Sunday
Nov112018
The Commentariat -- Nov. 12, 2018
Late Morning Update:
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night! -- Donald Trump, November 12
On Veterans Day, Trump is saying he doesn't want ballots from overseas military voters to count. They have until Nov 16 to be counted according to state law. -- Ari Berman of the Nation, in a tweet ...
... Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Monday called for stopping the recounts in Florida's votes for Senate and governor, alleging without evidence that many ballots are missing and forged and that a valid tally is not possible. In a morning tweet, Trump suggested that the results from the night of the Nov. 6 election should stand, handing victories to fellow Republicans Rick Scott, the governor, in the Senate race and Ron DeSantis ... in the gubernatorial contest.... The recounts are happening in accordance with Florida law because of the tight margins in the votes. On Sunday, Scott went on national television to accuse Sen. Bill Nelson (D), whom he is hoping to unseat, of trying to 'commit fraud to try to win this election.'" ...
... James Downie of the Washington Post: "Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott's apparent victory over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was one of Democrats' bigger disappointments on Election Day. But the margin was close enough to trigger an automatic recount, and since Tuesday, Scott's lead has narrowed from 56,000 votes to just more than 12,000 votes. So, in a preview of the toxicity Scott (if he wins) will bring to Washington, he deployed a standard GOP response when Democrats gain votes: accuse them of voter fraud.... One irony here is that Scott has been governor for eight years, which means he's had the ability to fix Florida's election system that he now implies is broken.... Rather than reject conspiracy theories that undermine faith in the electoral system, Scott has opted for slime."
... Adam Peck of ThinkProgress: "Naturally, Republicans are once again distraught at the idea of having every legitimate ballot counted.... But although Republicans are demonizing efforts to count every vote in Florida, a handful of GOP congressional candidates around the country are themselves insisting every vote be counted in their own races, hoping to make up deficits against their Democratic opponents." --s
Eileen Sullivan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump, fresh off an international display of unity among global leaders to mark the end of World War I, renewed his attacks on America's longtime allies on Monday, and demanded fair treatment for the United States. In a trio of Twitter posts, Mr. Trump said that the United States pays 'for LARGE portions' of other countries' military protection and loses money on trade with the same countries.... As for the trade deficits, most economists do not see any gap as money 'lost' to other countries and do not agree with the president's view that the trade imbalance shows America's weakness on trade policy."
Zachary Basu of Axios: "Now that they're set to assume control of the House, there are at least 85 topics that Democrats have said they'd target -- or are expected to target -- in the forthcoming torrent of investigations and subpoenas to be directed at the Trump White House, according to Axios' reporting and analysis of members' public comments."
David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images, a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claims to have neutralized the North's nuclear threat. The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site -- a step it began, then halted -- while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads. The existence of the ballistic missile bases, which North Korea has never acknowledged, contradicts Mr. Trump's assertion that his landmark diplomacy is leading to the elimination of a nuclear and missile program that the North had warned could devastate the United States." Includes a couple of satellite images.
Ex-Republican Max Boot of the Washington Post: "It seems that soldiers who were captured aren't the only ones that President Trump doesn't like. He also apparently doesn't care much for the ones who died for their country.... The White House explained that bad weather grounded the helicopters that Trump and his entourage were planning to take [to honor fallen soldiers at the Aisne-Marne American cemetery].... [T]he low-energy president remained behind at the U.S. ambassador's residence.... Odds are that his room didn't have Fox News. So he was probably reduced to watching CNN all afternoon. If the New York dating scene was Trump's personal Vietnam, this was his personal Verdun.... Trump shows what he really thinks of the troops by using them as political props.... [A]s the New York Times reports, the troops [he sent to the border pre-election] are still in the field, without electricity or hot meals -- or a mission. They will likely spend Thanksgiving away from their families. Naturally, Trump will not bother to visit them.... He still has not visited U.S. troops deployed to a war zone.... To add insult to injury, consider Trump's reaction after Ian David Long, a Marine veteran of Afghanistan, killed 12 people in a Thousand Oaks, Calif., bar this past week. Trump called him a 'very sick puppy' and blamed his rampage on post-traumatic stress disorder without any actual evidence.... This is precisely the kind of pernicious stereotype -- that veterans are ticking time bombs -- that veterans groups have worked so hard to refute.... Through his words and deeds, the commander in chief shows his contempt for the men and women in uniform." --s
** Thank You for Your Service. Phil McCausland of CNN: "The Department of Veterans Affairs is suffering from a series of information technology glitches that has caused GI Bill benefit payments covering education and housing to be delayed or ... never be delivered.... Hundreds of thousands are believed to have been affected.... Donald Trump signed the Forever GI Bill in 2017 ... [which] greatly expanded benefits for veterans and their families, but it did not upgrade the VA's technical capabilities to account for those changes.... The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is holding a hearing on Wednesday to investigate the matter.... More than 45,000 jobs sit vacant at VA, according to the agency's own numbers, and the department has not had a permanent chief information officer since LaVerne Council departed ... after Trump's election." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Pardon my wackadoo conspiracy theory, but I have a feeling the problem has something to do with those three rich Mar-a-Lago friends of Trump who were "advising" the VA on IT matters.
The Great Public Sellout. Jimmy Tobias of the Guardian: "[Ryan] Zinke rapidly installed a slew of conservative operatives and industry sympathizers in key positions throughout the [Interior Department]. Because these senior advisers, counselors, and other appointees are rarely subject to Senate approval, few people know their names. They nevertheless wield immense power and are responsible for much of the day-to-day work at the interior department. Hundreds of pages of correspondence and calendars ... show how Zinke and his top aides have favored corporate and conservative calls to prioritize resource extraction at the expense of conservation, while consistently delivering on industry desires -- despite sometimes running afoul of conflict of interest rules.... Zinke is now facing a swirl of misconduct allegations.... [Zinke] has stocked the department with a slate of committed conservative appointees who will continue to remake the agency in the image of the Trump administration.... 'I have been here a pretty long time and seen different administrations from both sides of the aisle,' [one anonymous] civil servant added, 'but this is the worst I have ever seen.'" --s
*****
David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "The United States finally has the pro-democracy movement that it needs. Last week, ballot initiatives to improve the functioning of democracy fared very well. In Florida -- a state divided nearly equally between right and left -- more than 64 percent of voters approved restoring the franchise to 1.4 million people with felony convictions. In Colorado, Michigan and Missouri, measures to reduce gerrymandering passed. In Maryland, Michigan and Nevada, measures to simplify voter registration passed.... Of course, there is still an enormous amount of work to do. Voting remains more difficult here than in almost any other affluent country.... And this country also suffers, unfortunately, from an anti-democracy movement: Leaders of the Republican Party -- out of a fear of the popular will -- keep trying to make voting harder. They have closed polling places, reduced voting hours and introduced bureaucratic hurdles."
Peter Baker & Alissa Rubin of the New York Times: "President Trump’s brand of 'America First' nationalism was repudiated on Sunday as leaders from around the globe gathered to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I and reaffirm the international bonds that have once again come under strain. Stone-faced and unmoved, the American leader listened as President Emmanuel Macron of France used the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe to denounce self-interested nationalism and extol the sort of globalism and international institutions that Mr. Trump has spent the last two years pulling the United States away from. 'Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,' Mr. Macron said in a speech on a dreary, rain-soaked day. 'Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, "our interest first, who cares about the others?"'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's the photo that accompanies the Baker-Rubin story:
;)
"Led by President Emmanuel Macron of France, world leaders marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Sunday as part of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I." Where's Waldo? You can supersize the picture by clicking on it, if you think it will help you find Waldo Donald, but it won't.... "Mr. Trump arrived in his own motorcade, traveling separately, aides said, because of security, and joined the world leaders under a transparent enclosure at the arch." ...
... Okay, here he is under the transparent enclosure. Also transparent: Grumpy Trumpy:
... "Well," you say, "Trump is just beaming in this shot:"
... Mrs. McCrabbie: And so he is. That's because that guy at the bottom of the frame -- that guy Trump is beaming at -- is Vladimir Putin (who arrived even later than Trump). Thanks to forrest m. for reminding me I didn't present the full picture, as it were. ...
... Rachel Donadio of the Atlantic: "French television commentators called it 'symbolic' that the U.S. president shunned the group, and also noted, as Trump stiffly took his place next to Merkel, that 'he didn't look very smiley.' He was more smiley when Putin arrived. The Russian president gave Trump a thumbs up and a brief friendly pat on the arm. In a somber speech beneath the Arc de Triomphe, Macron recalled how with World War I, Europe almost committed suicide. He said 'old demons' were resurfacing and history was threatening to repeat itself, and threatening Europe's history of peace. He decried 'the selfishness of countries that regard only their own interests,' which sounded like a remark clearly aimed at the United States.... It was impossible not to hear Macron's words, before so many other world leaders, as aimed at Trump, a sign of how the rest of the world is contending with the repercussions of 'America First.'... On Saturday, while Trump stayed in Paris doing whatever he was doing, Macron and Merkel went to Compèigne, a site outside Paris freighted with 20th-century history. It is the site where Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the supreme commander of the western front, signed the ceasefire agreement with Germany, ending World War I, and where Adolph Hitler forced France to sign a capitulation agreement in 1940.... The vanishing act [Saturday] was classic Trump -- dominating the news cycle, insulting and upstaging his hosts, to say nothing of U.S. soldiers and veterans." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Odd Man Out. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "... on a trip to Europe, the president hardly said a word -- and he still managed to outrage at almost every turn. Aside from a critical tweet aimed at French President Emmanuel Macron when Trump landed in Paris late Friday -- one based on an inaccurate newspaper summary of an interview Macron gave suggesting that he had called the United States a threat -- Trump didn't throw any sharp elbows at his peers here. It was still all about him. In this case, it was because of the images. He looked uncomfortable and listless in a bilateral meeting with Macron, whose sinewy energy stood in stark contrast to Trump's downbeat expression.... He was a no-show at a scheduled tour of a military cemetery for Americans, while other world leaders publicly paid homage to those who died on the battlefield.... And on Sunday, Trump arrived separately from the 60 other leaders at a World War I remembrance at the Arc de Triomphe. He had no speaking role, sitting stone-faced as Macron railed against the rise of nationalism -- a rebuke of Trump's professed worldview. The overall takeaway to many was a president turning away from the world, a man occupying the office of the leader of the free world who appeared withdrawn and unenthusiastic on the global stage."
... Christopher Dickey of The Daily Beast: "[I]t should not be at all surprising that the history of World War I, commemorated this weekend in France 100 years after its end, would hold little attraction for the American president.... Trump, of course, has declared himself a proud nationalist, and has a long list of those he wants Americans to hate and fear. As for love of country, and indeed of those who loved it enough to die for it, he's not so interested. On Saturday, using a little rain (very little) as an excuse, Trump blew off a long-planned visit to the graves of more than 1,000 U.S. Marines.... No other heads of state failed to make their appointed rounds at battlefield cemeteries. But ironically it seems that Marine One, the presidential helicopter, was deterred by drizzle.... The truth is, Trump never wanted to be here in the first place, and his performance on Saturday reflected his trademark truculent petulance.... Sunday's event was, as long planned, an assembly of more than 60 heads of state and government.... But Trump tweeted that attendance was up because he decided to come. Maybe Trump's die-hard American supporters believe this stuff. But the rest of the world sees it as ludicrous and contemptible." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Climate Change Denier & Racist-in-Chief Wants to Cut off Puerto Rico Aid. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump doesn't want to give Puerto Rico any more federal money for its recovery from Hurricane Maria, White House officials have told congressional appropriators and leadership. This is because he claims, without evidence, that the island's government is using federal disaster relief money to pay off debt.... Trump has told aides he believes too much federal money has already gone to Puerto Rico -- more than $6 billion for Hurricane Maria so far, according to FEMA. (The government projects more than $55 billion from FEMA's disaster relief fund will ultimately be spent on Maria's recovery.) In comparison, per the NYT, 'when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, Congress approved $10 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency four days later, and another $50 billion six days later. The federal government is still spending money on Katrina assistance, more than 12 years after the storm's landfall.'"
** William Saletan of Slate: "... a year and a half [after the Mueller investigation began], Mueller is still investigating Trump's crimes. It's because Trump is still committing them." Saletan lays out a devastating timetable of Trump's continuing obstruction, coverups, etc. ...
... Bob Bauer in the Atlantic: "It is a strange turn of events when a president famous for denouncing 'fake news' is discovered to have entered into an agreement with a media organization to finance the concealment of very real, but politically unfavorable, newsworthy information.... The deal that Trump reached and executed with AMI [-- the tabloid publisher --] violates federal campaign-finance laws. AMI made an illegal corporate in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign, and the campaign and Trump share in the liability by accepting this illegal support. As open-and-shut cases go, this one is high on the list. But this is only a part of what makes this a remarkable episode in the history of presidential campaign lawbreaking." Bauer goes on to illuminate the cases against both Trump & AMI, & he further asserts, "A similar issue arises for the Trump campaign in asserting a First Amendment defense in relation to its relationship to WikiLeaks in the strategic publication and dissemination of stolen emails.... The Journal reporting on Trump's active, detailed engagement in the [Karen] McDougal and [Stormy] Daniels pay-offs confirms that this is not how he operates. It gives powerful additional reason to disbelieve his outright denial of participation in the Russian contacts. (Also linked yesterday.)
... Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Trump knows Matthew G. Whitaker, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday, two days after the president sought to distance himself from his handpicked acting attorney general. 'The president does know Matt Whitaker, has gotten to know him over the course of the last year, since he has been the chief of staff to the attorney general,' Conway said on 'Fox News Sunday.'... In the days since [Trump chose Whitaker as acting attorney general], Whitaker's background and previous critical statements about the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have come under intense scrutiny, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for him to recuse himself from oversight of the probe. Trump on Friday repeatedly claimed that he did not personally know Whitaker, telling reporters, 'I don't know Whitaker.' That contradicted Trump's statement last month in a Fox News interview, during which the president said, 'I know Matt Whitaker.' Conway said Sunday that Trump was trying to make the point Friday that in selecting Whitaker for the acting attorney general job, he wasn't appointing 'a friend there who he's known his entire life.' She added that it wasn't clear whether Whitaker had been briefed on the Mueller probe." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Right. Because when you say you don't know someone, you mean the person was not present at your birth.
Lock 'em Up. Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has hit an all-time high, according to recent statistics.... That massive increase in detentions by the highly controversial agency has prompted questions from rights groups about how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) obtained the money to place into its custody 4,000 more people than Congress has funded.... ICE recently reported to Congress that, as of October 20, its average daily population in detention had reached 44,631 people. The figure is not classified, but it has not been made available to the public."
Two Photo Ops with Black Children Is One Too Many. Maggie Haberman & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Melania & Ivanka Trump compete for attention, and John Kelly, "who has privately described the Trump children as 'playing government' and who was supposed to help manage the relationship between the two women's offices," apparently had words with Ivanka when she posted an Instagram video of herself with an American black child two days after Melanie was picked in Africa cradling a black child. Mrs. McC: As we know, Kelly is a racist AND a misogynist, so naturally he had to butt in on this.
Felicia Sonmez & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Fresh off a resounding midterm elections victory, House Democrats on Sunday began detailing plans to wield their newfound oversight power in the next Congress, setting their sights on acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker while rebuffing calls from some liberals to pursue impeachment proceedings against President Trump.... And Democrats on the House Oversight Committee plan to expand their efforts to investigate Trump's involvement in payments to women who alleged affairs with him before the 2016 election, a committee aide said Sunday night, potentially opening up the president's finances to further scrutiny." ...
... Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Top congressional Democrats demanded on Sunday that President Trump's acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel investigation, and vowed to use their newfound powers as the incoming House majority to block him from interfering with it. The incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, vowed to make Mr. Whitaker the panel's first witness when the new Congress convenes in January -- and subpoena him if necessary. The incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, said Democrats would investigate Mr. Whitaker, a Trump loyalist who has repeatedly and explicitly criticized the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race." ...
... Mike Allen & Jim VandeHei of Axios: "House Democrats plan to investigate whether President Trump abused White House power by targeting -- and trying to punish with "instruments of state power" -- The Washington Post and CNN, incoming House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff said in an interview for 'Axios on HBO.'... Schiff brought up two avenues of inquiry with a press-freedom theme, aimed at investigating possible administration actions to target two of the nation's highest profile corporations. 1) Schiff said Trump 'was secretly meeting with the postmaster [general] in an effort to browbeat the postmaster [general] into raising postal rates on Amazon. This appears to be an effort by the president to use the instruments of state power to punish Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post,' Schiff said. Jeff Bezos is founder, chairman and CEO of Amazon, and owns the Washington Post. 2) Schiff said Congress also need to examine whether Trump attempted to block AT&T's merger with Time Warner as payback to CNN." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jackie Wattles of CNN: "A veteran First Amendment lawyer says that CNN should sue the White House for revoking press access from reporter Jim Acosta. Floyd Abrams, a constitutional law expert who has appeared frequently before the Supreme Court, told CNN's Brian Stelter on 'Reliable Sources' Sunday that CNN has a case. 'I think it's a really strong lawsuit,' Abrams said. 'I can understand CNN being reluctant to sue because the president keeps saying CNN is the enemy of me, and CNN might have reluctance to have a lawsuit titled "CNN vs. Donald Trump." That said, yes, I think they should sue.' Abrams said."
Election 2018
Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "One of the more dangerous outcomes of the midterms is the belief, in some quarters of the G.O.P., that putting the Party in Trump's hands was worth it.... The midterms were a party-building exercise, if all one was trying to build is the Party of Trump. The G.O.P. is acclimating itself to accepting divisiveness and unconstitutional travesties -- including, perhaps, efforts to end birthright citizenship -- in return for a few Senate seats.... The same appears true of [Matthew] Whitaker.... Whitaker is, in many ways, a walking distillation of Trumpism.... The firing of Sessions is an illustration of how the President's demand for loyalty brings the country ever closer to a constitutional crisis. Whitaker has said that the list of Supreme Court decisions that he thinks are wrong begins with Marbury v. Madison &-- the landmark 1803 case that delineated the Court's power to interpret the Constitution, and which is woven into almost every aspect of American jurisprudence. If the Court doesn't decide what's constitutional, who does? Trump?" --s (Also linked yesterday.)
James Kitfield in The Daily Beast: "Little mentioned in the 'horse race' coverage of the mid-terms, [a] parallel election resulted in a 'reform wave' that may very well have the more lasting impact on our democracy. There were campaign and election reform initiatives on the ballot Tuesday in more than two dozen states and localities, and with a few notable exceptions, they won, sweeping aside defenders of a status quo system that consistently produces incivility, political extremism and government gridlock.... Michigan, Colorado, and Missouri all passed major anti-gerrymandering initiatives, for instance.... Anti-corruption reforms that limit or ban lobbyist gifts to politicians, tighten campaign finance rules and increase government transparency passed in Missouri, New Mexico and North Dakota. A host of voting and anti-corruption reforms passed last week at the city level in Denver, Baltimore, Memphis, Phoenix, and New York." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Sarah Jones of New York: "Democrats made real gains in state government on Tuesday. The party nearly doubled its number of trifecta governments, where one party controls the executive branch in addition to each chamber of the state legislature. They now have total control in 13 states versus 21 Republican trifectas.... The Democratic Party's weaknesses in state government are legendary and have probably contributed to its weaknesses at the federal level. State government is an important pipeline to higher office, and as Stateline reported this week, Democrats lost 900 legislative seats during the Obama administration.... But now in states with Democratic trifectas -- or at least a significant number of lawmakers willing to work across the aisle -- Democrats will have opportunities to implement their policies, and demonstrate their effectiveness to voters. Here are some issues they're likely to focus on." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez & Ronald Hansen of the Arizona Republic: "Democrat Kyrsten Sinema widened her lead again over Republican Martha McSally on Sunday, a pivotal day in the U.S. Senate race as the number of uncounted ballots dwindled. Sinema expanded her lead to 32,292 votes -- a 1.5 percentage-point lead -- as of 6:20 p.m. Sunday, according to updated counts posted by the Arizona Secretary of State. Her campaign manager predicted her victory was inevitable. The lengthy vote-count process, which has continued long after the polls closed Nov. 6, is mostly due to the need to verify signatures for voters who vote by mail. The Arizona Republic estimates about 215,000 ballots remain to be counted statewide."
Florida, Florida, Florida. Let Every Vote We Can Get to Be Counted. Gergory Krieg of CNN: "The election overseer for a critical county in Florida confirmed to CNN on Sunday ... [that] there is no way Palm Beach County's machine recount will be finished by the Thursday deadline. 'It's impossible,' said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher in response to CNN asking if officials would be able to finish the full recount on time.... Sarah Revell, the communications director for the Florida Department of State, told CNN's Ana Cabrera that if a county does not submit its results by deadline, 'then the results on file at that time take their place.'..." ...
... Ryan Nobles & Eli Watkins of CNN: "Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott is filing three lawsuits against county election officials as a recount has gotten underway in the Senate contest between himself and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson."
... Lindsey Joins the Loons. Adrienne Varkiani of ThinkProgress: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) seems to believe that Democrats' insistence that all votes be counted is a sign of them trying to 'steal' the election in Florida. 'They are trying to steal this election,' Graham said on Fox News' Hannity Friday evening. 'It's not going to work.'" --s (Also linked yesterday.)
Mississippi. Can You Hear My Dogwhistle Now? Chas Danner of New York: "Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is facing a November 27 runoff election in Mississippi against Democrat Mike Espy, joked with supporters earlier this month about attending a 'public hanging.' A video of the remark, which she made at a campaign stop in Tupelo on November 2, was shared on social media Sunday morning by Bayou Brief journalist Lamar White Jr. In the video, after hearing praise from a supporter, Hyde-Smith jokes that 'if he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the first row.'... Hyde-Smith and Espy -- who in 1987 became the first black Mississippian to be elected to Congress since Reconstruction, and later became the first black secretary of agriculture under President Clinton -- were the two candidates who received the most votes in a four-person special election on Tuesday.... The result triggered a runoff election between the top two. Hyde-Smith was appointed by Mississippi governor Phil Bryant to replace ailing senator Thad Cochrane back in April, but still had to win the special election to serve out the remaining two years of Cochrane's term. Mississippi, as the Jackson Free-Press explains in its report on Hyde-Smith's comments, has a singularly terrible history when it comes to lynchings, racism, and the oppression of black Americans[.]" ...
... Update. Adam Ganucheau >& Larrison Campbell of Mississippi Today: "A video featuring Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is spreading rapidly across social media as critics say her comments invoke Mississippi's violent history of lynching.... Often, whites lynched African Americans for attempting to vote or register.... 'Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments are reprehensible,' said Danny Blanton, a spokesperson for the Espy campaign.... 'They have no place in our political discourse, in Mississippi, or our country....'... The president of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, who is a native Mississippian, drew a parallel between Hyde-Smith's remarks and the state's violent history."
John Bowden of the Hill: "Conservative policy magazine The Weekly Standard on Saturday posted audio of Iowa Rep. Steve King (R) using derogatory language to apparently refer to Mexican immigrants at a campaign event after King and his campaign denied the comments were made. In the audio, the Iowa congressman can be heard joking with a constituent about importing 'dirt' from Mexico, which appears to be a derogatory reference to immigrants coming from Mexico and other Central American countries through the U.S.'s southern border.... After making the remarks, the Standard notes that King reportedly became nervous upon realizing that a reporter may have heard the remarks, and changed the subject.... King and his campaign ... dar[ed] the magazine to post it in a series of Twitter posts.... 'Just release the full tape. Leftists lies exist without original sources because they are false and manufactured accusations. Weekly Standard is transitioning into "Antifa News,"' King [wrote]...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Patch 'em Up and Shut Up, Doc. Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "... a National Rifle Association tweet last week [told] doctors who dared enter the gun debate 'to stay in their lane.'... Countless medical professionals who have taken to Twitter in the past few days to fire back at the NRA -- creating a viral response that has ricocheted around the Internet under the hashtags #thisisourlane and #thisismylane. They have taken a debate that has churned for decades among powerful political gun lobbies and in academic journals and relaunched it in the unfiltered Twittersphere. And they have accompanied their indignant messages with photographs of feet sliding on red-splattered floors, of swabs and scrubs drenched in blood, and occasionally of unidentifiable and misshapen torsos heaped on gurneys.... The NRA tweet was spurred by a position paper from the American College of Physicians posted on Oct. 30 ... and titled 'Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States.' The ACP recommended 'a public health approach to firearms-related violence and the prevention of firearm injuries and deaths,' saying the medical profession has a 'special responsibility' to speak out on the prevention of such injuries and supporting 'appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal firearms,' among other measures."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "Top Saudi intelligence officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked a small group of businessmen last year about using private companies to assassinate Iranian enemies of the kingdom, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The Saudis inquired at a time when Prince Mohammed, then the deputy crown prince and defense minister, was consolidating power and directing his advisers to escalate military and intelligence operations outside the kingdom. Their discussions, more than a year before the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, indicate that top Saudi officials have considered assassinations since the beginning of Prince Mohammed's ascent."
News Ledes
Los Angeles Times: "The death toll from the Camp fire raging in Butte County rose to 29 on Sunday as authorities continued their search for victims amid the ruins of the Sierra foothills town of Paradise. Five additional victims were found in their homes, said Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory Honea. Another was found in a vehicle. The number could continue to grow. On Sunday, authorities said, there were 228 people whose whereabouts were unknown." ...
Los Angeles Times: "Firefighters battling the Woolsey fire made significant headway over the weekend boosting the fire's containment to 20%, but strong Santa Ana winds that are expected to kick up Monday could stall progress. The inferno has charred 91,572 acres and destroyed several hundred homes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since Thursday afternoon, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials."
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Reader Comments (16)
With the recounts down here becoming more muddled and contentious I haven't seen anything from an apparently peaceful state. How as the Maine experience with the ranked voting ballot? Anyone know?
@Bobby Lee: The Maine results are here. Three of the four major contests were decided early on, but the Congressional race for District 2 is still being counted because of ranked voting. The incumbent, a Republican, has garnered the most votes, but according to the Bangor Daily News, Democrat Jared Golden is likely to overtake the incumbent Bruce Poliquin in the ranked voting tally.
Poliquin is whining, but he hasn't filed half a dozen lawsuits or screamed fraud like Rick Scott of Florida.
It looks as if all but one of the statehouse races has been decided. You'll have to do your own research on whether or not anyone is causing a stink about that.
I always liked Mondays. It was like a new beginning after a long weekend––back to work, back to routine–-something about a semblance of regularity that appealed to me. But now it's more like dreading what each new week will greet us with–-what new fresh hell will await.
The Paris trip is over but the melody lingers on and the words and the photos show us once more what Chris Dickey from the Daily Beast described that I thought was spot on:
Grumpy Trumpy "reflected his trademark truculent petulance."
On a another matter: I'm hoping now that the Dems have the House back they will give ordinary legislators the ability to bring bipartisan bills up for debate.
THE LONG MONDAY
It will be a long Monday when I go––
No brass bands to send me off
No high toned strutters strutting their stuff––
Oh, you'll hear the rain--heavy at times
Like a deluge of tears
And you'll feel the wind, snapping off limbs
Once limber like yours that someone caresses
At the ends of days–––––
And my brilliance---all Byzantine coppers and golds
Now thinned out and faded like yours
Whose tresses once captured all those
Shifty-eyed lovers and other strangers.
Get thee to the rake! My leaving
Leaves so much to dispose of––
The ground spread remains
Sink deeply into the earth---the final farewell
Like the held hand slowly slipping away.
2008
PD: nice vision of the melancholy fall-- exactly how I feel as fall slips into winter...
Those photos of 46-1 are telling. He is grumpy and mean-looking. He is also barely moving-- about as energetic as mud... I agree that he is probably melancholy also, as his rallies peter out for now... But LO! Some light breaks as daddy comes into view! Putti! My love! All is good now-- (my god, it comes to this...)
Thanks for the poem, PD. These autumns north of the 45th parallel can be kind of a downer, what with the dark and wet and the aches that accompany the increasing cold. But here today's morning frost thaws under a post-election sun, which for a few hours promises to hold the early dark at bay. We'll take it and be glad.
Those who missed the weekend Douthat, as I usually do, might have enjoyed the comments. Douthat admitted the Pretender's white supremacy rhetoric has limited appeal and didn't help his party in the midterms, but he had trouble granting that his party's so-called economic populism was a bunch of bushwah. Many commenters, with seemingly little else to do on the post-election weekend, attempted to set him straight, the undersigned among them.
"The very real race issues aside, primary among them Trump's deliberate appeals to white supremacy and his anti-immigration stance toward those who happen to be brown or black, his party might not have had such a tough Tuesday if he had actually acted on the economic populism he promised.
The Great Tax Scam was populism for the rich. Denying healthcare to millions is hardly the cheaper, better healthcare for everyone he promised. He has allowed the Republicans to stupidly blame Social Security and Medicare for the deficit the Tax Scam accelerated, and his bullying trade tactics have so far brought the American people, some of those foolish enough to have believed his airy campaign promises, far more pain than pleasure.
Except for the nativism and white nationalism, it is evident to many who voted last Tuesday that his bluster is is no more than that.
Bluster in an empty suit, which today I see on the Times front page he didn't want to get wet."
PD,
"...the held hand slowly slipping away" is a wonderfully melancholic image. Burton would approve. Unfortunately, as he offers in his treatise on melancholy, "Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures..." we know the primary cause of the current malaise: the family Trump. Also the cure: extirpation (a little jail time would do wonders for the spirit as well), but alas, all we can do now is wait a bit and see what the Dems do.
Speaking of which, I do wish people would shut up already about impeachment. First, it ain't gonna happen. Second, impeachment does not mean extirpation unless the Senate agrees. Fatty can still lounge around in the West Wing in his tighty whities munching Doritos and screaming at the TV. But if it did come to full impeachment, we'd be left with Medieval mikey and I for one do not relish the Pencey Inquisition.
I think Pelosi's promise to approach the multitude of investigations strategically is the way to go. Plus, we don't want to give the Trumpbots unnecessary ammunition for 2020 by going off hog wild like they did after Clinton.
On the other hand, there is an argument to be made that should it come out that Fatty's high crimes can be proven, it would be the constitutional duty of Congress to tell him his stuff stinks and to kick his fat ass back to Marred a Lago.
But let's cross that chasm when we come to it.
Not for nothin' but can you imagine the world historical level of outrage on Fox (and by Fatty himself) had it been Obama--or Clinton-- staying warm and dry in a fancy room at the US embassy watching the TeeVee, declining to go a little out of his way to pay homage to the sacrifice of US Marines at Belleau Wood?
As far as I know, Fox hasn't said a single unkind (or truthful) word about it, comme d'habitude. I'm betting Secretary of Propaganda, Sean Hannity, prompted Fatty in one of his late night love calls to make a belated (and solitary) quickie visit to the grave site a couple of days late so's Fox could trumpet his perfect 'merican-ness and continue their unabated hagiography.
Wingers used to invent all kinds of things about Obama to be outraged about (there was once a viral tsunami of outrage over Obama not saluting--during the playing of "Hail to the Chief" without a single moron making the observation that presidents don't salute themselves). Didn't matter. But Trumpy blows off the visit to the graves of over 1,000 marines and it's all jake for the Confederates.
Disgusting.
No Democrat in any outstanding contest in which the vote count is anywhere within shouting distance of winning should concede. R's are using their patented bullying tactics. They figured Al Gore caved when they screamed so all Democrats will.
Trump's demand to call an end to counting ballots is a sign of fear and desperation. It's like an umpire trying to call a game in the eighth inning because the team he favors is up by only a run, other team has runners on first and third with no outs and his team's pitcher is throwing grapefruits.
This is what the Supremes did for The Decider in 2000. They called the game while their guy was still ahead fearing that the other team might score the winning run in the ninth if they didn't.
That run did come in but the game was already called.
No more of that.
And this is another indication of Republican finagling of the electoral process. It's a mess? Sure it is. That's the way they like it. Chaos benefits them. They'd lose without it and they know it. But now that there is a push to force all the votes to be counted they have to pull out some new defense strategies so they get the courts involved and try to put an end to the vote counting.
Cheating is in their blood. So is lying and stealing.
Unfortunately democracy is not a part of their DNA. They have developed antibodies to kill it. Trump is giving them an extra shot.
Yeah, I myself can't get over that shocking time Obama wore a tan suit in August.* Republicans went crazy. Peter King said the suit showed Obama didn't care about national security. Maybe it reminded him of an outfit one would wear on a safari in, you know, Kenya.
*Update: It occurs to me that wearing a tan suit in August does not even begin to "shatter norms."
Love those two pictures of Fatty in France (hey, that sounds like it could be a kid's book, or maybe a movie made by Tim Burton, or probably George Romero--more like it). In the first, we see Merkel and Macron, convivial, intelligent, serious, engaged world leaders. Then we see Fatty who is either in the process of squeezing out a fart and hoping people nearby will blame Merkel, or wondering if his worshipers on Fox are still telling everyone he's the only person that matters over here in cheese monkey land. The look on Melanie's face says "Christ, I'd rather be shopping".
Then suddenly it's all smiles. Here comes Big Dad Vlad, the sort of dictator strongman, murderer of his enemies (and in such grandiloquently macabre ways--radiation poisoning? So, je ne sais pas, Grand Guignol!) that Fatty wishes so much he could be. Thank heavens for some relief from all this blah, blah, blah about peace and democracy and cooperation and more peace and those STUPID DEAD MARINES, I mean, fuck sake, they're dead! Who cares? I'm here. That's all that matters. But Jesus, it's so nice to shake hands with a true villain who stirs up wars and kills people and makes himself billions into the bargain.
Peace, schmeace.
@PD Pepe: Thanks for your kind note from yesterday. I hate to admit it but I've been a long time "lurker" on RC. Found it years ago (probably well over 10 years ago) from Marie's top rated comments on the NYTimes. I feel as if you, Ms. Bea, Akhilleus, Ken Winkes and so many others, some so sadly gone, are part of my extended family. I know for instance that the PD is short for Phyllis Doyle (IIRC), that Akhilleus frequently sends me to the dictionary and that the RC team lead by Marie is one of the best news accumulators on the web.
I realized that I frequently share stories such as the obit for old Orange County with my FB friends and family. From now on if it is something that I think important or interesting enough to share with my FB friends, I'll share with my RC friends.
PD. Love your poem "THE LONG MONDAY" from 2008. May I have your permission to share it (with attribution of course) with my FB family?
Contrition is my mission.
Earlier I wrote that Fatty doesn't seem to care for the Marine Corps, at least dead Marines (especially dead marines?).
But then, he proves me wrong, and I apologize.
In recognition of the 243rd birthday of the Corps, Fatty sent the Marines....
A picture of himself.
How INCREDIBLY thoughtful. Because we can't get enough of that face.
Yes, I feel truly contrite now. (*sob*) Another horrible liberal.
@OGJerry
Welcome.
It's no time to "lurk." I've been out of the liberal closet since about 1966, but am still finding my way in the larger, ever-changing, and lately, this disturbing world. RC helps.
Of interest?
https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-hasnt-asked-michelle-obama-for-advice-2018-11
Why am I not surprised?
If you belong to and are beholden to a family that knows everything, why ask?
A Beto supporting friend forwarded an email that Beto sent out to his supporters last night. Beto is a class act. He is so real that the artificiality of his opponent(s) comes out loud and clear. But you can say that about so many of the 2018 Democratic candidates. Even though we lost some heartbreaking races, the quality of of our competitors along with the strong work of their supporters gives me great hope.
This Quartz article by Leah Fessler has the details and Beto's email. Beto O’Rourke’s thank-you email shows how to keep people motivated after a loss
To All RC Denizens:
Okay, I realize that address might sound a tad tendentious or perhaps a bit ostentatious...
In any event, OGJerry's recent posting gave me pause.
He mentioned that he has been a regular RC reader for many years, an admission I most heartily receive. He also mentions that he found out about RC via the shrewd, erudite, astute, often brilliantly impertinent comments of one Marie Burns (aka Constant Weader) on the Times site.
I know whereof he speaks for I stumbled across this oasis of sanity following the same map.
But I realize there may be many more regular visitors to this oasis. I do wish that they, or some of them, whichever of their number can see it through to making first contact, would make their presence known. I can only convey my own reaction, but when I hear a new voice I stand up stock straight. I'm thrilled to the gills.
As Ken suggests, this is no time for lurking. I do understand that there are those who would prefer to take it all in and not venture their own opinion. I do the same on other sites (if you can believe that--but it's true), so don't take this as a desperate importuning of our lurkers. I've heard from some at other times who say that they feel they can't meet what they think is a required bar.
Nonsense. If you've been out here for a while (years?) and haven't been disgusted or terminally annoyed, I'm guessing you might feel a sense of intellectual/political camaraderie. But I'm really not the one to think about.
Because this ain't my site. It's Marie's. But if you ask my opinion, we need all of us to engage, as many smart, committed, thoughtful people as we can find. If you are not enamored of a viewpoint here, say so. For my part, I'd prefer to hear why some think my position a load of crap.
Let's all talk about it, shall we?
We are in a bad age, brothers and sisters. Let's come together. Over Marie. (Ha...sorry, you Beatles fans will get that...).