The Conversation -- August 13, 2025

Marie: As of early this morning, it remains impossible to post comments on Reality Chex. Squarespace is outright refusing to fix this bug. A supposed tech support person (or an AI bot) had the gall to tell me he/it can't "reproduce" the problem. That is, Squarespace is asserting it does not have a technician intelligent enough to try to post a comment. BTW, I checked to see if other Squarespace users have had similar experiences. The answer is yes. On one rating service, Squarespace received one star out of five -- which is to say, Squarespace could not get a worse rating. ~~~

     ~~~ I'm not sure where I'm going next, but I'm about done here. Keep checking back though, as I'll let you know what, if anything, is next -- as soon as I figure it out.

Tyler Pager & Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “National Guard troops began to deploy in Washington on Tuesday evening as ... [Donald] Trump’s plan to use the federal government to crack down on crime in the city started taking shape. About a dozen members of the National Guard appeared in five military vehicles near the Washington Monument as the sun set, a stark juxtaposition to a peaceful evening scene of people jogging by with headphones and walking their dogs. An Army official said troops were continuing to gather at the D.C. Armory and were expected to deploy around national monuments, and near a U.S. Park Police facility in the Anacostia neighborhood of southeast Washington.... Troops snapp[ed] photos of themselves with visitors. They left roughly two hours after they arrived....

“[White House press secretary Karoline] Leavitt boasted that a federal task force, which includes some local officers, made 23 arrests on Monday evening in connection with a range of crimes. Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, said in a post on X Tuesday evening that the F.B.I. had participated in 10 arrests in “the first big push” of Mr. Trump’s crackdown. In Washington, a city of roughly 700,000 people, the Metropolitan Police Department makes an average of 68 arrests a day, officials said. Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, and Pamela A. Smith, her police chief, met Tuesday morning with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other administration officials.” ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “On Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob committed a month’s worth of crime in the span of about three hours.... But ... [Donald] Trump’s handling of the most lawless day in recent Washington history stands in sharp contrast to his announcement on Monday that he needed to use the full force of the federal government to crack down on 'violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals' in the nation’s capital. After a prominent member of the Department of Government Efficiency, known ... [as] 'Big Balls,' was assaulted this month, the president took federal control of Washington’s police force and mobilized National Guard troops.... Mr. Trump described 'roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.'... 'If we want to look at marauding mobs, look at Jan. 6,' said Mary McCord, the director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and ... a former federal prosecutor. 'If you want to look at criminal mobs, we had a criminal mob and he called them peaceful protesters.'... [Mr. Trump] has selected a passionate defender of Jan. 6 rioters to run the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, and his [Justice Department] even hired a former F.B.I. agent who was charged with encouraging the mob to kill police officers.”

Annals of “Journalism,” Ha Ha Ha. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “Right-wing media has embraced Mr. Trump’s crackdown in Washington, dismissing Democrats’ concerns about creeping authoritarianism and any exaggerations about the level of crime in the nation’s capital.... MAGA influencers like Charlie Kirk have called for a 'full military occupation' of other major cities. [Pete Hegseth's and Jeanine] Pirro’s return to [their] old network home [Monday evening] was a small illustration of Fox News’s feedback loop with the second Trump administration, which, like its predecessors in both parties, regularly cites media coverage that validates and amplifies its policy goals. The network has numerous ties to this administration, which includes more than two dozen Fox alumni as members.”

⭐The Big Grifter.  Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: "... Donald Trump and his family may have made billions off his two presidencies, a new report claims. The New Yorker reports that Trump and his family have pocketed an estimated $3.4 billion thanks to his two terms as president. Its tally includes profits from cryptocurrencies, the president’s MAGA-branded merchandise and his Mar-a-Lago estate. The outlet estimated that, thanks to Trump’s two presidencies, the family has made $2.37 billion from cryptocurrency; $339.6 million from financial ventures; $270.8 million from hospitality; $116 million from media; and $277.7 million across other sources, including his private jet, legal fees and merchandise."

Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: “Investigators have uncovered evidence that Russia is at least partly responsible for a recent hack of the computer system that manages federal court documents, including highly sensitive records with information that could reveal sources and people charged with national security crimes, according to several people briefed on the breach. It is not clear what entity is responsible, whether an arm of Russian intelligence might be behind the intrusion or if other countries were also involved, which some of the people familiar with the matter described as a yearslong effort to infiltrate the system.... The disclosure comes as ... [Donald] Trump is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, in Alaska on Friday....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Pardon my whacked-out conspiracy theorizing, but I'll just note that Donald Trump hates U.S. courts as much as he hated Hillary Clinton in 2016. The reporters seem to imply that the hacking could cause embarrassment at the upcoming Alaska meeting. I'm thinking, by contrast, that "Russia, if you're listening ..." could have figured into this hack, too. So high-fives all around. Just sayin'.

Marie: It's hard to exaggerate how stupid Trump is and how wrong he is about nearly every policy decision he makes. Garrett Graff points out one of the administration's greatest failings, if not the greatest. ~~~ 

~~~⭐Garrett Graff in a New York Times op-ed: “The 80th anniversary last week of the atomic bombings that helped end World War II came ... [at a time] the administration is turning its back on a history of being powered and renewed by the innovation and vision of immigrants. What America may find is that we have squandered the greatest gift of the Manhattan Project — which, in the end, wasn’t the bomb but a new way of looking at how science and government can work together.... That the push [for the bomb] came from refugees from fascist Europe was not a coincidence.... [The Europeans had seen at home how science could serve the military.] Out of [the Manhattan Project] grew a tradition of government-supported science, technology and education efforts. Those fields became a source of national strength and arguably the primary driver of American economic hegemony and prosperity in the eight decades since.... Today, just as China’s own research and development efforts take off, the Trump administration has been erasing this legacy.... In addition, there is the administration’s war on immigration and its hostility to foreign researchers and students coming to the United States....” ~~~

~~~ Trump isn't merely anti-science. He hates the liberal arts at least as much. ~~~

Graham Bowley, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would begin a wide-ranging review of current and planned exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, scouring wall text, websites and social media 'to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.' White House officials announced the review in a letter sent to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian. Museums will be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic within 120 days, the letter said, 'replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.' The review ... is the latest attempt by ... [Donald] Trump to try to impose his will on the Smithsonian, which has traditionally operated as an independent institution that regards itself outside the purview of the executive branch.... In its letter, the White House says its review 'aims to ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.'” An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ What? You don't infusing the Smithsonian with fake history & the Kennedy Center with "Cats" is anti-intellectual enough? Well, how about this? ~~~

~~~ David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: Donald “Trump is moving ahead with plans to hold an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House grounds next July 4, the U.F.C.’s chief executive, Dana White, told CBS on Tuesday. 'It is definitely going to happen,' Mr. White said on 'CBS Mornings.' A White House official who asked not to be named to discuss plans that were still in their early stages confirmed that the event was expected to happen on July 4.” The CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Perhaps Trump is hosting a wrestling match in the White House as a fake show of his fake solidarity with what he imagines we ordinary people enjoy. But I think he just doesn't know any better. ~~~

~~~ Anne Brinigin & Roxanne Roberts of the Washington Post: “Initial renderings [of Trump's planned White House ballroom] bear all the hallmarks of [his] opulent, Louis XIV-inspired aesthetic, which has always borrowed heavily from the baroque: very dramatic, very embellished, with lots of gold and gilded elements. Trump has called it 'a great legacy project.'... It resembles the ballrooms Trump constructed at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Both ballrooms were Trump-designed additions to homes with grand entertaining spaces.)... Majestic spaces are where the political and social elite — kings, aristocrats, tycoons — have traditionally asserted and cemented their power.... For these nouveau dynasties [of the Gilded Age], the ballroom was the place 'by which society cemented its values,' ... said Robert Wellington, author of the forthcoming book 'Versailles Mirrored....'... Such a grand space as the ballroom also reinforces Trump’s narrative of a new Gilded Age, as well as its tensions: his promise of making America great again, wrapped in a Versailles veneer.”

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has reportedly been cleared to leave prison on work release.... [Documents viewed by podcast host Allison Gill] ... showed that Maxwell's custody level was set to 'OUT,' allowing her to leave the prison to work." ~~~

~~~ James Zirin, a former SDNY prosecutor, in a Hill opinion piece in which he examines the DOJ's recent arrangements with Ghislaine Maxwell: “You may ask whether Trump approved the transfer [of Maxwell to a very low-security 'club fed']. You can bet on it. This Justice Department doesn’t make a move without Trump’s thumb on the scale.”

Paul Krugman: “Let me call this Arendt’s Law: Totalitarian and wannabe totalitarian regimes only hire incompetent hacks. So when Trump nominated E.J. Antoni, the current chief economist at Heritage, to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it seemed safe to assume that he would be [an incompetent hack].... Menzie Chinn of the University of Wisconsin, who actually is a Highly Respected Economist and whose blog Econbrowser has been influential for many years, has been on Antoni’s case for a while. And sure enough, Arendt’s Law remains undefeated.... I’ve argued since before Trump took office that this administration would eventually get around to cooking the economic books. But I didn’t expect it right away.... One should never underestimate the audacity of hacks. On Monday Antoni went on Fox Business and suggested that the BLS should stop issuing monthly jobs reports until the 'problems' at the agency are fixed.... Incidentally..., the BLS is legally required to issue monthly employment reports. So Antoni’s proposal, aside from being a transparently corrupt attempt to hide bad news, would be flatly illegal.” ~~~

     ~~~ Halina Bennet on Slow Boring: “Dr. Antoni has criticized BLS data and praised Trump’s policies, calling on the Department of Government Efficiency last November to 'take a chainsaw to the BLS.... Jason Furman, Harvard economist and chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration, called Antoni 'completely unqualified.' Former Heritage Foundation economist Jessica Riedl, who is now at the Manhattan Institute, said of Antoni, 'the articles and tweets I’ve seen him publish are probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now.'... Economist Brian Albrecht pulled together [a] thread of instances when Antoni misinterpreted or mischaracterized economic statistics.... Antoni’s nomination now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate, where confirmation is expected.” ~~~

     ~~~ Dominic Pino of the (right-wing) National Review: Donald "Trump has nominated an unqualified economist to take over one of America’s most important statistical agencies.... What Trump would like is a BLS that is biased in his favor. The latest proof of that is his nominee to be the next commissioner, E. J. Antoni.... [Antoni] has demonstrated time and again that he does not understand economic statistics. Whether that is due to willful misinterpretation or ignorance on Antoni’s part is open for debate. But the pattern is undeniable." Pino cites numerous examples of Antoni screw-ups.

     ~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "This is all way worse than the first time around when [Trump] didn’t think he would win, and lots of old style country club GOP money men rallied round the banner of The Business of America is Business, and managed to secure positions near the faux gold throne. This time it’s nothing but lunatics and grifters, and grifting lunatics."

DOGE's purpose was definitely not to reduce waste, fraud & abuse: ~~~

⭐More Gross Hackery. Jessie Blaeser of Politico: “The Trump administration’s claim that it is saving billions of dollars through DOGE-related cuts to federal contracts is drastically exaggerated, according to a new Politico analysis of public data and federal spending records. Through July, DOGE said it has saved taxpayers $52.8 billion by canceling contracts, but of the $32.7 billion in actual claimed contract savings that Politico could verify, DOGE’s savings over that period were closer to $1.4 billion.... Not a single one of those 1.4 billion dollars will lower the federal deficit unless Congress steps in. Instead, the money has been returned to agencies mandated by law to spend it.... Even so..., Donald Trump claimed hundreds of billions of dollars had already been used to reduce the federal deficit.... DOGE’s savings calculations are based on faulty math. The group uses the maximum spending possible under each contract as its baseline — meaning all money an agency could spend in future fiscal years. That amount can far exceed what the government has actually committed to pay out.”

Alanna Richer & Maria Verza of the AP: “Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border.... It’s the second time in months that Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs onto American streets.... The cartel figures were put on planes to the U.S. after the Justice Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against any of the defendants or against any cartel leaders and members sent to the U.S. in February.”

Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department on Tuesday found that George Washington University was 'deliberately indifferent to antisemitic discrimination' on its campus, the latest allegation from the Trump administration over a college’s response to discrimination against Jewish students and faculty. In a letter to GWU President Ellen Granberg, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said that the Justice Department would deploy 'enforcement' measures against the school unless a voluntary resolution is reached. She requested a response by Aug. 22.”

Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “A divided appeals court panel on Tuesday said the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service can access sensitive data held by federal agencies, rejecting concerns that the move runs afoul of privacy law. In a 2-1 decision, a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit concluded that plaintiffs in the case, a group that includes labor unions and individual people receiving government benefits, had failed to show they could prevail in their legal challenge. The plaintiffs had asked courts to keep DOGE representatives from accessing personal information held by the Treasury Department, Office of Personnel Management and Education Department, saying that this action violated federal privacy law. Judge Julius N. Richardson, joined by Judge G. Steven Agee, wrote that the plaintiffs in the case 'have struggled to show' they suffered harm in the case.... Richardson was nominated to the bench by ... Donald Trump...; Agee was nominated by President George W. Bush.... In a dissent, Judge Robert B. King..., who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, said he would have kept the lower court [injunction] in place.”

Erica Orden & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday to improve the conditions for ICE detainees in Manhattan after a lawsuit filed by a Peruvian immigrant complained of cramped and unsanitary holding cells. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered officials by Aug. 26 to provide more spacious accommodations that are equipped with a bedding mat for each detainee held overnight, have hygiene supplies and are cleaned 'thoroughly' at least three times a day. Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, also ordered officials to allow detainees private phone calls with their lawyers within 24 hours of being detained and to give them a printed notice of their rights within one hour of being placed in a holding room.... Kaplan indicated at a hearing Tuesday that his short-term restraining order would be followed quickly by consideration of the detainees’ motion for a longer-term injunction and the certification of a class action that would provide more sweeping protections for those detained by ICE.”

Tobi Raji of the Washington Post: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a 2021 Arkansas law banning gender-affirming care for minors, ruling that parents 'do not have unlimited authority to make medical decisions for their children.' The St. Louis-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled 8-2 that the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act does not discriminate against transgender people or violate the rights of medical professionals — rejecting a closely watched challenge to the nation’s first-of-its-kind ban on gender transition treatment for transgender youth.”

If every time you pick up a newspaper, you get the sense you are falling, falling back in time -- it's not your imagination: ~~~

~~~ Supremes Appear Ready to Give GOP a Tremendous Boost. Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog: The Supreme Court has fast-tracked its potential demolition of Section 2 of Voting Rights Act by setting oral argument for October 15 in a Louisiana case, possibly in time to affect the 2026 midterm elections. (This is a paraphrase of Hasen's headline.)

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: “Texas Republicans said Tuesday that they would kick off a second special legislative session Friday to redraw the state’s congressional maps in favor of the GOP, putting pressure on absent Democrats to quickly return to the state or commit to remaining away for another month.” ~~~

~~~ Tom Abrahams of ABC13 Houston: "ABC13 has confirmed with multiple sources that House Democrats will return to Texas. Eyewitness News has not confirmed the date, but we do know that Democrats believe they've accomplished their mission by killing the first special session and by raising national awareness about the mid-decade redistricting effort.... After our initial reporting online and on television, a spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Caucus sent the following statement to ABC News: 'Members are still assessing their strategies going forward and are in a private meeting to make decisions about future plans currently,' he wrote." ~~~

~~~ Bill Barrow & Nadia Lathan of the AP: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ratcheted up ... Donald Trump’s congressional redistricting fight by calling Tuesday for progressive activist Beto O’Rourke to be put 'behind bars' for helping Democrats who have managed to block the GOP’s gerrymandering efforts with an extended walkout.... O’Rourke denied any wrongdoing and called the attorney general a 'corrupt, lying thug.'”