The Commentariat -- October 19, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "Republican Rep. Francis Rooney (Fla.), who this week refused to rule out impeaching President Trump, announced Saturday that he won't seek reelection."

Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Witch? Adam Goldman & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors reviewing the origins of the Russia investigation have asked witnesses pointed questions about any anti-Trump bias among former F.B.I. officials who are frequent targets of President Trump and about the earliest steps they took in the Russia inquiry, according to former officials and other people familiar with the review. The prosecutors, led by John H. Durham, the United States attorney in Connecticut, have interviewed about two dozen former and current F.B.I. officials, the people said. Two former senior F.B.I. agents are assisting with the review, the people said.... Closely overseen by [Attorney General Willaim] Barr, Mr. Durham and his investigators have sought help from governments in countries that figure into right-wing attacks and unfounded conspiracy theories..., stirring criticism that they are trying to deliver Mr. Trump a political victory rather than conducting an independent review. And on Thursday, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, tied Mr. Durham's investigation to the Ukraine scandal, infuriating people inside the Justice Department." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Seriously, isn't asking officials to disclose their political preferences the definition of a witch hunt?

Democrats Introduce THUG Act. Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would block federal funding for next year's Group of Seven (G-7) summit at Trump National Doral Miami. Democratic Reps. Lois Frankel (Fla.), Bennie Thompson (Miss.) and Steve Cohen (Tenn.) introduced the Trump's Heist Undermines the G-7 (THUG) Act after acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters Thursday that the Trump resort near Miami will host the annual summit of world leaders June 10-12. A companion bill is being introduced in the Senate by Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).... The legislation also would require Trump to provide Congress with any documents related to his decision to host the event at his property. The measure is unlikely to be taken up in the GOP-controlled Senate."

Mark Landler & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Just as Britain appeared on the cusp of a history-making, up-or-down vote on its long-delayed departure from the European Union, the British Parliament struck an impasse on Saturday as lawmakers adopted a measure that delayed a vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal with Brussels. The turbulent events left Mr. Johnson's agreement in limbo, legally obliging him to seek yet another extension for Britain's departure, which he had once vowed never to do. It was the latest twist in a debate that has convulsed the country ever since the British public voted in 2016 for a divorce from the European Union." See also the Guardian's liveblog. ~~~

~~~ BBC: "Protesters are outside Parliament as MPs sit on a Saturday for the first time in 37 years. There were jubilant scenes as an amendment to the PM's deal was passed.... The measure ... withholds approval of Mr Johnson's deal and forces him to seek a delay...." With photos & videos.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. McCrabbie: The other day I wrote, in the context of an unrelated absurd Trump stunt, "Next up: photos of Kurds on the run, yet happily giving the thumbs-up to the Turkish invasion." That was supposed to be a sick joke. Donald Trump not only didn't get the joke, he claimed it was reality: ~~~

     ~~~ ** Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "President Trump insisted Friday that Kurdish allies who were being forced from northern Syria to avoid slaughter are 'very happy about the way things are going,' describing the already breached ceasefire brokered with Turkey like a business deal. Mr. Trump made the comments at the White House a day after Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a ceasefire agreement from Turkey and hours after fighting in the region reportedly resumed." ~~~

     ~~~ It Was Worse Than That: Trump Endorsed Turkey's Ethnic Cleansing of the Kurds. Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump lavished praise Thursday on his 'friend' and 'hell of a leader' Recep Tayyip Erdogan.... Trump said the Turks needed to have a swath of Syria 'cleaned out' after battling with Syrian Kurds there.... 'For many, many years, Turkey, in all fairness, they've had a legitimate problem' with northeast Syria, where the Kurds are settled, Trump said.... 'They had terrorists, they had a lot of people in there they couldn't have ... and they had to have it cleaned out.'" Mrs. McC: What Trump means by "cleaned out" is what Erdogan has wanted all along: ethnically cleanse the region of Kurds. Erdogan is not "cleaning out" "terrorists"; he's "cleaning out" Kurds -- men, women & children. ~~~

~~~ Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "Shelling and gunfire continued in northern Syria on Friday morning, casting further doubt on the feasibility of a cease-fire announced a day before by Vice President Mike Pence between Turkish and Kurdish forces and raising questions about whether the Americans can even enforce it. The Kurdish leadership in northern Syria accused the Turkish military and its proxies of violating the terms of the truce. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that any fighting was continuing." (Also linked yesterday.)

He Was Not Amused. Mitch McConnell, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American people and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies, and weaken important alliances. Sadly, the recently announced pullout risks repeating the Obama administration's reckless withdrawal from Iraq, which facilitated the rise of the Islamic State in the first place.... The threat [of terrorism] is real and cannot be wished away.... There is no substitute for American leadership.... We are not in this fight alone. In recent years, the campaigns against the Islamic State and the Taliban, in Iraq or Syria or Afghanistan, have been waged primarily by local forces. The United States has mainly contributed limited, specialized capabilities that enable our local partners to succeed. Ironically, Syria had been a model for this increasingly successful approach.... Unfortunately, the administration's recent steps in Syria do not reflect these crucial lessons. The combination of a U.S. pullback and the escalating Turkish-Kurdish hostilities is creating a strategic nightmare for our country." Update: The Hill has a summary of McConnell's op-ed. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I guess we are supposed to give Mitch credit for at long last standing up to Trump. But, um, the word "Trump" never appears in the op-ed linked above. Mitch does manage to criticize President Obama, by name, twice. Even though Trump alone gave Erdogan the greenlight to invade Northern Syria -- over the objections of every expert in his administration -- Mitch criticizes "the administration" for the "strategic mistake" ... when he's not using the passive voice.

AND He Was Not Amused. Borzou Daragahi of the U.K. Independent: "Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Donald Trump's recent letter ... 'was not in line with diplomatic and political courtesy. We will not forget this lack of respect. This is not a priority for us. But when the time comes we would like it to be known that we will take the necessary steps.' The extraordinary missive warned the Turkish leader not to be a 'fool' over Turkish plans to start a military campaign in northern Syria.... It emerged on Thursday that Mr Erdogan reacted angrily to the letter, throwing it in the bin and commencing the military offensive, which has left dozens of civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands." (Also linked yesterday.)

One Big Honking Conspiracy, Starring Rudy & the Don, with an International Cast of Other Shady Characters

Chris Hayes drew a through line between Trump's Turkey "policy" and his Ukraine "policy." The main guy pulling that line is Rudy Giuliani. It's kinda fascinating, and if Hayes' suppositions pan out, as I think they may, quite horrifying. Even if the one part of Hayes' analysis -- a line from Trump's dumb-schoolyard-bully letter to Erdogan -- is never fully exposed, the level of corruption that is already in evidence is staggering:

~~~ Here's another thread in the throughline that Hayes doesn't mention, but is certainly an element of the scheme: ~~~

     ~~~ Stephanie Baker & Irina Reznik of Bloomberg: "Associates of a Ukrainian oligarch fighting extradition to the U.S. were working to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden last summer in an effort to get Rudy Giuliani's help in the oligarch's legal case, according to three people familiar with the exchanges. Dmitry Firtash, charged with conspiracy by the U.S. and living in Vienna, shuffled lawyers in July to add Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, vocal supporters of ... Donald Trump who had worked with Giuliani. Around that time, some of Firtash's associates began to use his broad network of Ukraine contacts to get damaging information on Biden, the people said. DiGenova and Toensing have billed Firtash about $1 million for their work, one of the people said. That includes costs for Lev Parnas, a Giuliani associate, as a translator and important contact.... Parnas was arrested last week along with several associates and accused of conspiring to violate campaign-finance laws." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: (This is my "last free [Bloomberg] article"; since I think it's the only Bloomberg story I've clicked on this month, it might be your one & only free Bloomberg article, too.) Josh Kovensky of TPM covers the same ground & incorporates content from the linked Bloomberg story. Josh Marshall of TPM, calling out "the Big Dirty," writes, "And there it is, the other quid pro quo. Notorious Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash would help Rudy and DiGenova and Toensing cook up dirt on Joe Biden. In return, they'd work with Trump to get US corruption charges against Firtash tossed." ~~~

~~~ The Element of Truth. Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "Career diplomat George Kent told congressional investigators in his closed-door testimony this week that Rudy Giuliani asked the State Department and the White House to grant a visa to the former Ukrainian official who Joe Biden had pushed to have removed when he was vice president, according to four people familiar with Kent's testimony. Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, testified that around January 2019 Giuliani requested a visa for former Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin to travel to the United States. Shokin had been pushed out of his position as Ukraine's top prosecutor in 2016 after pressure from Western leaders, including Biden, over concerns that he was not pursuing corruption cases. Giuliani has previously told CNN he wanted to interview Shokin in person because the Ukrainian promised to reveal dirt on Democrats. Kent told congressional investigators the State Department had objected to the request, and State did not grant the visa. Giuliani, Kent said, then appealed to the White House to have State reverse its decision. The incident reveals how Giuliani's work to dig up dirt on Democrats went much further than previously understood -- and included an attempt to directly influence the actions of the federal government." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "A career State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy told congressional investigators this week that he had raised concerns in early 2015 about then-Vice President Joe Biden's son serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company but was turned away by a Biden staffer, according to three people familiar with the testimony. George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified Tuesday that he worried that Hunter Biden's position at the firm Burisma Holdings would complicate efforts by U.S. diplomats to convey to Ukrainian officials the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, said the people.... But when Kent raised the issue with Biden's office, he was told the then-vice president didn't have the 'bandwidth' to deal with the issue involving his son as his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, said the people familiar with his testimony. The testimony by Kent offers a reminder that as Democrats probe President Trump's alleged actions in pressuring Ukraine to dig up compromising information on Biden, the impeachment inquiry also threatens to keep alive questions about the former vice president's handling of his son's foreign work at a precarious moment for his 2020 presidential campaign." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Expect to hear a lot from Right Wing World about this bit of testimony. ~~~

~~~ Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: Rudy "Giuliani has continued to represent clients, broker deals and take on consulting contracts in Washington and around the world in ways that leave him subject to criticism that he is using his role as President Trump's personal lawyer to open doors to the government and influence policy despite the questions about his own conduct. A few weeks ago, Mr. Giuliani secured a meeting, along with some other defense lawyers, with the head of the Justice Department's criminal division and attorneys in the fraud section. They were there to discuss a foreign bribery case for a client that Mr. Giuliani described as 'very, very sensitive.'... [Giuliani's growing client list] coincided with a heightened demand for back channels to Mr. Trump.... Business and political leaders -- particularly in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union -- were willing to pay handsomely for relationships with Trump intimates that could give them access in Washington or additional credibility and stature at home." ~~~

~~~ Ben Schreckinger & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico have been looking into Rudy's friend Lev Parnas of Lev & Igor fame. Here's how they begin: "On Oct. 25, 2008, the owner of a property in Florida in which Lev Parnas had been living told Parnas to leave. When the men began to argue and the owner told Parnas he would call the police, Parnas told the man, 'If you call the cops, they are not going to find you ever,' according to a petition for a restraining order filed by the landlord in Miami-Dade county court.... Three days later, the men met to discuss the matter again. According to the petition, Parnas held a gun to the man's head and said, 'This is my last warning to you,' then got into his car, a dark blue Porsche Cayenne, and drove off. Three days after that, on Halloween, the police seized from Parnas a .38 revolver, a 9mm pistol, an automatic pistol, and a .40-caliber Glock pistol, according to a court motion filed later by Parnas seeking return of the firearms. The condo at the heart of the dispute was on the 42nd floor of Trump Palace in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe this scene with Lev & the landlord at the "Trump Palace" should be the opening scene of the Trump impeachment movie. It's as if the American experience has been in search of this tawdry epic ever since Richard Nixon hired the Plumbers in 1971 and engaged "ratfuckers" to play dirty tricks on Democratic candidates. Trump's ratfuckers are so much sleazier than Nixon's.

Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "After a week of depositions from key figures in the impeachment inquiry, Democrats are coalescing around a push to prove that [Donald] Trump committed impeachable offenses at least partly by showing that Trump had intimate knowledge of and directed [Rudy] Giuliani's plans, goals and tactics. Buttressing their strategy is a modest but intensifying public outcry among Republicans over Giuliani's shadow diplomacy, in which the former New York City mayor sought to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and revive a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. And it's not just Democrats ... who represent safe liberal districts. Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.), a moderate freshman whose Orange County seat Republicans are targeting, said it is clear that Trump had a deep understanding of the details of Giuliani's Ukraine crusade. '... it's ... very clear from the evidence that President Trump directed members of the State Department to work directly with Giuliani in their efforts in Ukraine. So the nexus is there. There is no debating the facts.'"

Paul Brandus of USA Today: "... Donald Trump falls into every single sleazy category, squarely and shamelessly.... Meantime, finger-pointing at Hunter Biden diverts media attention -- a time-honored Trump tactic -- from his own children's brazen exploitation of their father's office. As Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker notes, they 'have continued working with foreign business partners from Dubai to Indonesia and India while their father sits in the White House.' First daughter Ivanka and hubby Jared Kushner raked in an estimated $82 million in 2017 alone, records show. 'Time and again,' notes the Los Angeles Times, 'Trump's children have blurred the lines of family, nation and business -- essentially the charge the president makes against the Bidens.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Stephanie Ebbs of ABC News: Energy Secretary Rick "Perry, who said he plans to step down by the end of the year..., and Energy Department lawyers told Congress they would not comply with a Friday deadline to respond to a congressional subpoena to provide information related to his work in [Ukraine].... Perry responded Friday in a letter to the committees that, in accordance with a previous White House letter rejecting other subpoenas, he would not comply until the House votes to authorize the impeachment inquiry Department lawyers also argue some of the documents requested are covered by executive privilege."

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fiercely criticized the House impeachment inquiry, saying his department is being treated unfairly as Democrats seek to remove ... Donald Trump from office.... Pompeo curtly declined to discuss [Rudy] Giuliani -- 'I have nothing to add,' he said -- or Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who testified in the impeachment inquiry after receiving a congressional subpoena. But America's top diplomat took aim at the Democrats for what he sees as an unfair process, where state secrets are being put at risk and the department is being afforded little visibility into what its current and former employees are saying. 'They're not letting State Department lawyers in the room .. they have not let State Department lawyers be part of these hearings,' Pompeo said. 'That's unheard of ... I haven't seen you all report that.'... Pompeo.s criticisms echo the House Republicans' strategy in dealing with the inquiry: He is rapping Democrats for the manner in which they are conducting their investigations, but not directly addressing the substance of the probe."

Michelle Goldman of the New York Times wants to know how Gordon Sondland thought this was going to end. "... people sell their souls all the time -- but why for something as small as a chance to serve a man whose depravity Sondland himself once recognized?... Sondland is desperately spinning to distance himself from this whole debacle, suggesting he knows he's at the center of something reprehensible. What I can't comprehend is how anyone could think that working for Trump would end up any other way.... While it may be a mistake to overestimate the acuity of Trump appointees, it's probably safe to say that Sondland knew exactly what he was involved with.... That's the thing about deals with the devil. You get what you want, and then it ruins you." (Also linked yesterday.)

Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) pushed back on the idea endorsed by the Trump administration this week that withholding foreign aid to other countries for political purposes is a routine and appropriate way of doing business. 'You don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative,' Murkowski, a senior appropriator, told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon. 'Period.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) said Friday that he has been increasingly concerned by revelations that have emerged regarding the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine and did not rule out the possibility of voting to impeach the president. The two-term congressman from a heavily Republican district told reporters he was 'shocked' by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's on-camera admission Thursday that Trump withheld military aid to secure a personal political priority, an investigation into possible Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election." Mediaite has a story here. ~~~

~~~ Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who ran against ... Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, said Friday that he supports impeaching the president -- but isn't ready to call for his removal from office. Kasich said he decided to back impeachment after hearing acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledge Thursday that Trump's decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Ukraine investigate the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Mulvaney later claimed his remarks were misconstrued.... It marked a reversal for Kasich, who previously said he hadn't seen evidence of a quid pro quo on Trump's part."

HILLARY'S E-MAILS!!! BREAKING NEWS! STOP THE PRESSES! ... Uh, Nevermind. Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "A multiyear State Department probe of emails that were sent to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's private computer server concluded there was no systemic or deliberate mishandling of classified information by department employees, according to a report submitted to Congress this month. The report appears to represent a final and anticlimactic chapter in a controversy that overshadowed the 2016 presidential campaign and exposed Clinton to fierce criticism that she later cited as a major factor in her loss to President Trump. In the end, State Department investigators found 38 current or former employees 'culpable' of violating security procedures -- none involving material that had been marked classified -- in a review of roughly 33,000 emails that had been sent to or from the personal computer system Clinton used." Mrs. McC: Thankfully, Rudy Giuliani, Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump, Lev & Igor, and a host of like-minded conspiracy theorists are still on the case.

Feel-Good Story. But for a Medium-Sized Spacesuit.... Hannah Devlin of the Guardian: "Two Nasa astronauts have embarked on the first all-female space walk in a historic first. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir floated feet-first out of the International Space Station's Quest airlock on Friday lunchtime UK time, tasked with replacing a failed power control unit. The spacewalk, known as an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) in astronaut jargon, took place seven months after the original planned date for an all-female outing, which had to be scrapped because the ISS had only one medium-sized spacesuit on board. The agency sent up a second medium spacesuit in October." Mrs. McC: Ah, well. At long last, some good news. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Feel-Good Story Ruined. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday spoke to two female astronauts participating in the first all-female space walk, cheering them as 'very brave, brilliant women' and praising their work on a call at the White House." Mrs. McC: I'm surprised he didn't tell them they looked hot in those tight-fitting spacesuits. (Also linked yesterday.)

Worst Judges Ever. Jennifer Bendery of The Huffington Post: "Senate Republicans voted Thursday to advance another of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees, Justin Walker, who earned a rare and embarrassing 'not qualified' rating from the American Bar Association. Every Republican on the Judiciary Committee voted to advance Walker ... to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Every Democrat voted no.... 'Mr. Walker's experience to date has a very substantial gap, namely the absence of any significant trial experience,' the ABA concluded. 'Mr. Walker has never tried a case as lead or co-counsel, whether civil or criminal.... In addition, based on review of his biographical information and conversations with Mr. Walker, it was challenging to determine how much of his ten years since graduation from law school has been spent in the practice of law.'" --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Scott Wong of the Hill: "The late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who died this week after a lengthy illness, will lie in state on Thursday in Statuary Hall, the old House chamber in the Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced. A memorial service in the Capitol will be held Thursday morning for members of Congress, the Cummings family and special guests." ~~~

~~~ Nancy Pelosi pays tribute to Elijah Cummings in a Washington Post op-ed.

Presidential Race 2020

Dareh Gregorian & Monica Alba of NBC News: "In a recent interview, [Hillary] Clinton didn't mention Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii by name, but said she believes one candidate is 'the favorite of the Russians.... And that's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she's also a Russian asset. She's a Russian asset! I mean totally. They know they can't win without a third-party candidate,' Clinton said. Asked if the former secretary of state was referring to Gabbard, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said, 'If the nesting doll fits...' Gabbard responded with a furious tweetstorm Friday afternoon, where she blasted Clinton as 'the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that sickened the Democratic Party for so long.'... Gabbard, who has defended Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said she has no plans for a third-party run.... An NBC News analysis in February showed Russian news sites and social media linked to the Kremlin were promoting Gabbard's candidacy in the run-up to her campaign announcement. That activity has continued in the months since, The New York Times reported this week." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This headline in the Babylon Bee -- "Hillary Clinton Asked To Leave Costco After Repeatedly Accusing Sample Lady Of Being A Russian Asset" -- is a spoof, of course. So when I saw this headline -- "Trump Writes Unhinged 'Legal' Letter Demanding That CNN Pay Him Money" -- I thought it was a spoof, too. ~~~

~~~ But No. Jonathan Chait: "This week, right-wing hoaxster James O'Keefe launched the latest of his series of secretly recorded videos, which purport to prove various conservative conspiracy theories but fail. The new version involves a CNN contractor recording employees grumbling about various complaints about the network, none of which establish the plot O'Keefe set out to prove, and some of which suggest the opposite (an employee complains that CNN covers Trump rallies but not Biden ones, which are too boring).... The project nonetheless seems to have left an impression on Donald Trump.... Trump has directed his lawyer to threaten a lawsuit against CNN on the basis of O'Keefe's flimsy video. The letter claims that O'Keefe has personally disproven CNN's claim to be a news network dedicated to reporting facts.... Continuing from this extremely shaky factual foundation..., Trump plans to 'seek compensatory damages, treble damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, reimbursement of legal costs, and all other available legal and equitable remedies.'... Trump's impulse here should not be merely dismissed as another ineffectual tantrum from the toddler president.... Trump has used his powers as president to punish independent media...."

Capitalism Is Deadly. David Gelles & Natalie Kitroeff of the New York Times: "For months, Boeing has said it had no idea that a new automated system in the 737 Max jet, which played a role in two fatal crashes, was unsafe. But on Friday, the company gave lawmakers a transcript revealing that a top pilot working on the plane had raised concerns about the system in messages to a colleague in 2016, more than two years before the Max was grounded because of the accidents, which left 346 people dead. In the messages, the pilot, Mark Forkner, who played a central role in the development of the plane, complained that the system ... was acting unpredictably in a flight simulator: 'It's running rampant.' The messages are from November 2016, months before the Max was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.... The company's chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, is scheduled to testify before two congressional committees, on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30, the first time a Boeing executive has appeared at a hearing related to the crashes." The Chicago Tribune story is here.p>

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Gary Fineout of Politico: "A federal judge on Friday blocked a Florida law that puts restrictions on ex-felons seeking to have their voting rights restored, but only as it applies to the 17 people who challenged the law in federal court. The decision means that the legal battle will churn on.... U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle said there are sharp questions about whether or not the new law is unconstitutional, but said some questions will be resolved by the Florida Supreme Court or in a future federal trial.... Hinkle, however, did assert that the state can't deny someone's right to vote if they cannot afford to pay the fines, fees and restitution. A study presented by groups suing the state estimated that as many as 80 percent of felons eligible to vote under Amendment 4 still owed money."

Way Beyond

** U.K. Today is Brexit's "Super Saturday"; MPs are meeting on a Saturday for the first time since the Falkland Islands crisis in 1982 to argue & vote on a make-or-break Brexit deal. The Guardian has a guide to what to expect, and is liveblogging what actually happens. The New York Times' liveblog is here and has more explanatory text, which is written more in American-speak than the Guardian's so is pretty easy to understand.

Comments

[NJC]

Everyone seems to be assuming that #45 will still be in office in June of 2020 -- to host the G-7 at his crappy Miami hotel.
I am hoping against hope that that assumption is wildly incorrect.

[P.D. Pepe]

For your Saturday laugh of the day: Anderson Cooper has a fun time putting down Stephanie Grisham who, like the other suckers, complain about the media being in such a tizzy over that little thing called corruption and such. And I have to ask: What the hell is this woman's job anyway?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anderson-cooper-stephanie-grisham-press-secretary_n_5daa9ee5e4b0422422c52178

[P.D. Pepe]

Elton John's "Benny and the Jets" should be changed to "Turkey and the Kurds" and we could sing along. In this Trump show everything is upside down and "batshit crazy" as Susan Rice coined it the other day in an interview. Just another day in the neighborhood.

[Akhilleus]

Amidst the clamor and the shouting and the furor surrounding the soon to be impeached traitor currently darkening the White House linens, and against the backdrop of serious legislators working to wrest control of the ship of state from president* Queeg, one can hear a whiny, petulant little mouse voice squeaking “But what about me? Hey, everyone! Look at me. Me, me, me, squeak, squeak!”

It is, of course, the whine of the Littlest Narcissist, that eternal pain in the ass grandstander, Li’l Randy, who has decided that it’s long past time for the nation to forget about Trump, and impeachment, and Ukraine, and Turkey, and emoluments, and Russian interference in our elections...and look at him. He has a thing he wants to say (*squeak-squeak*)!

The House, having passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan resolution condemning the Orange Menace for the ongoing genocide in Syria, handed the ball off to the Senate, where their own resolution was imminent. But no, up squeaks the little mouse to say “Stop! No resolution, because what about me?!”

Why? Oh, well, Li’l Randy has his own bill that will fix everything, and this stupid resolution won’t, as he claims, solve the problem. And besides, “What about me? Look at me, everyone!”

No, Randy, you grandstanding schmuck, a resolution designed to condemn the acts of the world menace you frequently golf with and vote alongside, won’t “solve the problem”. That’s like complaining that calling the fire department when your house is on fire won’t “solve the problem”, but it’s a vital piece of the move TO solve the problem.

And while I’m thinking about it, what would solve a lot of problems is getting douchebags like you and your treasonous boss voted out of office.

And yes, it’s likely that Moscow Mitch would put the kibosh on any expression of distaste for the workings of his fellow comrade in support of the Russian Empire, but now he doesn’t have to bother.

A squeaky little rodent took care of that for him.

These fucking people.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2019/10/17/20919332/rand-paul-donald-trump-syria-resolution-senate-lindsey-graham-chuck-schumer

[Marie Burns]

@NJC: I'm not making that assumption. But do you think president* pence would move the G-7 to say, Bretton Woods? Of course, it is possible that Congress and/or political expediency would force president* pence to do so. Now President Pelosi -- that would be different.

[unwashed]

Maybe the G7 officials could just decline because their health and well-being might be harmed by Doral's inadequate attention in maintaining sanitary conditions. It's not just about bedbugs, but their pools, main kitchen, and "champions" patio grill.

[Akhilleus]

Anti-Trump bias? What about pro-Trump bias? Bias that disallows facts, that blinds one to reason and to treason, gives free rein to criminality, child abuse, unbridled nepotism, greed, and narcissism, and asserts an ignorant child’s right to upend American interests in favor of his own even if it means the deaths of thousands of people who fought alongside American troops.

What about that kind of bias?

First, everyone is biased in some way. But most reasonable, thoughtful people are able to set aside personal feelings when necessary. The problem here is that the situation is so dire, so clearly a matter of scurrilous gangster culture, that anyone who isn’t anti-Trump is immediately suspect. It’s like demanding to know if someone working in the medical profession has an anti-cancer bias then banishing them from the practice of medicine if such is determined.

Are they next going to suggest that people be thrown into a lake to see if they float?

[unwashed]

"... to see if they float." Like this?

[Anonymous]

@RichardEngel, from Syria, posted a series of tweets (in the last 3 hrs) Here's 2:

"As Syrian Kurds face what seems to be ethnic cleansing, a top human rights lawyer told us Americans could face accusations of Crimes Against Humanity: for knowing about atrocities, failing to stop them, and potentially aiding and abetting. I know some US officials are concerned."

"The top Kurdish commander in Syria, General Mazlum Kobane told @NBCNews he is trying to pull his forces back from Ras al-Ayn, but Turkey is not allowing it. He alleges Turkey does not want Kurdish fighters to withdraw - a condition of the ceasefire - but to kill them."

[Bobby Lee]

Can someone here please explain to me the difference between an "Ultimate Solution" for the Kurds and the "Final Solution" for the Jews?

Turkey does not have a good record with minorities as the pogrom of Armenians in world war one testifies.