The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705
Wednesday
Nov162016
The Commentariat -- Nov. 17, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Anthony Faoila & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama wrapped up his final visit to Europe on Thursday by issuing a plaintive warning to Western democracies not to 'take for granted our system of government and our way of life' as he prepares to relinquish the international stage to his successor..., Donald J. Trump. 'Democracy is hard work,' Obama said at a news conference after meeting [in Berlin] with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his closest international partners." -- CW
Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said Thursday that he has submitted his letter of resignation to President Obama, cementing his long-declared plan to leave his job as the nation's spy chief when a new president is sworn in. 'I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good,' Clapper said in testimony Thursday morning before the House Intelligence Committee. 'I have 64 days left and I would have a hard time with my wife for anything past that.' U.S. officials emphasized that Clapper's resignation was unrelated to the election victory of Donald Trump, who has publicly dismissed the work of U.S. spy agencies on critical issues, including Russia's interference in the election and Moscow's involvement in the war in Syria." -- CW
Jerry Markon, et al., of the Washington Post: Trump's "5 p.m. session with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump's first with a foreign leader since the election, has raised questions among some in Washington's foreign policy community because Trump has apparently not been briefed by the State Department. Officials said Wednesday that the transition team has not reached out to State. A former State Department official said such a meeting with a foreign leader would normally be preceded by numerous briefings from key diplomats, which is considered especially important here because the Japanese are concerned about comments Trump made on the campaign trail. [Trump] ... repeatedly said that Japan, along with South Korea, should pay more for their defense and that he would make them pay more for hosting U.S. military bases."-- CW
Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "JPMorgan Chase hired hundreds of friends and relatives of potential clients in order to win business in China, an international bribery scheme, federal officials said Thursday, that netted the Wall Street bank more than $100 million. JPMorgan agreed to $264 million in fines to settle civil and criminal charges, an amount discounted in return for the bank's cooperation with the investigations. The bank, which was accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, acknowledged wrongdoing as part of the settlement, an usual admission in such cases." -- CW
Rod Nordland of the New York Times: "Turkey now has handily outstripped China as the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, according to figures compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The jailings are the most obvious example of an effort to muzzle not just the free press, but free speech generally. More than 3,000 Turks have faced charges for insulting the president, including a former Miss Turkey, Merve Buyuksarac...." -- CW
*****
Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel together delivered a rebuttal to the coming era of Donald Trump, issuing a joint plea for more transatlantic cooperation on everything from security to climate change to the defense of a kinder, more inclusive world. On his last overseas trip as president, Obama is currently meeting with Merkel, a centrist leader who observers see as the heir apparent to his legacy as the leading global advocate of liberal democracy. Ahead of a joint appearance later Thursday, the two penned an op-ed piece ... in the German weekly Wirtschaftwoche ... recognizing the painful side of freer trade along with a sober reality check." -- CW
White House: "[Wednesday], President Barack Obama named 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 22nd." CW: You may want to read & savor the list, because from now on the medal will be going to people like Scott Baio & Newt Gingrich.
Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "... seven men, as well as Trump’s adult children and a few others, will make up an unusual power grid in a capital city used to a hierarchical structure. Trump is presiding over concentric spheres of influence, designed to give him direct access to a constellation of counselors and opinions. Such an approach also risks bringing confrontation or even paralysis as feuding factions work to further their own goals, edge out adversaries or distract Trump -- as happened more than once during his presidential campaign. As president, his associates said, Trump will seek rather than shun competing advice. His presidency will be governance as a series of ongoing conversations." -- CW
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump denied Wednesday morning that his transition is in disarray, assailing news media reports about firings and infighting and insisting in an early-morning Twitter burst that everything is going 'so smoothly.' But legal and procedural delays by Mr. Trump's transition team continued on Wednesday, all but freezing the traditional handoff of critical information from the current administration more than a week after Mr. Trump won the presidential election.... [Trump] criticized a report in The New York Times about his early telephone contacts with foreign leaders. In a post on Twitter, he said he had made and received 'calls from many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said. Russia, U.K., China, Saudi Arabia, Japan.' In fact, The Times reported that Mr. Trump had taken calls from the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Russia and Britain, but said they had been conducted haphazardly and without State Department briefings that traditionally guide conversations with foreign leaders. Of the transition effort, Mr. Trump wrote: 'It is going so smoothly.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... "It Is Going So Smoothly." Alistair Bell & Ginger Gibson of Reuters: "One day before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese officials said they had not finalized when or where in New York it would take place, who would be invited, or in some cases whom to call for answers. Uncertainty over the talks shows the difficulties in turning Trump ... into a sitting president with a watertight schedule and a fully functioning administration by his inauguration on Jan. 20. Japanese and U.S. officials said on Wednesday the State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, leaving the logistical and protocol details that normally would be settled far in advance still to be determined. 'There has been a lot of confusion,' said one Japanese official." -- CW ...
... Jerry Markon, et al., of the Washington Post: "In his tweets, Trump falsely implies the Times reported that he had not spoken with foreign leaders and never points out exactly what the Times had in error.... He also denied reports that his transition team has sought security clearances for his children. In his tweets, Trump falsely implies the Times reported that he had not spoken with foreign leaders and never points out exactly what the Times had in error.... Two hawkish Republican senators, Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.), emerged as top candidates for defense secretary. Both would bring military experience, but neither has executive experience running a massive bureaucracy such as the Pentagon." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Tara Golshan of Vox states the obvious: During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump alluded to a more presidential temperament once elected. He 'can act as presidential as anybody that's ever been president,' he said in February.... His latest series of tweets proves that his media bashing wasn't just a function of his campaigning. Rather..., Trump is still on Twitter whining about the media's representation of him. He is still on Twitter, period. And his temperament -- though perhaps slightly more leashed -- has not changed." -- CW ...
... The Word from the TrumpCult. Steve M. peruses the commentariat & finds that Trumpbots are relieved that their Dear Leader is still tweeting because "He has to keep us informed directly," so Americans aren't fooled by the lying media. -- CW
Trump Sues New Hometown. The Taxes Are Too Damned High. Che Odum of Bloomberg: "Donald Trump refiled his lawsuit seeking a refund of taxes paid for his new luxury hotel project in Washington, D.C.... Trump, through a company he owns called Trump Old Post Office LLC, first filed suit against the city in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in June, contesting the assessment against several downtown lots along Pennsylvania Avenue. That lawsuit was dismissed Oct. 27, but the court allowed Trump to refile separate petitions for each of the lots involved in the Trump International Hotel. The first of those petitions was filed Nov. 14. More petitions will be filed, according to court papers." -- CW
Margaret Hartmann of New York: "In an attempt to show that Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise to 'drain the swamp,' on Wednesday the campaign announced that anyone who joins the administration will be banned from lobbying for five years. Trump's ethical stand was undercut by reports that he wants to refill the swamp with a family member. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is likely to take a job at the White House, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sources tell the paper that both White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and presidential counselor Stephen Bannon are urging Kushner to take a formal position, such as senior adviser or special counsel.... As the chief executive of the real-estate firm Kushner Companies and publisher of Observer Media, Kushner deciding to take a government role would present complex conflicts of interest.... But of course, that's not the biggest issue.... A 1967 law ... bans public officials from hiring their relatives." -- CW ...
... Paul Waldman: "Anti-nepotism laws prevent Trump from giving his family members jobs in the administration. But don't think that’s going to stop them from being active participants in U.S. government decision-making, or using the fact that Trump is president to keep money flowing in. In fact, we could see the president enriching himself and his family on a scale that we normally associate with post-Soviet kleptocrats and Third World dictators." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
"Draining the Swamp," Ctd. Ben White of Politico: "A populist candidate who railed against shady financial interests on the campaign trail is now putting together an administration that looks like an investment banker's dream. Former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin has been seen at Trump Tower amid rumors that he's the leading candidate for Treasury secretary. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross appears headed to the Commerce Department. Steve Bannon, another Goldman alum, will work steps from the Oval Office. If Mnuchin drops out..., JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon remains a possibility as Treasury secretary, and will serve as an outside adviser if he doesn't get the job. It's a restoration of Wall Street power -- and a potential flip in the way the industry is regulated -- perhaps unparalleled in American history. 'You would have to go back to the 1920s to see so much Wall Street influence coming to Washington,' said Charles Geisst, a Wall Street historian at Manhattan College." -- CW ...
... Kevin Drum: Rick Perry's Oops! Moment comes full circle. CW: And what could possibly be wrong with Perry's leading the Energy Department? ...
... Jonathan Chait: "The bad news on Donald Trump's transition team is that Mike Rogers, one of the better informed and respected members of the Republican security establishment, has been booted off. The worse news is that, according to the Weekly Standard and a source who contacted the New York Times, Rogers was thrown off because of concerns about his handling of the Benghazi investigation. (Rogers found that, contrary to a popular right-wing conspiracy theory, the Obama administration did not order its security forces to 'stand down.')... The even worse news is that the person who was fired for not being crazy was replaced by somebody who is famous for being crazy. Frank Gaffney has taken Rogers's spot. Gaffney suffers from a variety of delusional beliefs concerning secret Islamic subversion of the government, a conspiracy that runs from such figures as Barack Obama (who Gaffney called 'America's first Muslims president') to Chris Christie, who Gaffney has accused of 'misprision of treason.'... Gaffney was banned from CPAC for being too crazy, which is like being thrown out of the Soprano family for lacking business ethics." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... AND Speaking of Ethics.... Isaac Arnsdorf of Politico: "Donald Trump's transition team appears to have deviated from its own ethics rule barring lobbyists whose work for Trump would overlap with any matters on which they lobbied in the previous year. According to a copy of Trump for America Inc's 'Code of Ethical Conduct' obtained by Politico, members of the transition team must pledge to 'disqualify myself from involvement in any particular transition matter if I have engaged in regulated lobbying activities with respect to such matter, as defined by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, within the previous 12 months.' But at least eight transition team members have done work that appears to flout that internal rule, Senate records show." CW: Don't blame the transition team. How could they have suspected that Trump had an ethics code? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Harper Neidig & Megan Wilson of the Hill: "... Mike Pence is reportedly kicking all lobbyists off the transition team, according to The Wall Street Journal. An unidentified source within the transition team told the Journal that it was one of Pence's first moves since taking over the effort from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was ousted last week.... Trump said in an interview with CBS's '60 Minutes' on Sunday that selecting lobbyists was the only option he had." CW: So pence didn't kick out the lobbyists? Sounds like pence planted the WSJ story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: Steve Bannon "might not be able to pass the background check [to get a top security clearance]. The basic form..., known as an SF86, asks about one's arrest record, foreign contacts, association with organizations dedicated to the use of violence, and association with groups that advocate use of force to discourage individuals from exercising their constitutional rights. All of those questions could be seriously complicated for Bannon, who's been celebrated by American white nationalists, feted by Europe's ultra-right, and charged with choking his wife.... There's rarely been someone with so many questionable ties appointed to such a lofty position. In fact, security clearance experts tell The Daily Beast, Bannon's background would create serious problems for any other government employee -- if he weren't so close to the president. But unlike the nation's soldiers and spies, the alt-right Breitbart ringleader will get special treatment." -- CW ...
... Matt Shuham of TPM: "Steve Bannon suggested there were too many Asian CEOs working in Silicon Valley in a discussion about immigration with then-candidate Donald Trump on his radio program last November. The Washington Post late Tuesday flagged that comment.... 'When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think...' Bannon [said] before trailing off, according to the Post. 'A country is more than an economy. We're a civic society,' he continued.... According to a May 2015 study..., based on 2013 data, only 14 percent of executives at five top tech companies ... were Asian or Asian-American." ...
... CW: Bannon's wild overestimation is typical of racists -- they claim "the problem" is much greater than it actually is. So, you know, black people are killing all the white people (see Trump tweet); Mexicans -- or in this case, Asians -- are taking all the good jobs from "real Americans," etc. Oftentimes, they're not lying; they really believe it, maybe because they read it on Breitbart or another fact-averse alt-right site.
Brian Stelter of CNN: "For the second time in a week..., Donald Trump has abandoned precedent and traveled without the 'press pool,' a small group of journalists assigned to cover his movements. The move Tuesday night has spurred a strong backlash. 'It is unacceptable for the next president of the United States to travel without a regular pool to record his movements and inform the public about his whereabouts,' the White House Correspondents Association said in response." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Trump's America, Ctd. Margaret Hartmann: "Carl Higbie, former Navy SEAL and spokesman for the pro-Trump Great American PAC, argued Wednesday night on Fox News that a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries would pass constitutional muster, citing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.... Higbie's overall argument is correct. Kansas secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump immigration adviser [CW: and a virulent, activist foe of undocumented immigrants], suggested on Tuesday that ... [Trump] might reinstate a registry of Muslims entering the country on visas from countries that pose a terror threat. Though many people were unaware of it, that system -- the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System -- was in effect from 2002 to 2011. Legal challenges of the program did not get very far, and several constitutional law experts told Politico that a similar program would probably be allowed to continue today. Judges will not, however, base that decision on the precedent set by the internment of Japanese-Americans." -- CW
Gail Collins: "One of Donald Trump's big advantages now is that he has so many awful associates. No matter what appointees he foists on us, there's always another pal who'd have been worse. If he names some federal land-grabbing oilman as secretary of the interior, people are going to sigh with relief and say, 'At least it isn't Sarah Palin.'" -- CW
** Radley Balko of the Washington Post writes a must-read on how Rudy Giuliani launched his political career by inciting thousands of drunken, racist cops to riot. CW: I remember the riot, which was shocking, but I didn't remember that, "In the center of the mayhem, standing on top of a car while cursing Mayor Dinkins through a bullhorn, was mayoral candidate Rudy Giuliani."
Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: Donald Trump is floating Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III to be attorney general or secretary of defense. "In 1981, a Justice Department prosecutor from Washington stopped by to see Jeff Sessions, [then] the United States attorney in Mobile, Ala., at the time. The prosecutor, J. Gerald Hebert, said he had heard a shocking story: A federal judge had called a prominent white lawyer 'a disgrace to his race' for representing black clients. 'Well,' Mr. Sessions replied, according to Mr. Hebert, 'maybe he is.'... As attorney general, Mr. Sessions would be responsible for upholding civil rights laws. As secretary of defense, he would oversee one of the most ethnically diverse institutions in the country; 25 percent of the military is African-American, Asian or Hispanic." -- CW
Brad Plumer of Vox: "Donald Trump ... wants to make an infrastructure bill a priority in his first 100 days as president.... The catch, though, is that Trump doesn't really have a plan to [improve the nation's infrastructure].... All Trump has right now is an idiosyncratic proposal for Congress to offer some $137 billion in tax breaks to private investors who want to finance toll roads, toll bridges, or other projects that generate their own revenue streams. But this private financing scheme, experts across the political spectrum say, wouldn't address many of America's most pressing infrastructure needs -- like repairing existing roads or replacing leaky water mains in poorer communities like Flint. It's a narrow, inadequate policy.... Infrastructure doesn't seem high on [Congressional Republicans'] agenda.... Back in September, when asked whether he would help Trump pass a $550 billion infrastructure program, House Speaker Paul Ryan initial response was a loud laugh." ...
... CW: Plumer discusses many aspects of Trump's "plan" that are unworkable. But he doesn't mention this: This is a scheme that benefits only the wealthy -- tax-averse investors & rich drivers. Poor people don't take toll roads & toll bridges if they can avoid them. The pothole-pocked roads & crumbling bridges will be for us second-class citizens while the rich breeze through tollgates to autobahn bliss. Trump's infrastructure dreams are part-and-parcel of his plan to further privilege the haves over the have-nots.
Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe: "... many Americans will wish for [Trump] to be a successful president. Not me.... I want him to fail spectacularly.... Success for Trump would be a disaster for America. If his campaign promises are to be taken at face value, his success would mean that tens of millions of Americans may lose health care insurance. It would mean a step back on fighting climate change.... It would mean a shredded social safety net and little federal attention to voting restrictions and structural racism.... It would mean global instability and a weakening of American's leadership role.... It would mean disastrous trade wars and a domestic agenda that would do more to harm the people who voted for Trump than help them. It would mean mass deportation -- and a humanitarian catastrophe -- for millions of undocumented immigrants.... It would mean making acceptable nativist, racist, and xenophobic hate." -- CW
Another Ruthless Dictator Friends Trump. Sewell Chan & Hwaida Saad of the New York Times: "President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in his first remarks since the American election, has called ... Donald J. Trump 'a natural ally, together with the Russians, Iranians and many other countries' in the struggle against terrorism. The comments from Mr. Assad were no surprise, given that Mr. Trump has suggested that he would end American aid to certain rebel groups and work with Mr. Assad and his ally, Russia." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Repeal & Delay -- Another Excellent Republican "Healthcare Plan." Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "A Republican plan to quickly repeal most of ObamaCare but delay the effects for up to two years is gaining steam on Capitol Hill. The plan would allow Republicans to deliver on promises to repeal the law in the next Congress while buying them time to come up with a replacement. But there's a problem: If insurers know the law is going away, they might drop out immediately, causing chaos for enrollees before any replacement plan has time to take shape." -- CW
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Congressional Democrats ... are constructing an agenda to align with many proposals of ... Donald J. Trump that put him at odds with his own party. On infrastructure spending, child tax credits, paid maternity leave and dismantling trade agreements, Democrats are looking for ways they can work with Mr. Trump and force Republican leaders to choose between their new president and their small-government, free-market principles. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, elected Wednesday as the new Democratic minority leader, has spoken with Mr. Trump several times, and Democrats in coming weeks plan to announce populist economic and ethics initiatives they think Mr. Trump might like." ...
... CW: If you read Brad Plumer's assessment of Trump's infrastructure "plan," you can no doubt see the flaw in Chuck & Nancy's devious plot. They're thinking Flint's Deadly Water and he's talking Super-Highways for Rich People.
Ed O'Keefe & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was elected as the next leader of Senate Democrats on Wednesday, establishing him as one of his party's most senior officials in Washington and Democrats' primary partisan counterweight to a Trump administration.... In a gesture to his party's progressive wing, Schumer added Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to a junior role in his newly expanded leadership team.... Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) will serve as party whip and Schumer's chief deputy, maintaining a role he held under outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will serve as the third-ranking Democrat, foregoing a challenge to Durbin but assuming a new title of assistant Democratic leader. Among Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was reelected unanimously by colleagues on Wednesday morning." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Heather Caygle of Politico: "Nancy Pelosi is officially running for House minority leader again, announcing in a letter to colleagues Wednesday that she has already locked down support from two-thirds of the caucus.... Pelosi's announcement comes at a tenuous time -- she was forced to delay leadership elections after an uprising from rank-and-file members Tuesday -- but her already widespread support could put to rest any rumors of a potential challenger and shows her standing within the caucus remains strong." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald Trump may seek improved relations with Russia, but top Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wants Vladimir Putin held responsible if the Russian government was involved in cyber-hacks to disrupt the U.S. elections. Graham, who has sparred openly with Trump..., is proposing that Congress hold a series of hearings on 'Russia's misadventures throughout the world' -- including whether they were involved in 'hacking into the DNC.' 'Were they involved in cyberattacks that had a political component to it in our elections?' Graham said. 'If so, Graham said, "Putin should be punished.'" -- CW
Marc Stein & Zach Lowe of ESPN: "At least three NBA teams have stopped staying at Donald Trump-branded hotels this season in part to avoid any implied association with the new president-elect, according to league sources. Sources told ESPN.com that the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks have moved away from Trump hotels in New York City and Chicago, which bear Donald Trump's name through a licensing agreement." CW: Yes, but all the Russian ice hockey teams will stay in the soon-TBA "Trumpsky Towers" in Moscow.
Twitter Curtails Trump Backers' Hate Speech. Jessica Guynn of USA Today: "Twitter suspended a number of accounts associated with the alt-right movement, the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech. Among those suspended was Richard Spencer, who runs an alt-right think tank and had a verified account on Twitter.... Spencer has said he wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews removed from the U.S.... In one of the highest-profile bans, Twitter removed the account of Milo Yiannopoulos, a technology editor at the conservative news site Breitbart in July. He had engaged in a campaign of abuse in which hundreds of anonymous Twitter accounts bombarded Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones with racist and sexist taunts." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed: "In the final three months of the US presidential campaign, the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC News, and others, a BuzzFeed News analysis has found." CW: The analysis makes Mark Zuckerberg a liar. But we knew that. ...
... ** Palo Alto, We Have a Problem. Brian Phillips of MTV: "I have my own issues with the New York Times, but when your all-powerful social network [i.e., Facebook,] accidentally replaces newspapers with a cartel of Macedonian teens generating fake pro-Trump stories for money, then friend, you have made a mistake.... One of the conditions of democratic resistance is having an accurate picture of what to resist. Confusion is an authoritarian tool; life under a strongman means not simply being lied to but being beset by contradiction and uncertainty until the line between truth and falsehood blurs.... It's telling, in that regard, that Trump supporters, the voters most furiously suspicious of journalism, also proved to be the most receptive audience for fictions that looked journalism-like.... Democracy depends on a public forum, and ours is upside down.... The American right has now fully postmodernized itself.... And thus we arrive at the Trump campaign, with its annihilating virtuosity in falsehood.... Mark Zuckerberg, in his mild, untroubled blamelessness, may simply be demonstrating the Crescent Park version of the delusion afflicting many Trump voters, which is that privilege is itself a kind of innocence.... And if ... [Trump] has taught us anything, it's that you don't have to believe in your own convictions to let other people suffer for them." Via Paul Waldman. -- CW
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "In her first public remarks since conceding to ... Donald J. Trump last week, [Hillary] Clinton told the crowd [at a Children's Defense Fund gala] she was struggling to recover from an unexpected defeat that she said had left nonwhite children and vulnerable people across the nation afraid." -- CW ...
Katha Pollitt of the Nation: "... only 8 percent of Republican women voted for [Clinton].... There0 are dozens of reasons why Trump won, but misogyny was a big part of it. And if you didn't know women can be misogynistic, now you do. Trumpettes, if you voted for a grotesque liar, bankrupt, and groper with no public-service experience, the only candidate in 40 years not to have released his tax returns, don't tell me you preferred him just because Hillary is 'unlikable.' Judging men and women by such different standards is what female self-hatred is.... Those white women, like the rest of us, now live in a country where the public humiliation of women has the White House seal of approval.... So donate now to the National Network of Abortion Funds, Planned Parenthood, SisterSong, the ACLU, the National Immigration Law Center. Volunteer locally.... Talk to people.... There's so much we can do, but there isn't a lot of time." -- CW
Sam Stein of the Huffington Post: "Several theories have been proffered to explain just what went wrong for the Clinton campaign.... But lost in the discussion is a simple explanation, one that was re-emphasized to HuffPost in interviews with several high-ranking officials and state-based organizers: The Clinton campaign was harmed by its own neglect. In Michigan alone, a senior battleground state operative told HuffPost that the state party and local officials were running at roughly one-tenth the paid canvasser capacity that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) had when he ran for president.... Clinton lost the state by 12,000 votes.... A similar situation unfolded in Wisconsin." -- CW
"Is It Safe?" Nida Najar & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "College admissions ... are worried that Mr. Trump's election as president could portend a decline in international candidates. Canadian universities have already detected a postelection surge in interest from overseas." -- CW
Jim Norman of Gallup: "Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. plunged 10 percentage points in the aftermath of the presidential election -- retreating from a decade high of 37% in the run-up to last Tuesday's vote.... A sharp decline in satisfaction among Democrats explains most of the drop." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors in Minnesota said Wednesday that they had charged the police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. with second-degree manslaughter for the shooting... John Choi, the Ramsey County attorney, said at a news conference in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday morning that Jeronimo Yanez, the officer who shot Castile, would also be charged with endangering the lives of [Diamond] Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter, who was also in the car." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Russia appeared on course Wednesday to become the latest nation to snub the International Criminal Court, sending a signal of defiance after a U.N. panel cited rights abuses and other complaints linked to Russia's annexation of Crimea more than two years ago. The decree to formally withdraw from the ICC, signed by President Vladimir Putin, also could be a preemptive move to buffer Russia against future claims of war crimes related its military intervention in Syria." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Anne Barnard & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Warplanes resumed airstrikes on the besieged rebel-held sections of Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday, as Russia began a major new offensive against insurgents battling Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. Russia's defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, said it had started 'a big operation to deliver massive strikes' against the Islamic State and the Levant Victory Front, formerly known as the Nusra Front, in Idlib and Homs Provinces." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (31)
I try to visualize Giuliani as Secretary of State, and I only see Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table.
As others have already noted, NPR seems to have already shifted to Pravda on the Patomic. Earlier this evening I was fuming about them saying that trump has an infrastructure plan that will be good for the US and for China, with no mention of all the infrastructure projects put forward by President Obama and rejected by the r congresscritters. Now I learn, thanks to the link above, how AWFUL that plan is.
As far as I can tell, Marketplace is the only NPR news show worth listening to.
Nisky Guy - yup, no NPR, no C-Span. News radio station only for traffic & weather. Am mostly listening to the Spanish station these days, which at least has the salutary effect of improving my language skills
According to the ACLU director, Anthony Romero, money is pouring into their coffers ever since the election. People are terrified at what they perceive a Trump presidency will enact. As Romero says, "How is Trump going to implement this immigrant purge? He would have to do something like a drag-net? We will be fighting with everything we have to prevent any kind of discrimination ––it's going to be a big job." ( writing a check to the ACLU might be a good idea).
Yes, re: nepotism: After JFK had Bobby by his side as A.G. a law was implemented which states that no family member––a long list of relatives––can serve in an administration. Therefore Jared Kushner cannot be appointed to anything. But since he has been so involved so far you can bet he's gonna be close at hand.
I'm with Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe: "... many Americans will wish for [Trump] to be a successful president. Not me.... I want him to fail spectacularly.." I want him to implode––I want the people who voted for him to understand fully that they voted for someone who will, along with a lot of help from his friends, screw them royally. And I want to see us fight like hell to stop the crazy shit that will try and get passed in Congress. Nein, nein, nein!!
Meanwhile back in NYC three apartment buildings are in the process of tearing down the name "Trump" ––-the people in those buildings voted for their buildings to be free of a name they now find tainted. Go apartment dwellers!
Yesterday I was hanging out at the Rutgers NJ Medical School in Newark and I heard Trump talk. Serious concern about what new policies could mean for medical education. If there is no insurance for millions, who will pay the bills. The faculty would have a hard time following Republican concept and just letting them die. Will there be cuts in that wasted money called medical research?
And unrelated to ethical issues, that money for patient care and research pays most of the bills for medical education, not just at NJMS but everywhere.
At NJMS tuition is about 40 million, research is about 100 million (that is multi year) and medical practice even more. And again typical.
So here is an example of what are probably many situations that are not in the headlines that could seriously damage America.
And BTW, since the NYT has presented an editorial declaring that Guiliani is totally unqualified to be Sec. of State, I am pretty sure that will get him the job.
There have been a multitude of books written about Putin. One of the newer ones is "The Less You Know the Better You Sleep: Russia's Road to Terror and Dictatorship ..." by David Satter who says to understand today's Russia, "is actually very easy, but one must teach oneself to do something that is very hard––to believe the unbelievable ––because Russia is a universe based on a completely different set of values."
Angela Merkel arrived at a similar conclusion, says Satter, in March 2014 following a phone conversation with Putin in the midst of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Merkel told Obama afterward that Putin was out of touch with reality, living "in another world."
If Donald Trump thinks he can be buddies with Putin he is believing the unbelievable––hey––maybe–-who knows? while Putin is clinging on to the scraps of Russia's imperial past, Trump is trying to "make America Great Again"–– so much in common–they could join forces and blow up the world together.
The serious side of this love fest has been the financial ties between the Trump camp and a range of Putin's allies. We still don't have the clear story on this. Cozy connections need to be outed!
P.S. and today Shinzo Abe might be stranded in NYC not knowing where or when or how his meeting with Trump will take place. Yep––things are "going smoothly." Unbelievable!!!
Recorded yesterday for our not-so-local community radio show, "We Do the Work:"
I think millions of those who voted for the electoral college winner in last week's Presidential election will be disappointed.
Seems to me the Trump campaign had multiple legs, as Mark Twain had Emmaline Grangerford say, it "it seemed almost spidery to me."
First, hate Hillary. I have nothing to say about that other than that the degree to which it was successful because mindless misogyny won, the whole thing was reprehensible, heck, I'll say it, downright deplorable.
But deplorable didn't stop there. There was all that talk about getting those brownskins back across the border where they belong. Already, as I record this, we hear the scurry of some quiet backtracking. Seems the Trump deportation policy will be a lot like the Obama policy he excoriated and that much of his promised wall will be more of a backyard fence. WDTW will keep its eye on that one. I'm also wondering how many employers of undocumented workers will be hauled before da judge. If I sound skeptical that that will happen, it's because I am.
Our main focus in the coming months, though, will be on workers. After all, we are WDTW and millions of workers voted for Trump because he promised them the moon, all the planets and the entire heavens.
We'll see. Both Trump and WDTW opposed the TPP and I will not shed any tears at its apparent death. Surely in its present form we were right to question it, and the track record of many previous trade deals strongly suggests they have not been good for America's workers.
But millions of American workers do depend on trade, so the devil is not in the deals but in their details. I'm guessing something will replace the TPP. We just don't know what.
Beyond the TPP, though, lie all those other promises. Big spending on infrastructure for one. That's dependent on a Republican Congress that has made a show of displaying public angst about the debt. They will also be asked to approve a Trump tax policy that will vastly increase that debt. I wonder where all that big spending on infrastructure fits into the collision course the Republicans have set up between cutting taxes (primarily on the wealthy) and their deep fear of debt .
The millions of new high paying jobs claim is something else we will keep our eye on. TPP or not, we do live in an interconnected world and much of our economy is closely tied to other countries, joined at the hip as it were--just think of Walmart, the world's largest private employer and how few goods on its shelves are made in the USA-- so I'm frankly skeptical about the magic in Trump's job creation wand. Something else to watch.
I'm wondering also how those workers who supported him figured someone who has repeatedly attacked unions and the force they bring to bargaining is going to raise their wages and benefits.
I'd note, too, that as it stands millions of low wage workers depend on Obama Care for their medical insurance. From what I heard over and over agin, Trump intends to get rid of that and replace it with WHAT? The repeal part is clear. The what is as vague now as it has been for the last seven years.
Finally, for now, how about coal? Trump promised to revive the industry. We'll have to see how that promise works out, too. Regardless of one's opinion about global warming and the other harmful effects of all fossil fuels, Trump will be in charge only of govt. policy. He can roll back or even eliminate EPA regulations as he has promised to do. But can he control the world market for coal?
I have my doubts about that, too.
I'm proposing a scorecard for the Trump Jobs Bonanza Game. We'll check it from time to time to see how the rhetoric matches the reality.
But WDTW shouldn't be the only one keeping score.
I'd recommend all American workers have their pencils ready. It'll be something to do to while away the hours if all those promised high paying jobs don't magically appear.
An acquaintance told me this morning that a Spanish commentator has referred to the Trump family as "the White House Kardashians".
Ken,
Regarding coal--and all fossil fuels--Trump's promises to revive those industries pay no heed to facts or science. Coal jobs are not going away because Obama hates coal mining families, they're going away because coal is going away. Not in our lifetimes, but by the time my kid is showing his granddaughter how to throw a curveball, there will only be a few years of coal left.
Any reasonable and sentient leader who cares not only about the country but about its viability and energy needs going forward would not be promising to go backwards.
But this is the Republican Way, isn't it? Go backwards. On everything. And Trump is not reasonable and only barely sentient. Like most Republicans, he cares only about himself and the here and now. As The Decider once said, codifying right-wing greed and its cavalier approach to the future, who cares about people 100 years from now. We'll all be dead.
Our poor country.
I regret not having access to Trump's brain where he is now finding out what the job of POTUS actually is. It may be a violation of the Geneva agreement on torture.
Frank Gaffney is now making national security decisions for Trumpy? Are you kidding? Frank fucking Gaffney? The guy is as crazy as a shithouse rat. They call him the Joe McCarthy of Islamophobia.
Here's how nuts the guy is: he saw the redesign for a missile defense group and interpreted it as a sign that Obama's Secret Muslims were taking over national security weapons programs. I am not even kidding. Oh, and where was this nugget shouted out as gospel truth? Why, Breitbart, natch. One stop shopping for all kinds of barking dog crazy. And Chief of Crazy will soon be running the White House! Yay! But back to Gaffney.
This conspiracy nuttiness puts him in the same company as idiots who interpret designs on the top of an Oreo cookie as medieval symbolism outlining a plot by either the Vatican or Satanists (your choice) to take over the world. A fucking Oreo. This is the same sort of mindset that sees a symbol noting that foodstuffs are authorized as Kosher, a real aid to families keeping Kosher, and interprets it as the sign of a "Jew tax", a super secret tax that takes money from real 'mericans (ie, non-Jews, get it? Get it?) and pours billions every year into the pockets of evil Zionists who are also trying to take over the world (no end of people shooting for that particular brass ring).
Francis Bacon once said something to the effect that those who know little, suspect much. Another way to put it is that conspiracy theories are harbored by weak minds.
And this is the guy Trump brings in to advise him on national security. Better stock up on Oreos. They might be illegal soon.
Oh wait! I just read that Gaffney isn't the only jabroni looking into national security issues. Good news! errr......well....maybe. It's...it's...Jared Kushner. And his qualifications for advising on national security issues are....?
Shit. Never mind.
Christ, this gets worse by the day. Running smoothly, my ass.
@Ken W: the demise of TPP could actually harm American workers. Here's an Atlantic piece that spells out the pitfalls and gives an excellent overview of the treaty:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/tpps-death-wont-help-the-american-middle-class/507683/
James Fallows was on Rose last night discussing China and made the same arguments for TPP as above.
Wonder if Herr Drumpf will be pounding on the table in front of Shinzo Abe demanding protection money (once, that is, they can figure out where to meet), or will he crumble into a deferential little fuzzball as he did when he met with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto?
Trump, like most bullies, talks big, but isn't much on his own without the bucking up of his attack lawyers and obsequious, yes-men apparatchiks along to tell him how great he is. Should be a big hit at the G8 (or the G7 as it's now called since Trumpy BFF Russia was booted because of their annexation of Crimea, something Trump claims never happened--cue Woody Woodpecker laugh again).
And we thought Bush made us look stupid.
@AK: Frank Gaffney??? Say it isn't so! I'm beginning to think we are on the brink of madness. I recall the horror of the *Kent State shootings and thought then we were heading toward that brink, but this feels like a complete "takeover" and I am frightened.
*When Neil Young saw the picture of a young girl leaning in anguish over the dead body of Jeff Miller he set his anguish to music:
Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in O-hio
Those drums are getting louder and louder.
All my life I've read stories about Hitler and the Holocaust and thought, wow that could never happen here in America.
Hard not to wretch now before I open my mouth to say, think again and get ready because it's going to happen.
And, please, no one tell me that there are too many "checks and balances" for that to happen. He's not even officially in office and the people who control him (jesus, you don't think he's smart enough to do all this on his own, do you?) have broken every norm and probably law there is. Who's there to stop them?
Answer: nobody
@Rockygirl: I'm with you, except for the Spanish part. I'll just drive in silence.
And, I'm changing your name to RockyGirl because you deserve a capital G just as much as NiskyGuy.
If Stephen Bannon is anti-semitic, how does he square having Jared Kushner on the team?
How can Trump be suing D.C. to lower taxes on his hotel property there? I don't get how this is allowed to happen. Checks and balances my ass.
@PD:
Agreed. The TPP story is complicated, far more complicated than Trump can Tweet. No doubt, some American workers would benefit from its passage.
I think the backlash against trade deals, including the TPP which Trump used so effectively is a tardy recognition on their part that American workers do not live in isolation and that while some workers would benefit from the TPP as it was written (here in WA State unionized Boeing workers should have liked it), the overall effect of some of its provisions were more likely negative. Frankly, the varying effects of globalization have befuddled everyone, workers, economists and rust belt workers alike.
To me, placing corporate interests even more firmly in charge of the world, one of the primary effects of such trade deals, will ensure a brighter future for all, American workers included. The main objection I have to trade deals is that they are universally made to benefit corporate interests, not worker or environmental interests (both the interests of the many, not the few), and we shouldn't have to look to Marx to recognize that American worker and corporate interests have seldom coincided over the last forty or so years.
Thought it interesting the other day when Marie suggested that the ability to hold two conflicting thoughts in mind simultaneously might be a mark of insanity, not intelligence. An appropriate comment maybe on the R's contradictory promises of cutting govt. budgets and funding infrastructure and military spending (Don't think the privately funded toll road and bridge bob and weave will fool anyone.) and the like, but that's not the same thing as having mixed feelings about a mixed bag, which I consider trade deals to be.
There, one has to weigh the good and the bad in light of his or her values and come to a decision, something I'm guessing--hell, I know-- (pardon the elitism here) most Trump voters did not trouble to do.
Clue to the clueless:
That Donald Trump is willing to tie up traffic, to cause delays and headaches for city workers and residents and businesses just so he can sleep in his own bed every night -- and we all know that's because he's a germophobe -- tells you what he thinks about your life and your problems. Thanks, you witless fuckers.
@Jackalizer: Kind of an insult to the Kardashians if you ask me, but spot on and funny.
Give the Spanish commentator the rest of the week off with our thanks.
I meant to give Dan a nod earlier for his Khrushchev/Giuliani imagery. Good one. The difference is, Khrushchev was engaged largely in theater. Presenting to the West the image of a slightly unhinged, very pissed off Soviet leader was, he felt, a good show. With Giuliani, unhinged is the natural order of things.
No wonder Trump loves him.
Analysis of this debacle will continue for years but it's those third party schmucks who still rankle the most (those who couldn't be bothered voting at all are simply not worth mentioning). But it seems, from several data dives that Libertarian minded early supporters of Gary (What's an Aleppo?) Johnson migrated swiftly and decisively to Trumpaldino as time grew short and brains grew weak.
For me, this is yet more evidence of the essential self-interested, mercenary, and what's in it for me? nature of Libertarianism. Screw helping for or caring about anyone else. It's the ultimate "Fuck you, Charlie, I got mine, and if I don't, get out of my way until I get it" mindset. Naturally, someone of that order would gravitate to the ultimate greedy-ass, "Fuck You Charlie" asshole, the Trump Monster.
A half-assed, debased, narrow minded, avaricious political philosophy. Anyone looking to see the effects of Libertarianism can get out their notebooks and start writing. Over the next couple of years, they'll see what it's helped to manifest.
@ Akhilleus:
In January 2016 the US Energy Information Administration said that US recoverable coal reserves are 255,000 million short tons. US coal consumption was 73 million short tons. My math makes those reserves sufficient for almost 3,500 years at current rate of consumption. Of course if we continue to consume fossil fuels humanity will be long extinct before the year 5,516.
Cowichan,
Well, shit, then. I guess we can burn coal until the cows come home.
Not doing my own math, I relied on a number of varied sources and even the CIA World Fact Book, based on its estimations of consumption, figures that once oil runs out, coal, which should still be around, will be burned at significantly higher rates depleting the remainder in much shorter order.
My whole point was that we should be looking forward where energy is concerned. Not back. I really don't care if we have thousands of years of coal left and in all the resources I checked, I never saw anything like that number, but I could be wrong. I'm guessing that even with so-called clean coal, we won't make it to 3,500 years if we allow carbon emissions to climb.
Trump's promises to restore energy industries that basically harm the environment is a non-starter. At least for the planet.
But thanks for the math.
@ Nancy: The "Guy" part comes from my very first post which, I believe, was something about women's health. I wanted to make clear that I was voicing an opinion based on empathy but not direct experience. I capitalized because it looked funny without it. Out in the "real" world, I fail miserably at being a "guy."
Coal jobs will continue to go away because bigger and better machines can do the job more efficiently than people. And sick or maimed machines can't sue the owners.
We are not going to have a Holocaust in the U.S.
Trump & his Gestapo may round up people and deport them, and a few people certainly could be killed in the effort. But Trump will not try to, nor would he get away with, rounding up millions of people for extermination. I expect over the next few years we will see many aspects of fascism take hold, or Trump will certainly try to impose them.
But we will not see a Holocaust.
Let us show our respect for those who suffered and died in Hitler's concentration camps by not equating the suspension of civil liberties with mass murder. They are both horrible, but one is far more so.
Marie
""Turkey now has handily outstripped China as the world’s biggest jailer of journalists...More than 3,000 Turks have faced charges for insulting the president..."
Whoa, that's nothin'. Wait 'til Miles Gloriosus gets going. Journalists will be chucked in the clink left, right, and center for insults real and imagined, if he has his way.
And hey, what a great idea to sit down with foreign leaders without talking to people who know what's going on. I guess the "foreign affairs" tab on the Breitbart site is all Trumpy needs to give those Japanese the what for. "Asians Taking Over Silicon Valley! Holy Tech Start up, President Man. Save the White People!"
Yeah, he'll do fine.
@Akhilleus.
Hate to be pedantic but we will never 'run out of oil'. If we burn all the existing proven reserves of oil our global goose will be well and truly cooked by global warming. We have more fossil fuel reserves than we can ever use in the foreseeable future. Perhaps whatever species is in charge when the next ice age looms can use the capped reserves to warm the planet. Soon we will need to cease consuming any fossil fuels. Then you may see a global trade pact. One which bans all commerce with the Confederate States of America until you too cease consuming fossil fuels.
Heard Obama telling the Germans that he expected that Trump would change his game as he became aware of the awesomeness of the Presidency and (presumably) all will go wonderfully well. That worked wonders with Nixon and Bush the Younger. Obama truly is not American. He's from another planet.
@NiskyGuy -- was just having fun. No offense intended.