Thursday
Sep132018
The Commentariat -- September 14, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Emily Fox of Vanity Fair: "In recent weeks, it has ... become common knowledge among close friends of Michael Cohen ... is talking to the Mueller team, according to people familiar with the situation."
** Ronan Farrow & Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "On Thursday, Senate Democrats disclosed that they had referred a complaint regarding ... Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the F.B.I. for investigation. The complaint came from a woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were both in high school, more than thirty years ago. The woman, who has asked not to be identified, first approached Democratic lawmakers in July, shortly after Trump nominated Kavanaugh. The allegation dates back to the early nineteen-eighties, when Kavanaugh was a high-school student at Georgetown Preparatory School, in Bethesda, Maryland, and the woman attended a nearby high school. In the letter, the woman alleged that, during an encounter at a party, Kavanaugh held her down, and that he attempted to force himself on her. She claimed in the letter that Kavanaugh and a classmate of his, both of whom had been drinking, turned up music that was playing in the room to conceal the sound of her protests, and that Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand. She was able to free herself." Kavanaugh denies the allegation; the male classmate has "no recollection" of the incident. Dianne Feinstein has had the letter since late July & had kept it secret from other Judiciary Committee members -- Mrs. McC: apparently until Ryan Grim of the Intercept reported on its existence. The other members are not amused. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: In other words, young Brett (allegedly) attempted to rape a young woman. My only surprise here is at Feinstein's withholding this information, a lapse I find unconscionable. ...
... Update. Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: "... what in blazes was Dianne Feinstein thinking?... She had no right to keep [the letter] from them. For that matter, she had no right to keep it from us, the public, who also live with the consequences of a new Supreme Court.... Now, single-handedly, she has returned things to the Incompetent Democrats narrative. Well, no. Not Incompetent Democrats. Incompetent Democrat, singular. Beyond belief.... This man, if confirmed, is going to spend the next 30 or 35 years of his life deciding whether 16 year old girls like the one he allegedly attacked have any rights to control their own reproductive fates. We all know, his 'open mind' notwithstanding, that he is going to spend 30 or 35 yars saying they have none."
... Tara Golshan of Vox: "Sixty-five women who knew Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in high school have testified to his good character in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in light of recently surfaced allegations that he tried to force himself on a girl during his time at Georgetown Preparatory School, an all-boys school in Bethesda, Maryland." ...
... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Really, what Supreme Court nominee doesn’t have a list of 65 random women they didn’t sexually assault while attending an all-boys high school lined up?"
CNN has just reported that as part of his plea agreement, Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with the government. No story up yet as the hearing is still ongoing. ...
... ** Update. Spencer Hsu & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "... Paul Manafort is pleading guilty Friday to two criminal charges under terms of a plea deal that includes his cooperation as a potential witness for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The decision by Manafort to provide evidence in exchange for leniency on sentencing is a stunning development in the long-running probe into whether any Trump associates may have conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Manafort's defenders have long insisted that he would not cooperate with Mueller, and didn't know any incriminating information against the president. Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said at the beginning of Friday's plea hearing that Manafort has agreed to cooperate with investigators.... A criminal information -- a legal document filed by prosecutors to detail the criminal conduct to be admitted by the defendant -- was filed in advance of the plea. The document shows Manafort intends to plead guilty to two crimes of the seven he faced at trial: conspiring to defraud the United States and conspiring to obstruct justice.... As part of his deal, the government plans to seize four properties, including a nearly $2 million house in Arlington, Virginia, owned by one of Manafort's daughters. The deal also calls for forfeiture of four financial accounts and a life insurance policy." ...
... Here's a pdf of the charging document & exhibits, via the New York Times. ...
... Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "It was not immediately clear what information [Paul Manafort] might be providing to prosecutors or how the plea agreement might affect Mr. Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and related questions about possible collusion by the Trump campaign and obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump. The president's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, quickly sought to distance Mr. Trump from the development. 'Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign,' he said in a statement. 'The reason: the president did nothing wrong and Paul Manafort will tell the truth.'" ...
... Matthew Mosk, et al., of ABC News: "In court Friday morning, prosecutors revealed that Manafort had completed a successful meeting with investigators in which he offered them information they considered valuable. They did not specify what information he agreed to share, but made clear the cooperation would be 'broad' and would include participation in 'interviews, briefings, producing documents, [and] testifying in other matters.'... The agreement marked a significant shift for the Mueller investigation -- providing them cooperation from someone who participated in the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting, in which a Russian lawyer came to New York during the campaign promising 'dirt' on Trump's Democratic opponent. As the campaign chairman, Manafort was also privy to the inner workings of the Trump campaign for critical months in 2016." ...
... Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "After Manafort ... agreed to cooperate with prosecutors working for the special counsel on Friday..., Donald Trump's legal team released the following statement attributed to Rudy Giuliani...: 'Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign. The reason: the President did nothing wrong and Paul Manafort will tell the truth.' Minutes later, they ... [put out] a 'corrected' statement removed the bit about Manafort telling the truth:... 'Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign. The reason: the President did nothing wrong.'"
*****
New York State Primary Results
Here are the New York Times' full results for New York's state primaries.
Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo took a decisive step toward a third term on Thursday, quelling a liberal rebellion by turning aside the insurgent challenge of Cynthia Nixon to claim the Democratic nomination in New York. Mr. Cuomo had marshaled the support of nearly all of the state and country's most powerful Democratic brokers -- elected officials, party leaders, labor unions and wealthy real estate interests -- to defeat Ms. Nixon, beating her by 30 percentage points. The race cemented both Mr. Cuomo's standing as an unmatched force in New York politics and a merciless tactician with little regard for diplomacy." Mrs. McC: A nice way of saying he's a sleazy politician.
Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: "Letitia James became the first black woman to win a major party statewide nomination on Thursday, easily defeating three rivals in New York’s Democratic primary for attorney general. With her win, Ms. James, 59, the New York City public advocate, has positioned herself as a prominent face of resistance to the policies of President Trump, a role that the New York attorney general's office has embraced since Mr. Trump took office. 'This campaign was never really about me or any of the candidates who ran,' Ms. James said in her victory speech. 'It was about the people, but mostly it was about that man in the White House who can't go a day without threatening our fundamental rights.' With Democrats outnumbering Republicans in New York State by a margin of more than two to one, Ms. James will be heavily favored in November against the Republican candidate, Keith Wofford, 49, who ran unopposed. If Ms. James wins, she would be the first black woman to assume statewide office, just five years after becoming the first black woman elected to citywide office in New York."
Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "Years of anger at a group of Democratic state senators who had collaborated with Republicans boiled over on Thursday, as primary voters ousted nearly all of them in favor of challengers who had called them traitors and sham progressives. The losses were not only a resounding upset for the members of the Independent Democratic Conference, who outspent their challengers several times over, but also a sign that the progressive fervor sweeping national politics had hobbled New York's once-mighty Democratic machine, at least on a local level. The most high-profile casualty was Senator Jeffrey D. Klein of the Bronx, the former head of the I.D.C. In that role, he was for years one of Albany's most powerful players, sharing leadership of the chamber with his counterparts in the Republican conference and participating in the state's secretive budget negotiations."
*****
The Maria Truther. (Thanks, Steve M.!) Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "As Hurricane Florence churned toward the Carolinas, President Trump on Thursday diverted attention from the government's preparations for the monster storm to his personal grievances over last year's Hurricane Maria by falsely claiming a conspiracy to inflate the death toll in Puerto Rico. Trump drew immediate rebukes from Democrats as well as from some Republicans for denying a sweeping study, which was accepted by Puerto Rican authorities, estimating that there were 2,975 'excess deaths' on the island in the six months after Maria made landfall. Providing no evidence, Trump incorrectly alleged that Democrats raised the death toll 'in order to make me look as bad as possible.'... Trump thoroughly mischaracterized how the death toll of 2,975 was tallied in the study, which was conducted by George Washington University.... Trump's brash comments on the deaths in Puerto Rico drew only scattered criticism among Republican lawmakers, underscoring the trepidation of most GOP politicians to cross a president who enjoys deep and solid support among the party's base voters." ...
... Lachlan Markay, et al. of The Daily Beast: "As he prepares for one natural disaster and tries to spin his way out of another, President Donald Trump, aides and friends say, is guided by a singular obsession: never to have a hurricane dubbed his 'Katrina.'... But those familiar with Trump's approach say he does in fact care about the widespread devastation and loss of life that resulted from Maria and could potentially result from Florence -- if for no other reason than he also has an intense fixation on managing public perception of his performance in these moments." --safari ...
... "Mr. President, SHUT UP." Marc Caputo of Politico: "Florida Republicans are angered by ... Donald Trump advancing a conspiracy theory casting doubt on Hurricane Maria's estimated death toll in Puerto Rico. Even Trump's two top Florida allies, Gov. Rick Scott and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, disagreed with his insensitive comments. Exploding on Twitter two months before Election Day, Trump's comments have the potential to intensify Boricua voter registration efforts and perhaps election turnout. And that, Republicans and Democrats say, could prove crucial in Florida's hotly contested races for U.S. Senate and governor, which are essentially tied races.... Florida has more than 1.1 million Puerto Rican residents, and as many as 500,000 could be registered to vote among the 13 million active registered voters." ...
... New York Times Editors: "... the president's effort on Thursday to deny the nearly 3,000 American lives lost in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria last year -- and to accuse Democrats of inflating the death toll for political gain -- should amaze even the most jaundiced Trump-watcher.... The president sees the accepted death toll of nearly 3,000 as evidence of a political conspiracy against him.... Mr. Trump delivered his latest bit of mendacity with a one-two presidential Twitter punch: '3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the island AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000 ...' '... This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!'"...
... ** Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "The falsehoods ... Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning about the Hurricane Maria death toll are disturbing. They're also a perfect encapsulation of Trump's political strategy: a complete disdain for the truth, the attribution of all dissent to partisan animus, and just-beneath-the-surface racial appeals.... It starts with saying blatantly untrue things that make Trump look better. It continues by claiming any disagreement with his version of reality is politically motivated. And all throughout, the argument involves coded or not-so-coded racial appeals, giving license for white Americans to ignore the suffering of people of color and allowing them to dismiss allegations of racial injustice as political correctness run amok.... When Trump says 'I love Puerto Rico,' he's using a cop-out he often employs when there are allegations of racial bias. During the 2016 campaign, which he kicked off by calling Mexicans rapists, he tweeted something very similar:... 'Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!'... In both cases, Trump is doing something offensive -- downplaying the suffering of Latino individuals and invoking Mexican stereotypes, respectively -- while insisting that he 'loves' the people he's insulting." ...
... Jack Holmes of Esquire: "The President of the United States is not fit to hold the office.... Imagine you lost a family member in a natural disaster and the President of the United States not only displayed his typically blunt indifference, but also suggested their death was faked as part of a hoax by his political opponents. Imagine he lied while doing it, making up conspiracies about how the deaths were counted.... Imagine he tried to erase you and your family for his own political gain.... After all, if the president can erase people's lives out of convenience, he cannot possibly value those lives. He is not making decisions that factor in the moral gravity of their existence. He doesn't care about them. He is not fit for the office, he cannot do the job, and every one of his spineless, disgraceful allies knows it." --safari ...
... Steve M.: "Right-wingers don't believe in statistics.... They don't believe numbers that challenge firmly held opinions -- they think undocumented immigrants are criminal-minded, so don't even bother telling them that the numbers contradict their feelings. Right-wingers believe in anecdotes -- they point to the individual deaths of Mollie Tibbetts and Kate Steinle as 'proof' that the undocumented are dangerous. They like to keep their arguments on the level of individual outrages. Trump doesn't have a specific outrage here, so he makes one up ('If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list'). Conscientious people applying appropriate methodology are always at risk of ridicule from right-wingers -- it's an extension of the right's anti-science, anti-expertise bias." Steve has a great retort to Rush Limbaugh's "Maria-truther" rant.
William Wan & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "As the Federal Emergency Management Agency scrambled Thursday to prepare for Hurricane Florence, the agency's top official was battling allegations of misconduct.... FEMA has faced increasing criticism in recent days for its response to Hurricane Maria following the release of two federal reports detailing how the agency was stretched thin, overwhelmed and lacking in trained personnel, and a university study that raised the death toll in Puerto Rico to nearly 3,000. Meanwhile, FEMA administrator William 'Brock' Long spent part of Thursday deflecting questions about an internal investigation into his use of government vehicles and allegations that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen attempted to force his resignation.... The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security is investigating Long for allegedly using a government vehicle to travel between Washington, D.C., and his home in Hickory, N.C., where wife and two young children live, according to a DHS official familiar with the situation. A DHS official who knows him said ... Long refused to step down last week when Nielsen asked him to resign. The official said Nielsen has been trying to push him out for months, 'hounding' him about not being in the office more because he goes back to North Carolina on weekends and that Long believes Nielsen wants to replace him with someone loyal to her." ...
... Elijah Cummings Is on the Job. Colin Wilhelm of Politico: "Emails released Thursday by congressional Democrats show correspondence between first responders that appears to undermine the Trump administration's public reporting of the human toll from Hurricane Maria last year. In one email, dated Sept. 29, 2017, a first responder -- whose name has been redacted -- describes 'finding mass graves in mud slide areas,' and requests counseling support for federal first responders in the area.... Only 16 deaths were publicly acknowledged when ... Donald Trump arrived at the island days later to survey damage and meet with local officials. That number climbed to 34 hours after he left.... The emails were released as part of a call from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) for a full congressional investigation into the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and federal government's response to the disaster. In a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Cummings asks for a further investigation into what the Trump administration knew about those additional deaths and when it was known.... Cummings also released an unclassified National Guard intelligence assessment, produced five days after Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory, that warns that the 'potential for government failure and resulting humanitarian crisis on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is high.'" ...
... Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "[I]n the months after [Hurricane Maria, Congressional Republicans] were too busy investigating the previous administration's law enforcement efforts to bother examining why thousands of Americans were left to die [In Puerto Rico].... Unlike the years of redundant investigations into the four deaths in 2012 in Benghazi, the thousands of lives lost in Puerto Rico were not a priority for the GOP majorities in the House and Senate. This despite repeated pleas by minority Democrats for hearings." --safari
Michael Avenatti, in a New York Times op-ed, makes the case for indicting President* Trump: "No grand jury has ever indicted a president, and consequently no court,let alone the Supreme Court, has ruled on the critical question of whether the Constitution allows a president to be indicted while in office.... Provided there is sufficient evidence to support an indictment of President Trump -- and there are many indications that there is -- the special counsel ... and prosecutors from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York ... should present their evidence to grand juries. Those jurors, citizens of our communities, should then determine whether the evidence supports an indictment of Mr. Trump. The fact that Mr. Trump is a sitting president should not derail a process that applies to all Americans, regardless of stature or station. He would still have the post-indictment relief available to all citizens, including the ability to challenge the constitutionality of the indictment.... Should Mr. Trump be indicted and in the event that the case reaches the Supreme Court, Judge Kavanaugh's recusal should be mandatory."
Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming trial, sources familiar with the negotiations tell ABC News. The deal is expected to be announced in court Friday, but it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid the stress and expense of trial...." ...
... Jeff Toobin believes Mueller would insist upon Manafort's cooperation. We'll see:
... Update. On the other hand, Chuck Rosenberg -- a more sober analyst -- told Rachel Maddow he doubts Manafort will cooperate with prosecutors. The terms of the plea deal will tell us.
... Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic: "... Trump's and Manafort's legal interests may be more aligned than either of them have let on. According to Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, Manafort and Trump are part of a joint-defense agreement that allows them to share confidential information about the Russia investigation under the protection of attorney-client privilege. 'All during the investigation we have an open communication with them,' Giuliani recently told Politico. 'Defense lawyers talk to each other all the time, where, as long as our clients authorize it, therefore we have a better idea of what's going to happen. That's very common.'... 'These types of agreements are very common in mob and street-gang cases,' said Elie Honig, a former assistant U.S. attorney.... The agreement provides Manafort a valuable channel into Trumpworld, one that could help him angle for a pardon if that's what he's looking for.... According to the journalist Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, Manafort is not alone in having a deal with Trump. Thirty-seven witnesses who have been called to testify so far in the Mueller inquiry are part of a joint-defense agreement with the president, which allows them to share details about what they told the special counsel."
John Bowden of the Hill: "Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos sharply criticized President Trump on Thursday over his treatment of the news media, urging the president not to 'demonize' members of the press. During remarks made at the Economic Club of Washington, the billionaire called on Trump to tone down his 'dangerous' rhetoric aimed at reporters and news publications.... 'It's dangerous to demonize the media,' Bezos said. 'It's dangerous to call the media lowlifes. It's dangerous to say they are the "enemy of the people." We live in a society where it's not just the laws of the land that protect us,' he added. "It's also the social norms that protect us."
"The Best People", Ctd. Tanya Basu of The Daily Beast: "Gina Loudon, the Republican commentator and author, recently declared that she has scientific evidence that Donald Trump might be the 'most sound-minded' president in history. It's a claim that might carry more weight if her new book didn't falsely describe her as having a doctorate in psychology.... Loudon, 58, who often refers to herself as 'Dr. Gina,' does not have a psychology degree or license. But the author's bio on the jacket of her new book, Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy -- which contains theories that experts say have been dismissed by scientific research -- states she has two masters' degrees 'as well as a Ph.D in psychology.'... The publishing company, Regnery, told The Daily Beast it takes responsibility for the erroneous descriptions." --safari...
... UPDATE: The Daily Beast: "In the wake of a Daily Beast report [linked above] early Thursday, President Trump later in the day praised a Republican commentator who claims to use 'science' to offer glowing psychological assessments of the president despite having no clinical training. 'Gina is great!' Trump wrote on Twitter in response to a tweet promoting the book. --safari
Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "It appears to be the embattled President against the world these days. There is, however, at least one notable exception: the increasingly warm public words he reserves for the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.... On Monday, the White House announced that, in response to [a new] 'very warm, very positive' note from Kim, Trump was now ordering his staff to plan for a second Trump-Kim summit meeting.... Trump's faith in the North Korean dictator is not shared by his top advisers.... For a Washington now obsessed with understanding the nature of the internal 'resistance' to Trump ... there may be no better case study than the ongoing North Korea disagreement between the unconventional President and those he has hired to advise him." --safari
D. Parvaz of ThinkProgress: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday certified to Congress that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were 'undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure' in Yemen. His certification of the Saudi and U.A.E. efforts allows the U.S. to continue supporting the airstrikes, although Pompeo's statement has been called 'objectively false' by Larry Lewis, a former State Department adviser to Saudi Arabia on reducing civilian casualties, and a 'farce' by lawmakers who want to see actual accountability for Saudi actions." --safari
Good News for Despots. Matt Apuzzo & Marlise Simons of the New York Times report on the International Criminal Court & John Bolton's long opposition to it. "Mr. Bolton's comments [this week] were seen here as a threat to the institution and an invitation to world leaders to ignore the court's authority."
Obama Bought Nikki Haley Really Nice Curtains. Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "The State Department spent $52,701 last year buying customized and mechanized curtains for the picture windows in Nikki R. Haley's official residence as ambassador to the United Nations, just as the department was undergoing deep budget cuts and had frozen hiring. The residence, in a new building on First Avenue, has spectacular views, and Ms. Haley is the first ambassador to live in it. For decades, her predecessors lived in the Waldorf Astoria hotel. But after the hotel was purchased by a Chinese insurance company with a murky ownership structure, the State Department decided in 2016 to find a new home for its top New York diplomat because of security concerns.... A spokesman for Ms. Haley said plans to buy the curtains were made in 2016, during the Obama administration. Ms. Haley had no say in the purchase, he said." Mrs. McC: Next time, try Ikea.
The Mysterious Case of Brett Kavanaugh. Lissandra Villa, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have referred a letter concerning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the FBI. The contents of the letter have been closely guarded by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as California Rep. Anna Eshoo, who originally received the letter and shared it with Feinstein, according to sources familiar with the matter. But whispers of what it contains have made the rounds across Capitol Hill over the past week. The attention on it burst into the public when The Intercept published a report on the rumors surrounding the letter on Wednesday. 'This matter has been referred to the FBI for investigation,' Sen. Dick Durbin told BuzzFeed News when asked about the letter on Thursday." Mrs. McC: Okay, so we're talking about a criminal matter, probably related to sexual assault, that young Bretty is alleged to have done in high school. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)...
... Update. Nicholas Fandos & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Two officials familiar with the matter say the incident involved possible sexual misconduct between Judge Kavanaugh and a woman when they were both in high school.... The F.B.I. said in a statement on Thursday that it had received Ms. Feinstein's referral and included it in Judge Kavanaugh's background file. A bureau official also said that no criminal investigation had been opened related to the matter. Including the letter in Judge Kavanaugh's file allows the White House, and potentially other senators, to view its contents. A copy of the letter was included in an updated background file sent on Thursday to the office of Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee." ...
... Ronn Blitzer of Law & Crime: That means that federal investigators may have asked Kavanaugh questions about any crimes he may have committed or been accused of, as well as questions about past romantic relationships. If Kavanaugh had been accused of criminal activity -- particularly sexual misconduct -- in his past, and he lied about it during the vetting process, that itself could be grounds for criminal charges for providing a false statement to federal investigators."
The rise of the homeless American worker. --safari
Paul Krugman: "... if you want to understand why the great slump that began in 2008 went on so long, blighting so many American lives, the answer is politics. Specifically, policy failed because cynical, bad-faith Republicans were willing to sacrifice millions of jobs rather than let anything good happen to the economy while a Democrat sat in the White House." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: And if you want to understand why the stimulus package wasn't large enough -- as Krugman has repeatedly argued -- it's because Susan Collins wouldn't vote for more than $850BB. At least, unlike most Republicans, she was willing to vote for something. (The only Republican senators to vote for the 2009 stimulus package were Collins, Snowe & Specter, as I recall.)
2018 Election
Beth Fouhy of NBC News: "Former President Barack Obama on Thursday decried 'demagogues who promise simple fixes to complicated problems' -- an implicit but clear rebuke to his successor..., whom Obama suggested is regularly violating political norms and threatening basic democratic institutions. At a packed campaign rally on behalf of Richard Cordray, Ohio's Democratic candidate for governor, Obama implored supporters to vote in the midterm elections on November 6. 'You've got to vote, that's why I'm here' he said, leading the crowd in a chant of 'Vote, vote, vote.' Obama never mentioned Trump directly by name, other than a passing reference to 'the person in the White House.' But the message was unmistakable. 'None of this is normal,' Obama said."
Peddling Fear. Joshua Green of Bloomberg "[A]s part of an attempt by anxious conservatives to persuade disinterested voters to show up at the polls and save Republican congressional majorities in November[, f]ormer White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's new film, Trump @War, features scenes of the president's supporters being punched, kicked, and clubbed by anti-Trump protesters, as well as a parade of liberal celebrities wishing violence on Trump -- or, in the case of comedian Kathy Griffin, wielding a replica of his severed head. The film debuted on Sept. 12 on the conservative cable station One America News Network and will be broadcast several more times. Fox News prime-time hosts from Laura Ingraham to Sean Hannity have devoted substantial airtime to the supposed scourge of left-wing violence.... And President Trump, in an Aug. 28 White House meeting with evangelical leaders, warned... 'They will overturn everything that we've done, and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence. When you look at antifa -- these are violent people,' Trump said.... Bannon won't disclose his backers, but says the organization is funded by 'hedge fund guys and other high-net-worth individuals' and operates independent of the White House. 'There is no coordination,' he says." [Open in private window] --safari
Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "Before the National Rifle Association dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars to try toflip a competitive, Democratic-held Senate seat, the gun-rights group's chief lobbyist apparently gave the race's Republican challenger a heads-up. Chris Cox, the top political strategist for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), assured Montana Republican Matt Rosendale that the group would spend heavily to support his bid to unseat Sen. Jon Tester, Rosendale told attendees at a July event in Washington. PAY DIRT exclusively obtained audio of Rosendale's remarks, which good-government groups say raise serious questions of potentially illicit coordination between Rosendale and an independent political group supporting his campaign.... Rosendale's remarks are potentially problematic, as the NRA-ILA, a 501(c)(4) 'dark-money' group, is legally barred from coordinating its ad buys with a federal campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Like Flies to Shit. David Corn of Mother Jones: "A Republican congressman [Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida] who earlier this year got into trouble for hobnobbing with an accused Holocaust denier [right-wing troll Charles C. Johnson] held a small fundraiser this summer, and the attendees included, yes, the very same alleged Holocaust denier. Also at the event was another GOP congressman [Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.)] who, too, had previously been criticized for associating with this fellow." --safari
Rebekah Entralago of ThinkProgress: "Safiya Wazir, a 27-year-old former refugee from Afghanistan who is now an American citizen, beat out four-term New Hampshire state Rep. Dick Patten (D) in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night. If she defeats her Republican opponent in November, Wazir would become the first refugee to ever serve in public office in the state." --safari
"Capitalism is Awesome", Ctd. Wayne Drash of CNN: "A pharmaceutical company executive defended his company's recent 400% drug price increase, telling the Financial Times that his company had a 'moral requirement to sell the product at the highest price.'.... Nirmal Mulye, founder and president of Nostrum Pharmaceuticals ... raise[d] the price of an antibiotic mixture called nitrofurantoin from about $500 per bottle to more than $2,300. The drug is listed by the World Health Organization as an 'essential' medicine for lower urinary tract infections. 'I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can,' Mulye told the Financial Times, 'to sell the product for the highest price.'... He said the real villain is the 'incompetent and corrupt' FDA, which he said has placed regulatory burdens on the industry, leading to higher drug prices.... In comments to CNN on Wednesday, Mulye said he was not quoted accurately.... The Financial Times said Wednesday it sticks by its story." --safari
Beyond the Beltway
Mark Stern of Slate: "On Jan. 8, 2019, a new governor of Florida will be sworn in. On that same day, three of the Florida Supreme Court's seven justices will complete their final terms. Based on those facts alone, you might assume that the new Florida governor will have the opportunity to select these justices' replacements. That, however, is not at all clear -- because current Republican Gov. Rick Scott has declared his intent to replace them hours before his term concludes. He is now moving forward with this plan to pack the court. And the only people who can stop him are the current justices themselves.... Scott insists that the justices' terms expire at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 8, but that his own term does not end until his successor is sworn in on that day, typically at noon." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jason Hanna & Jennifer Selva of CNN: "Wednesday's shootings in which a gunman killed his former wife and four others before killing himself near Bakersfield, California, 'has implications of a domestic violence case,' Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said[.] The gunman and his ex-wife had been divorced four months, and she had just filed for a new hearing regarding child support and property values, Youngblood said Thursday. The gunman killed two females and three males in three locations in a span of 30 to 35 minutes, he said. Earlier, authorities said the gunman had killed one female and four males." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "[A]n estimated 1 million Muslim minorities – Uighurs, Kazakhs, Hui, Uzbeks and others -- [are being] detained in a network of internment camps in the north-western Chinese territory of Xinjiang. The camps are part of China's 'strike hard' campaign that is alleged to use extrajudicial detentions, surveillance, political indoctrination or 're-education', torture and abuse to root out extremist elements, according to a growing body of evidence that includes witness accounts, media reports, government documents and satellite images. A US congressional commission on China called it the 'the largest mass incarceration of a minority population in the world today' Beijing's restrictive policies in Xinjiang, which began after a series of ethnic riots in 2009 and have increased since 2016, are coming under global scrutiny." --safari
Nina Lahkani of the Guardian: "In a scene evocative of [Guatemala's] repressive military history, [President Jimmy Morales] claimed that the Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) -- a body established by the United Nations in 2007 to help dismantle powerful criminal networks -- had in fact encouraged corruption, selectively pursued criminal cases based on ideological bias and sown 'judicial terror'. Morales presented no evidence.... Meanwhile, a convoy of US-donated military jeeps encircled the Cicig headquarters where corruption cases against Morales, his family and scores of his political patrons are being investigated.... The events ... have plunged the Central American nation into political meltdown.... A day after the announcement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used Twitter to thank the government -- and made no mention of the commission. Countries across Latin America -- from Argentina and Brazil to Mexico and Honduras -- are currently reeling from a string of massive corruption scandals that threaten democratic institutions and economic growth.... Cicig is ... the region’s most experienced and successful crime fighting force, it offers a model for the fight against impunity." --safari
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "At least 150 people were awaiting rescue in New Bern early Friday morning as Hurricane Florence lashed the North Carolina coast with strong winds and life-threatening storm surge. As of 5 a.m. Friday, 200 people had already been rescued as waters rose on the Neuse and Trent rivers, according to Colleen Roberts, a city public information officer. New Bern, a city of about 30,000 residents, saw significant storm surge flooding as the rivers overflowed their banks and swept into town. A flash flood emergency was declared in the area that includes Carteret, Craven, Pamlico and Jones counties Friday morning." ...
... The Weather Channel, natch, has numerous Florence-related stories linked on its front page. ...
... New York Times Update: "Tropical Storm Florence continued to thrash the Carolinas on Friday evening with fierce winds, driving rain and catastrophic flooding. Downgraded from hurricane strength after making landfall near Wilmington, N.C., the storm had killed at least four people, the authorities said, and trapped hundreds of others whose rescues continued as night fell. The rains are anticipated to continue for days, and flooding is likely to worsen as more rivers spill over their banks. Among the dead were a mother and her infant child, who were killed in Wilmington, N.C., after a tree fell on their house, the police said."
... The New York Times is providing free access to its Hurricane Florence coverage. The Times front page is here. "The [Washington] Post has removed article limits on coverage of Hurricane Florence to make these stories available without a subscription." The Post has links to several Florence-related stories on its front page. the (South Carolina) State home page is here. The State is granting free access to its site during the storm. The Raleigh News & Observer home page is here.
New York Times: "Violent explosions and billowing fires tore through three towns north of Boston late Thursday afternoon, damaging dozens of houses, forcing thousands of stunned residents to evacuate and plunging much of the region into an eerie darkness. One person was killed and more than 20 were injured in the sudden string of explosions caused by gas leaks in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover as blackish-gray clouds of smoke rolled across rooftops and flames shot into the sky. Leonel Rondon, 18, was killed while he sat in a car in the driveway of a home in Lawrence, the authorities said. A chimney fell onto the car, they said, when the home, on Chickering Road, exploded." ...
... The Boston Globe has a number of related stories linked on its front page, but they're all subscriber-firewalled. ...
... New York Times Update: "State and federal authorities started investigations into the mysterious series of violent episodes as thousands of residents grew impatient to return to their homes and demanded answers to why any of it had happened. Officials said they were only beginning their inquiries and offered few answers, but attention was squarely focused on the natural gas lines of a local utility, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, which had been working on the pipelines. The authorities were looking at the possibility that gas may have been placed under a level of pressure that was too high for the pipelines it was moving through, creating cascading crises in more than 8,500 homes and businesses across the three towns."
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Reader Comments (16)
So some of the highlights of today's news are Donny Diapers feels most comfortable around Stephen "KKK" Miller (who everyone else loathes, except Javanka, and maybe John "empty barrel" Kelly), thinks avoiding his "Katrina" moment is a matter of PR messaging to "change reality", his best-budding relationship on the world stage is with Kim fucking Jong-Un (reality check!), Steve Bannon is pushing American Carnage Redux as the GOP's best shot at GOTV (sad!), and the GOP is still looking for its nut sack in the wrong place (sucked up their sphincters).
Seems like a lot to stomach for a few Sam's Club cards...but her emails!
"Democrats raised the death toll to make me look as bad as possible."
Dear donnie: you sure as hell don't need the help of Democrats, or
anyone else for that matter, to make you look really bad.
You just have to keep on doing your simple minded tweeting day
after day and blaming everyone else for your failings. Keep it up
donnie until you ratings hit rock bottom and more of your rats jump
ship.
Last night during MSNBC's news they had side-pictures of the storm's progress. One that captured me, that I found eerily symbolic, was an American flag flying in Cape Fear. At first it was intact, flying gently, but as the winds picked up it soon became so tattered that only thin strings of cloth were hanging on. I need not explain the significance–-it's pretty clear, isn't it?
The fact that three Americans were killed during Benghazi which prompted hours and hours of hearings, it's quite astounding that there have been NO hearings on the deaths in Puerto Rico.
The mysterious letter that reveals something criminal in Kavanaugh's past is intriguing. How about this scenario: Brett and anonymous were high school sweethearts. One night perhaps Brett wanted to go to the "next level" ( a term that is ubiquitous in the ridiculous Bachelorette series) A. says no way but Brett insists, pins her down and rapes her? She gets pregnant and has an abortion paid for in part by Brett who had to get a part-time job. Plausible? you bet. The thing is this guy has been vetted several times–-the only way the FBI wouldn't have known about whatever this is, is that it was obviously kept deep under wraps and few people knew about whatever this is.
@safari: I find it so amusing that Stephen Miller looks exactly like the worm that he is––central casting couldn't do better for the evil, sly, despicable creature who lurks in the hearts of men–-the evil that THE SHADOW knew very well.
@PD Pepe: Seeing Miller as looking evil & sly is probably the effect of Western Christians' long history of artists' depicting Jews as personifications of evil. Miller does seem to try to exaggerate the look, tho, by topping it with a skinhead "do."
Here's a more thorough reportage on the horrific series of gas explosions that destroyed dozens of homes in Massachusetts. It cites many other such natural gas explosions that have occurred in the U.S.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gas-explosions-massachusetts_us_5b9a9a8fe4b01151973bd78c
@Marie: I hadn't thought of that kind of depiction which is interesting since I just watched a documentary last night on PBS about American Jews serving in WWII and the anti-semitism they experienced. It's ironic that here we were fighting an enemy that wanted to eliminate Jews and within this country's military there was such distain for Jews. There is one story about two GI's that shared bunks together for months–-good buddies, lots of laughs until one day one of the buddies announced he was going to celebrate a particular Jewish holiday in his own way. "You're a Jew?" the other buddy asked, incredulously. From that day forth the questioner never spoke to his Jewish buddy again.
I read with interest and enthusiasm of Michael Bloomberg's intent to run for President in 2020. There are other mayors of big cities who would be attractive candidates: Mitch Landreu of New Orleans and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles. These men have real world problem solving experience, something in very short supply in the current White House. Apparently the Founding Fathers were not fans of big cities, but if that's where the talent is (not you, Rahm), why not?
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/02/can-a-mayor-take-the-white-house/553628/
WoPo: 'Manafort plans to plead guilty to second set of charges'.
Now it's official.
I'm getting a little nervous about these reports of a Blue Wave. Even reports that Democrats might recover the House but not the Senate worry me. Fence sitting or lazy Democrats are all too likely to stay home if they think the election's in the bag. Confederates never stay home. They go to vote no matter what. Too many Democrats are ho-hum about voting. Nothing's for sure until the fat lady sings.
Meanwhile, over in Evil Land, Mitch McConnell is reminding his voters that they face a deadly hurricane, maybe category 5. The lying dictator cries that he'll be impeached and atheism will become the law of the land unless every loyal goose stepper goes out to vote. These calls to arms always seem to work with R's. Not so much with Democrats. Even slightly lower turnout can make a huge difference. Look at the 2016 election. In some states, Democratic turnout was just a few percentage points off the 2012 election but that small disparity threw the election to the ignoramus.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many registered Democrats stayed home believing the race was already won, so why bother?
If these same idiots read all these articles about a Blue Wave, they may stay home again.
Granted, gerrymandering and Confederate election rigging and voter disenfranchisement make a difference, but that's all the more reason why we need a tumultuous turnout by Democrats.
The stakes were enormous in '16 but they're even bigger now. If too many voters take a pass, we'll be well and truly screwed.
The whole thing makes me nervous.
Just wondering what's going on with this Manafort deal. Why would Mueller let him off the hook if he thinks he knows something about the Trump-Russia scandal? Maybe he doesn't know all that much, and maybe Mueller thinks this Manafort sideshow is taking up too much time. Maybe he already has all he needs. Tea leaves are so few and far between that it's tough to tell (which is probably a good thing; we're so used to sieve like proceedings--see Benghazi--that an investigation that is largely closed to public scrutiny seems amazing). In any event, I hope this sleazy dictator henchman gets what's coming to him.
@Akhilleus: I agree wholeheartedly with your Blue Wave jitters. Of the many reasons I discount "sure things" is that they do lead to complacency. Why go out in the cold & rain to vote for Hillary when her election is a sure thing? Waste of time. While I do occasionally cite polls close to elections, no one should rely on them unless there's a huge gap between candidates -- like 20 points.
Oops. Well it looks like Brave Paul Manafort has done a complete Li'l Randy Flip-Flop(™) and has agreed to coöperation (as they diaeretically put it in the New Yorker) with the Mueller investigation into the scrofulous campaign activities of the Traitor in Chief.
This has been a long game. You chess players out here appreciate the principles of middlegame development. Mueller is clearly willing to wait it out, to develop all his pieces in an orderly fashion, the polar opposite of the way Trump approaches the game, which is to run his big pieces out, threaten death and destruction, then retreat quickly but leaving unprotected pawns, knights, and bishops to their fate while he scurries to protect his heinie.
I hope Mueller has an excruciating endgame planned for this piece of shit. Me, I'd let him suffer. I wouldn't go for checkmate right away until I ran his fat king around the board a few times, picking off every other piece until king cheese stands alone.
Then....the dagger. Run him into a corner and make him squeal.
Come one, come all...
Did I read somewhere in passing that Andrew Cuomo could be looking at a presidential run in 2020? Jeeeeesus. Please, god, not that. The last Cuomo was worth voting for, but he did his Hamlet on the Hudson until the boat sailed right on by.
But it's looking now like all sorts of tempters of fate are lining up. Michael Avenatti? C'mon. And plenty of guys back for another shot at the brass ring, Biden and John Kerry. I read that Jamie Dimon was bragging that he could win too. Because we don't have enough billionaires running around Washington now. Elizabeth Warren? I dunno. I love her, but I'm not sure she's ready (then again, who is ever really ready for this job?). Kamala Harris? Sure, I'd vote for her. Cory Booker? Sure, I wouldn't vote for him (unless it was him or the Monster again).
Maybe someone will pop up out of the blue. If he was already in the Senate and had a few years under his belt, Beto O'Rourke might be an interesting candidate.
What I don't want is for the Democrats to run a Gong Show.
Well, let's get through the midterms.
"May you live in interesting times" sez Confucius. Yeah. Thanks for nothin' pal.
Any bets on how long it takes for Trump to start tarring and feathering Manafort? I'd bet I can imagine the Oval Office scene right now: some orange-skinned baffoon ranting and raving about about RATS!
@safari: I would have guessed about a half-hour ago, but it appears that White House staff have tied Trump down & taken away his tweety phone. He hasn't tweeted anything for 16 hours -- the last one was that tweet (actually a retweet) touting the fake psychologist who said Trump was the most sound-minded president in history or whatever. His official account is full of hurricane-related stuff. So the answer is, "After they untie him."
I’m guessing once they untie him, he’ll have a Manafort piñata hung from the ceiling of the Oval Office (along with all the piñatas) and he can start whacking at it. Wonder what will fall out. Borscht?
Just finished reading (most of) the Plea Agreement and the sentencing guidelines do suggest a long residency courtesy of the federal government. One of the forfeiture properties listed is for 721 Fifth Avenue, NYC. Address seemed familiar. Uh huh, it's that place with the gigantic gold letters on it face that spell TRUMP!
BTW Anyone else notice that Manafort kinda resembles actor Paul Sorvino? Wonder if he also uses a truffle slicer to cut his garlic thin? (see also "Goodfellas").