Wednesday
Jun202018
The Commentariat -- June 21, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Border Patrol will no longer refer migrant parents who cross into the United States illegally with children to federal courthouses to face criminal charges, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told The Washington Post on Thursday. The about-face comes just one day after President Trump signed an executive order ending his administration's widely denounced practice of separating parents and children apprehended for illegally crossing the Mexico border. Trump's order said the government would maintain a 'zero tolerance' policy toward those who break the law, but the senior U.S. official, asked to explain how the government would change enforcement practices, said Border Patrol agents were instructed Wednesday evening to stop sending parents with children to federal courthouses for prosecution.... A spokeswoman for the Justice Department, Sarah Isgur Flores, denied that prosecutions would be suspended." Mrs. McC: If this story doesn't make sense, that's because chaos. ...
... Oh, for Pete's Sake. Kate Bennett of CNN: "... Melania Trump touched down in McAllen, Texas, Thursday making a publicly unannounced and hastily planned trip to get a first-hand look at the crisis affecting immigran families at the US border."
Aris Folley of the Hill: "Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was dropped from his speakers bureau after he refused to apologize for mocking a story about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was separated from her family at the U.S.-Mexico border. Leading Authorities Inc. cut ties with Lewandowski on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN."
Trump Blinks:
Katie Rogers & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Shortly after caving to political pressure and signing an executive order that ends the separation of families by detaining parents and children together at the border, President Trump flew [to Duluth, Minnesota,] on Wednesday and explained the decision to an arena full of supporters, many of whom back his hard-line stance on immigration. The trip, the president]s first to the state as president, was in part to support Rick Stauber, a Republican candidate for a House seat. But the president focused more on his own agenda. Turning to immigration, Mr. Trump said he would keep families together, but he promised that the border would be 'just as tough' as before. 'The Democrats want open borders: "Let everybody pour in, we don't care,"' Mr. Trump said, as the crowd erupted into a chant of 'Build the Wall' and mocked a handful of people who tried to protest his policy. He said of other countries, while talking about immigration: 'They're not sending their finest. We're sending them the hell back. That's what we're doing.'" ...
... Exercising the Politics of Personal Resentment. Philip Rucker & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: Trump spent much of the Duluth speech complaining about all the people -- especially those in the media -- who are unfair to him. "'You ever notice they always call the other side "the elite"?' Trump asked. 'The elite! Why are they elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I'm smarter than they are. I'm richer than they are. I became president and they didn't.'... For those who have closely followed Trump for years, the night was filled with many moments of deja vu, when it felt as though it suddenly was 2016 all over again." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: In an unsigned post, the New Republic reports a fuller citation: "They always call the other side, and they do this sometime, 'the elite.' The elite! Why are they elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I'm smarter than they are. I'm richer than they are. I became president and they didn't. And I am representing the greatest, smartest, most loyal people on earth, the deplorables." NR: "Unpacking Trump's statement, it turns out he's not, as populist heroes traditionally have been, the avatar or even the tribune of the common man. Rather, Trump is the true elite, a caste of one, the übermensch who is smart, rich and able to become president. His followers, meanwhile, are 'the deplorables' who are, pointedly, not elite in Trump's manner but have their own form of greatness and smartness which is displayed in their willingness to subsume themselves ('the most loyal people on earth') to Trump. This is not the creed of populism but rather of the strong man with an army of loyal followers."
Maggie Haberman & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump caved to enormous political pressure on Wednesday and signed an executive order that ends the separation of families by indefinitely detaining parents and children together at the border.... The order said that officials will continue to criminally prosecute everyone who crosses the border illegally, but will seek to find or build facilities that can hold families -- parents and children together -- instead of separating them while their legal cases are considered by the courts. Mr. Trump's executive order directed the government's lawyers to ask for a modification of an existing 1997 consent decree, known as the Flores settlement, that currently prohibits the federal government from keeping children in immigration detention -- even if they are with their parents -- for more than 20 days. But it is unclear whether the court will agree to that request. If not, the president is likely to face an immediate legal challenge from immigration activists on behalf of families that are detained in makeshift facilities. Stories of children being taken from their parents and images of teenagers in cage-like detention facilities have exploded into a full-blown political crisis for Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers, who are desperate for a response to critics who have called the practice 'inhumane' and 'evil.'" ... (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... The story has been updated to include this: "And the president's order does nothing to address the plight of the more than 2,300 children who have already been separated from their parents under the president's 'zero tolerance' policy. Federal officials said those children will not be immediately reunited with their families while the adults remain in federal custody during their immigration proceedings. 'There will not be a grandfathering of existing cases,' said Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Wolfe said the decision about the children was made by the White House, but he added, 'I can tell you definitively that is going to be policy.'" ...
... There's Nothing This White House Can't Screw up. Justin Wise of the Hill: "The White House initially misspelled the word 'separation' in the executive order President Trump signed on Wednesday to stop his 'zero tolerance' policy from dividing families crossing the border illegally. The order was titled 'Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation,' but originally spelled the last word 'seperation' -- a mistake people quickly seized on." Matt Yglesias wondered, "Is misspelling 'separation' like issuing an executive order with your fingers crossed behind your back?" Thanks to Ken W. for the reminder.
... HHS Blinks. Julia Manchester of the Hill: "The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) walked back comments from a spokesperson late Wednesday, revising an earlier statement that said there would be no special effort from the Trump administration to reunite migrant families separated at the border. 'An ACF spokesperson misspoke earlier regarding the Executive Order signed today by the President. It is still very early and we are awaiting further guidance on the matter,' the department's communications director, Brian Marriott, said in a statement. ACF is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).... The New York Times on Wednesday
... Here's Trump blaming Democrats at a meeting with GOP members of Congress yesterday afternoon. Also, ever so sadly, he's cancelling the White House's picnic for members of Congress, which was scheduled for tomorrow: ... Also, see especially P.D. Pepe's comment in yesterday's thread on the Trumpaholics' praise-in for the Dear Leader. Mrs. McC: I heard part of that, too, & I was just as disgusted as was Pepe. (The part of the remarks she refers to is not included in the clip above but occurred later during the same meeting.) ... ... Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "President Trump ... invited the news media to the Cabinet Room on Wednesday to talk at length about his own strength, an issue he has always placed at the center of the immigration debate. 'We are very strong,' he said twice to start, going on to say the word 'strong' seven more times, as if worried that allowing undocumented immigrant families to remain together might call his resolve into question.... The projection of strength ... has always been the central pillar of Trump's politics, the reason behind his constant attraction to conflict.... The tough-guy posture of a citizen politician who had encouraged fisticuffs at campaign rallies, praised murderous foreign regimes and described immigrants as snakes who might 'infest' the nation was, ultimately, more important than any single policy.... It did not even matter that his team had spent days arguing that the president did not have the power to stop separating parents from their kids, a trauma the American Academy of Pediatrics says can permanently disrupt the 'brain architecture' of children. 'The Democrats have to change their law,' Trump said Friday, just a few days before proving his own words untrue. 'It's their law.'" ... Dara Lind of Vox explains the executive order: "For weeks..., Donald Trump and his administration claimed that they would prefer to keep families together in immigration detention -- but had no choice but to separate them at the US-Mexico border so parents could be prosecuted for illegal entry. Now, Trump-s executive order -- which some in the press are reporting as a 'reversal' or 'relenting' on family separation -- simply directs the administration to do the thing they said they couldn't do: keep children along with their parents in immigration detention while the parents are prosecuted, and while the family's immigration case is resolved. The Trump administration is hoping this will result in their speedy deportation, but if not, it's now willing to detain the family indefinitely.... If Congress fails to act, it's unlikely that the federal judiciary is going to allow this order to stand in its current form -- because it appears to violate the 1997 Flores settlement that the administration cited as the reason it couldn't detain families indefinitely to begin with. The order doesn't require Trump to stop separating families at the border -- but it probably will end wide-scale family separation." ... ... But maybe Stephen Colbert is the best explainer: Feckless. Catherine Lucey & Jonathan Lemire of TPM: "Ivanka Trump, the presidential adviser who has billed herself as a 'force for good' in the administration, remained silent for days as the firestorm over forced separations of migrant families consumed the White House.... [S]he stayed publicly quiet until Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order designed to keep families together.... Then the first daughter tweeted, 'Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border.'" --safari ... J.M. Rieger of the Washington Post: "As outrage grew over Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy on migrant family separations, White House officials could not even agree on what was happening at the southern border.First it was a deterrent. Then it wasn't. It was a new Justice Department policy. Then it wasn't. The Trump administration was simply following the law. Then it said separations weren't required by law. It could not be reversed by executive order. Then it was.... When reporters asked Trump on Friday why he would not reverse his two-month-old policy via executive order, Trump shot back, 'You can't do it through an executive order.' Five days later, Trump contradicted himself again." ... ... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration insisted it didn't have a policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. It said that it was merely following the law. And it said 'Congress alone can fix' the mess. It just admitted that all that was nonsense -- and that it badly overplayed its hand.... [The executive order Trump signed Wednesday is] at once an admission that the politics of the issue had gotten out of hand and that the administration's arguments were completely dishonest. Virtually everything it said about the policy is tossed aside with this executive action.... And it makes clear that, from Day One, this was a political gambit to force an immigration bill through. It didn't work.... This is such a course reversal that, just two days ago, the White House was saying it wasn't even onboard with Congress passing a stand-alone bill to fix the problem -- dismissing such efforts as a 'Band-Aid' that didn't deal with core immigration problems. [Wednesday], it is gladly applying the 'Band-Aid' itself -- and in a way it insisted it couldn't." Jonathan Chait: "The willingness of Trump and his administration to plunge ahead ... with a barbaric tactic is primarily a reflection of their moral emptiness.... The reversal also demonstrates the comprehensive failure of Trump's immigration agenda. Trump is facing the inevitable dilemma of a populist leader: He was elected promising easy solutions, and is discovering none exist.... Trump settled on family separation after every other method at his disposal collapsed. On the central policy promise he made, Trump is a flop, and he knows it.... The damage of Trump's horrific policy cannot be fully undone. But, in the face of his every instinct, Trump was forced to retreat. He didn't want to look weak, but he does, because he is." ... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Trump's immigration retreat is a victory for popular resistance.... The keeping of families indefinitely creates a new problem, since it will almost certainly be challenged in courts. Still, whatever problems there are with indefinite detention, Trump is surrendering on the hostage taking situation he created. Prior to this executive order, the White House was using separated children as leverage to force Democrats to sign a Trump-friendly immigration deal. Jailed children will no longer be leverage in the negotiations." Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "... the president's hardline rhetoric on family separation has sowed chaos in the West Wing, two sources close to the White House told me. For the second day in a row, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders -- already eyeing an exit, though not for months -- did not hold an on-camera briefing with reporters. 'She's tired of taking on water for something she doesn't believe in,' a friend of Sanders told me.... The absence of a coordinated policy process has allowed the most extreme administration voices to fill the vacuum. White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has all but become the face of the issue....'Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border,' an outside White House adviser said. 'He's a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There's always been a way he's gone about this. He's Waffen-SS.' Making matters worse, Trump doesn't seem to have an end game for the inhumane policy that is opposed by two-thirds of Americans." Steve M.: Trumpbots are very, very upset that Democrat leftist cultists & globalists made Trump capitulate. ... ... Peter Baker & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump has railed against undocumented immigrants in recent days, branding many of them 'murderers and thieves' who want to 'infest our country.' Not long ago, he referred to them as 'animals,' although he insisted he meant only those who join a violent gang. The president's unpresidential language has become the standard for some on his team. This week his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, made a mocking noise, 'womp womp,' when a liberal strategist raised the case of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome separated from her parents at the border. Mr. Trump's coarse discourse increasingly seems to inspire opponents to respond with vituperative words of their own. Whether it be Robert De Niro's four-letter condemnation at the Tony Awards or a congressional intern who shouted the same word at Mr. Trump when he visited the Capitol this week, the president has generated so much anger among his foes that some are crossing boundaries that he himself shattered long ago.... Mr. Trump's descriptions of those trying to enter the country illegally have been so sharp that critics say they dehumanize people and lump together millions of migrants with the small minority that are violent.... He has made insults the core of his presidential messaging." Michael Biesecker, et al., of the AP: "Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells. The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.... In addition to the children's first-hand, translated accounts in court filings, a former child-development specialist who worked inside the facility independently told The Associated Press this week that she saw kids there with bruises and broken bones they blamed on guards.... In court filings, lawyers for the detention facility have denied all allegations of physical abuse. Many of the children were sent there after U.S. immigration authorities accused them of belonging to violent gangs, including MS-13.... But a top manager at the Shenandoah center said during a recent congressional hearing that the children did not appear to be gang members and were suffering from mental health issues resulting from trauma that happened in their home countries -- problems the detention facility is ill-equipped to treat." Katie Benner of the New York Times: "As federal prosecutors face skyrocketing immigration caseloads along the southwestern border, the Defense Department agreed Wednesday to help the Justice Department prosecute the cases. Twenty-one lawyers for the Defense Department 'will work full time, assisting in prosecuting reactive border immigration cases, with a focus on misdemeanor improper entry and felony illegal re-entry cases,' the department said in a statement. The assignment is to last for about six months. The Justice Department had asked for the help in anticipation of a surge in cases after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a 'zero tolerance' policy in April." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This strikes me as a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which "limit[s] the powers of the federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States." But what do I know? I'm just a confused country girl, not the Attorney General of the United States, entrusted with enforcing the law of the land. Bart Jansen of USA Today: "American, Frontier, Southwest and United airlines each refused Wednesday to fly immigrant children separated from their parents for the federal government, as President Trump ordered a halt to separations as part of his 'zero tolerance' policy for undocumented border crossings. All four airlines said they had no evidence that they have transported children under the policy yet. But they each said the policy runs counter to their corporate goals of connecting people." ... ... Tanya Snyder of Politico: "DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton fired backed with a statement an tweet-storm accusing the airlines of 'buckling to a false media narrative.' 'It's unfortunate that @AmericanAir , @united, and @FlyFrontier no longer want to partner with the brave men and women of DHS to protect the traveling public, combat human trafficking, and to swiftly reunite unaccompanied illegal immigrant children with their families,' Houlton wrote. 'Despite being provided facts on this issue, these airlines clearly do not understand our immigration laws and the long-standing devastating loopholes that have caused the crisis at our southern border.'... The Association of Flight Attendants also distanced itself from Trump's handling of immigrant children, saying Wednesday that it 'condemns any action to purposefully separate children from their parents.'" ... ... AND This. Adam Rawnsley & Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The Trump administration has been paying an intelligence contractor millions of dollars to to fly immigrant children to shelters across the United States. MVM, Inc. has a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide 'unaccompanied alien children (UAC) transportation services' worth $162 million, according to records reviewed by The Daily Beast. MVM's recent job postings show it sought to hire people to escort immigrant children from the border on commercial airlines. MVM is one of a number of defense contractors cashing in on the Trump administration's 'zero-tolerance' policy of locking up immigrant families.... Civil-rights advocates say that the Department of Homeland Security has shown a troubling lack of transparency in how it's transporting immigrant children and that defense contractors are an inappropriate choice for handling the sensitive work." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As one advocate -- Wells Dixon, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights -- put it, "It's further evidence that President Trump thinks he's at war with immigrant families fleeing persecution, including babies. Someone has to pitch in to do his dirty work when ICE and DHS are overwhelmed with crying children." Garance Burke & Martha Mendoza of the AP: "Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border to at least three 'tender age' shelters in South Texas.... Lawyers and medical providers who have visited the Rio Grande Valley shelters described play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis. The government also plans to open a fourth shelter to house hundreds of young migrant children in Houston, where city leaders denounced the move Tuesday.... Decades after the nation's child welfare system ended the use of orphanages over concerns about the lasting trauma to children, the administration is starting up new institutions to hold Central American toddlers that the government separated from their parents." (Also linked yesterday.) ... ... Troy Patterson of the New Yorker: When the POTUS* is so cruel that even seasoned TV personalities break down in tears. ... ... ** Aura Bogado, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "Taxpayers have paid more than $1.5 billion in the past four years to private companies operating immigrant youth shelters accused of serious lapses in care, including neglect and sexual and physical abuse, an investigation by Reveal and The Texas Tribune has found. In nearly all cases, the federal government has continued to place migrant children with the companies even after serious allegations were raised and after state inspectors cited shelters with deficiencies, government and other records show.... Now this web of private facilities, cobbled together to support children with nowhere else to go, is beginning to hold a new population: the more than 2,000 children who arrived with their parents but were separated from them because of a Trump administration policy." Read on. This is an alarming report. (Also linked yesterday.) ... ... Gus Bova of the Texas Observer: "In recent months, Texas officials have granted permission to at least 15 immigrant youth shelters to cram in more kids than their child-care licenses allow, according to records obtained by the Observer. Two shelters have been approved to hold almost 50 percent more children. The decisions come as the Trump administration separates more and more families at the border, funnelling children reportedly as young as 8 months into government shelters. A spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, John Reynolds, said the agency allows shelters to exceed capacity only after reviewing bedspace, the number of children to a bathroom, recreational space and fire inspection compliance. But child advocates argue that the decisions are likely straining staff, endangering children and amount to the state kowtowing to the federal government." (Also linked yesterday.) Michael Fuchs in the Guardian: "Trump's family separation policy is as damaging to America as Abu Ghraib.... America's power comes from its values: freedom, the rule of law, respect for human rights.... The sounds of children crying in US jails while guards crack jokes are eerily evocative of US guards at Abu Ghraib posing smiling for pictures with naked Iraqi prisoners in humiliating positions.... Ripping children away from their family decimates America's ability to hold accountable human rights abusers.... [The Trump policy] could also become a rallying cry for America's adversaries. Like Abu Ghraib, the images of children in cages and the sounds of crying children make for powerful propaganda for anyone opposed to America -- terrorist groups, authoritarian countries, and others who seek to paint a picture of an evil America." (Also linked yesterday.) Not All the Action Is at the Border. Colin Dwyer of NPR: "Dozens of federal agents descended on a major meat supplier in northeast Ohio on Tuesday, arresting 146 Fresh Mark employees in what the agency calls its largest workplace raid in recent history -- and its second massive raid in the state this month.... Although ICE notes that agents released several suspects for 'humanitarian concerns, such as health or family considerations,' the agency says most of the undocumented workers 'will be detained in facilities in Michigan and Ohio while awaiting removal proceedings.'... 'Unlawful employment is one of the key magnets drawing illegal aliens across our borders,' Steve Francis, HSI special agent in charge for Michigan and Ohio, said in a statement. 'Businesses who knowingly harbor and hire illegal aliens as a business model must be held accountable for their actions.'" ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's mighty interesting, Steve. Funny thing: there's no mention in Dwyer's story of the company's red-blooded U.S. citizen-management being goose-stepped out of the building. As Ken W. asked (rhetorically) in linking the story yesterday afternoon, "Think the man in the accompanying picture being led away in handcuffs was the employer?" Katie Rogers & Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "At the [Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Trump] spoke for an hour to 150 supporters -- about half of whom were donors who paid $100,000 to $250,000 to attend a two-day summit meeting organized by America First Action, the 'super PAC' formed to support Mr. Trump and allied candidates.... Beyond the hotel's walls, protesters blasted audio of children crying in detainment centers.... In the days before, an anti-Trump group had projected the words 'Over 3,000 children taken from their parents' onto the hotel facade." (Also linked yesterday.) This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. Eliana Larramendia & Zunaira Zaki of ABC News: "Michael Cohen ... has resigned from his post as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee's Finance Committee, sources close to the RNC told ABC News. In his resignation letter to Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chair, Cohen cited the ongoing special counsel investigation as one reason for his departure.... Cohen also criticized the administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the southern border, the first time he's distanced himself from the president. 'As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,' Cohen wrote. 'While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips.'" ... ... Jen Kirby of Vox: "It's a stunning criticism fromCohen, who has billed himself as the ultimate Trump loyalist. It will likely intensify the will he/won't he guessing game about whether Cohen is about to cooperate with federal prosecutors -- and potentially flip on the president." ... Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer, was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors for records related to a $150,000 payment made to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The subpoena is part of a criminal investigation of ... Michael Cohen, the Journal reported Wednesday. Cohen, who has not been charged, is currently involved in court proceedings over the raft of materials seized from his properties in raids by federal agents in April. American Media made the payment to McDougal in exchange for the rights to her story alleging she had an affair with Trump more than a decade earlier. The publisher never ran the story, in a practice reportedly known within the industry as 'catch and kill.'" Stephanie Kirchgaessner & Luke Harding of the Guardian: "A longtime US lobbyist for the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska visited Julian Assange nine times at the Ecuadorian embassy in London last year, according to visitor logs seen by the Guardian. Adam Waldman, who has worked as a Washington lobbyist for the metals tycoon since 2009, had more meetings with Assange in 2017 than almost anyone else, the records show.... It is not clear why Waldman went to the WikiLeaks founder or whether the meetings had any connection to the Russian billionaire, who is now subject to US sanctions. But the disclosure is likely to raise further questions about the extent and nature of Assange's alleged ties to Russia." --safari Alex Isenstadt of Politico (not the Onion): "In a move that blindsided the West Wing and sent Hill Republicans into a tizzy, [Rudy Giuliani] is throwing his support behind an obscure House candidate in Louisiana trying to take out incumbent GOP Rep. Clay Higgins. But the bizarre tale of Giuliani's interest in an off-the-radar congressional race only begins there. It turns out the ex-New York mayor's new girlfriend, GOP fundraiser Jennifer LeBlanc, is working for the Republican challenger in the race, Josh Guillory. LeBlanc had been on Higgins' payroll until late last year when she abruptly parted ways with the congressman. 'We have a National Enquirer-type situation going on down in Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District,' said state Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Higgins backer who hails from the area.... The former mayor's foray into the race has infuriated senior party officials, who are convinced Giuliani is acting at his girlfriend's behest." Casey Michel of ThinkProgress: "A series of interviews and never-before-seen documents, including testimonials and diaries obtained by ThinkProgress, sheds new light on how the relationship between the Religious Right and Russia first began, and how it led to several collaborative efforts in the years to come." --safari Scott Pruitt Has "Tactical Pants." Lee Fang & Nick Surgey of the Intercept (not the Onion): "... Scott Pruitt has now spent more than $4.6 million from public coffers on security, according to documents obtained by The Intercept and Documented under the Freedom of Information Act. The amount represents a $1.1 million increase from Pruitt's total security costs as released in another disclosure just a month ago.... The EPA, according to three expense line items for April, spent a total of $2,749.62 on 'tactical pants' and 'tactical polos.' Since last year, shortly after his Senate confirmation, Pruitt's office began purchasing security-related items, including multiple vehicle leases, over $80,000 worth of radios, $700 in shoulder holsters for the radios, and a kit to break down doors, among other purchases." Khorri Atkinson of Axios: "The Trump administration is set to propose a plan to Congress on Thursday to consolidate the Education and Labor departments into one federal agency -- a move that is connected to a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch, the Wall Street Journal's Michelle Hackman reports.... The New York Times also reports that the administration will propose merging all welfare programs into a single agency, and rename the Department of Health and Human Services. This massive shake-up would likely need congressional approval and, as the WSJ notes, similar efforts in the past have failed due to pushback." Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Wednesday rejected billions in spending cuts proposed by the Trump administration as two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting no. The 48-50 vote rebuffed a White House plan to claw back some $15 billion in spending previously approved by Congress -- a show of fiscal responsibility that was encouraged by conservative lawmakers outraged over a $1.3 trillion spending bill in March. The House had approved the so-called rescissions package earlier this month. But passage had never been assured in the Senate, where a number of Republicans had been cool to the idea from the start. Nevertheless, Wednesday's outcome was startling because one of the opposing votes came from Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who does not normally buck the White House or GOP leadership. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate and one of the Republicans who most frequently side with Democrats, cast the other GOP vote against the cuts." Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), announced early Wednesday that he is leaving the Republican Party, which he decried as 'fully the party of Trump' and 'a danger to our democracy and values.' In early-morning tweets, Schmidt, a vocal Trump critic, urged voters to elect Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections and harshly criticized the administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border, describing the government-run detention centers as 'internment camps for babies.'" (Also linked yesterday.) Dylan Scott of Vox: "According to Pew, 61 percent of Democratic voters said their vote would be a vote against Trump. That is notably higher than the percentage of Republican voters who said their vote was a vote against Obama in 2010 (54 percent) and 2014 (51 percent) when the GOP made major gains in Congress, retaking the House and then the Senate.... [But] a majority of Republicans say they will be voting for Trump in 2018, a much higher share than said they were voting for Bush in 2006 and even outpacing the share of Democrats who said they would be voting for Obama in 2010 and 2014." --safari Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Deaths now outnumber births among white people in more than half the states in the country, demographers have found, signaling what could be a faster-than-expected transition to a future in which whites are no longer a majority of the American population. The Census Bureau has projected that whites could drop below 50 percent of the population around 2045, a relatively slow-moving change that has been years in the making. But a new report this week found that whites are dying faster than they are being born now in 26 \ states, up from 17 just two years earlier, and demographers say that shift might come even sooner.... Some experts say that rapid demographic change became a potent issue in the 2016 presidential race -- and helped drive white voters to support Donald J. Trump." Includes a map that IDs the states with dropping white populations." Joe Heim of the Washington Post: "An organizer of last year's deadly white-supremacist gathering in Charlottesville has received initial approval from the National Park Service to hold a rally across from the White House on Aug. 12, the anniversary of last year's event. Jason Kessler, who organized the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville with Richard Spencer and other white-supremacist leaders, submitted a National Mall Special Event permit request on May 8 to hold a 'white civil rights' rally in Lafayette Square 'protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville.'" Julie Zauzmer, et al., of the Washington Post: "The former archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, has been removed from ministry in response to allegations that he sexually abused a teen 50 years ago while he was a priest in New York. McCarrick, 87, was a well-known church leader in global affairs. He had said in a statement months ago that he had been made aware of teenager's allegation of sexual abuse while he was a priest in New York almost 50 years ago. He was archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. McCarrick said that while he maintains his innocence, 'In obedience I accept the decision of The Holy See, that I no longer exercise any public ministry.'" (Also linked yesterday.) Beyond the Beltway Kira Lerner of ThinkProgress: "Two days after a federal judge overturned his documentary proof-of-citizenship law and ordered him to register eligible voters, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is openly defying the court's order.... Kobach's elections director instructed county clerks to continue demanding proof-of-citizenship from anyone registering to vote until they receive written instruction otherwise.... Danedri Herbert, the spokesperson for Kobach, said the judge was not clear when she instructed the secretary of state to accept voter registration applications without a document like a passport or birth certificate. 'I think 'immediately' is kind of open to interpretation,' Herbert said." --safari AP: "FBI agents have arrested West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry and taken him to the federal courthouse in Charleston to face a 22-count federal indictment. U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said Wednesday that Loughry is charged with 16 counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of witness tampering and three counts of making false statements to a federal agent. Loughry was suspended over allegations he repeatedly lied about using his office for personal gain." --safari Way Beyond Revital Hovel of Haaretz: "Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on Thursday for alleged 'systematic fraud' involving hundreds of thousands of shekels in connection with meal expenses incurred at the Prime Minister's Residence. Sara Netanyahu was charged along with Ezra Saidoff, a former deputy director general of the Prime Minister's Office. The two are charged in an indictment filed at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court with aggravated fraudulent receiving of an item or items, fraud and breach of trust. Saidoff was also charged with falsification by a public servant. According to the indictment, Sara Netanyahu instructed staff at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem to order meals consumed at the residence worth a total of 350,000 shekels ($96,000) from gourmet restaurants between 2010 and 2013 in violation of rules barring the residence from ordering meals from the outside during periods when the residence had a cook on its staff."
Alan Rappeport & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump urged Republican lawmakers on Wednesday not to scuttle his administration's efforts to help the Chinese telecom firm ZTE, warning them that his reprieve for the company was part of a broader geopolitical negotiating strategy. Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers met at the White House to discuss the fate of the company, which had been banned by the Commerce Department from buying American products this year as punishment for violating American sanctions. The administration has since lifted that ban at Mr. Trump's request and over the objections of lawmakers, who voted Monday to reinstate the penalties on ZTE. Mr. Trump ordered his Commerce Department to water down the penalties, which would have put ZTE out of business, after President Xi Jinping of China personally lobbied him to reconsider."
Jenny Rowland of ThinkProgress: "Canadian mining company, Glacier Lake Resources Inc., has announced that they have acquired rights to the 'Colt Mesa' copper and cobalt mine located on lands eliminated from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.... Despite the evidence, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and other supporters of Trump's cuts -- like House Natural Resources Chairman Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) -- have denied that the goal of the monument reductions was for mineral or oil development.... The proposed mine would focus on cobalt, copper, and other hard rock minerals. Those minerals are governed by the outdated 1872 mining law, which allows companies to operate royalty-free. That would mean that the Canadian company would pay exactly $0 to US taxpayers for mining on national monument-quality land and potentially interfering with wildlife and outdoor recreation." --safari
Mike Bloomberg Has Had Enough. Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has decided to throw his political clout and personal fortune behind the Democratic campaign to take control of the House of Representatives this year, directing aides to spend tens of millions of dollars in an effort to expel Republicans from power. Mr. Bloomberg -- a political independent who has championed left-of-center policies on gun control, immigration and the environment -- has approved a plan to pour at least $80 million into the 2018 election, with the bulk of that money going to support Democratic congressional candidates, advisers to Mr. Bloomberg said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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I accidentally caught a few snippets of Weak Donny's Gathering of the Bigots in Minnesota last night. He was looking a bit off his rocker, maybe hopped up on some meds as he basked in the adulation of America's deplorables.
Given the current discussion of the opioid addiction crisis that is sweeping across our nation (of which the administration hasn't done jack shit, as per usual), and Donny's uncanny resemblance, I couldn't stop thinking about the scene of the mother in Requiem for a Dream where she dreams of being the star on the television with everyone in awe. Give Donny a few more years and he might enjoy the same fate.
https://youtu.be/sq0W-L1KKPg
@safari: Trump looks terrible. Apparently running the country singlehandedly -- with little or no assistance from support staff -- is not a piece of cake. I keep thinking of Hitler in the bunker.
The "I alone can fix it" megalomaniacal dictum would seem to have a magnitudinal flaw: if you're talking about repairing your family's 1948 Bendix washing machine, you might be right; when you're talking about repairing a nation of 326 million people, it's preposterous.
In the wake of the cave man caving (yes, I know it’s an insult to cave men to compare them to a subhuman specimen) I am reminded of how we were sucked into this mess in the first place. During his illegitimate race to ratfuck the election, little donnie bragged that only he could fix the problem of immigration because no one knew more about immigration.
Since when?
It’s a testament to the power of delusion that not a single Trumpbot appears to have questioned this amazing assertion. It would be like me walking in on a meeting of astrophysicists to declare that they could all relax because no one knows more about dark matter than me, and only I know where it’s been hiding for the last 15 billion years (6,000 years if you’re Marco Rubio).
How in the holy hell could anyone think that a self-serving real estate jackoff from New York was the world’s expert on the seemingly intractable problem of immigration? And not only that, but intractable him no intractables cuz it would be an EZ fix.
A wall. And Mexico will pay for it. Also, one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything at all.
I suppose little donnie knew enough about immigration to rig the system for his then girlfriend and later figured out how to chain migrate Melanie’s mom and dad. But that just involved making phone calls or bribes not intimate knowledge of and familiarity with a famously recondite problem.
And I suppose the bots didn’t really care after all if he could FIX it as long as icky brown people got it in the neck.
Still, we’re here because of lies, delusional voters, Russia, Wikileaks, Jim Comey, and a lazy press.
Mostly lies. So while the bots are screaming that this latest detonation of Confederate wet dreams is all the fault of Democrats, I’d like to direct them to the nearest mirror. At least it will take care of the vampires if not provide clarity to the permanently deluded.
Feeling great yet?
Bea,
What remains to be seen (or if you're Bears Ears National Monument, the Arctic Wildlife Refuge or one of 2300 children sepArated from their parents and distributed willy-nilly across a foreign country where they don't even speak your language, maybe not) is whether there is a Murphy's Law to megalomaniacal incompetence. Something along the lines of: Fixing things is hard. Wrecking them is easy.
The Pretender may not be as smart as he like to claim, but no doubt he is entropy's best friend....
@safari: Your mentioning "Requiem for a Dream" ––I saw that film years ago–-twice–-and it has stayed with me, still think about some of the scenes which were chilling. The mother dreamed of stardom; the Donald is basking in it and will think of himself as the brightest star evah! When he goes down, and he will, it will not deter him from believing in that lie. He's that disturbed.
And speaking of disturbance and drugs. Years ago a friend of mine sent her 12 year old daughter to their dentist, who happened to be a neighbor and had his office in his house, for a check-up. The dentist found a cavity and before filling it gave this girl gas in order to ease her anxieties. My friend, her mother, was appalled, furious, to think this dentist would give gas without her consent–-how dare he! This, of course, severed the relationship as patients as well as neighbors.
So today read this piece about migrant children being drugged without consent at Government Centers as court documents show. Most allegations stem from a Residential Treatment Center in Manvel, Texas, but Holly Cooper, one of the lawyers representing children in the Flores agreement said the drugging was not specific to this center. The information here is disturbing and needs clarification. This is the first I've heard of this.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/migrant-children-drugged-without-parental-consent-at-government-institutions-court-documents-show_us_5b2a9e87e4b0321a01cd4dd3
Like safari, I too peeked into the show of shows in Minnesota, watched short segments because anything longer would have given me a retching stomach ache. He was back in his element, basking in the adoration and if you didn't know he was actually a president*, you would swear he was running for some office–-we even had chants of "Lock her up." Did he appear "a little off his rocker" as safari thought––hard to tell as I see him like that most of the time, but seriously, there was something different. I thought it was more of a relief––getting out of the immigration hot water that must have been extremely difficult for him to change–-to once again be with "his people" produced a giddiness –-"I'm home here–-this is where I feel most loved and admired."
and where the word "Truth" has been stricken from his political dictionary.
Bea,
Maybe those "elites" the Pretender (and his bots) so delight in attacking aren't that hard to identify. They are the ones who care about correct spelling and criticize those who experience tells them are simply too lazy to pay attention to it.
I know the Pretender's father has been blamed for his deep psychological disturbance, but I'm thinking it might have been too many teachers wielding too many red pens...
All the best people....
More false binaries. This seems to be most favored of all the logical fallacies that hip hop merrily across the rusty synapses of the Trump brain (such as it is).
Last week in the midst of the blizzard of lies swirling out from White House pie holes, there was a must-have lie. Kristjen Nielsen (rapidly becoming one of the worst snakes in the shithole, although still not close to the execrable Lewandowski) made the claim that there was no other way to go than the Trump Child Torture Policy because otherwise Democrats would throw open the borders, allowing murderers and rapists to stream in willy nilly. In other words, there are only two choices: separate families to teach those nasty brown people a lesson and keep them all out of the country, or complete chaos. This is a corollary to Trump's Only I Can Fix It declaration. It's about as true as anything else these people say, which is to say not at all.
The idea that there are only two solutions to all problems (my way or Armageddon) is a Trump staple. It accomplishes several things. First, it eliminates the need for debate. If the only options are the Trump Way or a black hole, there isn't much room for discussion. It also nicely paints the other side as completely irresponsible lovers of lawlessness and chaos.
But unless you're talking about a truly binary situation (something is either positive or negative), there are rarely only two solutions, one of which is totally untenable (meaning, then, that there really is only one solution--Trump's). But I suppose if you're a low-intellect demagogue who couldn't support his position with steel girders, a false dichotomy is probably the way to go.
And not for nothin' but if you check out Steve M.'s piece (linked above) in which he reprints a score of completely off the chain screeds from Trumpbots, you'll see that false binaries are on offer everywhere. "Trump wants to save America. Democrats want to tear down the border and let in criminals!!" For these idiots there can only be one answer, and the Democratic position (whatever it might be) is always not just wrong, but evil. Which is the goal, if you're a snaky, lying demagogue like Trump.
Soooo...."tactical pants", eh? I was wondering what that means, so I checked out a few sites. Here's what you get for several thousand dollars:
Features
TRU-SPEC® original PRYM snap with brass YKK® zipper
Comfort fit slider waistband
2" wide belt loops
Extra deep front pockets
2-knife/accessory pockets
Expandable back pockets with hook & loop closure
Two cargo pockets with hook & loop closure and bellowed side gussets that contain 2-internal magazine compartments
Cell phone/magazine pocket on outside of cargo pockets
Double reinforced knee with built in knee pad pockets
Cuz you just gotta have those pockets for spare knives and extra magazines for your very big guns. Bang-bang! Take that you EPA scofflaws....oops, I mean environmentalists!
Oh, and a number of the sites I checked (five) had this little word tucked in there too:
Imported.
Hey, great. Very likely imported from China. Making America great, Scotty.
But, I hear someone saying, who would use such things? A guy who rides around in bullet proof limos all day as he goes to meet extraction industry big-wigs in smoky board rooms, or heads off to the White House mess for a gourmet lunch?
Well, here ya go...
"At a glance, tactical pants appear to be a simple cargo. Yet upon closer inspection, one finds strategic placement of an array of pockets tailored for the real-life action figure—someone ready to strike within a moment's notice with all the necessary tools in reach.
These über-durable trousers are far more than the average cargo pants. Reinforced with bar-tacks, gussets and some even coated with DuPont Teflon, tactical pants have become the everyday armor for those who put their lives on the line. Whether patrolling the streets or practicing at the range, men and women across the country select tactical pants as the choice operational wear."
Did you catch that "real-life action figure" line? That must have made Scotty's pecker pop. Not to mention that line about "everyday armor for those who put their lives on the line". Yeah. Those lunches with fat guys in $2,000 suits can be life threatening! Or those little old ladies on airplanes who want to tell him to suck a lemon. Oooh...Danger, Will Robinson! Break out the Tactical Pants!
This shithead must be in hog heaven. He must be online all day looking up cool tough-guy shit to buy to feed his fantasies of being a burly man's man doing tough manly man jobs. Like riding in a bulletproof limo and talking on the phone in his Cone of Silence.
What's next? Strategic underwear?
Couldn't make this shit up.
"We all love the practical man who wears the tactical pants" ad featuring a handsome man with side burns and a teeny tiny press-on tattoo which looks like a duck with an injured wing; surrounded by three lovely ladies, each having their hands in all those different deep pockets and bellowed side gussets, our practical man wears a tactical smile that portends to say, "look out world, here I come and I'm here to stay!"
@AK: I thank you kindly sir, for your research into this nifty item. But am I correct to understand that EACH is several thousand dollars? Only if those three lovely ladies come with the pants could that makes any sense.
Is anyone else a teensy bit concerned that one of Trump's closest advisers is described by another White House adviser as a "twisted guy" who enjoys pictures of babies crying for their mothers? But it gets worse. He's not just twisted, "He's Waffen-SS" says this adviser.
Christ. I mean, it's not a surprise that Stephen Miller is a anal cyst, but Waffen-SS? Holy moly.
Nonetheless, this is a guy Trump loves. I guess he really did mean it when he said that Nazis were good people.
PD,
I don't think Scotty's Tacty Panties are thousands of dollars each. I saw prices ranging from $50 to $100, which means he bought about 20 pairs of tacties. I suppose with his dangerous job, encountering people who want to ask him questions about why he'd like to pollute the entire planet and all, he needs plenty of changes of clothes after peeing his pants so often. "That lady asked me....A QUESTION! AIIIIIeeeeEEE!" Oh now look! I peed my pants again. Bring me a new pair of tacties, please. And requisition another 50 pairs. Tell Congress it's.....it's for...um....national security."
Trying to organize sanity into the new world. Trump (and a chunk of team) had no idea the someone might be upset by the taking of children from parents. Never mind that such action makes them look 'Nazi-like'. No, the decision requires no planning, no study, no thinking. Not only do they ignore the feelings of others, they have no idea that others have feelings. Besides, their authority is absolute. No reason to read that Constitution crap. In other words, the world has only one brain.
Woops! A mistake!! Perfection makes no mistakes!!! Clearly the world is made up of idiots. you can't lead these clowns. They don't deserve great leadership. I resign.!!!!!!!!!
My problem is living in a delusional world is the only place to hide.
Tactical pants? This is guy seriously disturbed. They really need to hire a cabinet psychiatrist, to service all the people hired by the presidunce. Also, I am worried about you people that actually tuned in to the demented (reportedly) love-fest that said presidunce marinated himself in. It's not good for your health. TURN HIM OFF!
My husband was walking the dog in our neighborhood and heard a woman chatting with a dump truck driver; as she left, she said loudly ...But I am a Democrat... He told her it was refreshing to hear that being said out loud here... Last week a friend and I were at a restaurant for lunch, probably discussing the latest presiduncity (presiduncedy?) and a woman leaned over from the table next to us and said, Pardon me, are you Democrats? I braced myself for the inevitable, and then she said THANK GOD. Sometimes she feels alone in our county. We assured her that there were lots of us, but we were often overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of knee-jerk Repugnicans.
We have to keep the faith. I have resolved to never have a discussion with an R again, as it is impossible to convince them that they are crazy and so is Dear Leader. GOTV.
Finally official: Portland Press Herald With 54%, Janet Mills wins Democratic nomination in race for Maine governor. After a week of anticipation, Democrats learn that Mills beat Adam Cote by 8 points in the nation's first statewide election with "ranked-choice voting " The article has drawn a large number of comments with many
strongnasty views coming from the anti-Mills group.The #2 Congressional District in Maine (actually there are only two districts in the entire state) covers a huge, mostly rural area. Some smartypants types are suggesting Maine consider becoming two states (like some are considering for California).
Tho' I didn't check Mills as my prime vote (figured she'd win anyway), she'd a gutsy woman who has stood up to Gov. LePage countless times. At least, my vote did go to her via ranked choice. I think this system will be a good thing.
@Jeanne: (Back when Nixon first ran I was asked by the local Republican party in Pennsylvania to design an ad. While waiting in the outer office to review it with the committee...in came a short, extremely thin and dirty man. He wasn't merely unkempt, he was unwashed, and his clothes were filthy. When the party guy came out of the back office he appeared to know this man who then pulled two of the dirtiest, crumpled one-dollar bills you can imagine and handed them to the man in the suit. "Here," the man said, "this is for Nixon." After he left, I could barely speak and left quickly. Tho' I maintained my Republican voter registration for many years (until I switched to Democrat - 18 years ago),...I have never ever voted for any Republican president in my life.
@PDPepe: Hey, thanx for finding that link yesterday! The 'Search" feature on the New York page couldn't do it.
Just wondering if Trumpy is planning to hang his new Time magazine cover up in his golf clubs. I'm sure the members would love it.
A more accurate portrayal of his attitude toward immigrant children ripped away from parents because of his torture policy would have been a picture of him kicking that little girl, maybe with Miller in the background laughing.
Someday we'll run out of landfills! (veering off thread)
This isn't improvement! Ronald A. Klain in the WAPO He asks, ' Who decided that our urban transportation grid needed scores of buzzing scooters and free-range bikes, instead of (for example) newer and cleaner buses or better- functioning subways?"
Walk down any street in downtown D.C. and you will see them: electric scooters and dockless bikes — parked everywhere and nowhere in particular. This is “public” transit, available for use by subscribers to various private services.
But these pictures from The Atlantic show trash heap horrors in China which embraced bikes and scooters "good intentions(maybe)/bad results" Pollution of another kind! There are so many, many things that are produced that won't or can't be re-cycled.
The oceans, the mine holes, the faux Florida mountains (aka trash heaps) can't hold all this stuff.
Melanie's visit to the border was just so moving. Awwww. Incredible optics! and it all happened so coincidentally to take place in front of what appears to be a fourth grade teacher's construction paper Kindness Tree wall! Nice touch, guys! (sarcasm)!
Nice to see that Corey (The Gaping Asshole) Lewandowski's speaker's bureau has told him ta-ta. In addition to how it looks (great), this is a hit 'em where it hurts move. Loudmouth DC douchebags make a ton of money giving speeches. Ivanka Trump, Joe Scarborough, among many others, make well over $50,000 per speech. Even Li'l Randy demands $50,000 to mumble his bullshit to paying groups.
As of a few years ago, even minor DC celebs like Liz Cheney, Lou Dobbs, and Tucker Carlson make twenty or thirty grand for each speech, so it's likely that someone who routinely has his head in Trump's underwear could command some serious money from deep pocketed wingnut groups.
But I'm sure he'll be picked up (like a dog turd) by some other speaker's group. Maybe Fourth Reich Speakers will hire him, or Assholes Who Talk Shit.
So many weird things going on. My cable includes NHK from Japan. That may be state tv, no idea. Abe is hounded constantly about corruption in a land deal. I had not seen any other media reports about the earthquake 2 days ago, but because a child died from a falling wall, criminal negligence charges may be filed--the wall did not conform to code. #MeToo is also perhaps gaining strength. People everywhere are noticing the ridiculous state of things wrought by all these powerful men, and with trepidation as well as courage are identifying, analyzing, organizing, and energizing to change these states of affairs. If we don't blow ourselves up first there's hope in this old world.
That said, the waves of desperate people aren't just from Central America. The Syrians, and all over places I have to look up on a map, everywhere people need a place to be. Brexit and Trump and all this BS are impeding the survival of the species at the behest of What? Evil? Mendacity?
Feeling dumbfounded at it all over here.
A friend just sent this from the BBC: Poor Melania, someone should have warned her not to wear a jacket that said on the back:
"I Really don't care, do u?"
Although she wasn't wearing it during her visit to the treatment center, she donned it coming off the plane and when leaving. So now some have got their bloomers in a bunch over this and I suppose, rightly so but I find it worth questioning her directly:
Please tell us, dear First Lady, what that message signifies. Oh, Lordy, it could have so many meanings and none, I'd guess, have to do with children who are separated from their parents.
And why in the world would she ever purchase a jacket like that? Very strange.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44570688
BTW:
My wonderful sixth grade teacher memorably taught us "there's 'a rat' in 'separate.'"
Had she not already been in her sixties in the (nineteen) fifties, she might also have been referring to the current White House.