he believed that Ukrainian officials criticizing Trump during the election over his endorsement of Russia's annexation of Crimea was equivalent to Russia's hacking." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I checked out the most incendiary story from a reputable news organization about the Clinton-Ukraine connection -- the now-infamous January 2017 Politico article by Ken Vogel & David Stern -- and the closest the reporters get to claiming Poroshenko "actively" worked for Clinton is to cite an unnamed political operative who speculated that "... Poroshenko was probably aware of and could have stopped [a Ukrainian government investigation into corruption in the previous administration of Viktor Yanukovych, which had turned up off-the-books payments to Paul Manafort,] if he wanted to." So yeah, actively working for Clinton.

~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time in a long time, enjoy the luxury of a Slow Gnus Day. ~~~

Grace Segers of CBS News: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a delegation of members of Congress to the annual international climate summit known as COP25 in Madrid, Spain, next week. While the delegation will include members of both the House and Senate, it will not be bipartisan, as only Democrats will be attending.... In 2016, attendees at the COP25 summit in Paris, France, announced they would sign a pact to lower greenhouse gas emissions, a deal commonly known as the Paris Climate Agreement. President Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement shortly after taking office, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier this month the U.S. had begun formal proceedings to pull the U.S. out."

Phil McCausland of NBC News: “Three proposed rule changes by the Trump administration could cause millions of poor people to lose access to food stamps and decrease the size of the benefit for millions more. Over the past year, the Department of Agriculture proposed three changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps. The new rules create stricter work requirements for program eligibility, cap deductions for utility allowances and 'reform' the way 40 states automatically enroll families into SNAP when they receive other forms of federal aid. A study by the Urban Institute released this week examined the three rules in combination for the first time and found that 3.7 million fewer people would receive SNAP in an average month, 2.2 million households would see their average monthly benefits drop by $127, more than 3 million others would see an average drop of $37 per month, and 982,000 students would lose access to free or reduced lunches."

Let his days be few; and let another take his office. -- Psalm 109, 8. Today's prayer, suggested by Forrest M., for You-Know-Who

Mike DeBonis & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) set a Tuesday meeting to approve the release of a report expected to detail the panel's findings on President Trump's dealings with Ukraine. In keeping with committee rules, panel members are expected to be able to review the report starting at 6 p.m. Monday, 24 hours before the scheduled meeting." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Tax Axelrod of the Hill: "Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are calling for the panel to expand its list of witnesses ahead of the Dec. 4 hearing it will hold in the House's impeachment investigation into President Trump. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) demanding that he expand the panel beyond the four constitutional law scholars from whom the committee plans to hear.... The letter did not clarify which witnesses the Republicans would seek to call. Staff for the Democrats on the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. Nadler wrote to Collins on Friday asking if he would like to issue any subpoenas or interrogatories relating to the matter. He also gave the ranking member until Dec. 6 to notify him." ~~~

~~~ Manisha Sinha in a New York Times op-ed, compares Donald Trump to Andrew Johnson, who escaped removal from office by one Senate vote: "While Mr. Trump's criminality is of the same order as Richard Nixon's, trying to interfere in a presidential election, like Johnson, he exhibits no public or private decorum. Johnson's and Mr. Trump's biographies could not be more different but their lack of presidential demeanor was evident from the start.... Both Johnson and Mr. Trump amply displayed their unfitness for the presidency before getting the job.... But most significantly, both men made an undisguised championship of white supremacy -- the lodestar of their presidencies -- and played on the politics of racial division. For Johnson, it was his obdurate opposition to Reconstruction, the project to establish an interracial democracy in the United States after the destruction of slavery.... Like Johnson, [Trump] uses derogatory language for people of color and he has expressed his preference for Nordic immigrants.... Both Johnson's and Mr. Trump's concept of American nationalism is narrow, parochial and authoritarian.... Johnson and Mr. Trump not only managed to diminish their office but also engaged in actions that have dangerous repercussions for American democracy." ~~~

~~~ Alex Pareene, in the New Republic, compares the Congresses then and now.

Foreign Election Meddling, Trump Edition. William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "... there's little surprise that the American president is playing an outsize role in Britain's upcoming elections -- for good or bad, depending. In Britain, more than any other country aside from the United States, Trump has sought to bolster his political allies and trash his detractors. In so doing, he has blithely crossed traditional red lines. In late October, Trump phoned in to a talk radio show hosted by a friend, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, to dump on leftist Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn.... British officials have been taken aback by such overt election interference by a close ally. But in an act of political jujitsu, Corbyn embraced the fight, tweeting out Trump's harsh remarks as he sought to weaponize the U.S. president's deep unpopularity among Britons for his own aims. Now, with the Dec. 12 election just days away, Trump is headed here again. The president is due in London on Tuesday and Wednesday for a NATO summit.... On Friday, [PM Boris] Johnson tried to diplomatically dissuade the American president from offering his opinions on domestic affairs. 'What we don't do traditionally as loving allies and friends, what we don't do traditionally, is get involved in each other's election campaigns,' Johnson told LBC radio." Mrs. McC: Good luck with that.

Presidential Race 2020. Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has embarked upon an eight-day tour across Iowa as the former US vice-president attempts to arrest his flagging poll numbers in the key state.... Biden started his election blitz on Saturday, telling supporters in a fundraising email that he was undertaking an 'eight-day, 18 county, "No Malarkey" barnstorm' across Iowa. 'The plan is to meet as many caucus-goers as I can, and we're going to cover a lot of ground to do it,' the email read. The bus tour follows recent polling that shows Biden's standing has slipped among Democratic voters in Iowa who, on 3 February, will be the first caucus in the US to pick a favored candidate to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election."

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K. Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "The queen on Saturday led tributes to individual acts of bravery on London Bridge, which included a Polish immigrant helping subdue [a] British-born terrorist with a five-foot narwhal tusk grabbed from a wall. As more details emerged about Friday's deadly knifings -- carried out, police said, by 28-year-old Usman Khan, previously convicted and jailed for a terrorism plot -- new profiles in courage appeared in the British press.... The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, no relation to the dead attacker, said he was in 'awe of the people who ran toward danger to keep us all safe.' Asked about reports that one of the defenders was from Poland -- whose identity has not been made public -- the mayor confirmed he was a Londoner of Polish origin. 'One of the great things about London is its diversity, so I'm not surprised at all. When I say "the best of us," I include E.U. citizens as well,' the mayor said. Many social media posts also pointed out that campaigners for Brexit used stereotypes such as the 'Polish plumber' and other tropes about workers coming to Britain from across the European Union."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Millions of Americans who had to navigate a bomb cyclone and a Midwest wind storm on the way to Thanksgiving will encounter more inclement weather when returning home Sunday and Monday, as a major winter storm takes shape in the Northeast and a new storm hits the San Francisco Bay area. In the Northeast, heavy snow, mixed precipitation and strong winds are expected to develop in many areas beginning as early as Sunday. Freezing rain was already falling in parts of Pennsylvania on Sunday, making roads hazardous, and the stage is set for a burdensome Monday morning commute for many from New York to Portland, Maine." The New York Times' story is here. A Guardian story is here. Mrs. McC: It's snowing on my house.

Comments

[Forrest Morris]

On this cold, rainy Sunday morning, I think we should all pray for
the president*.
I suggest Psalm 109, verse 8, repeated at least 10 times.

[NJC]

Watched the incredibly moving Battle of Algiers last night on TCM. Powerful treatment of moral dilemmas experienced by both sides. Highly recommend.

[PD Pepe]

And the "good boy" goes to church, listens to the sermon that touts largesse of the spirit and the purse, sings a few songs of love and glory of the creator and his sacrificed son for our sins. He then saunters over to the nearest restaurant and has a breakfast of fried eggs and ham and shoots the shit with some of his cronies. He waits a week. On that next Sunday he attends a different church in which an abortion provider is a member and as that doctor is walking down the aisle to his seat our "good boy" of great love of god and goodness takes out a gun and shoots the doctor in the head. Finally, "Tiller the baby killer" is dead.

I recall when I heard this news–-I recall being sickened by it.

Last week there was a hearing on the abortion issue. I was gratified that so many women were involved and that abortion was explained in great detail as not just a right for any woman who is not ready to have a child but for serious medical reasons. I feel so strongly about this issue that if I were to confront someone who opposes this procedure I'm afraid I'd lose it as much as I'd try to maintain my composure and my forever "treat your opponent with dignity."

I want to thank Marie for inserting that video re: Prince Phillip's mother Alice. Finally took the time yesterday to watch it––fascinating! Then last night started watching the third season of "The Crown" and got as far as the Margaret bit: the scene where the P.M. is telling the Queen the details re: the off-color limericks between Margaret and LBJ. is hilarious. Interesting contrast between LBJ's crudeness and Trump's inane antics––power players both, but one is strictly working for himself.

[Ken Winkes]

Not equal in force to Forrest's suggested prayer, but offer this as a poor Sunday sermon:

"The reek of corruption is everywhere. No, not the concocted Biden corruption in Ukraine (vox.com), but the genuine corruption that penetrates every corner of the Trump administration.

Since he took office, the personal profit that has come to Mr. Trump in defiance of the Constitution’s prohibitions, already approaches twenty million dollars (opensecrets.org). Aside from his own and White House officials’ visits to his properties at taxpayers’ expense, foreign officials’ visits have brought the total to almost 6500. Trump has also used his position to shamelessly promote his properties nearly 300 times (citizensforethics.org). No wonder he says the emoluments clauses of the Constitution are “phony” (cnbc.com).

But the money is only a small part of Mr. Trump and his party’s extensive corruption. Nothing is immune.

By the middle of October, since he took office Trump had lied nearly 13,500 times (washingtonpost.com), and in the month preceding the current impeachment inquiry he was caught lying more than fifty times a week (cnn.com). In such a pervasive atmosphere of fraudulence, the stench touches everything.

In “1984,” George Orwell’s cautionary tale of a totalitarian state, war becomes peace, freedom- slavery, and, most tellingly, ignorance-strength. When language itself has become so corrupted, it’s only a short trip to blithely creating your own facts.

We were introduced to “alternative facts” on day one about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd (usatoday.com), and since then the flood hasn’t slowed. July’s “Economic Report of the President” was littered with them—the claim that poverty has been defeated? No, it has not-- (cnn.com), and the administration is now working to modify the EPA’s research regimen to minimize revelation of the provable harmful effects of environmental chemical pollutants (edf.org).

And Republicans continue to hold their noses, to hide from themselves from advanced putrefaction of this presidency."

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: You wrote, "We were introduced to 'alternative facts' on day one about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd...."

Now, see, Ken, you always exaggerate. Spicer's hilarious crowd-size presser was on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration. So Day 2. (Okay, you were being metaphorical there. But still. If I were Donald Trump, I'd accuse you of treason -- and you know what the punishment for that is, right?)

[Ken Winkes]

Ya caught me, Bea.

Don't suppose you'd buy the argument that since the Pretender used more than a few A. F.'s before the inauguration, I thought it fair to average things and fudge a little?

BTW, the last line of what will surely get me hanged should have been typed, "....to hide from themselves the advanced putrefaction of this presidency."

I kinda liked it....and then I screwed it up.

[Patrick]

Bea, you need to update your Gnus. These days, Gnu2 would continue to insist that the lump is a log, even after having seen the croc eat Gnu1. Changing your beliefs is a sign of weakness now, rather than an indication of rationality. If you believe its a log, its a log, even after it eats you.

[Ken Winkes]

As Patrick said:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/472460-poll-majority-of-republicans-say-trump-better-president-than-lincoln

[Marie Burns]

@Patrick & @Ken Winkes: You're both right. If you're a Republican, a log is a log is a crocodile log.

[PD Pepe]

I posted this this morning but put it mistakenly in yesterday's comment. Ken just informed me that it arrived in his email–-very strange but intriguing.

And the "good boy" goes to church, listens to the sermon that touts largesse of the spirit and the purse, sings a few songs of love and glory of the creator and his sacrificed son for our sins. He then saunters over to the nearest restaurant and has a breakfast of fried eggs and ham and shoots the shit with some of his cronies. He waits a week. On that next Sunday he attends a different church in which an abortion provider is a member and as that doctor is walking down the aisle to his seat our "good boy" of great love of god and goodness takes out a gun and shoots the doctor in the head. Finally, "Tiller the baby killer" is dead.

I recall when I heard this news–-I recall being sickened by it.

Last week there was a hearing on the abortion issue. I was gratified that so many women were involved and that abortion was explained in great detail as not just a right for any woman who is not ready to have a child but for serious medical reasons. I feel so strongly about this issue that if I were to confront someone who opposes this procedure I'm afraid I'd lose it as much as I'd try to maintain my composure and my forever "treat your opponent with dignity."

I want to thank Marie for inserting that video re: Prince Phillip's mother Alice. Finally took the time yesterday to watch it––fascinating! Then last night started watching the third season of "The Crown" and got as far as the Margaret bit: the scene where the P.M. is telling the Queen the details re: the off-color limericks between Margaret and LBJ. is hilarious. Interesting contrast between LBJ's crudeness and Trump's inane antics––power players both, but one is strictly working for himself.

December 1, 2019