The Commentariat -- Nov. 19, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Julie Pace & Jonathan Lamire of the AP: "... Donald Trump is filling his Twitter feed like the campaigner of old even while racing to fill senior positions in his administration. Trump was meeting Saturday with one of his sharpest Republican critics of the campaign, 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, at Trump's golf club in New Jersey, and on Sunday with two leading supporters, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. During the campaign, Romney called Trump a 'con man' and a 'fraud,' while Trump repeatedly called Romney a 'loser.' But first came a tweetstorm.... [Trump] rushed to the defense of Mike Pence on Saturday after 'Hamilton' actor Brandon Victor Dixon challenged the incoming vice president from the Broadway stage.... [See story below.] Trump also bragged on Twitter about agreeing to settle a trio of lawsuits against Trump University, claiming: 'The ONLY bad thing about winning the presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!'" -- CW ...

     ... Update. Michael Schmidt & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump met with Mr. Romney for about an hour and a half. Afterward, both men exited the clubhouse and shook hands for the cameras. 'Went great,' Mr. Trump said, cupping his hands at his mouth to project his voice. Mr. Romney then briefly addressed reporters, declining to say whether he was interested in a cabinet position. 'We had a far-reaching conversation with regard to the various theaters of the world with interest to the United States of real significance,' Mr. Romney said.... Mr. Romney did not answer reporters' questions about whether he had apologized to Mr. Trump for his criticism of him during the campaign." -- CW

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The heads of the Pentagon and the nation's intelligence community have recommended to President Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed. The recommendation, delivered to the White House last month, was made by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.... Action has been delayed, some administration officials said, because relieving Rogers of his duties is tied to another controversial recommendation: to create separate chains of command at the NSA and the military's cyberwarfare unit, a recommendation by Clapper and Carter that has been stalled because of other issues." -- CW

*****

Melissa Eddy & Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "President Obama and several European leaders 'unanimously agreed' on Friday to keep sanctions in place against Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, amid concern that ... Donald J. Trump would soften the United States' stance against Moscow. The show of solidarity came as American allies -- and Ukrainians themselves — have been unsettled by uncertainty regarding what kind of foreign policy Mr. Trump will pursue. With surging populist movements straining alliances and Mr. Trump's election upending the political calculations of many countries, Ukraine may be among the most vulnerable to the shifting political winds. Fighting in Ukraine has continued since Moscow stealthily fomented an uprising among ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine with the help of undercover Russian forces, and then annexed Crimea in March 2014." -- CW

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Barack Obama's administration has ruled out drilling for oil and gas in the pristine Arctic Ocean, throwing up a last-ditch barrier to the pro-fossil fuels agenda of ... Donald Trump. The US Department of the Interior said that the 'fragile and unique' Arctic ecosystem would face 'significant risks' if drilling were allowed in the Chukchi or Beaufort Seas, which lie off Alaska. It added that the high costs of exploration, combined with a low oil price, would probably deter fossil fuel companies anyway....The move, announced as part of the federal government's land and ocean leasing program..., will run from 2017 to 2022...." -- CW

... CW: President Obama had a chance to learn a new word while he was in Greece: "kakistocracy." (See Jamelle Bouie's post, linked below.) If he's learned it, he isn't acknowledging it. BTW, I wonder what "the greatest orator" would say when standing in front of the Parthenon: maybe "What a yuuuge pile of rubble. Sad. I would tear this down & build a great Trump resort. I'll make Greece great again. Call Ivanka." ...

You have probably the greatest orator since William Jennings Bryan.... -- Steve Bannon, describing a man who cannot speak in complete sentences, and -- other than occasional double-entendre vulgarities -- does not use words or concepts unfamiliar to a fifth-grader

Forget Martin Luther King, Jr., forget John Kennedy, forget Mario Cuomo, forget Barack Obama. My concept of what is crazy is already changing in the Age of Trump. Clearly, Bannon is able to function in a highly-effective way, but he's still crazy. -- Constant Weader

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump moved quickly on Friday to begin filling national security posts at the top echelons of his administration, announcing that he had tapped a group of hawks and conservative loyalists who reflect the hard-line views that defined his presidential campaign." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Fanatics to Run National Security Ops. Washington Post Editors: "AMERICANS WHO hope that ... Donald Trump will not upend long-standing U.S. alliances or embrace counterterrorism policies that violate civil liberties and human rights have reason to be disturbed by his first national security appointments. The choices of retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as director of the CIA could presage a harsh and counterproductive U.S. approach to the Muslim world, a dangerous turn toward Russia and the reembrace of tactics for handling terrorism suspects that violate international law.... Mr. Flynn has attracted attention with his rhetorical assaults on Islam and Muslims.... Mr. Pompeo, who has an impressive academic, military and business record, is known as one of the more fanatical purveyors of conspiracy theories about the 2011 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and Hillary Clinton's alleged responsibility." -- CW ...

... Trump Fulfilling Campaign Promise to Be Worst President in 150 Years. Matt Apuzzo & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's remarkable appointments on Friday served notice that he not only intends to reverse eight years of liberal domestic policies but also overturn decades of bipartisan consensus on the United States' proper role in world affairs. Mr. Trump moved unapologetically to realize his campaign's vision of a nation that relentlessly enforces immigration laws; views Muslims with deep suspicion; aggressively enforces drug laws; second-guesses post-World War II alliances; and sends suspected terrorists to Guantánamo Bay or C.I.A. prisons to be interrogated with methods that have been banned as torture.... The reaction from Democrats was immediate and angry. 'The president-elect has created a White House leadership that embodies the most divisive rhetoric of his campaign,' Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said on Friday. 'To the extent that these become policies or legislative proposals, I commit to stopping them.'" -- CW

... David Smith, et al., of the Guardian: "Rights activists have condemned Donald Trump for three cabinet appointments they say could 'undo decades of progress' towards racial equality and effectively legitimise the use of torture.... The hawkish trio have made inflammatory statements about race relations, immigration, Islam and the use of torture, and signal a provocative shift of the national security apparatus to the right. For liberals they appeared to confirm some of their darkest fears about the incoming Trump administration." -- CW ...

"Team of Racists." Jonathan Chait: Trump's "early staffing choices are redefining the boundaries of acceptable racial discourse in Republican politics." But the ultra-racists on the Trump team & less-racist fiscal confederates are accommodating each other. Steve "Bannon is less obsessed with cutting the top tax rate, deregulating Wall Street, and reducing social spending than the traditional GOP is, but he does not oppose these policies, either. That generalized agreement, or lack of disagreement, is the reason it is possible for white-identity conservatives and libertarian conservatives to work together under unified Republican government. Paul Ryan may not like racism -- indeed, he conceded that Trump had made the 'textbook definition' of a racist comment -- but he is willing to work with racists to gut the welfare and regulatory states." -- CW

... Kakistocracy = "Government by the Worst Men." Jamelle Bouie: "Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump said he would hire 'the best people' to staff his administration.... If 'best people' means the hangers-on of the Trump campaign -- the white nationalists, petty authoritarians, and conspiracy-mongers -- then we're on target.... Thus far, to staff his administration, Trump has chosen a white nationalist provocateur; an anti-Muslim conspiracy-monger; and an apologist for a regressive, anti-black politics (and this is before we get to potential appointee Rudy Giuliani, who embodies many of Flynn's and Sessions' worst qualities). These are 'the worst people,' yes. But they also represent a coherent ideology and perspective: white nationalism. The thread that ties Bannon's alt-right advocacy to Flynn's clash-of-civilizations worldview to Sessions' skeptical eye toward civil rights enforcement is a belief in the political and cultural dominance of white Americans.... This is what Trump campaigned on.... And millions of Americans either wanted it or were willing to look past it." -- CW ...

... Adele Stan of the American Prospect: "A frightening array of Islamophobes, xenophobes, homophobes, racists, and misogynists is assembling around ... Trump, normalizing the language and actions of hatred." -- CW ...

... CW: It's worth noting that what this particular basket of deplorables will not do is directly impinge upon the rights of Trump's base voters. The rubes won't care about -- or will support -- the administration's abuse of Muslims, undocumented immigrants, blacks and other racial minorities. The only incursion into TrumpLand might be, say, Sessions' refusing to enforce gender-equality laws, but a lot of Trumpbots would be cool with that, too.

... Sari Horwitz & Ellen Nakashima: "The appointment of [Sen. Jeff] Sessions [Con.-Ala.] is expected to bring sweeping changes to the way the Justice Department operated under Loretta E. Lynch and her predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., who, when he was nominated to be the first black attorney general, pledged to make rebuilding the Civil Rights Division his top priority.... 'Given some of his past statements and his staunch opposition to immigration reform, I am very concerned about what he would do with the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and I want to hear what he has to say,' [Sen. Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] said.A former aide to Sessions said that, as attorney general, he will make national security and fighting terrorism a top priority." CW Translation: Muslim registry. sí; civil rights, adios. ...

... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Democrats are pledging to fight Sen. Jeff Sessions's nomination to be attorney general, arguing the pick feeds into larger concerns they have about the Trump administration. Democrats are raising questions about whether the Alabama Republican would be able to provide equal protection to all Americans, three decades after Sessions was blocked from a federal judgeship because of racism accusations that surfaced during his confirmation hearing. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Friday called for ... Donald Trump to rescind Sessions's nomination. 'If he refuses, then it will fall to the Senate to exercise fundamental moral leadership for our nation and all of its people,' she said." -- CW ...

... ** Ari Berman of the Nation: " Like the Confederate general he is named after, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III has long been a leading voice for the Old South and the conservative white backlash vote Trump courted throughout his campaign. Sessions, as a US senator from Alabama, has been the fiercest opponent in the Senate of immigration reform, a centerpiece of Trump's agenda, and has a long history of opposition to civil rights, dating back to his days as a US Attorney in Alabama...." -- CW ...

... Ed Kilgore: "For manifold reasons of background and ideology (and maybe some score-settling for the scuttling of his nomination 30 years ago as a federal judge), Jeff Sessions as attorney general is a nightmare come to life for people who care about the enforcement of civil rights and voting rights.... There's one issue, however, where Sessions's evident lack of sympathy for minority Americans and his passion for the war on drugs comes together in an especially destructive way: criminal-justice reform.... With Jeff Sessions -- a man who in almost every respect is still living in the 1980s, if not some earlier decades of U.S. and Alabama history -- at the top of the law enforcement machinery of the federal government, criminal-justice reform in Washington (though perhaps not in the states) is probably dead for the foreseeable future." -- CW ...

... New York Times Editors: "Donald Trump ran a presidential campaign that stoked white racial resentment. His choice for attorney general -- which, like his other early choices, has been praised by white supremacists -- embodies that worldview. We expect today's senators, like their predecessors in 1986, to examine Mr. Sessions's views and record with bipartisan rigor. If they do, it is hard to imagine that they will endorse a man once rejected for a low-level judgeship to safeguard justice for all Americans as attorney general." -- CW ...

... Mark Mazzetti & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has selected Representative Mike Pompeo, a hawkish Republican from Kansas and a former Army officer, to lead the C.I.A., his transition team said Friday. Mr. Pompeo, who has served for three terms in Congress and is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, gained prominence for his role in the congressional investigation into the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. He was a sharp critic of Hillary Clinton on the committee." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Back to the Dark Ages. Jennifer Williams of Vox: "... Rep. Mike Pompeo ... [is] a hawkish lawmaker who favors brutally interrogating detainees and expanding the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.... Pompeo's hawkish stance toward Russia, on the other hand, could be a major source of tension between him and [Trump]..., who, along [with] Flynn, seeks to develop closer ties with Russia.... Given both Trump and Pompeo's statements about terrorism and Guantanamo..., it's entirely possible that the CIA under the Trump administration may pivot back toward a policy of detaining and potentially even torturing suspected terrorists once again. In other words, the CIA could be heading back toward a time that many Americans -- including some within the CIA itself -- believed to be some of the darkest days in CIA, and American, history." -- CW

... Fred Kaplan of Slate: "Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been called 'the best intelligence officer of his generation' and an 'abusive,' 'erratic' 'right-wing nut.' There's truth to both sides of this story. In any case, he seems an unpromising choice for the next president's national security adviser.... Many outside critics have denounced Flynn's remarks on Islam as racist, but intelligence officers are at least as disturbed by his analytical shallowness.... Trump seriously needs a strategic educator -- he appears to know nothing about foreign policy, the military, or national security broadly speaking -- but Flynn's shortcomings are also severe, and his main qualification, as far as we've seen, is that he reinforces, and as a retired general legitimizes, Trump's prejudices about Muslims and his oversimplified view of the terrorist threat." -- CW ...

... New York Times Editors: "Of all the disturbing scenes in the presidential campaign, the Republican Convention speech by retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn stood out. During a fiery address in which he lamented the decline of American exceptionalism and lambasted the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, General Flynn joined the crowd in chants of 'lock her up!' Smiling slyly, he shouted: 'Yeah, that's right, lock her up!' It was grotesque, but not entirely surprising for a military intelligence veteran who has earned a reputation for hotheadedness and poor judgment. Americans of all political backgrounds should be alarmed that General Flynn will be ... Donald Trump's national security adviser. It's likely, given his record, that he will encourage Mr. Trump's worst impulses, fuel suspicions of Muslims and bring to the job conflicts of interest from his international consulting work." -- CW ...

... "A Daily Stormer Dream Team." Laurel Raymond of Think Progress: "White nationalists  --  who have long admired Sen. Sessions for his hard-line immigration policies --  quickly voiced their approval [of his nomination]. Even before Sessions was officially named as Attorney General, the Daily Stormer, a white supremacist, neo-Nazi news site, reported happily that he was being promoted to a better role.... [Andrew] Anglin[, the Daily Stormer founder,] was even more jubilant following news of Sessions' selection as Attorney General and retired General Michael Flynn's appointment as National Security Advisor.... In an article titled 'It's like Christmas,' Anglin wrote 'honestly, I didn't even expect this to all come together so beautifully. It's like we're going to get absolutely everything we wanted.... Basically, we are looking at a Daily Stormer Dream Team in the Trump administration.'" -- CW ...

Andrew Restuccia & Isaac Arnsdorf of Politico: "At least three lobbyists have left ... Donald Trump's presidential transition operation after the team imposed a new ethics policy that would have required them to drop all their clients. CGCN's Michael Catanzaro, who was responsible for energy independence; Michael Torrey, who was running the handoff at the Department of Agriculture; and Michael McKenna of MWR Strategies, who was focused on the Energy Department, are no longer part of the transition.... Lobbyists who piled into the transition when it was being run by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were caught off-guard Wednesday by a new ethics policy requiring them to terminate their clients." ...

     ... CW: So the "new rule," imposed by mike pence, was not about ethics (and who thought it was?) but about getting rid of the rest of Christie's team. BUT ...

... Catherine Ho of the Washington Post: "A Trump spokesman said earlier this week that ... Mike Pence and transition executive director Rick Dearborn were 'making good on ... Trump's promise that we;re not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts.' But some lobbyists remain involved in the transition operation and others are advising as informal consultants, two people with knowledge of transition planning said." -- CW

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump, who has repeatedly bragged he never settles lawsuits despite a long history of doing so, is nearing a deal to end the fraud cases pending against his defunct real estate seminar program, Trump University, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. If finalized, the settlement would eliminate the possibility that Trump would be called to testify in court in the midst of his presidential transition. A deal would end three suits against him, including a California class action case that was scheduled to go to trial later this month, as well as a second suit in that state and one brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     .... Update: Steve Eder of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has reversed course and agreed to pay $25 million to settle a series of lawsuits stemming from his defunct for-profit education venture, Trump University, finally putting to rest fraud allegations by former students, which have dogged him for years and hampered his presidential campaign. The settlement was announced by the New York attorney general on Friday, just 10 days before one of the cases, a federal class-action lawsuit in San Diego, was set to be heard by a jury. The deal, if approved, averts a potentially embarrassing and highly unusual predicament: a president-elect on trial, and possibly even taking the stand in his own defense, while scrambling to build his incoming administration. It was a remarkable concession from a real estate mogul who derides legal settlements and has mocked fellow businessmen who agree to them." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Nick Tabor of New York: "In a way, Trump University is a simulacrum of Trump's presidential campaign. Both relied on direct appeals to the downtrodden, especially people without much education. In both settings, Trump claimed he was acting in the public interest. (Because, after all, he's a billionaire! What could he have wanted with their money, or with political office?) And both trafficked in suggestions that Trump was their personal ally against the economic forces that had beaten them down. His rhetoric, when the New York attorney general sued him, was especially telling: He claimed that [AG Eric] Schneiderman let 'Wall Street rape everybody.' It was as though he'd forgotten about those advertisements that touted Trump University's Manhattan address as a symbol of its prestige. 'Other people don't have anyone to call,' they said. 'But you've got Trump. You'll call 40 Wall Street and they'll walk you through.'" -- CW

U.S. to Become Trump Enterprises Subsidiary. Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The potential for conflicts of interest between ... Donald J. Trump and his family's business ventures emerged again Thursday evening, when a photograph was distributed that showed his daughter Ivanka at a meeting between Mr. Trump and the prime minister of Japan. News reporters were not allowed to attend the session, Mr. Trump's first with a foreign head of state, and no summary was provided about what was discussed. A separate photograph was distributed -- press photographers were not allowed to cover the event -- showing that Jared Kushner, Ms. Trump's husband, was present for at least part of the gathering.... Ms. Trump will be among the members of the president-elect's family who will be placed in charge of Mr. Trump's business enterprises, which include an international chain of hotels.... She serves as vice president for development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, and the company's website says one of her 'primary focuses has been to bring the Trump Hotel brand to global markets.'" -- CW ...

... Trevor Potter, a Republican, in the Washington Post, on "how President Trump could use the White House to enrich himself and his family.... Trump says he plans to continue to personally own the Trump Organization..., but three of his adult children will operate the firm while he's in office. This is a colossal mistake.... The Trump Organization already does business in corrupt one-party countries such as Azerbaijan, and his children have been traveling to the Middle East looking for deals. The press has devoted significant resources to reporting on the company's& ties to Russian oligarchs.... The founders ... were greatly concerned about foreign attempts to influence our government..., so they wrote into the Constitution the emoluments clause, which prohibits the president from receiving any personal financial benefit from a foreign government." -- CW ...

... CW: Potter cites several ways Trump could benefit financially from foreign entanglements, including ways that he does not initiate himself. Here's a minor example:

... Jonathan O'Connell & Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "Back when many expected Trump to lose the election, speculation was rife that business would suffer at the hotels, condos and golf courses that bear his name. Now, those venues offer the prospect of something else: a chance to curry favor or access with the next president. Perhaps nowhere is that possibility more obvious than Trump's newly renovated hotel a few blocks from the White House, on Pennsylvania Avenue. Rooms sold out quickly for the inauguration, many for five-night minimums priced at five times the normal rate, according to the hotel's manager." -- CW ...

... Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's ... phones became jammed most of Friday after several Facebook posts calling for an investigation into ... Donald Trump's finances started to go viral. The messages urged readers to call the panel to 'support the call for a bipartisan review of Trump's financials and apparent conflicts of interest.'" -- CW

Eric Levitz of New York on "All the Terrifying Things That Donald Trump Did This Week." New York magazine will make this a weekly feature. CW: Unfortunately, the writers won't want for copy.

Brooke Seipel of the Hill: "... Mike Pence took a break from his work as head of Donald Trump's transition efforts to go see the hit Broadway musical 'Hamilton' Friday night in New York, but received some boos from the audience.... At the end of the show, one of the actors asked Pence not to leave the theater before he could read a statement from the cast. 'Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you and we truly thank you for joining us at "Hamilton: An American Musical,'" Brandon Victor Dixon said. 'We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. We hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us.'" -- CW ...

     ... Update. Elliot Smilowitz of the Hill: "... Donald Trump on Saturday morning lamented that ... Mike Pence was 'harassed' by the cast of the Broadway hit 'Hamilton' a night earlier. 'Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing. This should not happen!' Trump tweeted. 'The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!' he added moments later." CW: Boo-fucking-hoo. ...

     ... Update 2. Elliot Smilowitz: "An actor from ... 'Hamilton' is responding to ... Donald Trump's claim that the show's cast 'harassed' ... Mike Pence.... 'Conversation is not harassment sir,' accord Brandon Victor Dixon replied in a tweet. 'And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen.'" -- CW: Sorry, Mr. Dixon. In TrumpWorld, any implication that you disagree with Trump on any point is harassment. Right now, that premise is ridiculous. If Trump enforces his worldview, it won't be funny at all.

Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "For a brief moment, after a white supremacist carried out a massacre of black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., it seemed as though the Confederate battle flag ... might soon be on its way out of the American political arena. But now that explosive and complicated vestige of the Old South is back, in a new -- and, to some Americans, newly disturbing -- context. During ... Donald J. Trump's campaign, followers drawn to his rallies occasionally displayed the flag and other Confederate iconography. Since the election, his supporters and others have displayed the flag as a kind of rejoinder to anti-Trump protesters in places such as Durango, Colo.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Hampton, Va.; Fort Worth; and Traverse City, Mich.... these incidents, and hundreds of reports of insults and threats directed at minorities and others, are forcing Americans to confront vexing questions about the future of race relations under Mr. Trump and the extent to which his campaign has animated white resentment and even a budding white nationalism." -- CW

They Call Him "El Malo." Joshua Partlow & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "By winning the election, Trump may have inadvertently made his job even harder. His plans have become a selling point for the smugglers urging people to cross the border before a wall goes up, according to migrants and officials in the United States and Mexico.... So many families have arrived in recent weeks that U.S. authorities announced last weekend that they are sending 150 agents to shore up this portion of border in the Rio Grande Valley." -- CW

Kevin Robillard & Elana Schor of Politico: "Maryland Sen.-elect Chris Van Hollen will chair the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the next election cycle, putting the newly elected senator on the front lines of the Democratic Party's fight to keep hold of Senate seats in heavily Republican territory in 2018. Van Hollen ... is considered one of the Democratic party's top strategists." -- CW

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, in the New Yorker: "Last year, when I spoke at a National Press Foundation event honoring Gwen [Ifill], I recalled the words of Viola Davis when she became, just a few weeks earlier, the first black woman to be awarded an Emmy for best actress in a drama. She began by paraphrasing a quote from Harriet Tubman. 'In my mind I see a line,' Davis said. 'And, over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line. But I can't seem to get there no how. I can't seem to get over that line.' She went on to say, 'The only thing that separates women of color from anyone is opportunity.' Gwen not only got over that line but added color to the outstretched arms waiting in the green fields of our profession, encouraging other women of color to follow in her footsteps. And sometimes, even when there is opportunity, those who seize it -- gratefully and productively -- still meet resistance." -- CW

     ... "Tess Rafferty is a TV writer, comic and author." Thanks to Lisa for the link.

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "The Zika virus that has spread to more than 50 countries is no longer considered an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization declared Friday. But the change in designation does not represent a downgrading of Zika's importance, officials said." -- CW

Gubernatorial Election

Alan Blinder & Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Scrambling to save the incumbent governor [of North Carolina], Pat McCrory, Republicans said they were pursuing protests in about half of North Carolina's 100 counties, alleging that fraud and technical troubles had pushed the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Roy Cooper, to a statewide lead of more than 6,500 votes. But Republican-controlled county elections boards, including one here in vote-rich Durham County, turned back some of the challenges on Friday. The legal and political jockeying raised the specter of a recount, and it could ultimately climax in a political wild card: Mr. McCrory using a state law to contest the election in the state's Republican-dominated General Assembly." -- CW

Comments

[Marie Burns]

Does anybody know WTF they're teaching at Harvard? Half the prominent wingers you read about have either an undergrad or advanced degree from Harvard. What happened to a "liberal education" where you learn about facts & stuff? Harvard is seeming more & more like Auburn on the Charles.

Marie

[Victoria]

To give you some perspective, Marie, I recently heard from a Harvard Alum, that last year 70% of the graduating class went into investment banking. This is probably not totally true, but it does say something about what Harvard has always produced: members of the ruling elites of their times, since Harvard's beginning. Think: Increase Mather and all the things he and his son did to the women of Salem.

[Lisa]

This woman really speaks for me (I put this in yesterday's comments by accident). https://vimeo.com/191751334

[Ken Winkes]

(In Trump) "You have probably the greatest orator since William Jennings Bryan...." -- Steve Bannon

"I love the poorly educated." Trump in Nevada.

Have to say, all this makes it very hard to slap down my elitist urges, but I'll keep trying.

[PD Pepe]

@Lisa: Tess Rafferty––hits it out of the park–-thanks much–-just sent it to many. And Hamilton's message to Pence--delicious!

@AK: From yesterday: Enjoyed your "brief but spectacular" treatise on Rorty–-I once has my own brief but unspectacular relationship with my philosophy professor whose bent was a lean toward Richard's. He, the professor, turned out have multiple problems that veered toward neurotic–– again proving intelligence in one field doesn't necessarily mean it covers all territories.

And all my little men loved "The Jungle Book"; reading to children is one of the special joys in life.

[safari]

Is Melania going to pretend to care about the White House vegetable garden, or with they hire foreign help? Is she going to copy Michelle's "Let's Move" initiative while her husband eats McDonalds? Or is she going to enlarge her "anti-bullying" initiative while her husband tweets insults in bed each night? What a position she finds herself in as she death-glares out to the cameras behind her husband's hair.

Is Drvmpvs going to propose proper dinners to his White House guests, or is he going to require each menu come with an unlimited french fry and chicken nugget option? So many questions to ponder....

[Diane]

@Lisa. Tess Rafferty can speak for me every day until Trump is gone. That video pulled me out of the surrealism that I'm battling every day now. Surrealism as in horror not Dali.

@Safari. I think its safe to say Melania Trump will do whatever she is told. She looks like someone whose vacuous expression is either Xanax fueled and/or the result of absent brain cells. I suspect she'll do some great nude photos with strategically placed lettuce leaves from the WH garden, while giving plagiarized talks about cyber bullying. She's soooo classy. Print and broadcast media minimize her, so they don't have to talk about her poor command of English (talk about "that voice") and her less than aspirational personal history. If she were a private citizen, who cares, but she's not. If she were the wife of a Dem president, the Evangelicals would need fainting couches within 10 feet of her and the anti-immigration fanatics would be apoplectic.

[Gloria]

The first thing Melania should do is hire an ESL tutor. I don't believe she speaks five languages when her English is so poor after twenty two years in the US. And can they hire Anna Wintour for some fashion advice? Perhaps Michelle could hand over her wardrobe as well as her speeches.
Although, judging by the campaign, the less exposure, the better ;)

[Gloria]

Diane, snap!

[PD Pepe]

@Gloria: Some fashion designers are coming out urging other designers not to dress Melania. My guess it will be very few that follow that suggestion. It has always been a big plus to have your outfits worn by the First Lady. Money always gets in the way of scruples.

I must confess here that I am somewhat uncomfortable at the Melania bashing. I keep remembering what THEY did to Michelle. I actually feel sorry for the woman–-she has no idea what is in store for her; I also think of her/their young son who must be troubled by all this derision.We really know very little about this woman in terms of what she is really like. She, in a way, has been treated as an appendage to, in her words, "just a little boy." She may find this little boy is a lot more than that and will eventually destroy that world she thinks she lives in. Maybe.

[Patrick]

Re DJT's tweet about the "Hamilton" cast & Pence -- it's not just that disagreement is "harassment", but, really, stage actors are really JUST ENTERTAINERS, sort of like The Help but not as well trained, and it is just impertinent of them to address a master about personal interests in front of others.

[Gloria]

I have also been restrained in my criticisms of MT, though I don't feel at all sorry for her. She knew the bum she was marrying, and has the motives/morals to have an affair with a (fat, ugly, old, rich) womaniser. Anyone should be able to work in the legal sex industry, and not be ashamed. A view not usually shared by Cons. As the election results were being reported on RT, it was showing MT's pics, and these will now be part of the image of the US presidency. So nude photos, escort services, what ever she did, fine. No one has ever held back on Michelle or her daughters, or any other Dem WH children, both sides aren't the same, and the thin skinned Cons couldn't take a fraction of what they have dished out. Their young son has many things to be troubled by, and I don't think there is anything we can do to him that is worse than what his parents have already done. Criticising her language and fashion skills, her plagiarism, her lying about her education and work/visa status are all valid subjects for discussion. Despite the rich vein in many other areas, over which the Cons would unleash the four horsemen of the apocalypse on Dems. IartIYAR.
I'm with Tess, take no prisoners!

[Rockygirl]

I suspect that we will see even less of Melania than we've seen so far, which is to say almost nothing. She & her son will remain ensconced in Trump Tower, emerging only when absolutely necessary.

[Marie Burns]

I'm fine with Melania-bashing, & I think the bashing done here was totally appropriate.

Like PD Pepe, I did feel a little sorry for her having to live with that nasty, unfaithful, misogynist creep. But then I read where she is still suing some individual blogger who published something derogatory and unproven about her -- which he read elsewhere -- then retracted it when she complained. Not good enough for Melania; she wants to destroy the guy. You might want to argue Donald made her do it, but as far as I'm concerned, she's a person of free will, and she did it.

I don't go after the spouses of politicians -- they have enough burden to bear -- unless they ask for it. She asked for it.

Marie

[Nancy]

Thanks, Lisa, for the Tess Rafferty video. Beautiful.