The Conversation -- August 3, 2025
Liar-in-Chief Wants Thanks for Next to Nothing. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: “Despite ... Donald Trump’s repeated assertion in recent days that the United States has contributed $60 million for food to Gaza, U.S. pledges have been half of that amount, only a fraction of which has been actually disbursed.... Using nearly identical wording, Trump has at least three times in the past week made the $60 million claim, disparaging what he said was media inattention to his administration’s generosity. 'We gave $60 million a couple of weeks ago,' he told reporters at the White House on Thursday. 'Nobody said anything about it.… Nobody said thank you.'” ~~~
~~~ In Our Names. Mehdi Hasan in a Guardian op-ed: “The debate over whether or not Gaza is a genocide is, effectively, over.... The inconvenient truth is that the US has not just looked the other way, as tens of thousands of Palestinians have been besieged and bombed, starved and slaughtered, but helped Israel pull the trigger. We have been complicit in this genocide, which is itself a crime under article III of the Genocide convention.... Donald Trump has given Benjamin Netanyahu ... and his far-right government not only the green light to 'clean out' Gaza and 'finish the job', but also the arms, intel and funds to do so. When Netanyahu launched his blockade of all food and aid going into Gaza in March, he emphasized it was done 'in full coordination with President Trump and his people'.... Congress is filled with GOP cheerleaders for genocide, from Senators Tom 'bounce the rubble in Gaza' Cotton to Lindsey 'level the place' Graham. The newest member of the House, Randy Fine, a Republican representative of Florida, has called for the nuking of Gaza and said just days ago that Palestinians in Gaza should 'starve away' until the Israeli hostages are all released.... But we cannot let Democrats off the hook either.... Then there is the US media’s complicity in this genocide.... Elite US institutions are also disgracefully complicit in the annihilation of Gaza....”
Edward Helmore of the Guardian: “Senior Republican lawmakers are condemning the decision of ... Donald Trump to fire the leading US labor market statistician after a report that showed the national economy added just 73,000 jobs – far fewer than expected – in July.... 'If the president is firing the statistician because he doesn’t like the numbers but they are accurate, then that’s a problem,' said Wyoming Republican senator Cynthia Lummis.” MB: Helmore cites similar criticisms from Thom Tillis & Rand Paul. I'd say negative comments from three GOP senators, two of whom are Trump's most frequent critics in the Senate, doesn't amount to much. But it is a start.
Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic: “Broadly speaking, Donald Trump’s authoritarian moves come in two flavors. The first is devious plans that help him amass power (say, turning the Departments of Justice and Defense over to lackeys, or using regulatory threats to bully media owners into favorable coverage). The second is foolish impulses that he follows because they make him feel momentarily better. Firing Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as Trump did via a Truth Social post [Thursday] afternoon, falls into the second category.... Trump himself has spent years insisting that economic numbers were made up, regularly denouncing every positive jobs report during the Obama era as fake. And so, when this morning’s report came out, his lizard brain was primed to act: Bureaucrat say Trump economy bad. Trump fire bureaucrat. Now economy good.... Trump has been raging against [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell for being too slow, in Trump’s view, to cut interest rates. But cutting interest rates is what the Fed does when the economy is weak.... Trump is thus simultaneously claiming that the economy is stronger than people think and that Powell should act as if it’s weaker than people think.” Thanks to laura h. for this gift link.
Jonathan Fischer & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: “The Smithsonian said on Saturday that it would restore information about ... Donald Trump’s two impeachments to an exhibit in the National Museum of American History within weeks. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that in July, the museum removed a placard describing Trump’s impeachments and reverted the exhibit to how it looked in 2008. That display — a glass case dominated by a file cabinet damaged in the Watergate break-in — says that 'only three presidents have seriously faced removal': Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton. The placard mentioning Trump was removed from the exhibition.” ~~~
~~~ In its earlier report, the Post reporter wrote, “The Smithsonian spokesperson said that a large gallery like 'The American Presidency' requires a 'significant amount of time and funding to update and renew.'” This suggested that it would be a lo-o-ong time before the Smithsonian got around to again acknowledging Trump's impeachments. An NBC News report is here.
Mary Jalonick & Joey Cappelletti of the AP: “The Senate left Washington Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to advance dozens of ... Donald Trump’s nominees, calling it quits after days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting on social media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer can 'GO TO HELL!' Without a deal in hand, Republicans say they may try to change Senate rules when they return in September to speed up the pace of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to move quickly as Democrats blocked more nominees than usual this year, denying any fast unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that can take several days per nominee.” Politico's report is here.
Senate Confirms Former Fox Host Boxwine. Grace Moon & Theodoric Meyer of the Washington Post: “The Senate on Saturday confirmed former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in a 50-45 vote along party lines. The 74-year-old Trump loyalist previously served as a judge and prosecutor in Westchester County, New York and has been interim U.S. attorney since May.” The CBS News report is here.
Tom Cotton will never stop being an obnoxious, attention-seeking ass: ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett of the New York Times : “An agency that scrutinizes the conduct of federal employees has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who investigated Donald J. Trump before he returned to office, following a request by a Republican senator. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed on Saturday that it had opened an investigation into Mr. Smith for a possible violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits federal workers from using their government jobs to engage in political activity. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, had asked the agency to investigate on the premise that some of Mr. Smith’s actions, such as seeking quick trial dates in the two criminal cases against Mr. Trump, were designed to influence the 2024 election.... The ... most severe penalty possible for a Hatch Act violation is dismissal from federal employment, and Mr. Smith left the government at the start of the year.... The type of prosecutorial decisions criticized by Mr. Cotton, Mr. Trump and others are far different from the type of cases the O.S.C. typically handles. The office traditionally investigates and addresses violations of federal rules about the civil service.” The AP's report is here.
Zach Montellaro & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “The Supreme Court said Friday that it will weigh the constitutionality of a common form of redistricting used to protect the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters: the drawing of congressional districts where racial minorities make up at least half the population. Experts in election law said the move signals that the court may be poised to further narrow the Voting Rights Act. In a terse order issued Friday evening, the justices called for briefing on whether the 'intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.' The order came in a case challenging Louisiana’s congressional map, which contains two majority-Black districts out of the state’s six House seats.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary near the end of yesterday's thread. A Washington Post story is here.
Texas. Gerrymandering the Gerrymandered. David Goodman of the New York Times: “A Republican-led committee of the Texas House voted on Saturday to advance a new congressional map drawn to flip five Democratic House districts in favor of Republican candidates, setting up a showdown over redistricting next week. The vote came after a marathon 15-hour hearing on Friday in which the committee heard public testimony, almost all of it firmly against the aggressive changes that affect districts in Houston, Dallas and Austin, and along the U.S.-Mexico border. Several Democratic members of Congress came to Austin to testify, arguing that the proposed map would diminish the power of Black and Hispanic communities across Texas and violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Al Green, a congressman from Houston, said the map was 'racist.' Jasmine Crockett, a congresswoman from Dallas, vowed to immediately challenge it in court. But in the end, the Republicans on the committee voted to deliver the map that had been called for by ... [Donald] Trump, who said last month that he hoped to get five more Republicans in the House. Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats.” Mother Jones' report is here.
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Reader Comments (1)
Here's a scale model of Trump's White House Ballroom, which, to me,
looks like an idiot designed it.
It dwarfs the White House. Looks like something a dictator would do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DM1BHtivKL7/