Thursday
May162019
The Commentariat -- May 17, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ana Swanson & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday said he would delay a decision on whether to impose tariffs on automobiles imported from Europe, Japan and other countries for six months, setting a tight deadline for the United States to reach trade agreements that have so far proved elusive."
Elisha Fieldstadt of NBC News & the AP: "Missouri's Republican-led House passed a bill banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy with an exception for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is likely to sign the bill, following the governors of Alabama, Georgia and several other states who have also recently signed stringent abortion legislation. 'Until the day that we no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waiver in the fight for life,' Parson said during a rally Wednesday. Under the bill, which passed in the House by 110 to 44, doctors who perform an abortion after the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. Women who receive abortions would not be criminally penalized. Missouri's Republican-led Senate passed that state's bill, called Missouri Stands With the Unborn, by a vote of 24-10 on Thursday morning."
Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "A split federal appeals court on Friday ruled that President Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unlawful because 'it was not adequately explained.' The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia found that the administration's termination of the program was 'arbitrary and capricious,' in line with a prior ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals."
Barr Goes All in on Trump's FBI Conspiracy Theory. Kate Riga of TPM: "Attorney General William Barr is loyally carrying out ... Donald Trump's pet project, leaning hard into the President"s tweeted screams to 'investigate the investigators' who he believes launched the Russia probe to undermine his candidacy. In a clip of an interview with Fox News, Barr said he was probing if 'government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale.'" ...
... Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Attorney General William Barr said his review into the origins of the Russia investigation could result in rule changes for the FBI's counterintelligence investigations of political campaigns. 'Government power was used to spy on American citizens,' Barr told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday. 'I can't imagine any world where we wouldn't take a look and make sure that was done properly.' The attorney general also told Fox News that 'people have to find out what the government was doing during that period.'... Barr indicated he's interested in the underlying intelligence that led to the FBI's decision to launch the investigation, along with the steps officials took based off of the intelligence, the Journal reported. He cited the surveillance of anti-Vietnam War protesters in the '60s and early '70s as a reason for concern, according to the newspaper, which is something he also brought up at a recent congressional hearing.... 'I've been trying to get answers to questions and I've found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and I've also found that some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together, in a sense I have more questions today than I did when I first started,' Barr told Fox News." ...
... Barr's toadying is only encouraging & agitating our mentally unstable president*:
... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump warned Friday of the possibility of 'long jail sentences' for law-enforcement and intelligence officials involved in the early stages of the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and members of his 2016 campaign. 'My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on,' Trump claimed in a morning tweet. 'Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!'... At a Senate hearing earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray -- also a Trump appointee -- said he had not seen any evidence that illegal surveillance was conducted on individuals associated with Trump';s campaign. He also said 'spying' was not a term he would use. Trump subsequently called Wray's testimony 'ridiculous.'"
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Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump has told his acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran, according to several administration officials, in a message to his hawkish aides that an intensifying American pressure campaign against the clerical-led government in Tehran must not escalate into open conflict. Mr. Trump's statement, during a Wednesday morning meeting in the Situation Room, came during a briefing on the rising tensions with Iran. American intelligence has indicated that Iran has placed missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf, prompting fears that Tehran may strike at United States troops and assets or those of its allies. No new information was presented to the president at the meeting that argued for further engagement with Iran, according to a person in the room.... The president has sought to tamp down reports that two of his most hawkish aides -- the national security adviser, John R. Bolton, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- are spoiling for a fight with Iran and are running ahead of him in precipitating a military confrontation. 'There is no infighting whatsoever,' Mr. Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday evening.... Mr. Trump added he was confident Iran 'will want to talk soon,' signaling an openness to diplomacy that officials said is not shared by Mr. Bolton or Mr. Pompeo." ...
... ** Betsy Woodruff & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: "... U.S. intelligence officials assess that Iran's aggressive moves came in response to the administration's own actions. Three U.S. government officials familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that officials in multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran's new, threatening activity -- which the administration points to in justifying its military presence in the Persian Gulf -- is in response to the administration's aggressive steps over the last two months.... In addition, multiple lawmakers on Capitol Hill familiar with American intelligence about Iran told The Daily Beast that Tehran's aggressive moves -- reportedly planning attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq and loading missiles on fishing boats in the Gulf -- appear to be in response to Washington's moves to press the Islamic Republic and its leadership. The Trump administration's decisions to tighten oil sanctions and to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group were particularly provocative, lawmakers said." ...
... Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "... one thing this week's Iran-war scare has shown is the extent to which the Trump Presidency has blown up the old way of American foreign-policymaking, which makes the risk of a miscalculation higher than ever.... The removal of constraints on Trump ... is what is so striking at this moment.... And with all the turnover on his staff, a normal decision-making process on national-security matters seems to have been abandoned.... Instead, amazingly enough, we are now at a moment in the Trump Presidency when the capricious President himself is being touted as the possible constraint on his hawkish advisers like [John] Bolton.... The one constant here is that Trump appears, once again, at odds with his advisers.... All of which is to say, I wouldn't discount the chance that a series of mistakes could lead to a conflict that Trump himself doesn't want. The brakes on Trump are shredded. There are fewer and fewer people around the President to stop him or to offer him options that avert worst-case scenarios."
Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Thursday unveiled an outline for reshaping how immigrants are admitted into the country -- seeking to promote a more comprehensive approach to immigration ahead of a reelection campaign where Democrats plan to portray his hard line approach at the border as racist. The new proposal, an effort led primarily by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, appears destined for the congressional dustbin, with no clear strategy from the White House to turn it into law and essentially no support from Democrats who control one-half of Capitol Hill.... In campaign rallies, Trump has continued to paint many immigrants as dangerous, and his bid Thursday to balance his hard line tone exposed him to criticism from conservatives, while failing to insulate him from attacks among Democrats.... [Meanwhile,] Trump's advisers continue to look at measures behind the scenes such as the Insurrection Act, an arcane law that allows the president to employ the military to combat lawlessness or rebellion, to remove illegal immigrants, officials said.... A number of White House aides ... believe the president holding a Rose Garden speech on it was a waste of his time...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd say Trump agrees with those aides. Listen to a few seconds of the speech embedded in the WashPo story. Trump reads it in that sleepy sing-song voice that says, "I'm doing this so my daughter's husband can feel he's useful, but we all know the whole thing is ridiculous." ...
... Besides, Trump does need an immigration policy; he can have Mark Morgan take a look at aspiring immigrants & pick the very best ones:
... The Eyes Have It. Ted Hesson of Politico: "Mark Morgan, the White House choice to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said during a Fox News interview earlier this year that he can judge the likelihood that an unaccompanied minor will become a gang member by looking into that child's eyes. 'I've been to detention facilities where I've walked up to these individuals that are so-called minors, 17 or under,' Morgan said on Tucker Carlson Tonight' in January. 'I've looked at them and I've looked at their eyes, Tucker -- and I've said that is a soon-to-be MS-13 gang member. It's unequivocal.'" Mrs. McC: This, of course is a skill just like the one Dubya boasted, when he said he had looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes & got "a sense of his soul." Years later, Bush more-or-less walked back his super-eye-contact powers, but Morgan believes his superpower is "unequivocal"; i.e., perfect.
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Thursday that House Democrats could always open an impeachment inquiry to pry free documents and testimony from stonewalling Trump administration officials -- a sharp response to the White House's blanket claim that House requests served no 'legitimate' legislative purpose. 'The courts would respect it if you said we need this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities -- and among them is impeachment,' Ms. Pelosi said during her weekly news conference at the Capitol. 'It doesn't mean you're going on an impeachment path, but it means if you had the information you might,' Ms. Pelosi said.... Her threat was the first time Ms. Pelosi suggested using impeachment as an information-gathering tool, although she had made the suggestion in private before, according to a person familiar with her thinking." ...
... Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced on Thursday that the panel will consider an 'enforcement action' against Attorney General William Barr for defying the chairman's subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted report and its supporting intelligence materials. Schiff's announcement came a day after the Justice Department put a counteroffer on the table as it negotiates with the panel for lawmakers' access to the full report, according to a letter obtained by Politico."
Katelyn Polantz & Tammy Kupperman of CNN: "Less redacted versions of memos released Thursday from the court record in Michael Flynn's criminal case reveal more details of Flynn's cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller. A voicemail recording exists of a member of the Trump administration reaching out to Flynn and his lawyers while he was cooperating with Mueller, according to unsealed documents in Flynn's criminal case Thursday. Flynn had told Mueller about multiple examples of this type of outreach, the newly revealed court filings say, and it became a significant part of Mueller's inquiry into whether the President obstructed justice. Other documents show that Flynn was among 'a select few people' who heard statements among campaign officials about WikiLeaks and spoke to Mueller about those conversations.... '... the prospect of reaching out to WikiLeaks was discussed [among Trump campaign officials]," according to the newly unredacted documents.... The newly unsealed documents in the Flynn case also highlight just how important he was as a source to prosecutors investigating Russian interactions with the Trump political operation during the campaign and transition." ...
... Tom Winter, et al., of NBC News: "... Michael Flynn told investigators that people linked to the Trump administration and Congress reached out to him in an effort to interfere in the Russia probe, according to newly-unredacted court papers filed Thursday.... In a separate court filing, Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered federal prosecutors to file a transcript of the voicemail message, as well as transcripts of any other recordings of Flynn including his conversations with Russian officials.... Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the matter further." ...
... Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post have more on Judge Sullivan's order: "The transcripts, which the judge ordered be posted on a court website by May 31, would reveal conversations at the center of two major avenues of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. So far they have been disclosed to the public only in fragments in court filings and the Mueller report. Sullivan also ordered that still-redacted portions of the Mueller report that relate to Flynn be given to the court and made public." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Sure sounds as if it would be helpful to Congressional investigators to get their hands on the full array of Mueller's documentation. No, Mitch, it's not "case closed." ...
... CNN has the "less redacted" court filings here.
Devan Cole of CNN: "Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday said he is not preventing special counsel Robert Mueller from testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. 'It's Bob's call whether he wants to testify,' Barr told The Wall Street Journal. Barr's comment comes just days after ... Donald Trump said he was leaving the decision to his attorney general on whether Mueller could testify." Mrs. McC: Very nice of you, Bill.
Jeff Stein, in the New Republic, interviews Barry Sussman, the editor for Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein's Watergate work at the Washington Post, on Trumpgate. Sussman: "The problem is the media have allowed Trump to set the agenda.... He leads the press around by the nose.... [Trump] won't plummet [in the polls] the way Nixon did. At the same time, he won't stay popular as the enormity of the things he's done becomes clearer and clearer to more and more people. Even though we now have a Republican Senate, even there, we're going to see inroads.... One thing that could happen is exactly what happened to Nixon. It's his taxes could become public.... Mueller had a very broad mandate. He could have done a lot more than he did. He, for example, could have looked at Trump's taxes himself, had he been allowed to.... Emoluments, Etc. Dareh Gregorian & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "... the Trump presidency has been taking a modest economic toll on his businesses, according to annual financial disclosure forms released Thursday. Financial disclosure forms made public by the Office of Government Ethics show overall income from Trump's businesses in 2018 was roughly in line with the revenue he raked in in 2017 -- but some of them took some big hits. While Trump reported making over $17 million in 'management fees and other contract payments' from his Trump International Hotels Management LLC in New York in 2017, he made just $1.5 million in fees there in 2018, the filing shows.... The reports show revenue, not profits, and some of the figures are given in ranges, giving only a partial picture of his finances. But the financial news wasn't all bad for Trump, who told reporters in November that '... being president has cost me a fortune -- a tremendous fortune like you've never seen before.' His Washington, D.C., hotel near the White House, a favorite of Republicans, lobbyists and diplomats, generated revenue of over $40.8 million, up from $40.4 million in 2017." ... ... Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "... Donald Trump's latest personal financial disclosure was just released, showing that Trump, who already owed more money than any other president in history, borrowed millions more in 2018. According to the disclosure, Trump borrowed between $5 million and $25 million from Professional Bank, a small Florida outfit that specializes in construction and real estate loans.... The loan was used to finance the purchase of 1125 South Ocean Avenue, a mansion located next door to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and owned by the president's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry.... Though assets and liabilities are reported in ranges on financial disclosure forms, land records show that the value of Trump's newest loan $11.2 million." Pardon Me. Alex Shephard of the New Republic: "As with much of Trump's presidency, it's tempting to overthink things when it comes to pardons, to see them as being chess moves in a larger assault on the rule of law. Trump's willingness to pardon allies and, particularly, well-known conservative figures like [Dinesh] D&'Souza, [Conrad] Black, and the Hammond brothers -- two ranchers whose imprisonment inspired a long, tense takeover of an Oregon wildlife reserve by anti-government militia groups -- points to Trump's unwavering commitment to his own base.... Although he has not yet shown interest in pardoning figures involved in the Russia investigation, he has not exactly been shy about encouraging them to keep quiet.... Trump may very well be 'sending a signal' or hoping to instill goodwill in allies with these pardons, but the path for each of these criminal figures has been straightforward. Exploit existing connections to the president. Make regular public comments about Trump's greatness (writing a book or making a movie seems to help!). Then profit." Trump's Man in Moscow Really Was an FBI Informant. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "A federal judge has confirmed for the first time that Felix Sater, a former Donald Trump business associate who drove Trump Tower Moscow negotiations during the 2016 election, helped the U.S. government track down Osama bin Laden. During a hearing on Thursday in the Eastern District of New York -- held as part of a lawsuit brought by First Look Media to unseal records related to Sater's longtime cooperation with the government on various national security issues -- Judge I. Leo Glasser said [to the plaintiffs]..., 'He cooperated... And you know what he did over the 10, 11 years, because you told me that you know. He provided the telephone number of Osama bin Laden. He has done an awful lot of very interesting and dangerous things." Trump Admin Sends $62MM in "Subsidies" to Brazilian Criminals. Chris Sommerfeldt of the New York Daily News: "The Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million -- taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers -- to a massive meatpacking company [JBS] owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.... The bailout ... was sourced from a $12 billion program meant for American farmers harmed by President Trump's escalating trade war with China and other countries.... Industry watchdogs ... question how subsidizing a deep-pocketed, Brazilian-owned company would help farmers in the American heartland.... Moreover..., the company's exports to China ballooned to more than 24% in 2018, compared to less than 21% the previous year, according to public records, raising questions about the need for the Trump subsidy.... 'It is clear the president is not the least bit knowledgeable about trade policy, nor aware of the chaos his failed approach has caused' said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who introduced a bill earlier this year restricting the administration's bailouts to American-owned companies." ... ... Update: Chris Sommerfeldt: "The Trump administration on Thursday defended its $62 million bailout to a Brazilian meatpacking company controlled by a pair of corrupt brothers, arguing the private pork payout will eventually trickle down to struggling U.S. farmers.... '... regardless of who the vendor is, the products purchased are grown in the U.S. and benefit U.S. farmers,' a spokesperson for the department said.... 'JBS qualifies as a bidder under this criteria. This is similar to someone buying JBS bacon in a grocery store. Regardless of the packaging, the bacon inside is from a hog grown on an American farm.'" MEANWHILE. Katy O'Donnell of Politico: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson broke the law when he failed to report an order for a $31,561 dining room table set for his office as well as the installation of an $8,000 dishwasher in the office kitchen, the Government Accountability Office found in a report published Thursday. Agencies are required to notify Congress of expenditures over $5,000 to furnish an executive's office. Carson canceled the table order after it surfaced in news reports in early 2018, and he appeared to blame the fiasco on his wife, Candy, in congressional testimony. HUD spokespeople offered conflicting accounts of what Carson knew about the order." Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed Jeffrey Rosen to replace embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, despite Democratic criticism he wasn't ready for the job. The Senate voted 52-45 to confirm Rosen, along party lines.... Rosen is currently deputy Transportation secretary. He was general counsel at the Department of Transportation and at the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He also worked at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis where he overlapped briefly with [AG William] Barr.... 'We need a Deputy Attorney General who knows the Justice Department,' Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement after Rosen's confirmation. 'Mr. Rosen simply does not have the qualifications for this critical assignment.'" Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed Wendy Vitter's appointment to the federal bench, as Republicans overcame strong opposition from Democrats who criticized the nominee's stand against abortion. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) was the only Republican to join Democrats and independents in opposing Vitter's nomination, in the 52-to-45 vote.... Vitter drew ire from Democrats after a judicial watchdog group found statements she had made against abortion that were not included in the extensive background disclosure forms she was required to provide to the Senate.... During a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in April 2018, Vitter faced intense questioning from Democrats over those comments -- which included claiming Planned Parenthood killed over 150,000 women a year -- and her moderating an event called, 'Abortion Hurts Women's Health.'... They also have criticized Vitter for refusing to say during her confirmation hearing whether she agreed with the Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools.... Vitter stood by her husband, former senator David Vitter (R-La.), in 2007 when he was named in connection with a D.C. prostitution ring." Thanks to PD Pepe for the heads-up. See her commentary below. ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: According to Rachel Maddow, Wendy Vitter has claimed that abortions cause cancer. (Um, they don't.) What this country needs is another forever-judge who puts no store in facts. Adam Cancryn & Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "House Democrats [Thursday] evening passed the session's first legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, as the party looks to solidify its political advantage on a key issue for voters ahead ahead of 2020. The health care vote -- the House's second in two weeks -- came over bitter protests from Republicans, who accused Democratic leaders of politicizing once-bipartisan drug price proposals by pairing them with polarizing measures to strengthen Obamacare. The bill is unlikely to survive the GOP-controlled Senate." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yes but impeachment is stupid because the Senate will never convict. Presidential Race 2020 Jeffery Mays & William Neuman of the New York Times: "Bill de Blasio, the Democratic mayor of New York City, announced on Thursday that he was running for president, seeking to show that his brand of urban progressive leadership can be a model for the rest of the nation. It will be a steep challenge: He becomes the 23rd Democrat to enter the presidential race, and he does so against the counsel of many of his trusted advisers, and in the face of two centuries of history. No sitting mayor has been elected to the presidency, and if Mr. de Blasio, 58, is to be the first, he must overcome daunting deficits in polls and fund-raising." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ... ... Finally, a Feel-Good Story. Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "A Missouri teenager stole the spotlight from Bill de Blasio's presidential campaign announcement Wednesday when he scooped the New York City mayor's announcement. Gabe Fleisher ... sends out his newsletter 'Wake Up to Politics,' a rundown of political happenings that often includes campaign schedules and what the 2020 candidates are up to.... Fleisher [found] a Friday event for de Blasio in Sioux City that was billed as 'his first stop on his Presidential announcement tour.' But de Blasio had not yet officially thrown his hat in the ring. Shortly after Fleisher tweeted this news, the de Blasio campaign confirmed the mayor was indeed running. Reports had hinted at a de Blasio run for the past few weeks, but Fleisher's find was seemingly the official confirmation." ... Update. Summer Ballentine of the AP: "Missouri's Republican-led Senate has now passed a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. Senators approved the legislation 24-10 early Thursday with just hours left before a Friday deadline to pass bills. It needs at least one more vote of approval in the GOP-led House before it can go to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who voiced support for it on Wednesday. Parson called on state senators to take action, joining a movement of GOP-dominated state legislatures emboldened by the possibility that a more conservative Supreme Court could overturn its landmark ruling legalizing the procedure." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I realize Republican men have several incentives to push these draconian measures, namely the well-organized anti-abortion groups urging them to do so & the hope that the Trumpy Supremes will overturn Roe. I think the#MeToo movement is yet another impetus. These men can't stand the power the movement has given women -- specifically in relation to curbing sexual aggression -- & the men are punishing women for making "demands." Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who provided secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, was sent to jail again on Thursday after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the organization.... Ms. Manning was jailed for similar reasons in March, but was released last week when the term of the grand jury that had served her with a subpoena in January expired." Beyond the Beltway New York. Ali Winston of the New York Times: "A police commander reacted with seemingly little concern after being told by an officer that Eric Garner was likely dead, according to text messages shown on Thursday at a disciplinary hearing.... After acknowledging the message [that was dead], Lieutenant [Christopher] Bannon wrote a follow-up note: 'Not a big deal. We were effecting a lawful arrest.' The previously unseen text messages provoked gasps in the room where the hearing was being held for Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who faces possible termination over charges of reckless use of a chokehold and intentional restriction of breathing.... A medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Mr. Garner testified on Wednesday at the hearing that the chokehold 'set into motion a lethal sequence' that resulted in his death."
The Education of Donald Trump. Ryan Struyk, in a tweet: "Trump says he had support on criminal justice reform from 'Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, liberals... I guess we could also use the word "progressives" ... a new word that's come about...'" Mrs. McC: You may remember the term from your high-school American history book, and/or maybe from the past decade or so of reading the news, but I guess it doesn't get much play in the New York Post's "Page Six."
Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency should consider recovering nearly $124,000 in improper travel expenses by former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, the agency's inspector general recommended Thursday. The findings, issued nearly a year after Pruitt resigned amid controversy over his spending, travel and ties to lobbyists and outside groups, highlight the fiscal impact of his penchant for high-end travel and accommodations. Investigators concluded that 40 trips Pruitt either took or scheduled during a 10-month period, between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2017, cost taxpayers $985,037. The bulk of those expenses were for Pruitt's round-the-clock security detail, which billed $428,896 in travel costs. The agency spent an additional $339,894 on staffers traveling with the former administrator. The 'questioned amount' the inspector general's office identifies for possible recovery is the $123,941 that taxpayers spent on flying both Pruitt and a security agent in first- or business class, instead of coach. The report also highlights the extent to which Pruitt's official travel revolved around trips to Tulsa, Okla., where he maintained a home while a member of President Trump's Cabinet.... The EPA watchdog details a litany of other problems with the way Pruitt and his entourage rang up 'excessive costs' using taxpayer money...."
Marisa Endicott of Mother Jones: "So far in 2019, seven states have passed laws to limit abortion well before fetal viability, which is somewhere around 24 weeks, though all of the laws have yet to take effect or are held up by the courts.... The Missouri Senate, meanwhile, is currently debating an omnibus abortion bill that already passed the House and includes a 'fetal heartbeat' ban, while Louisiana's own six-week abortion bill is about to pass its second legislative chamber. Mother Jones looked at the gender breakdown in these nine state legislatures and found a common thread: All have striking gender imbalances. Each legislature -- with the exception of Georgia -- has a lower than average percentage of women serving in its chambers. The national average is about 29 percent, but in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, women make up just 16 percent or less of the states' legislators." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
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Reader Comments (17)
Well, whatdaya know––another judge is confirmed by these Republican "let's git them right-wing judges in them high seats as quickly as possible" spurned on by that Terrible Turtle who is masquerading as Senate leader. Only one Republican voted no–-Susan Collins who finally put her money where her mouth is. All Democrats, of course, voted no except for four that are running for president (they did not vote––does anyone know why that would be? Is there some rule here?)
The judge in question is none other than Wendy Vitter who has said that Planned Parenthood kills hundreds of women every year plus other lies and is probably one of the most vocal about "the horrors of abortion." If the name Vitter rings a bell you may remember her husband, Congressman David, that handsome man about town who in 2007 admitted to and apologized for prior involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. He was first accused of soliciting a prostitute by a New Orleans newspaper in 2002. Since the statute of limitations for prostitution had expired when the scandal was uncovered, Vitter was never charged with a crime. What this says about that marriage one can only speculate. S0––given these perks, why not put someone like Wendy on the bench –-makes sense say those Republican senators who are smiling like Cheshire cats. The fact that she never revealed her anti-abortion information on her resume´––which is a crime–-doesn't bother them at all––why should it? They operate just like the president they serve.
Marie mentioned yesterday about some Democrats using CSpan to read aloud the Mueller report. I caught a good portion of it last night and thought it an excellent move. The reader that stood out for me is Mary Gay Scanlon who must have had plenty of opportunity to read to her children because it was like listening to a bit from a Grimm fairy tale. And the tale itself is one of much sound and fury with the man at the center signifying nothing but how utterly pitiful he is––and how criminal.
P.S. the mention, also by Marie of Koons' bunny that went for 91.1 million I find obscene. I don't understand–-would love for someone to explain to me why that "work of art" is worth all those millions.
@PD Pepe: I went in for bloodwork this morning & somehow the Jeff Koons bunny fit into my small talk with the tech, who is a biker guy. When I told him about the $91MM price tag, he got angry that somebody would spend that kind of money on a piece of fake art when he could have spent it helping needy people. Of course I immediately told him the buyer was the father of Trump's Treasury Secretary. I hope he made the connection. And not in a good way.
I had a feeling the activity that caused the ramped up military actions with regard to Iran had something to do with all the saber rattling and talk of the need for invasion.
As I mentioned yesterday, it would be irresponsible of Iran to remain unmoved in the face of all the belligerent talk they've been hearing from Bolton and the other Muslim haters and war mongers. In the interest of their own self defense, they have to take some action in case words are followed by bombs.
And it's not like any of this is purely speculative. 14 years ago, another ignorant Republican president and his pet shark VP began a war with Iran's neighbor based solely on lies. The most staunch pacifists in Tehran couldn't plausibly base calls for standing down militarily on the idea that "it couldn't happen here".
But isn't this what Bolton was hoping for? It's like an asshole driver who tailgates another car, honking his horn and shaking his fist. As soon as the other driver pulls over, the asshole jumps out with a gun and starts yelling that the other guy was clearly up to no good, demonstrating his belligerent intentions by pulling over, and needs to be taught a lesson.
Yes, Bolton is a smart guy (much smarter than Trump, clearly--but you could say that about Bozo the Clown), but he's also a fucking nutjob. The other player here is Pompeo who is nothing but a jumped up teabagger with a hatred for Muslims. What's he gonna do to keep America safe? Trump will be easily swayed one way or the other because there are no more adults in the room (not that there were many before).
This is another reason Trump has pretty much halted press conferences and communicates in short, barely cogent bursts of pidgin English. A free press is a pain in the ass to authoritarians. Especially stupid ones.
Worse Than Commie Dictators
If the scheming Savonarolas in Alabama have their way, along with the high priests on the Supreme Court, the United States will become a nation without access to abortion, and could (many now fear) be without any form of contraception as well (don't forget the Hobby Lobby bullshit).
Back in the 1960's Romanian strongman Nicolae Ceausescu banned all abortions and contraception. It didn't go well. Many women (mostly well off or those with political connections) found ways around the ban. Poor women or those with no recourse got it right in the neck. Something R's in this country are clearly hoping for. Romania was a real life test case for the sort of country promised by Trump and his anti-choice supporters:
"Romania’s prohibition of the procedure was disproportionately felt by low-income women and disadvantaged groups, which abortion-rights advocates in the United States fear would happen if the Alabama law came into force. As a last resort, many Romanian women turned to home and back-alley abortions, and by 1989, an estimated 10,000 women had died as a result of unsafe procedures. The real number of deaths might have been much higher, as women who sought abortions and those who helped them faced years of imprisonment if caught. Maternal mortality skyrocketed, doubling between 1965 and 1989."
But those evil Commies did allow for exceptions. Not those nice religious Trumpy types in Alabama though:
"Alabama’s law goes even further than Romania’s, which in principle at least allowed for exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or congenital defect. The new law allows for abortions only when there is a serious threat to the mother’s health."
It gets worse. Researchers at Harvard Medical School who looked at the aftermath of the abortion ban in Romania found that tens of thousands of children ended up warehoused in orphanages and "...found that many were left with severe developmental impairment and mental health issues. For some, their confinement in orphanages even had a physical impact on the size of their brains."
Alabama mucky-mucks sniff that this draconian law is being enacted because they're so concerned about the quality of life. Hmm..wonder how it is then that Alabama is almost dead last in a recent study on best and worst states to live in.
The idea that they're concerned about anything other than enforcing their own religious beliefs on the rest of Americans is ludicrous. If they really were concerned about quality of life for babies, after birth, that state would actually care about things like working wages for parents, healthcare, decent housing for the poor, and good education for kids. That's what quality of life is about, not using force to bend the rest of the nation to their will. And will Alabama take care of the thousands of kids whose parents are unemployed and unable to care for them?
Yeah. Sure they will.
The United States, under the heavy-handed, ignorant rule of Trump and his fascist, religious haters is quickly turning from from the light which other nations look to as an example for a better way to just another banana republic run by just another incompetent, greedy politician and his heartless cronies.
This is not making America great again, as Trump brags; this is making it worse than benighted Commie dictatorships. Good going there, R's.
"[A] Romanian activist, said that she was worried to see parts of the United States—a country that Romania had once looked to as an example—now pursuing new restrictions on abortion. 'In 1989, we aspired to build a stable democracy, a pluralistic society, with equality between men and women, and the United States was the main source of inspiration,' she said. 'Now that is not the case any more.'"
No shit.
"Jihadis go to jail. White Supremacists go free."
Even as extreme online recruitment and radicalization groups working for Muslim hate groups are systematically hunted down and extirpated (as they absolutely should be), Trump's supporters in the White Supremacist extremist hate camps are allowed to operate unimpeded out in the open.
As one Twitter executive stated, if they were to boot users spouting White Supremacist hate speech, they'd be kicking off plenty of Republican elected officials.
And Trump as well.
How long before Trump begins his war on Flynn because of Flynn's admission that the Trump people tried to get him to lie?
Hold on....5, 4, 3, 2...
Will Flynn be a "loser"? A "liar"? An "FBI plant"? One thing's for sure. Everyone who tells the truth about Trump is, according to Trump, unreliable, a Trump hater, or worse.
Because only he tells the truth. Even if that truth changes every few hours.
@Akhilleus: Blastoff! Here's Trump's latest tweet: "It now seems the General Flynn was under investigation long before was common knowledge. It would have been impossible for me to know this but, if that was the case, and with me being one of two people who would become president, why was I not told so that I could make a change?" ...
... Yes, Donnie, it would have been impossible for you to know this ... if you weren't president*-elect. But you were. And President Obama warned you against hiring Flynn -- on November 10, 2016 -- two days after the election.
It's a mystery to me how it happens you're so good at predicting the future, Akhilleus.
Marie,
Oh well, you know, it's just a sorta skill I have.
Hang on, I'll do it again (just let me get my Kreskin hat on)...
Okay. So Alabama is a pro-life state, right? They signed that total ban on abortion to prove it.
I'm gonna say that this pro-life stance is complete bullshit. I'm gonna say that one day after signing this abortion ban, the state will prove it's an anti-life state.
Oh...hold on...hold on...wouldja, wouldja, woooo....
"Alabama on Thursday executed Michael Brandon Samra in its second completed execution of 2019."
Whoa....right again. How do I do it? I don't even know. It's a mystery even to me.
Yup. Right to life? Hahahahahahaha...But hey, who ever said wingers had to be consistent, right? And Samra is only the second guy the state executed this year. Long way to go. Ah...that Alabama, quality of life like you read about.
I read somewhere just last week that Alabama is 50th in education.
Keep 'em barefoot and pregnant and teach them nothing about
birth control. That means there will be lots of little uneducated
youth who can be easily brainwashed to vote as told when the time
comes. Perhaps Betsy should do something about that education
system in Alabama and most other states. But then, her only solution
is selling schools to private enterprise. What a world.
Despite the fact that there seems to be hard evidence of the Trumpy attempt to get Flynn to lie for the Traitor-in-Chief (a voicemail recording), look for Trump and Fox and Graham and McTerrapin and the entire raft of treason birds to sing the same song: FAKE.
It will be a test run for Trump's attempt to hold on to the presidency even if he loses the election, by declaring the results invalid.
We are so far down the rabbit hole here there's no hope of light anytime soon. My sense is that the Flynn voicemail will be nothing like the Nixon tapes, which were blockbusters, mostly because you could hear Nixon himself planning obstruction. Whichever voice is on this (these?) voicemail(s), it almost assuredly isn't Trump's. But even if it were his voice, look for him to deny it (he completely denied the pussy grabbing tape). And Fox to go right along. It will be another FBI-Democrat-Deep State plot to go after the Glorious Leader.
Here's an idea. How about we take half of the 600 Democrats now running for president, and have them run for the Senate (those who aren't already senators). Couldn't we use four or six more people in the senate with working brains? As long as the traitors control that body, we get more and more Nazi judges.
Oh, but never mind. If you really have to make a hopeless run for president, go right ahead.
Just because my Campaign was warned about the Russians, met with Russians, encouraged Russian meddling, and used Russian dirt to attack Crooked Hillary does NOT give the FBI the right to investigate the most successful campaign in US history! Their fake coup failed! Lock them UP!
-DiJiT
I wonder how many babies will be born because of women being afraid of going to jail. Most of these laws are not (currently) constitutional and have not been put into effect yet. The way these laws are talked about many may think that they are already on the books and act accordingly. Even if Roberts decides that he wants to keep chipping away at Roe instead of overturning it the pro-life groups will still be forcing more babies on women.
Pro-choice groups need to flip the narrative. Every pro-life person should be asked why they want more pregnant women to die. And why they want to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on unviable fetuses and their families. Or they could go way extreme and ask if Alabama is encouraging fathers and uncles to bring their daughters and neices there to start their families.
Fighting Stupidity in the Media
A piece in Philosophy Now presents a cogent and well thought out plan to eradicate (or at least moderate) stupidity transmitted through so-called journalism.
Many of the writer's observations are obvious, if solid (don't assume, check the plausibility of a story, respect the evidence, etc.) which doesn't mean that such steps are often enough given the seriousness they require even by big name journalists (excepting extreme outliers who don't have anything a'tall to do with actual journalism as they are too busy promoting ideological support for lies and willful misdirection).
But what the writer (Angela Philips, a journalism professor at the University of London) does do very well is provide real world examples to demonstrate how shoddy journalism can cause serious damage.
One of those examples reminds me very much indeed of the way the press in this country handles the right-left divide. Most of us out here take great umbrage at the way the MSM wants to bend over backwards and twist itself in knots to be "fair" to positions that are clearly hyperpartisan and, upon cursory examination, without merit. This is maddening stuff.
Here's a bit of Philips' take on the Brexit blowup, looking at how the BBC really fucked it up by trying to be extra nice to the Brexiteers:
"The coverage of the European Union in Britain recently has demonstrated only too well how easy it is for news organisations to exacerbate political divisions rather than trying to bridge them...The BBC produces the only news material that’s consumed and trusted by the majority of British citizens. It should have provided a counterpoint to this partisanship. But the BBC’s political editors, focussing only on the need to remain impartial, decided to ignore party affiliation in their calculations of air-time. In making that decision they were assuming that arguments for both sides of the debate could be plausibly presented by people from just one political party. So in practice they reported the referendum on whether Britain should stay in or leave the European Union as though it was a cricket match between two wings of the Conservative Party, rather than a complex event in which every viewer or listener was actually a participant, rather than an observer...the BBC coverage was based on the erroneous assumption that arguments within that party were the only arguments worth making, and would be as compelling for unemployed steel workers in the North East as for stockbrokers around London."
Sound familiar?
I thought it would be a nice, somewhat mollifying read (until I got to that bit about how the BBC--the fucking BBC!--decided that only the conservative point of view was worth their time), but at least it's well done and it makes good points.
Very much like the BBC in this instance, many MSM outlets spend far more time trying to convince readers that out-of-control winger liars have a point, when in fact, rather than point out the serial lies, they come back the very next day and again give time to the same liars as if they're serious people who just have a different take on things. A different take on things is what's the best way to combat global warming. "Global warming is a hoax" is not a "different take". It's an out and out lie, but it so often presented as a position worthy of serious consideration that it makes me want to drop heavy objects on the offending parties.
So much for a calm read in a philosophy journal. Then again, as Kant might say, they (philosophers) are not here to make you feel good, just to help you think more clearly. Wait til Trump finds out!
@Akhilleus: One of the things Barry Sussman suggested in his interview with Jeff Stein (linked above) was for the networks (he didn't name-check them here but he must have been thinking of CNN) to quit putting liars on air to deliver the right-wing POV.
I like Anderson Cooper & a few other CNN personalities, but I can't watch them because they feature these pundit panels where the lefties usually say stuff grounded in facts & the wingers ALWAYS just make up shit. Fair fight? I don't think so. As long as Santorum, Cuccinelli & Co. remain on CNN, I'll spend very little viewing time there.
@RAS: Excellent points on the abortion narrative. Kind of hard to imagine, tho, a cable teevee personality hitting a guest with hard truths & attacking their motives. It would be evah so impolite, you know.
Marie,
Quite right. And that observation about unfairness obtains in almost every single MSM outlet. They bring on Democrats/Liberals/Progressives who use facts to bolster their arguments, then the winger/confederate/liars come on to toss out the most incredible lies and dare anyone to contest their fairy tales.
Some Democratic guests will try to do so, but inevitably, the host allows the wingers to rip into them and start screaming about deep state and treason and then time is up. So sorry.
The problem is, as most producers with any sense must realize, that if they insisted on honesty and fact-based arguments, there's not a single winger they could invite on to the show. They're all liars, or supporters of lies (in other words, liars themselves). And having only fact based arguments proffered by Democrats would not make much of a show. Especially when a self-serving producer like Jeff Zucker is in charge.