Monday
Oct222018
The Commentariat -- October 23, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "There is no evidence that 'unknown Middle Easterners' have infiltrated the migrant caravan heading toward the United States' southern border. Reporters with The New York Times and other news media outlets traveling with the caravan say they have not seen any Middle Easterners in the group. No government agency has confirmed Mr. Trump's claim.... Nowhere in the White House's newly released 25-page counterterrorism policy or in testimony this month by Homeland Security Department and National Counterterrorism Center officials was the threat of terrorists infiltrating the nation's southern border raised.... 'We do not see any evidence that ISIS or other Sunni terrorist groups are trying to infiltrate the southern U.S. border,' said an American counterterrorism official...." ...
... Trump Is Getting Worse. Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: We "compared Trump's Monday night speech in Texas to one he made as a presidential candidate and found that what Trump is saying in the past few weeks makes some of his 2016 rhetoric look fairly tame. Whereas Trump in 2016 allowed for some nuance that, say, 'some' immigrants in the country illegally might be good people, in 2018, he routinely describes cities 'overrun' with violent, illegal immigrant gangs. In 2016, he focused plenty on murders allegedly committed at the hands of immigrants in the country illegally, but now, he seems to revel in describing the violence committed at the hands of immigrants in the country illegally. Whereas in 2016, the Washington establishment was to blame for all this, in 2018, it's the Democrats." Phillips provides examples: "They carve you up with a knife" is a nice one. ...
... AND speaking of actually carving people up with knives, let's check in with Mohammmed bin Salman, Donald & Jared's buddy:
MBS Gets a Standing O. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, received a standing ovation as he made an unannounced appearance at a global investment conference here on Tuesday, further clouding an event that has been thrown into disarray after the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist. The crown prince, who is suspected of playing a role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, appeared just ahead of a late afternoon presentation about technology but did not give any remarks. His presence came as American business executives attending the conference tried to keep a low profile and Saudi business leaders attempted to distance themselves from Mr. Khashoggi's murder." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Just in case you thought global investors had an ounce of decency. ...
... Alex Crawford of Sky News: "Body parts belonging to murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi have been found, according to two Sky sources. The sources have told Sky News the writer had been 'cut up' and his face 'disfigured'. One source also suggested Mr Khashoggi's remains were discovered in the garden of the Saudi consul general's home - situated around 500 metres away from the consulate. It contradicts the explanation being made by Saudi officials that the body was rolled up in a carpet and handed to a local collaborator who was tasked with disposing of the evidence."
Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "Stocks declined in early trading on Wall Street on Tuesday, as the American industrial firms Caterpillar and 3M reported earnings that failed to ease investors' growing concerns about China's slowing economy and growing trade tensions. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down more than 1.5 percent late Tuesday morning in New York. Stock markets in China, Japan and Germany -- some of the countries most heavily exposed to a slowdown in global trade -- all dropped earlier." ...
We're in a hell of a mess in every direction.... Respect for government, respect for the Supreme Court, respect for the president, it's all gone. Even respect for the Federal Reserve.... How can you run a democracy when nobody believes in the leadership of the country? -- Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker to Andrew Sorkin of the New York Times
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who became the first female justice in 1981 and then one of the court's most influential members, announced Tuesday that she suffers from dementia and is 'no longer able to participate in public life.' In a letter released by her family, O'Connor, 88, said she wanted to 'be open about these changes, and while I am still able, share some personal thoughts.'"
Jamil Smith of Rolling Stone: Georgia Secretary of State & GOP goobernatorial nominee Brian Kemp is upset that Georgians are exercising their right to vote."
*****
National Emergy." Zachary Basu of Axios: "In a string of Monday morning tweets about the caravan of Honduran migrants currently in Mexico, President Trump stated the United States will begin cutting off foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. 'Sadly, it looks like Mexico's Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws! ... Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.'... Critics argue Trump's approach would over the long-term actually increase immigration from the three countries, which are struggling with high rates of poverty and violent crime. Incoming Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has suggested a U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement to invest in Central America in order to address the root causes of immigration." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As far as I know, this is the first time in history a POTUS* has declared a National Emergy. So I guess this makes the caravan of "criminals & unknown Middle Easterners" like, historic. ...
... Trump Baffles Caravaners. Karla Zabludovsky of BuzzFeed News: "... Donald Trump attempted to stoke new fears, tweeting that 'criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in.'... 'What?' Melvin Gómez, 32, exclaimed in English. 'Most of us come from Honduras. It's small, we all know each other. We would know.' The criminals 'must be the children, the women. The diapers must be the bombs,' said Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the organization that coordinated a smaller caravan in April, during a press conference Monday.... The president's claim can be traced back to a statement earlier this month from Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that has been twisted as it's made its way to Trump. Morales claimed that his country, unrelated to the caravan, has arrested and deported over 100 members of ISIS. That has been merged in the last week with right-wing coverage of the migrants' journey to produce headlines like '100 ISIS Terrorists Caught in Guatemala as Migrant Caravan of Military-Aged Males Marches to U.S.' (According to the head of Suchiate Civil Protection, only about third of the caravan is adult males -- the rest is made up of women and children.)" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump could just call up the CIA to find out if "criminals & unknown Middle Easterners" had actually infiltrated the caravan. But facts do not fit his objectives, so he shamelessly lies to the American people. One would think even Trumpbots would be angry when their leader lied to them to frighten them. But no. More on Trump's use of fearmongering & lies to drum up support linked under "Election 2018" below. ...
... Alternative Facts. Matt Shuham of TPM: "White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, following in President Donald Trump's footsteps, did her own conspiracy mongering about a caravan of asylum seekers and migrants traveling through Mexico toward the U.S. border Monday. Speaking to reporters at the White House, as quoted by CNN's Kaitlan Collins and CBS News' Mark Knoller, Sanders said the President 'absolutely' has evidence of 'unknown Middle Easterners' traveling with the caravan. She didn't respond to TPM's request to see the evidence.... Trump has provided no evidence for his claims, either." --s ...
... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "... we shouldn't be surprised if a few days before the midterm election, Trump does something dramatic -- like following through on his threat to send the military to the border -- to make sure that immigration dominates news coverage right before the election. It has already become clear that touting his accomplishments isn't getting the job of holding off a Democratic wave done.... So Trump ... falls back on what he always does: hate and fear. It might work, but the odds don't look good. By the way, if it fails and Democrats take the House, at least for the next two years he'll be able to say that Democrats really are stymieing his agenda [which is what he's claiming now, even tho Republicans control all three branches of government]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a 'planned' and 'brutal' murder and called on Saudi Arabia to extradite 18 suspects to Turkey to face justice for the crime.... While Erdogan did not address the most explosive allegations that have surfaced during the investigation -- including that Khashoggi was dismembered after he was killed -- the president provided the most detailed timeline yet of the days and hours leading up the murder on Oct. 2, including allegations that a team of Saudi agents who were dispatched to Istanbul had carefully prepared for Khashoggi' s death. The Saudi team that planned the murder was first alerted, Erdogan said, after Khashoggi visited the consulate on Friday, Sept. 28.... Beginning three days later, on Oct. 1, teams of Saudi agents begin arriving in Istanbul, with one team visiting wooded areas in and around Istanbul, 'for reconnaissance,' to identify a possible place to dispose of a body, Erdogan said. After another team arrived at the Istanbul consulate, 'the hard disk on the consulate camera is removed,' he added." Mrs. McC: This is as far as the report goes, or went, as of 6:30 am ET. The Times story, linked next, has even less as of the same time. ...
... Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, having promised to reveal the 'naked truth' of a Saudi plot to kill the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said on Tuesday that a team including Saudi generals had flown in to carry out the mission.... Mr. Erdogan said that he would call King Salman of Saudi Arabia and ask that the case be adjudicated in Istanbul, not Riyadh or elsewhere in Saudi Arabia." ...
... David Jackson & Susan Page of USA Today: "... Donald Trump on Monday questioned the account Saudi officials have given him about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but said he still believed it was 'a plot gone awry.' In an exclusive interview with USA Today, he indicated he would oppose efforts to cease arms sales to the kingdom in response.... In characterizing the Khashoggi incident as a 'plot gone awry,' Trump indicated that he thought the journalist wasn't deliberately lured into the consulate to be murdered. Saudi officials last week said Khashoggi's death followed a 'brawl' inside the building, an explanation that drew skepticism from some on Capitol Hill.... Turkish officials have said Khashoggi's body was cut up with a bone saw. Asked about that detail as a possible indication of wrongdoing, Trump sounded incredulous. 'Do you know there was a bone saw?' he replied." ...
... Mark Landler & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Monday, discussing counterterrorism and economic ties amid growing questions about whether the prince had a role in the killing of a dissident journalist. A Treasury spokesman said the meeting was focused on combating terrorist financing and corralling Iran's influences in the region and that the two men discussed the investigation into the death of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.... The meeting, which had not been previously scheduled, came at the request of the Saudi government...." (This is an update to the story linked immediately below & yesterday.) ...
... Maggie Haberman: "Jared Kushner on Monday said the White House is still 'fact-finding' on the circumstances of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, but he said it has its 'eyes wide open' as the investigations into how he died continue.... 'We're getting facts in from multiple places. Once those facts come in, the secretary of state will work with our national security team to help us determine what we want to believe.'... He made the remarks in his first televised interview since the 2016 election, conducted by the political activist Van Jones, at the 'Citizen by CNN' forum in Manhattan." Mrs. McC: "What we want to believe"??? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "CIA Director Gina Haspel departed for Turkey on Monday amid a growing international uproar over Saudi Arabias explanation of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to people familiar with the matter. The visit by the U.S. spy chief comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech planned for early Tuesday vows to reveal the full extent of what his aides are calling a Saudi-directed murder and attempted coverup. The arrival of the director suggests an effort by the U.S. intelligence community to assess the information the Turks have, including what Turkish officials have said is audio that captures the killing. Intelligence officials are increasingly skeptical of the Saudi account and have warned President Trump that the idea that rogue operators flew to Istanbul and killed Khashoggi without the knowledge or consent of Saudi leaders is dubious, a White House official said. On Monday, Trump told reporters that 'I am not satisfied with what I've heard' from Saudi Arabia and pledged to get to the bottom of what happened." ...
... Martin Chulov of the Guardian: "At about noon on Tuesday two regional leaders are due to make landmark addresses. In Riyadh, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, will open an investment showpiece declaring the kingdom open for business. In Ankara, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is expected to make a speech that may well shut down the beleaguered kingdom. Such are the stakes when Erdoğan takes to a podium to discuss the death of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi that the region may not be the same when he's finished.... In some quarters of the royal court, a palpable sense of panic has taken hold. Erdoğan has the Saudis ... right where he wants [them].... Khaled al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca, returned after seeing Erdoğan and was really worried, one senior member of the royal family has revealed. 'He wasn't budging, he didn't want to listen to anything we said. Al-Faisal came back and told the King we have a crisis.'" --s ...
... Robin Wright of the New Yorker: "At 2:52 P.M., [Mustafa al]-Madani walked out of the consulate's back door in [Jamal] Khashoggi's clothes -- except for the shoes.... According to Turkish surveillance video, broadcast by CNN on Monday, Madani and an accomplice -- who had a hoodie over his head and was carrying a white plastic bag -- took a taxi to a crowded mosque and went into a public men's toilet. When they came out, Madani was back in his blue-and-white shirt, which presumably had been in the white plastic bag, and was still wearing his tennis shoes. Surveillance cameras then caught them tossing the bag, which likely contained Khashoggi's clothing at that point, into a dumpster. With that, the last trace of the Saudi dissident disappeared.... The idea of a rogue operation gone wrong ... no longer seems credible. Before Madani left the consulate in Khashoggi's clothes, he put on a false beard that resembled Khashoggi's facial hair. Like the bone saw that the team allegedly carried, a fake beard is a prop that they would presumably have needed to bring with them, especially given how fast the switch played out." ...
... Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "In the continuing frenzy of media attention to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi before a much-anticipated statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish media have published poignant photographs of Mr. Khashoggi and his fiancée in the last hours and days of his life. Mr. Khashoggi and Hatice Cengiz, who is Turkish, are seen holding hands as they visit the local marriage office and enter the building where they had bought an apartment that they were furnishing before he went to the appointment at the Saudi Consulate from which he never emerged. Ms. Cengiz has been provided with police protection.... Social media trolls have attacked Ms. Cengiz in Arabic and Turkish in recent days, questioning the extent of her relationship with Mr Khashoggi." ...
... Murder by Skype. Reuters: "... according to two intelligence sources..., Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman..., ran journalist Jamal Khashoggi's brutal killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by giving orders over Skype.... According to one high-ranking Arab source with access to intelligence and links to members of Saudi Arabia's royal court, Qahtani ... began to hurl insults at Khashoggi over the phone. According to the Arab and Turkish sources, Khashoggi answered Qahtani's insults with his own.... A Turkish intelligence source relayed that at one point Qahtani told his men to dispose of Khashoggi. 'Bring me the head of the dog', the Turkish intelligence source says Qahtani instructed.... The Arab source and the Turkish intelligence source said the audio of the Skype call is now in the possession of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The sources say he is refusing to release it to the Americans.... On Saturday, Saudi state media said King Salman had sacked Qahtani and four other officials over the killing carried out by a 15-man hit team." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Those of you old enough to remember the Iran-Contra scandal may find the name Khashoggi sounds familiar. That's because one of the central characters in the arms-for-hostages scheme was international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who was the uncle of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And, in the small-world department, Adnan's sister, the writer Samira Khashoggi, married billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed. Their son Dodi Fayed had a romantic relationship with Britain's Princess Diana; the two of them died in a car crash in Paris. A short while after their deaths, I developed a conspiracy theory -- which I didn't believe, mind you -- that the crash was a cover for Diana to escape the constant hounding of paparazzi. In my imaginary scenario, Dodi & Diana are alive & well, & Diana is living secretly in the Middle East under the protection of Al-Fayed. Now, in light of the strange murder of Jamal Khashoggi, my nutty theory sounds a little less far-fetched (but it still is nutty). But at least it's a happier ending for an ill-starred princess.
Trump as Role Model. The Daily Beast: "A man arrested for allegedly groping a female passenger on a flight from Houston to New Mexico told police officers the president of the United States 'says it's OK to grab women by their private parts,' according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. The man, identified as Bruce Alexander, 49, is accused of groping a woman's breast when she was sleeping on the Southwest Airlines flight on Sunday." --s
Consider the Source. Karen Freifeld & Nathan Layne of Reuters: "Under an unusual arrangement, Paul Manafort's attorney has kept Donald Trump informed about the former campaign chairman's meetings with prosecutors investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and, according to Trump's lawyer, Manafort has not said anything damaging about the president.... [Rudy] Giuliani said the conversations were occurring under a so-called joint defense agreement, which allows lawyers who represent different clients to exchange information without violating attorney-client privilege. Legal experts said it was unusual for such an agreement to remain in effect after a person pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate with prosecutors as Manafort has done. Manafort is talking to Special Counsel Robert Mueller 'about a lot of things, none of which are incriminating with regard to the president,' Giuliani said in one of several conversations with Reuters this month. Giuliani said he was told by [Manafort attorney Kevin] Downing that Manafort had met with Mueller's team roughly a half dozen times.... Legal experts said Manafort's lawyer may be trying to remain on good terms with the Trump camp in the hopes that Manafort will ultimately receive a presidential pardon."
Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Maggie Haberman & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "An argument last February between the White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and Corey Lewandowski, an informal adviser to President Trump, turned into a physical altercation that required Secret Service intervention just outside the Oval Office, according to a half-dozen people familiar with the events. The episode, details of which have not been previously reported, is the latest illustration of the often chaotic atmosphere Mr. Trump is willing to tolerate in the White House as well as a reflection of the degree to which Mr. Kelly's temper can be provoked.... Mr. Kelly grabbed Mr. Lewandowski by the collar and tried to have him ejected from the West Wing.... Mr. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, was widely hailed as the lone grown-up who could corral a staff full of bombastic and competing personalities when he was appointed in summer 2017. But Mr. Kelly has shown little inclination to curb his own instinct for confrontation, from scuffling with a Chinese official during a visit to Beijing last year to last week's profanity-laced shouting match with John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, after a meeting with the president."
Josh Hafner of USA Today: "An Air Force official admitted the branch's multiple purchases of coffee cups that break easily and cost $1,280 each 'is simply irresponsible,' vowing to pursue ways to fix the mugs instead of continually buying new ones. Buying and replacing the special mugs, which can reheat liquids aboard air refueling tankers in flight, has cost the Air Force $326,785 since 2016, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in a letter. The letter, dated last Wednesday to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, came after Grassley questioned 'yet another report of wasteful spending in the Department of Defense' in an earlier letter."
Joanne Freeman of The Atlantic: "The politics of outrage is fast becoming a political norm, each flare-up lowering the bar of acceptable rhetoric and producing an upswing in belligerent posturing. But Trump didn't invent this emotion-laden mode of political warfare ...; it has a long and storied history that predates even that notorious poisoner of the political realm, Newt Gingrich.... We often link such outrage with protest, but in truth, political power holders have long used anger, fear, and intimidation to preserve the status quo.... But bullying power holders often pay a price, fueling a backlash through the contagion of rage. It happened in the 1850s. And recent weeks have suggested much the same. Kavanaugh's howling outrage enraged women.... Trump's threats against the press have had a similar impact.... Republican outrage is enraging and empowering resistance. But ... resistance and violence aren't one and the same. Channeled properly and put to purpose, outrage can prove formative, inspiring civic engagement, political involvement, and organized protest, thereby leading to reform and change. And in a democratic politics, it is assertive, heartfelt, organized resistance -- not brute violence -- that best brings positive outcomes." --s
Election 2018
Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has settled on a strategy of fear -- laced with falsehoods and racially tinged rhetoric -- to help lift his party to victory in the coming midterms, part of a broader effort to energize Republican voters with two weeks left until the Nov. 6 elections. Trump's messaging -- on display in his regular campaign rallies, tweets and press statements -- largely avoids much talk of his achievements and instead offers an apocalyptic vision of the country, which he warns will only get worse if Democrats retake control of Congress.... The president believes his best contrast with Democrats is on immigration and is looking for a way to keep the issue in the news until the midterms, advisers said.... Over the past several weeks, the president has begun focusing on a 'Jobs Not Mobs' message -- portraying Democrats as 'too dangerous to govern,' a threat to Medicare and Social Security, supporters of voter fraud, and funders of caravans of migrants.... Unlike two years ago -- when some Republicans were hesitant to follow their nominee's lead in using divisive rhetoric -- Republicans are now more eagerly following the president's cues, including in their own campaign rhetoric and ads." ...
.... Alexander Burns & Astead Herndon of the New York Times: "President Trump on Monday sharply intensified a Republican campaign to frame the midterm elections as a battle over immigration and race, issuing a dark and factually baseless warning that 'unknown Middle Easterners' were marching toward the American border with Mexico. The unsubstantiated charge marked an escalation of Mr. Trump's efforts to stoke fears about foreigners and crime ahead of the Nov. 6 vote, as he did to great effect in the presidential race. Mr. Trump and other Republicans are insistently seeking to tie Democrats to unfettered immigration and violent crime, and in some instances this summer and fall they have attacked minority candidates in nakedly racial terms. Mr. Trump is now railing daily in speeches and on Twitter against the migrant caravan moving north through Central America.... The caravan has dominated conservative talk radio and Fox News, where there has also been loose speculation about a link to terrorism. The apparently groundless inclusion of 'unknown Middle Easterners' to the caravan echoes Mr. Trump's longstanding practice of amplifying fears about Islamic militants on the campaign trail. 'That is an assault on our country and in that caravan you have some very bad people and we can't let that happen to our country,' the president said at a rally in Houston on Monday night. Mr. Trump suggested without any proof that the opposition was involved in instigating the caravan. 'I think the Democrats had something to do with it,' he said." ...
... Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star: "Democrats will kick seniors off their health insurance. Democrats will end insurance protections for people with health problems. Democrats will destroy the Social Security retirement system. Democrats will give illegal immigrants free cars. Democrats will abolish America's borders. Democrats are behind the latest migrant caravan from Latin America. That caravan includes people from the Middle East. False, false, false, false, false, false, false.... Donald Trump made a brief attempt to campaign on his record of accomplishments but, as the November congressional elections approach, he has traded that shiny new positivity for the well-worn tactic that helped him win the presidency in 2016: a blizzard of fear-mongering and lies, many of them about darker-skinned foreigners." ...
... Caroline Orr of Shareblue: "Trump's authoritarian tendencies were on full display Monday night as he took the stage at a campaign event for GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, and proceeded to dive headfirst into an angry, unhinged, and at times terrifying rant riddled with lies, bigotry, and fearmongering at its most extreme. Using rhetoric straight from the dictator's playbook, Trump offered up an apocalyptic vision of America in which criminals are hiding around every corner, 'badpeople' are pouring over the border, and 'violent mobs' are taking over the streets. Furthermore, he warned, if Democrats take control of Congress in November, these fictional threats will 'destroy' the very fabric of the nation. The speech reflected the campaign strategy that Trump and the GOP have settled on in the final stretch leading up to midterms, which is one based on fear and fear alone. With few accomplishments to speak of, Republicans have apparently decided that if they can't motivate people to vote for them, they'll scare people into it, instead. Trump's rhetoric on Monday night embodied the GOP's fear-based campaign strategy, which itself mirrors tactics used by oppressive autocratic regimes, not usually democratic nations." ...
We're going to be putting in a 10% tax cut for middle income families next week. We've been working on it for a few months. It's brand new. -- Donald Trump, at the Cruz campaign rally, Monday
Fact check: No one knew about this until Saturday. And Congress is out until November, so they won't be 'putting it' anywhere. -- Christina Wilkie of CNBC, in a tweet Monday ...
But Beto O'Rourke will buy you a pony. And send you a monthly allowance for its feed & care. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... Also too, Trump admitted during the speech he was a "nationalist," to which the Texas crowd responded, "You Ess Ay, You Ess Ay, You Ess Ay." Via Dominque Jackson of the Raw Story. ...
... AND It's Working. Dan Balz & Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "The contest for control of the House remains close and hard fought, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll of the most-contested districts in the country, with Democrats holding a statistically insignificant lead over Republicans. The latest survey shows only a marginal change in the race during October, with 50 percent currently supporting the Democratic candidate in their district and 47 percent backing the Republican. Candidates from the two parties collectively are running almost even in 48 contested congressional districts won by President Trump in 2016, while Democrats hold the advantage in 21 competitive districts won by Hillary Clinton. The Democrats' lead in those Clinton districts has narrowed a bit since the beginning of the month." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This would be a good place to say, I guess, that Republican voters are the U.S.'s version of Chicken Little. They so easily succumb to sky-is-falling irrational fears that the most transparent lies drive them. The dimmest, most susceptible Chicken Littles are Second Amendment diehards; they are sure they needs guns, or arsenals, to protect them from the thundering hordes. Gun ownership, in most cases, isn't about safety; it's about cowardice and bullying. And the truth of course is that the chickens-and-bullies are much more dangerous to the U.S. than are a caravan of people "yearning to breathe free." ...
... Bad News. Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Republican-affiliated voters have outpaced Democratic-affiliated voters in early voting in seven closely watched states, according to data provided by TargetSmart and independently analyzed by the NBC News Data Analytics Lab. GOP-affiliated voters have surpassed Democratic-affiliated ones in early voting in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, Tennessee and Texas, the data showed. Only in Nevada have Democratic-affiliated voters exceeded Republican-affiliated voters so far in early voting, according to the data.... [BUT] Republicans typically dominate early voting by absentee ballots, while Democrats tend to have the advantage with in-person early voting. So, for example, the entire early voting picture in Florida, which has yet to begin in-person voting, is incomplete."
Arkansas. Andrew DeMillo of TPM: "[F]our early voting sites in Garland County [Arkansas] were temporarily closed part of the morning after complaints that Susan Inman, the Democrat running for secretary of state, was not listed on the touchscreen ballot, County Election Commission Chairman Gene Haley said. Before the problem was discovered, 222 ballots without Inman's name had been cast. The sites reopened after Inman's name was added." --s
California. Rory Appleton of The Fresno Bee: "Elizabeth Heng, the Republican challenging Democrat Jim Costa in California's 16th Congressional District, appears to have violated several tax and election laws stemming from a Washington, D.C., property she claimed as her principal residence, a review of various public documents shows. Washington property records show Heng claimed a condominium as her principal residence despite living and actively campaigning in Fresno. She also collected rent on the property while receiving a tax credit meant for permanent residents and improperly registered to vote in California while technically claiming residency more than 3,000 miles away." --s
Nevada. Twelve family members of Adam Laxalt, the Republican candidate for governor of Nevada, write an op-ed denouncing his candidacy in the Reno Gazette Journal: "We are writing as members of the Laxalt family who have spent our lives in Nevada, and feel compelled to protect our family name from being leveraged and exploited by Adam Laxalt, the Republican candidate for governor.... But as this Election Day nears, we feel compelled to speak publicly about why we believe that Adam Laxalt is the wrong choice for Nevada's governorship." --s
Texas. Jeremy Wallace of the Houston Chronicle: "Thousands of people were already camped out at a key early voting location in Houston on Monday morning, hours before voting was even set to begin. Nearly 2,000 people stood in line outside of the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on West Gray near River Oaks in a scene that looked more like a Black Friday shopping morning.... [Rep. Beto] O'Rourke was across the street firing up his supporters with a bullhorn.... O'Rourke has a half-dozen rallies planned all over the Houston area on Monday to start early voting. Those rallies come as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz brings in ... Donald Trump for a rally to back his campaign at the 18,000-seat Toyota Center." The headline: "Shocking turnout for first day of early voting in Houston." ...
Beto O'Rourke greets early voters outside the Metropolitan Multi-Services Center on Monday, in Houston. Houston Chronicle photo. ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hey, P.D., have you noticed that Beto looks like a Kennedy? Today is the first time it occurred to me. ...
... Update. Zach Despart of the Houston Chronicle: "Less than six hours in, Harris County [Houston] voters on Monday set a new record for the first day of early voting in a midterm election, County Clerk Stan Stanart said.... The numbers were on pace to beat the first-day turnout during the 2008 general election, when 39,201 voters cast ballots. Typically, far more voters turn out in general elections than midterms." (The Chron has a 3-free-articles-per-month limit.)
C'mon..., Ted:
Virginia. R-Full of Shit. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), who is facing a toss-up re-election race against Democrat Abigail Spanberger in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, made a bunch of demonstratively dishonest claims in an interview Monday on a conservative radio show. But one of his lies was false for about 1.9 trillion reasons.... Brat told host John Fredericks that Republicans do not deserve the blame for massively increasing the budget deficit and national debt [and] made the absurd claim that the tax cuts were actually fully paid for." --s
Colorado & Washington State. Two especially interesting comments about voting near the end of yesterday's thread, one from Linda in Denver, Colorado, & one from Ken W., who votes in Washington State.
Election 2020. Ryan Hutchins of Politico: "New Jersey Democrats are clearing the way for Sen. Cory Booker to run for reelection and president at the same time -- and they're not being bashful about their motivations. State lawmakers on Monday quickly introduced and advanced a bill that that would ensure no one could mount a legal challenge should Booker -- or, in theory, another federal elected official -- decide to run for the White House while trying to retain his current job."
Tierney Sneed of TPM: "Plans to depose Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will remain on hold in the Census citizenship case, with the Supreme Court on Monday granting the Trump administration's request to halt the deposition, which was ordered by a lower court. The Supreme Court, however, will allow the deposition of a top Justice Department official [John Gore] to go forward, and will also permit additional discover in the case that was ordered by the lower court but that the Trump administration also sought to block.... The order, a temporary stay pausing the lower court's decision in favor of the deposition, set a deadline of next Monday for the Trump administration to ask that the court fully consider the move to depose Ross. If the Justice Department does not ask for that full review by the deadline, the Ross deposition will be allowed to go forward." --s ...
... Robert Barnes & Tara Bahrampour of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday shielded Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from answering lawyers' questions in a lawsuit challenging his decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census form.... The court's action makes it unlikely that Ross will have to give a deposition in the case but allows the suit to go forward, at least temporarily. The court said it would entertain other objections from the government before the trial, which is scheduled to start in New York on Nov. 5. The unsigned order seemed like an attempt by the court to avoid a 5-to-4 split in its first politically significant action since the addition of new Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh." ...
... The Supreme Stooge. Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "In a brief opinion joined only by Justice Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch cast his lot on Monday with the Trump administration's effort to rig the 2020 Census in order to reduce the political influence of immigrant communities. Should this plan ultimately succeed, it is likely to shift power towards white people and away from Latinos.... Gorsuch's opinion ... suggest[s] that he and Thomas agree that the Trump administration should be able to add the citizenship question to the Census..., credulously suggesting that the citizenship question may be justified to help the Justice Department 'enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965.'" --s
Sarah Mervosh, et al., of the New York Times: "An explosive device was found on Monday in a mailbox at a home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who is a favorite target of right-wing groups, in a suburb north of New York City, the authorities said. A law enforcement official confirmed that the device was found near Mr. Soros's home. It did not explode on its own, and bomb squad technicians 'proactively detonated' it, the official said. Federal and state law enforcement officials responded to the scene in Katonah, N.Y., a hamlet in the upscale town of Bedford in northern Westchester County, after the Bedford Police Department received a call about a suspicious package at about 3:45 p.m. 'An employee of the residence opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device,' the police said in a statement. 'The employee placed the package in a wooded area and called the Bedford police.'"
Darryl Fears of the Washington Post: "An oil spill that has been quietly leaking millions of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico has gone unplugged for so long that it now verges on becoming one of the worst offshore disasters in U.S. history. Between 300 and 700 barrels of oil per day have been spewing from a site 12 miles off the Louisiana coast since 2004, when an oil-production platform owned by Taylor Energy sank in a mudslide triggered by Hurricane Ivan. Many of the wells have not been capped, and federal officials estimate that the spill could continue through this century. With no fix in sight, the Taylor offshore spill is threatening to overtake BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster as the largest ever. As oil continues to spoil the Gulf, the Trump administration is proposing the largest expansion of leases for the oil and gas industry, with the potential to open nearly the entire outer continental shelf to offshore drilling. That includes the Atlantic coast, where drilling hasn't happened in more than a half century and where hurricanes hit with double the regularity of the Gulf." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Fiona Harvey & Jonathan Watts of the Guardian: "Microplastics have been found in human stools for the first time, according to a study suggesting the tiny particles may be widespread in the human food chain. The small study examined eight participants from Europe, Japan and Russia. All of their stool samples were found to contain microplastic particles.... Based on this study, the authors estimated that 'more than 50% of the world population might have microplastics in their stools', though they stressed the need for larger-scale studies to confirm this.... Previous studies on fish have also found plastics in the gut. Microplastics have been found in tap water around the world, in the oceans and in flying insects. A recent investigation in Italy also found microplastics present in soft drinks." --s
Surprise! Good Pay Is Good for Workers. Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "A research team including economists from the University of Washington has put out a paper showing that Seattle's recent minimum-wage increases brought benefits to many workers employed at the time, while leaving few employed workers worse off.... Large stacks of academic papers have shown that, for the average worker, a minimum-wage increase does more good in raising pay than it hurts by prompting some employers to cut back on hiring or hours.... This new paper, issued Monday, has a unique pedigree: Last summer, the same authors released a paper showing that Seattle's minimum-wage increases had large costs for workers. Because employers reduced hours in response to the city’s rising minimum wage in 2016, the researchers found, average pay fell by an eye-popping $125 a month, or about 6.6 percent. (They did not observe such effects for a minimum-wage increase the year before.)... Conservative politicians and news outlets quickly hailed the findings."
Michelle Goldberg: A.J. Delgado, who had a child with former Trump campaign honcho & married guy Jason Miller, filed court papers claiming "that Miller had made a previous girlfriend pregnant and then put abortion-inducing medication in her smoothie. In September the website Splinter, part of Gizmodo Media, reported on the filing, noting that Miller denied the allegations. In response, Miller ... [sued] the report's author, Katherine Krueger, and Gizmodo Media for $100 million. When Krueger's boyfriend, a co-host of the cult left-wing podcast Chapo Trap House, called Miller a 'rat-faced baby killer' in a tweet, Miller added him to the suit. Representing Miller are two veterans of the team that sued Gawker Media into oblivion for publishing a sex tape of the wrestler Hulk Hogan, a case partly bankrolled by Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel. (Gizmodo is a spinoff of Gawker.)... People on the right [are] using the courts against their critics."
Michael Finnegan & Javier Panzar of the Los Angeles Times: "Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, was hit with a personal judgment of $4.85 million Monday for his failure to pay a debt to a former colleague at his longtime Newport Beach firm. Less than an hour after his defeat in the Los Angeles lawsuit, the firm, Eagan Avenatti, suffered another setback at a trial in Santa Ana: The Irvine Co. won a court order evicting Avenatti and his staff from their suite at the Fashion Island mall for failing to pay the last four months of rent. The twin blows came as Avenatti was heading to New Hampshire for his third visit to the state that kicks off the 2020 presidential primaries. He is exploring a run for the Democratic nomination, and his troubled financial history could emerge as a significant campaign issue if he joins the race." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Avenatti: Two things we have in common: we both despise Donald Trump & neither of us is going to get his job. ...
... Seems Very Trumpy. Kate Briquelet of the Daily Beast: "Civil court filings paint a picture of Avenatti as a hard-charging attorney who enjoyed the luxe life -- jetting around the world to race cars with a Saudi prince and treating his wife and their friends to luxury villas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Yet he and his companies owed hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes and in compensation to one former colleague, who claims Avenatti stiffed him out of millions in law-firm profits. A review of court documents reveals that Avenatti, his former law firm Eagan Avenatti, and his former company Global Baristas, the majority owner of the Seattle-based Tully's coffee chain, have owed millions in unpaid federal and state taxes in Washington and California, as well as hundreds of thousands in past-due rent to landlords."
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Reader Comments (21)
Those who wish to know more about the Repugnant shenanigans in WA ST should catch (now) last night's RMShow. She covered it, I see.
How come someone gets into legal jeopardy by pointing out that Jason Miller looks like a "rat-faced baby killer" but Dimwit Donny tweets about Horsefaces to no consequence. Is this a gender issue, our two-tiered justice system exposing its rotten underbelly, or just a spiteful lardass white man trying to weaponize the courts to mask his sad failing attempts at living on Earth as a decent human being?
First: Yes, I did indeed notice that Beto resembled a Kennedy–-it's that Irish charm, I guess.
So today having read the new reports of the Saudi investigation–-such as it is–- and weighed through the Trump caravan calumny––within that large group ( read "mob") there are many, many bad people like 100 ISIS terrorists that are out to get getcha–-so says himself to instill even more fear and loathing ––I then managed to get through Mrs. McCrabbie's take on the connection with the Iran/Contra mishmash of yester year with one of the players, an Uncle of Jamal Khashoggi, the international arms dealer, Adan, whose sister married Mohamed Al-Fayed whose son Dodi had a dalliance with Princess Diana who, according to the imaginative gifts of Mrs. M., did not die in that car crash but are both living secretly and happily–-we hope–- somewhere in the Middle East where bluebirds fly and the skies are clear and never cloudy.
From there we soldier on through the rest of the news, albeit not half as entertaining, but certainly of REAL concern. And I was thinking of ways a democratic candidate, besides stressing health care and wages, could stick it to the Trumpbots instead of Trump himself–-make them the victims. "It's such a shame that so many people don't realize the lies that are fed to them on a daily basis, and if they do realize it and don't care what does this say about THEM"? Yesterday the suggestion of using different words for the anti-abortionists I thought was really good.
Cheer up, people, how low can we go? We have been in crazy loony tunes territory for what seems forever and I'm waiting for that pig to end it with the Disney sign off–-"Thhhats all Folks!"
Ooh ooh! Let me answer that! Them civility rules is fer youse and me, not the prednizant* of all creation... Why, just this morning, Steve Inskeep, man pretending to be a serious journalist, pretty much accused a guy with an anti-fraudulent gerrymandering organization of hoping to upend all the lawsuits/complaints and resolve them in Dems' favor, and then mentioned the "incivility" of constituents yelling at criminals having dinner-- yeah. Inskeep saves his softballs for the wingers on his show. Ditch the Mitch should be able to have his dinner out of the public eye so he can trash democracy in peace and quiet. So nice to start out the morning before 7am with a little repugnant-lite so I can arrive at work already worked up--
MBS Gets Khashōgged
In the Unintended (but could have been anticipated) Consequences Department, it appears that Jamal Khashoggi has become a much bigger problem for MBS, the royal family, and Saudi interests, dead than he was alive.
Alive, he was likely an annoyance to the great and powerful bin Salman, but like most power hungry autocratic dictators (see: Trump, Donald), he is predictably thin-skinned and unable to withstand the tiniest bit of criticism. I'm guessing that only a small sector of official Washington knew the name Jamal Khashoggi before MBS and his poodle Trump made him a household name. If you were interested, professionally or tangentially, in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia specifically, you probably read his stuff, but even then, I'll bet his writing wasn't causing people to lose sleep. "Hey, honey, look at this. Human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia." "Yeah, so what else is new?"
Now people are calling for investigations and boycotts and instructing MBS to tell his story walkin'. He's pissed and he's lashing out, but Saudi Arabia needs the rest of the world more than the rest of the world needs it. The Kingdom is no longer the largest producer of oil. The US is. All the work he did over the last couple of years of making trips abroad to brighten Saudi business partnerships and forging new ones as he consolidated his power base is looking less fruitful. And if we had a president who gave two shits about this, all we'd have to do to make things really uncomfortable for Prince Cut His Head Off, is to turn the military supply spigot to "off".
I know how this works though. Soon this will all blow over and it will be business as usual, but Khashoggi's death has lit a fire under the Saudis that will leave a stain for a long time. Those burn marks on MBS's ass, courtesy of his own viciousness will (or should) give anyone thinking of cozying up to this murderous piece of shit and his medieval kingdom pause (of course things like torture and murder of a journalist don't bother poodle donnie. He's probably thinking "My kinda guy"). He might be le grand fromage in the Kingdom, but now he's seeing that to the outside world (with a certain poodley exception) he's just a barbarian cutting off people's heads in the desert.
Maybe he should have emulated his poodle, little donnie, and just gotten on Twitter and called Khashoggi a horseface and left it at that. Instead, he's made a world renowned martyr out of a guy who a month ago was just a pain in his royal butt.
By the way, Marie, after this story first broke, I found myself referring to the reporter as "Adnan" Khasshogi for a few days (okay, maybe a week), he being the only Khasshogi in my memory banks. Thanks for that info.
Jeanne,
Regarding poor Mitchy having his dinner disturbed (was he eating Roast Poor Person?), I have to say that as the senate majority leader of the most uncivil, poisonous, attack-dog party to whine about someone approaching him to give him a piece of his mind, I'm sorry, but too fucking bad. If you want to make it your mission in life to screw average Americans so you and your rich pals can live the life of Reilly, then you can listen to someone say "Nuts to you, asshole" now and then.
First amendment rights are not just for Confederates and their sleazy, treasonous "leaders" like McConnell. Besides, it's not like he's gonna listen to anyone he doesn't want to if he doesn't have to. If you have the chance, take it.
Normally I'd probably say at least wait until the guy is through eating, but McConnell has made himself so ferociously pugnacious about lying and cheating and making life miserable for millions, that he has removed himself from the List of Normally. So he can have an extra side of "Up Yours, Testudo Man" with his Roast Poor Person.
Free of charge, natch. Just the way he likes it.
Oh, Akhilleus, you have such a way with words; your "le grand fromage" just tickled my fancy and I fancied that someone–-maybe Bon Evers or Graham Candy could do it proud.
The Cheese doth indeed stand alone. La la la....
OK You guys (Marie!( beat me to it! Was about to bring up a peeling of the onion layers with mention of an Adnan Khashoggi connection somewhere amidst this mess.
Back in the day...old Adnan was a high-flying, extremely wealthy Saudi. Until he wasn't. But, among his NYC buddies he included Donald Trump...in fact, it was his yacht (the Nabilia?) that Trump purchased.
Old Adnan was also once involved with 'I'm in charge' Al Haig and others in assorted projects prior to his bankruptcy.
Believe that is when Donald bought the yacht.That is...
before Donald had to give up the yacht when his casinos were going broke.
Paul Volcker has some harsh words on the current situation in DC over on cnbc.com (see Jeff Cox) "Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker thinks 'we're in a hell of a mess' . "
Couldn't agree more.
"110 billion dollar contract with the Saudis!" "Giant tax cut for the middle class. Yeah, workin' on it. You'll have it by November."
All he has to do is make shit up and they believe him.
Even worse, the MSM repeats his bullshit as if it were true. CNN yesterday, repeated almost word for word Trump's boast about a middle class tax cut as if it were a done deal, not just something he pulled out of his fat ass while on stage in front of the droolers. The headline was something like "Trump Announces Tax Cut for Middle Class". Yeah, buried in the story was the little detail that there are no details on this "tax cut", that it's just something someone is batting around, but if you were just scanning the ledes, as millions probably do, it looks like an actual thing.
What's next? "Trump Sez He Finds Cure of Cancer!" "Wall Going Up Tomorrow!" "Trump Right About Everything! Always!"
One of the few things he's truly good at is self-promotion and hosing the media who lap up his every mendacious, fact-free, and completely unsupported utterance. For a long time I've felt that every headline about a Trump boast or promise or attack should begin "Trump, without evidence..." or "Trump's latest lie..."
I'll wait.
MAG,
And if I recall correctly, the Lying Don only bought that yacht so he could park it next to his casino and look like a big shot. Always one for the showy bullshit, that stunt was supposed to convince the rubes that The Donald was brilliant and rich and not stupid and not an ignorant liar, so they'd race to Atlantic City and lay their money down.
Of course only Trump could fuck up a business where people travel hundreds, thousands of miles to give you their kids' college tuition and next year's mortgage payments, all within the span of a few hours. You show them some semi-naked women on a stage, empty their bank accounts and show them the door. How can you screw that up? But Trump did. Six ways from Sunday.
He bought the wildly successful Eastern Shuttle. It folded in less than a year. Then there was Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump Drive Through Brain Surgery (he was the only client--it didn't go well...).
Now he's running the US into the ground.
Consistency is important.
On the road again, so don't know when or how often I'll be checking in on Chex, but while I have the chance thought to say the apparently slimming possibility of a Democratic House is becoming even more critical in the face of an already supine Senate and a growing majority of Supremes who take their orders directly from the Blight House.
There are so many low-lifes I would like to see sweat in House committee hearings, Wilbur Ross among them.
And doncha love the media's play-by-play of the migrant "caravan" now? Makes me wanna kick the MSM content producers right in their pearly whites. Aren't we a country of 300+ million? Aren't we somehow "exceptional", with the greatest economy and greatest military ever assembled? But a few thousand poor migrants, with zero possessions beyond the clothes on their backs, somehow pose a national security threat? And amid all of the chaos in domestic politics and the important issues to cover leading up to some of the most consequential midterm elections in our history, CNN chooses to roll clips of sweaty Hondurans walking down a street in Mexico.
I'm despairing at the intellectual capacity of the average American voters, but maybe the dumbed down and sensational corporate media is just as to blame.
The longer those poor Central Americans stay on the television screen, Republican voters will multiply exponentially. You know why. Because economic hardship is about 20% of the conservative American voter's animus. What really drives them? Xenophobia and ethno-nationalism. And they vote in droves.
Safari,
Poor immigrants are an easy target for everyone, including the media. Trump sez jump, and they do. It's a perfect example of how we got in this mess in the first place. This immigrant caravan is not a threat to the nation's security. Wilbur Ross is. But a story about a census question designed to attack OTHER immigrants, is no big deal, especially cuz the Supreme-O's say nay. Nothing to see here, and definitely no one gets to question our boy. Move along.
Trump sez TAX CUTS!! The media sez "Oh, hey, tax cuts!" And just in time to add more madness to the upcoming midterms which are looking more and more like another Confederate "Democracy" kabuki. "See? Look we even let a few nee-groes vote. The ones who waited seventeen hours in those lines we created by closing all the polling places within fifty miles that might allow non-whites (the Chosen People of Trump) to exercise their franchise. We win again. Oh well, the public has spoken."
Now back to the oars, slaves. You live to serve the Trump ship of state. Never mind that we're moving in circles, it's how he likes it. His genius knows no bounds.
Special report on Trump's genius tonight at 10.
No questions.
Seriously though, once the courts become just another cog in the machine, fascism isn't in the offing, it's here.
Making it illegal to question any minion of the Trump State makes their victory complete. As soon as they ratfuck the upcoming election, nothing will stand in their way. Questions are illegal, next, democracy will be illegal, or to put it another way, electoral victory by any but Republicans will be illegal.
The fascist state is here. Little Johnny and the Goosesteppers have decreed it. They heil Trump now.
There's a national emergy? Holy word salad, Batman!
Is it Infrastructure Week again already?
Covfefe!
(By the way, "emergy" really is a thing (looked it up, just for the hell of it). It's a neologism comprised of "embody" and "energy", a word that refers in ecology to "the total energy used in the life cycle of some product; the available energy of one kind that has to be used up directly and indirectly to make a product or service."
Hmmm...I wonder what the emergy total might be for something like Trump University. Let's see, it made nothing, it stole money from unsuspecting victims, it did nothing, was worth nothing, was a scam from the get-go. Emergy total, zero.
Rather like the Trumpy presidency*.)
Isn't it time for Rudy Giuliani to say something irredeemably stupid? Dude is laying down on the job. He hasn't gone full moron in a while. Although "truth is not truth" will be hard to top. Maybe he's doing some laurel resting. And I haven't heard Liarbee Sanders insult anyone lately. What's going on with these people?
Don’t Cry For Mitch McConnell: Elected Officials Deserve To Be Yelled At In Public
“... If nothing else, it would be nice if the political media understood that the people who are creating this toxic atmosphere in the first place are the last people to deserve our pity.”
https://www.alternet.org/dont-cry-mitch-mcconnell-elected-officials-deserve-be-yelled-public
Aiyup, Akhilleus -
Still Spreading The Word In Ole New York:
Rudy Giuliani Is Fundraising After The Proud Boys Attack By Blaming The 'Violent Left'
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-calls-left-unhinged-radical-after-proud-boys-attack_us_5bcde6d6e4b0a8f17eeee3d4
Aunt Hattie,
Thanks. Can't keep a stupid man down, I guess.
I know Marie is not a big fan of an Argumentum ad Hitlerum, but there's no denying that Trump and Giuliani and the rest of these rabble rousing liars are taking dozens of pages out of the Nazi playbook. Make up shit about your enemy. Paint them as inhuman, unhinged, and violent. In fact, call them everything your side actually IS.
The sight of Trump standing before a crowd which becomes under a true mob under his withering, untrue, and incredibly irresponsible ranting, listening to him blather on about "Democrat mobs" is a stunning picture of hypocrisy and dangerous propaganda at work in real time. Encouraging violence against reporters? To the wild cheers of the knuckledraggers? Applauding far right wing vandals, describing them in glowing terms as you denounce the people they attack?
Sorry, somewhere Goebbels is glowing.
Pence said that any 7k group would have people from the middle east in it. How many middle easterners were at the Trump rally yesterday or the day before? I hear, from Trump, that he is always playing to a full house of tens of thousands. Isn't Trump putting all those people at risk by bringing together in such big groups that will automatically attract people who, according to them, are most likely terrorists?
The Saudis need only utter two words to Trump and everything will be
copacetic again, "Deep State!" How hard is that?