The Conversation -- July 25, 2025
Another Sign of a National in Free-fall. Kenneth Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: “Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by ... [Donald] Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns. The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general.... Media Matters stands as an example of how legal warfare waged by powerful ideological opponents can squelch influential voices and stifle political dissent. The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.”
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News from the Pedo FilesTMAkhilleus: ~~~
David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s name appeared on a contributor list for a book celebrating the 50th birthday of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, evidence that he participated in the collection even as he denied that he signed a sexually suggestive note and drawing.... The Times found that at least once before, Mr. Trump had written Mr. Epstein an admiring note. 'To Jeff — You are the greatest!' reads an inscription in a copy of Mr. Trump’s book 'Trump: The Art of the Comeback' that belonged to Mr. Epstein. The message, reviewed by The Times, is signed 'Donald' and dated 'Oct ’97,' the month the book came out.” The article includes an image of the inscription. The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ From a Wall Street Journal story by Khadeeja Safdar & Joe Palazzolo, excerpted by Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The leather-bound album — assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006 — included a page with a single paragraph in [President Bill] Clinton’s distinctive scrawl: 'It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.'... The former president was among around five dozen people, including Donald Trump, Wall Street billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang and media owner Mort Zuckerman, who ended up with letters in the 2003 book, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal."
Andrew Skerritt, et al., of the Washington Post: “Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former associate Ghislaine Maxwell met with a top Justice Department official for about five hours Thursday, her attorney said, answering every question in 'a very productive day.' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he would continue interviewing Maxwell on Friday. The meeting in a federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee, not far from the low-security federal prison where Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, comes as the Trump administration is trying to mitigate the political fallout over its handling of the case.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Not only is Maxwell anold friend of Donald Trump's, during his first presidential* term, he "wished her well" after she was arrested on sex-trafficking charges. AND, as Chris Hayes of MSNBC pointed out last night, during his confirmation hearing for the Number 2 slot at Justice, Blanche testified that he remained Donald Trump's attorney. For whom do you think Blanche is working today? You or Donald? ~~~
~~~~ Awk-ward! Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “On Thursday, top Justice Department officials interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein’s. But just days before, the same department asked the Supreme Court justices to reject her appeal seeking to overturn her conviction for assisting Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes. The moment highlights the awkward position of the department that prosecuted Ms. Maxwell as it seeks to curb criticism that federal officials have hidden information about Mr. Epstein’s case, including his links to famous and well-connected figures. Prosecutors had previously argued in court that Ms. Maxwell had been dishonest in her accounts of her interactions with Mr. Epstein, and she has made it clear that she wants her freedom.” The article goes on to detail Maxwell's case before the Supreme Court.
Stephen Colbert reveals a few Pedo File news tidbits, too: ~~~
Adam Goldman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “This spring, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department made an all-out push involving hundreds of employees to scour the Jeffrey Epstein files with a single goal in mind — find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of ... [Donald] Trump’s supporters. But after devoting countless hours to the project, working at times around the clock searching databases, hard drives, network drives, cabinets, desks and closets, the bureau and the department finally acknowledged this month that they had little to show for their efforts.... During the inquiry, Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times — including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures....
“On Tuesday, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general..., reiterat[ed] the findings of the department memo this month indicating that the F.B.I.’s review had not turned up any additional culprits....[:] 'The joint statement by @TheJusticeDept and @FBI of July 6 remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.' Mr. Blanche’s message was a tacit concession that the review by the bureau — one that diverted resources from other critical missions — had largely been a waste of time.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Ellen Houghtaling in the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein had a personal relationship, in Epstein’s own words. In resurfaced footage of the pedophilic sex trafficker’s 2010 deposition, Epstein confesses to socializing with Trump — but refuses to answer whether or not they spent time with children. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
đ¨đ¨đ¨ Watch Jeffrey Epstein plead his Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights when asked if he and Donald Trump socialized with females under the age of 18 during a 2010 deposition:
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 24, 2025
Q: Have you ever had a personal relationship with Donald Trump?
A. What do you mean by "personal… pic.twitter.com/JyM5LYJ0C4
Jonathan Allen, et al., of NBC News: "White House aides have made it clear that no one in the administration is allowed to talk about Epstein without high-level vetting.... That represents a shift of sorts for a president who has generally liked his top deputies and administration officials to robustly defend him to the media, regardless of the issue." (Also linked yesterday.)
Talls Tales of an Addled Old Man. Amanda Marcotte of Salon: “All this stress Donald Trump is under appears to have caused him to confuse his old friend, Jeffrey Epstein, with his uncle.... During a roundtable in Pittsburgh last week, Trump claimed his uncle [John Trump] taught [Unabomber Ted] Kaczynski at MIT.... This is not true. John Trump died in 1985, 11 years before Kaczynski was outed as the Unabomber. Plus, Kaczynski attended Harvard, not MIT. Trump’s story sounds an awful lot like a fake story that Epstein used to tell, according to Stuart Pivar, another old friend of Epstein’s who gave an interview to Mother Jones in 2019. 'Jeffrey told me that he studied math at UCLA with the Unabomber, who was a math teacher,' Pivar said. This is also not true — Epstein didn’t go to UCLA and Kaczynski didn’t teach there.” Read on; there's a lot more here about the future of the MAGA movement. (And, no, when Trump leaves the scene they are not going to become children of the Enlightenment.) Thanks to RAS for the link. And the Epstein/Uncle John mix-up is a great catch by Marcotte. (Also linked yesterday.)
Calder McHugh in Politico Magazine: “... in the return to the airwaves of Comedy Central stalwart South Park..., Trump is skewered for his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and he is depicted as a man who has lined the walls of the White House with naked photos of himself.... It's the latest sign that Trump has lost control of the Epstein narrative, and that the saga has broken Washington containment and permeated deep into popular culture. That makes it the worst kind of White House mess.... The show — which isn’t explicitly ideological and is more anti-establishment in tone, often delighting in puncturing political correctness — has gone after Trump before. But not so clearly or directly. Its latest attack on the president puts it in the company of many other comedians or online influencers who have been teeing off on Trump over Epstein in recent weeks — prima facie evidence that Trump has misread the priorities of the young men who powered him back into office.” More on the "South Park" episode linked below.
Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: “Another member of ... Donald Trump's inner circle has been shown with ties to deceased financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to The Daily Beast, in addition to taking trips on Epstein's private plane, recently resurfaced pictures 'show RFK Jr. at a New York Academy of Art gala with Epstein in in 1994, while files from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office show a listing for "Kennedy, Bobby & Mary" in Epstein’s "little black book," which featured contacts for socialites and politicians, as well as the girls he sexually assaulted.' Kennedy has been open about his ties to Epstein to some extent, saying during his independent presidential run last year before being named to Trump's cabinet, 'I was on Jeffrey Epstein’s jet two times. My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach.'”
Distractions from the Pedo Files: ~~~
Taking a Field Trip. Wherein Donald Trump tries to ambush Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and Powell fact-checks him, cameras rolling: ~~~
~~~ Marie: Powell's tone is perfection: he lets Trump (and toady Sen. Tim Scott [R-S.C.]) that he will not suffer fools. With a tut-tut shake of his head Powell quietly but firmly dismissed Trump as a blithering idiot. BTW, the funds to renovate or build on Federal Reserve properties come from its own sources, not from taxpayer resources. ~~~
~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell went back and forth in front of the press Thursday over Trump’s claims about cost overruns at the Fed headquarters in Washington. The stunning side-by-side took place as Trump began a rare tour of the Fed building, in what was widely seen as the latest chapter in his pressure campaign to get Powell to lower interest rates or resign as the central bank chairman. But Trump also suggested that he was abandoning any consideration of firing Powell, despite floating that unprecedented and legally contested idea earlier this month.... Trump asserted that construction costs for the ongoing renovation of the two Fed buildings have topped $3.1 billion. 'I haven’t heard that from anybody,' Powell replied. He said Trump was adding in the costs for a third government building, which was 'built five years ago.'” ~~~
~~~ Erica Green of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump tried to get in the last word: 'It’s part of the overall work.' But Mr. Powell stood his ground. 'It’s not new,' he said, as the president kept his face toward the cameras and changed the subject. It was a remarkable scene. Mr. Trump, who is used to world leaders bowing down to him and cabinet members fawning over him, has rarely encountered a top official challenging him in public — in front of television cameras, no less — let alone telling him he was wrong.... Mr. Trump’s decision to see the building himself was a marked escalation [of his campaign against Mr. Powell], at a time when he appeared desperate to distract from headlines about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The president, who likes to boast about his expertise in construction and takes pride in his record as a real-estate developer, could not prove that there were excessive costs.”
Signing an Executive Order against the Homeless. Dani Anguiano & Sam Levin of the Guardian: “The federal government is seeking to crack down on homelessness in the US, with Donald Trump issuing an executive order to push local governments to remove unhoused people from the streets. The order the US president signed on Thursday will seek the 'reversal of federal or state judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees' that restrict local governments’ ability to force people into treatment for mental health, and redirect funds to support rehabilitation and treatment. The order aims to 'restore public order', saying 'endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe', according to the order. The action comes as the homelessness crisis in the US has significantly worsened in recent years driven by a widespread shortage of affordable housing.... 'Today’s executive orders, combined with Maga’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet,' said Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center.”
Signing an Executive Order for the Bros. Ralph Russo of the New York Times: “Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that is intended to bring order and stability to college sports, though NCAA and conference leaders still stressed that federal legislation is needed to address myriad issues schools and athletes are facing.... The executive order highlights many of the same goals that were in a draft version of the executive order obtained by The Athletic last week: protecting women’s and Olympic sports; addressing the employment status of college athletes and antitrust issues that have pulled the NCAA and conferences into constant litigation.... The order was announced by the White House a day after it became apparent Congress was still a ways away from passing a bill to help regulate college sports and the way athletes can be compensated. The SCORE Act, which would help regulate college sports and how athletes are compensated by schools, made it through two Republican-led House committees on partisan lines Wednesday. No college sports bill has ever gotten so far.” The NPR story is here; thanks to Ken W. for the link.
“Investigating” Obama, et al. Glenn Thrush & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to look into unsubstantiated allegations by ... [Donald] Trump that President Barack Obama and his aides ordered an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to destroy him. The move was posted in an ambiguous, bare-bones statement on the department’s website. It demonstrated Mr. Trump’s determination to deploy the levers of federal law enforcement to pursue a campaign of retribution and self-vindication against those who once sought to hold him accountable. It also represented yet another Trump attempt to pivot back to the attack, away from the political morass of the Jeffrey Epstein files, by targeting Mr. Obama.... The creation of a so-called strike force came days after the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released documents that she said proved top Obama administration officials carried out a “treasonous conspiracy.” That assertion was contradicted by a Senate Intelligence Committee review, which found significant evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election and was led in part by Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he served in the Senate.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Blondie Is Annoyed. Glenn Thrush & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “Ms. Bondi was given little warning the director of national intelligence was about to demand she investigate one of Mr. Trump’s most longstanding grievances: claims without evidence that the Obama administration overstated Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election in order to undermine him. Ms. Bondi, fresh off a nasty fight with a top F.B.I. official over who was responsible for the political mess around the Epstein case, felt blindsided and annoyed.... Ms. Bondi’s staff scrambled for a solution that would satisfy Mr. Trump while not committing the department to a tit-for-tat Obama investigation.... Ms. Bondi’s deputies posted an ambiguous, four-paragraph statement on the department’s website that announced the formation of what they described as a 'strike force' to look into the Gabbard accusations.” ~~~
~~~ Jeffrey Toobin in a New York Times op-ed: Donald “Trump believes that President Barack Obama committed treason, a crime that may be punishable by death. Seeking a distraction from his current political travails, Mr. Trump is attempting to relitigate the nearly decade-old controversy over Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump is wrong on the facts and the law, and his sensational allegation serves only to demonstrate how completely he has degraded contemporary political discourse.... President Trump’s history of intemperate remarks has earned him a perverse kind of immunity; the more outrageous his statement, the faster it is often dismissed. But Mr. Trump doesn’t deserve this bloviator’s privilege. He’s not just the president..., he’s the overseer of an unusually compliant Justice Department, and his offhand condemnation of his predecessor is as significant as it is chilling.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I see this "distraction" as a lot worse than Toobin does. Only in a thoroughly corrupt, lawless dictatorship does the tyrant cook up obviously false charges to threaten his predecessor with death.
Travelling to Scotland. Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News: "... Donald Trump will travel to Scotland on Friday to visit both his Turnberry and Aberdeen golf properties. Trump is also expected to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade and refine a deal they announced in June to slash tariffs and expand market access between the two countries. The trip abroad, which the White House described as a "working visit," comes at a particularly fraught moment in Trump's second term, as he faces questions from his supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files." ~~~
~~~ AND, as RAS pointed out last night, the Scots know how to write headlines.
With $16MM++ Quid in Hand, FCC Delivers the Quo. Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it would allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance, clearing the way for one of the most highly scrutinized media deals in the last decade. Brendan Carr, the chairman of the F.C.C., said in a statement that the agency had approved the deal after receiving assurances from Skydance that the new company would be committed to unbiased journalism and would not establish programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. 'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly,' Mr. Carr said in the statement. 'It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.'... Anna M. Gomez, a Democratic commissioner on the F.C.C., said in a statement that the agency had used 'its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom.... Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.'...” Here's the AP's report. Here's the CBS News story (better check it for DEI content). ~~~
~~~ BUT. Paul Dallison of Politico: “After a two-year break, 'South Park' returned to TV on Wednesday night with an explosive episode aimed squarely at Donald Trump that depicted the president in bed with Satan and referenced Jeffrey Epstein. The start of the new season of 'South Park' was delayed by several weeks while the Paramount network secured a deal worth $1.5 billion with the show’s creators for the streaming rights. Paramount is the owner of CBS, which has been firmly in Trump’s crosshairs.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “The Trump White House hit back at South Park after the long-running satire program pulled absolutely no punches in skewering ... Donald Trump and its corporate owners, Paramount, in their season 27 premiere on Wednesday night. 'The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end — for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as “offense” [sic] content, but suddenly they are praising the show,' Trump White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Rolling Stone in a statement.... South Park sparked headlines across the media on Thursday for its depiction of a depraved and lawless Trump as president, in an episode that skewered everything from Trump defunding NPR to his propensity for suing critics to his embrace of devout Christians while not personally adhering to social conservative values. [The show's creators Trey] Parker and [Matt] Stone also explicitly roasted Paramount for settling a recent lawsuit with Trump and for cancelling late-night host Stephen Colbert, which many critics saw as part of an effort to appease Trump to get Paramount’s merger with Skydance approved.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Tracey Tully & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Justice Department on Thursday cleared the way for Alina Habba to remain in her role as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey. Ms. Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire on Friday. But she announced on social media on Thursday that she would be New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney. The decision will allow Ms. Habba to lead the New Jersey office for at least the next 210 days.... [Donald] Trump had previously nominated Ms. Habba to be U.S. attorney in a permanent capacity, which under the law would have precluded her from serving as acting U.S. attorney. But a spokesman for the Justice Department said Thursday that the White House had withdrawn her nomination, allowing her to serve as acting U.S. attorney.... The sudden announcement for now ends a days-long standoff between officials in Washington and federal judges in New Jersey that had caused chaos in the prosecutor’s office, with each abrupt development leaving it more unclear who would lead in the weeks to come.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Ry Rivard & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Trump administration believes it has found a workaround to keep the president’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney and outflank federal judges who sought to replace her. It’s the latest move by the administration to put an ally of the president in a top law enforcement role and appears to circumvent the traditional role of the Senate in approving key administration officials. As part of the gambit, a Justice Department official described a process that involves ... Donald Trump withdrawing Habba’s nomination to permanently take the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi would appoint Habba as First Assistant U.S. Attorney — typically the second-ranking official in the office. Because the U.S. attorney’s post is vacant, Habba would automatically fill the role on a temporary basis; she can’t simultaneously be the president’s nominee and serve as acting in this way.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is quite similar to the stunt Trump & the DOJ pulled when judges refused to appoint Trump's unconfirmed pick for U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York. One may call these "workarounds," as Rivard & Cheney do, but the effect is to remove a powerful law enforcement authority from the checks and balances that Congress (via advise and consent) and the judiciary (interim appointments) are meant to impose upon the executive. So once again -- adios, Constitution; au revoir, rule of law.
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: Attorney General Pam Bondi abruptly fired, without explanation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon, who had been senior trial counsel in the Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, which prosecuted alleged rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... At the time of his firing, Gordon had long been working on other cases back home in Florida.... Just two days before he was fired, he'd received an "outstanding" rating on his performance review. Now, along with two other recently fired Justice Department employees, Gordon is ... suing the Trump administration late Thursday over their dismissals. The suit argues that the normal procedures federal employees are expected to go through to address their grievances — the Merit Systems Protection Board — are fundamentally broken because of the Trump administration's actions.... Gordon filed the lawsuit alongside Patricia Hartman, who was a top spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and Joseph Tirrell, who was director of the Departmental Ethics Office, before the Trump administration dismissed them this year." ~~~
Donald Trump has taken a page right out of Kafka’s playbook. He argues that people are forced to go to the M.S.P.B. to contest his nakedly political and illegal firings, and then he handicaps the M.S.P.B. to prevent them from adjudicating those cases. -- Norm Eisen ~~~
~~~ Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ousted chief operating officer sued the Trump administration on Thursday in federal court, making a legal argument that could set a course for other fired government workers seeking reinstatement. The former FEMA official, Mary Comans, argues that the administrative body designated to hear such cases, called the Merit System Protections Board, has become so dysfunctional under the Trump administration that it is not a viable option for her to make her case. As a result, her lawyers say, a federal judge should hear her argument that ... [Donald] Trump fired her unlawfully and in violation of longstanding civil service protections. Fired employees have struggled to get a judge to hear their cases because Congress set up a separate system to referee such employment disputes. Ms. Comans first filed a complaint with the Merit System Protections Board in March after she was dismissed. But now that board is unable to make decisions because it lacks a quorum since Mr. Trump fired one of the members.”
Dan Lamothe & John Hudson of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled 'SECRET/NOFORN,' people familiar with the matter said. The revelation appears to contradict long-standing claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach.... The strike plans had been shared in a classified email with more than a dozen defense officials by Gen. Michael 'Erik' Kurilla, the top commander overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East, and then were posted in the unclassified group chats by an account affiliated with Hegseth on March 15, shortly before the United States began attacking Houthi militants.... The 'SECRET' classification of Kurilla’s email ... denoted that the information was classified at a level at which unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to national security. The 'NOFORN' label means it also was not meant for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of close allies of the United States.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Julie Turkewitz, et al., of the New York Times: “When the State Department secured the release of 10 Americans and permanent legal residents from a Venezuela prison last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the action as part of an effort to safeguard the well-being of Americans unjustly held abroad. But one of the men released from the prison, an American-Venezuelan dual national named Dahud Hanid Ortiz, had been convicted in Venezuela for the murder of three people in Spain in 2016.... Mr. Hanid Ortiz, 54, had served 19 years in the in United States Army ... and had been awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received in Iraq. He had multiple deployments and suffered physical and mental injuries as a result of his service, according to the Army. He was later dismissed from the military after pleading guilty to fraud and larceny. Then, in 2023, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a triple homicide committed in Madrid in 2016.... Mr. Hanid Ortiz arrived Friday in the United States, but it is not clear if he is free or in U.S. custody....” A man Mr. Hanid Ortiz intended to murder said he now fears for his life. ~~~
~~~ Marie: It doesn't take long to get the impression that the people on Trump's team pay little attention to what they're doing and don't give a rat's ass about the consequences their actions may have for other people. Maybe Marco's excuse is that he has at least four administrative jobs and doesn't have time to for any of them.
Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: “The Senate on Thursday advanced the controversial nomination of Emil Bove, teeing up a final vote on his lifetime appointment to an appeals court. Bove, who is currently serving in the No. 3 role at the Justice Department, has been nominated by ... [Donald] Trump for a judgeship on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate voted 50-48 to limit debate on his nomination. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were the only GOP members to vote against advancing Bove. Bove has been embroiled in controversy since the start of the Trump administration.”
Marie: I hope this works out, but there's plenty of reason to doubt that it will: ~~~
~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “After Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, cast the tiebreaking vote on Thursday to advance ... [Donald] Trump’s nominee for American ambassador to the United Nations to the floor, she ... [said p]art of her decision to vote Michael Waltz’s nomination out of the panel ... was that he 'represents a moderating force with a distinguished record of military service and an extensive background in national security policymaking.'... [Also, i]n exchange for her vote, she said she had won an assurance from officials that the administration would release $75 million it had frozen for the World Food Program and the International Organization on Migration. That includes $50 million for disaster relief in Haiti, including 'lifesaving food for 250,000 individuals at risk of extreme/acute malnutrition' as well as public health programs, according to her office. The other $25 million was for food distribution efforts in Nigeria.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Now let's see what happened to another gullible lady senator -- Lisa Murkowski -- when she made a deal with the Trump administration. digby cites the New Republic: “'I feel cheated,' Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News Friday. “I feel like we made a deal and then hours later, a deal was made to somebody else.' Ahead of the bill’s passage earlier this month, Murkowski had co-sponsored an amendment to ease the phaseout of tax credits for solar and wind energy under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.... Trump threw a wrench in that agreement Friday when he issued an executive order to 'end market distorting subsidies; for green energy projects. The order directs Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take actions to 'strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits.' Now Murkowski claims that she and her pals were duped.... She torched Trump’s order as 'reckless,' claiming that it directly 'goes against' what he signed into law earlier this month with the budget.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Jennifer Bendery & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: “Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) admitted Thursday that he made 'a mistake' by voting to confirm Josh Divine, a 35-year-old archconservative with a long record of litigation against abortion rights, to a lifetime federal judgeship. King told HuffPost that he voted Tuesday to confirm Divine after talking to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who gave Divine 'a strong reference.' Divine, who will now serve on a U.S. district court in Missouri, used to be Hawley’s chief counsel. 'I took Josh Hawley’s advice,' said the Maine senator. 'In retrospect, I think it was a mistake, from what I’ve learned about Mr. Divine since. But sometimes, you rely on your colleagues.'... King’s vote didn’t change the outcome of Divine’s confirmation, as he already had enough Republican votes to get through. But it’s an embarrassing misstep by the Maine senator, who otherwise caucuses with Democrats and strongly backs abortion rights.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Sorry, Angus. “I took Josh Hawley’s advice” is never an excuse for anything.
Chief John & the Masked Supremes. Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: “On Wednesday night, Chief Justice John Roberts made clear that he and his band of conservative justices are little different than the masked ICE agents terrorizing neighborhoods, courtrooms, and metro stops. As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent in another case over ... Donald Trump’s efforts to fire officials in ways that violate federal law, 'Once again, this Court uses its emergency docket to destroy the independence of an independent agency, as established by Congress.' Like the masked ICE agents, the Republican appointees of the Supreme Court are fine upending law — but they would prefer to do so in nameless orders without the accountability the legal system is supposed to provide.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Alexandra Alter of the New York Times: “Former President Joe Biden is writing a memoir about his time in the White House. The book, which doesn’t yet have a title or a publication date, was acquired by Little, Brown & Co., an imprint within Hachette, in an auction, according to industry executives familiar with the deal. News of the book’s acquisition for a roughly $10 million advance was first reported in The Wall Street Journal. Biden, 82, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May, has spoken about the book at public events in recent months, and indicated that he feels intense pressure to finish it quickly, as he contends with illness.”
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Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: “Scores of people from across Texas packed into the State Capitol in Austin on Thursday to testify against a Republican plan, pushed by ... [Donald] Trump, to redraw congressional districts and protect the party’s slender majority in the U.S. House. The public hearing, before a 21-member select committee of the Texas House on redistricting, was the first since Gov. Greg Abbott directed state lawmakers to redraw congressional lines during a 30-day special session of the Legislature. No maps with new district lines have been publicly proposed yet by Republican leaders in the Legislature, and none were expected before the initial public hearings. Two more such hearings are set for Houston on Saturday and the Dallas area next Tuesday. So those testifying on Thursday were left to comment on the idea of a rare mid-decade redistricting, and Mr. Trump’s stated wish that Texas Republicans should produce maps that create five additional Republican seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The state has 38 congressional seats, 25 of which are currently held by Republicans.” The Texas Tribune story is here.
Marie: I don't have time to look up how many ways Ken Paxton is an (alleged!) criminal and all-around dirty rotten scoundrel. But there is a lot of evidence pointing in those directions. Here are some more: ~~~
At a time when millions of Americans are fighting to survive under high home mortgage rates, Ken Paxton lied to banks to amass a property empire making him a multimillionaire while on a government salary. -- Matt Mackowiak, Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) campaign adviser, in a statement
~~~ Brian Slodysko of the AP: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Angela, are longtime owners of a $1.5 million house in a gated community outside Dallas. In 2015, they snapped up a second home in Austin. Then another. The problem: Mortgages signed by the Paxtons contained inaccurate statements declaring that each of those three houses was their primary residence, enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates, according to an Associated Press review of public records. The lower rates will save the Paxtons tens of thousands of dollars in payments over the life of the loan, legal experts say. The records also revealed that the Paxtons routinely flouted lending agreements on some of their other properties. It is a federal and state crime to knowingly make false statements on mortgage documents. Violating the terms of a mortgage could allow lenders recourse to seek full payment of a loan, according to legal experts.” Paxton is challenging Sen. John Cornyn for his Senate seat. The New York Times story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine. Rawan Ahmad, et al., of the New York Times: “Gaza’s hospitals have struggled since early in the war to cope with the influx of Palestinians injured and maimed by Israeli airstrikes and, more recently, by shootings meant to disperse desperate crowds as they surge toward food convoys or head to aid distribution sites. Now, according to doctors in the territory, an increasing number of their patients are suffering — and dying — from starvation.... The World Food Program, an arm of the United Nations, said this week that the hunger crisis in Gaza had reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.'... Hollow-eyed, skeletal children languish on hospital beds or are cared for by parents, who gaze helplessly at protruding ribs and shoulder blades, and emaciated limbs resembling brittle sticks. The haunting scenes are a stark contrast to the plenty that exists just a few miles away, across the borders with Israel and Egypt.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Palestine/France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: “President Emmanuel Macron announced late Thursday that France would recognize the state of Palestine as part of 'its historical commitment to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.' In a surprise statement on X that followed months of hints and hesitations over possible French recognition of a Palestinian state, he said that he would make a formal announcement to that effect at the United Nations General Assembly in September in New York.” The AP's story is here.
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Not a Sabbath or any kind but since I'll be off the net for the next week, I'm sending this sermon along a day or two early.
Keep well, All.
ALIENS
Though my knees may disagree, I believe we carry much of our youth with us throughout our lives.
I had that thought last Sunday as I sat in the sun at a soccer tournament in Maple Valley, watching our grandsons compete for a medal. They didnât win their games, but we all had a good time on a beautiful summer day, and before the final game we even took a cool dip in the Green River nearby.
Beyond the fine weather and our own grandsonsâ performance, what struck me about that day was the polyglot enthusiasm of the many parents who shouted encouragement to their teams from the side lines. There was English, of course, but also more than a smattering of Spanish and even a little of what I assumed to be Somali. The teams were as ethnically mixed as the spectators who, as disparate as their languages might have been, cheered together as one. On that Maple Valley Sunday everyone belonged.
I thought of how different my Seattle grandchildrenâs youth is from the one I had. My little Northwest town had its tribes, of course. Not everyone went to the same church (there were near a dozen) and people were mindful of the cultural differences between some groups. We had the townies, and the logging and the farming families, but while a few accents remained among some of the older men and women, mostly the Swedes or Norwegians, the community was very white and everyone spoke English.
How different that was from my grandchildrenâs experience. Compared to it, my childhood taught me very little about the variety of people who share our planet.
Each of us takes his or her own path to the present. One of the paths I took in that small town was reading science fiction. The little boy scientist who eventually became an English teacher first encountered the truly alien in the stories he read. Some of those aliens were bug-eyed monsters (BEMs) bent on exterminating humanity. Some, like Robert Heinleinâs âPuppet Masters,â a novel that reflected the anti-Communist paranoia of the McCarthy era, attached themselves to humans and controlled them. Some were modified humans with an ability to read minds or transport themselves instantly from one place to another using mindpower alone. Regardless of these superbeingsâ intentions toward standard issue humans, their extraordinary talents often made them feared and hated âOthers.â
Two of those tales came back to me as I drove home from the soccer games. One was a story cycle about âThe People,â written by Zenna Henderson, an Arizona elementary school teacher. The human-appearing People possessed special powers. Having fled their planet when it was destroyed by a natural disaster, The People took refuge in the American Southwest. The stories chronicle their challenges attempting to blend into and co-exist with the dominant human culture. Ironically, in Hendersonâs stories The People are superior âOthersâ often victimized by their jealous or fearful inferiors.
In science fiction, the alien âOtherâ abounds. Another of my favorite stories was also written by a teacher. Hal Clement, who taught chemistry to Massachusetts high school students, paired an alien detective, a green protoplasmic blob, with a teenage human boy. Since the detective parasitically inhabited the boyâs body, communication was initially difficult, but the two (with Clementâs ingenious help) eventually solved that problem, along with the others they faced. That story of problem-solving and interspecies cooperation stayed with me for years.
In todayâs America itâs no wonder those stories came to mind. The stories would not exist without the aliens in them, and in both Hendersonâs People and in Clementâs novel, it is the aliens, the âothers,â who draw our admiration and sympathy.
The parallels with our tribally divided present are too obvious to miss. Our own âothersâ fuel our rancorous politics. The racial divides are clear to see. Thousands of brown âothersâ can now be glimpsed only through the bars of cages. Gender is another dividing line, as is religion. To some, whatever is wrong with their lives, itâs always the âothers'â fault, and whoever âtheyâ are, weâre told they donât belongâin our country, in sports or even in a marriage.
Last week an interstellar object was spotted cruising into our solar system (nytimes.com). It was identified as a comet traveling from the center of our galaxy 30,000 light years away, and though Iâm guessing it has no BEMs aboard, this far traveler reminds us of how narrowly we often view our vast and mysterious universe.
I trust my grandchildren have already learned that not everything new or alien is something to fear or blame.
Sports Report:
An particularly amusing executive order from our pay to play presidunce.
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/25/nx-s1-5479194/college-sports-executive-order-trump-eo
Clouds on the Voting Rights Act's horizon:
https://www.newsweek.com/clarence-thomas-samuel-alito-signal-support-weaken-voting-rights-act-2103740
Here's a comment by Akhilleus, first posted late yesterday:
Bible Mike is having a sad.
He seeks his quietus to make by forbidding the MAGA controlled House of Reprehensibles from voting to reveal, officially, what everyone knows to be truer than rain is wet, that the Dear Leader is an underage girl raping pervert.
When asked why he was sending everyone home early, and did it have anything to do with a vote to demand the release of the Pedo Files, Bible Mike took serious dumbrage at the suggestion that he, Biblical Blower of the Orange Monsterâs Bituminous Ball Sack, was fearful of getting on said monsterâs bad side (is there a good one?) by allowing anyone to vote âyeaâ on letting the nation see what a disgusting pig he is.
Feathers ruffled, Bible Mike bleated that Demycraps had FOUR YEARS to release those files but chose to do it now! How AWFUL!
So, a couple of things. First Democrats arenât releasing anything now. Heâs the one who says yes or no to a vote on that.
Second, the four years Biden was in office, he spent most of his time trying to clean up the horrible mess left by Fat Hitlerâs previous time in office, and as bad as the statutory rape by the Orange Monster of underage girls was, there were dozens of crimes perpetrated by that asshole that affected millions of Americans that demanded immediate attention.
Then thereâs the reluctance of Democrats to hold evil Republican fucks liable for their crimes. And Republicans know this. They know that they can pretty much shoot people in the head and Democrats will say (stupidly) letâs let bygones be bygones.
Had Biden gone after Fatty for his abuse of young girls, Party of Traitors screamers would have blown a gasket. Faux dickheads would have lost their shit and the MSM would have sided with them.
PoT connivers screech about the tiniest imagined infraction by Democrats and liberals, but yowl like rats with their tails chopped off whenever thereâs the possibility of their own actual transgressions being pointed out.
There has been a string of astonishingly asshole PoT Speakers, but none of those crap munchers come close to the hypocritical mendacity of this supposed Christiany crook.
Fuck. Him.
Did anyone tell Fat Hitler that he was hanging out with a mortgage fraudster when he was flying around with Paxton on his plane last week? According to FH and his calls for investigating Adam Schiff mortgage fraud is something he just recently decided was a big deal. I'm sure he will be sorely disappointed to hear it and that our press will ask him about this relevant revelation the first chance they get. /s
The Blanche Maxwell meeting makes me think of Trump's perfect call to Zelensky where he asked for a fake investigation for his help with the war. Lie for me and I'll take care of you. I can't help but think that this is what is happening here. Though I'm sure Blanche is much more circumspect in how he frames their request. We already know that Maxwell will lie under oath, she was originally charged with perjury, so getting her to tell the tale they want told shouldn't be that difficult.
Newsweek
"Former U.S. President Barack Obama has been the subject of online death threats and calls for imprisonment after President Donald Trump and the director of national intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard accused him of treason regarding Russian influence in previous presidential elections."
Jennifer Rubin, at The Contrarian, commends Julie Brown's Undaunted Search for the Truth
"This week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Donald Trumpâs former attorney, arranged for an unprecedented and utterly inappropriate meeting with convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. What possible legitimate purpose could this have served? Blowback was swift. Even more troubling for Trump: Before Republicans could get out of town, Democrats on a House Oversight subcommittee won an 8-2 vote, with 3 Republicans joining them, to subpoena Justice Department documents related to Epstein.
As this unfolds, do not forget who has been digging into the criminal enterprise for years. Brownâs dogged reporting into Epsteinâs sex trafficking of minors paved the way for his rearrest in 2019 (a dozen years after his sweetheart plea deal in Florida was orchestrated by Alex Acosta, whom Donald Trump subsequently nominated for Labor Secretary). Most of what we know about Epstein can be traced back to her reporting and subsequent book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story. To her great credit, she continues to demand full transparency and answers to a host of unresolved questions, including the identities of all the men who may have participated in criminal activity."
Also at The Contrarian, Ruben Bolling's Tom the Dacing Bug describes Maga Goggles
@RAS: re: the death threats to Obama. Even though this makes me spittin' mad to the point of tears, I still can't imagine how incensed Michelle Obama must be.
Josh Johnson, first time hosting The Daily Show ,
takes a look at Trump and Epstein
I am equally as angry about the dirty, lying Rs accusing Obama of an impossible thing. I hope Michelle skewers them.
Angus King: what a dirtbag. I thought he had a brain and ears and eyes. Apparently not. Depending on that sleazeball/nutcase/loudmouth Hawley for the right information? It's insane. He should shut up about his vote. He threw it away.
It feels like the years of 2015-now are one long disgusting whodunnit, starring the decrepit loser in the office of Presidunce. We should be angry at no one suffering anything after the first term of this prick, but everyone else suffers from overload: remember the "perfect" phone call, two impeachments, Hunter and diplomats and Ukraine and Burisma and dirty crap involved with all that, Mueller's botched and lied-about report (Bill Barr is the vomitus there--) and let's not forget Moscow Mitch's place in Obama going into Trump 1.0, and all the vandals in J6, the trials now deleted, and everything that has happened since LAST January, like Biden hatred and lies and trumped-up stuff and lies about Kamala and the attempted assassination that was not, and the election with incredibly stupid voters and diddled machines and Elon and the last six months-- it is an endless merry-go-round of lies and mutterings and cancellations and firings and incompetence and drunks and idiots in high places, and the REVENGE-- we know it all and we are so sick of it. I know he is a rapist and a vile pedophile and yet...no relief. I didn't even touch on everything he has done or caused or lied about or screwed up and we are the victims. And that is just in THIS country. Now: no friends, no allies, no help, no assistance, and we are now regarded as welchers and selfish pigs. Which "we" are.
He needs to go. Any way possible.
People who relied on Josh Hawleyâs advice:
Napoleon, when he asked if invading Russia was a good idea.
The NASA engineers who asked Josh if the O rings on the Challenger were okay.
The Donner party, who asked for directions.
Chernobyl techs when they asked Josh they could skip a few steps.
Investors who asked if they could trust Bernie Madoff.
Gen. Custer who believed Josh when he said the coast was clear.
Voters who put that asshole into office.
@Akhilleus: Ha ha. Very droll!
Bondi's Epstein Files
Been thinking about Kenâs post from this morning, about aliens and our relationship to âthe otherâ.
As the other sci-fi guy out here (besides Ken, although there are likely more than just we two), his commentary raised a number of issues so this might have to be a two part response.
The value of science fiction, for me at least, is its propensity for exploring alternate worlds, most often, alternate versions of our own world, in which current social and technological issues can be parsed out at one remove (or maybe two or three). Of course the initial draw for me, as a reader, has always been the chance to read some cracking good stories with compelling characters.
As with any fictional experience, these stories, issues, and characters must all be read with the authorâs predilections, peccadilloes, and time period in mind. Robert Heinlein, whom Ken referenced, offers a much different lens than say, a Philip K. Dick or an Ursula K. LeGuin. Itâs the same as if you were looking for a story invested in social justice. You might go to Dickens, Hugo, or Zola, but youâre gonna get a much different ride from each.
Heinlein is an interesting case. Writing as he was during the Red Scare, he wrote about the ways he saw humans being taken over by outside powers and forced into a group think (the way he saw communist infiltrations, and frankly the way the MAGA cult operates today ). But he was also interested in the way individuals who appear as outsiders (the Other) are treated (âStranger in a Strange Land, eg). But then you come across something like âStarship Troopersâ, a paean to militarism and control, where cadets go out to kill this bookâs Bug Eyed Monsters. Nobody is just one thing.
In the sixties, Stan Lee, working at Marvel Comics, created a book featuring the ultimate outsiders, mutants, who were taught and led by a paraplegic guy in a wheelchair! A disabled superhero. What an idea. As this storyline progressed, readers saw right wing groups who hated and feared mutants (who, as superheroes, put their lives on the line to protect the people who wanted them either imprisoned or dead) promoted the idea of a replacement theory, how they would all be replaced by mutants. A race of robots called the Sentinels were created to hunt down the mutants, much like ICE does today with immigrants. Sci-fi can be scarily predictive sometimes.
And because MAGA world canât go very long without some new outrage, now we see them wetting the bed about this new Superman movie. The movie makes it clear that 1. Superman is an immigrant, and 2. Heâs a good guy who doesnât believe in kicking people (or creatures) when theyâre down. Two horrors to the MAGA mob. Iâve seen it. Itâs a really fun movie with some nice throwbacks to earlier Superman comics, like including his dog, Krypto, which, having been a comic nerd as a kid, I was pleased to see. And theyâre also pissed that Perry White, Clark Kentâs boss at the Daily Planet, is now black. (Even his name is White! He canât be black!)
Oh yeah, Superman is also intent on helping a foreign nation stave off invasion by a neighboring militaristic country (Ukraine and Russia?).
The crying never stops in right-wing world. They are even victimized by comic book characters. Waaaah! Mental midget Jesse Watters suggested that if Hollywood insists on portraying Superman as an immigrant (what else could he be? Heâs from a different planet, fer crissakes) he ought to have MS-13 on his cape. Because all immigrants are rapists and murderers, right?
Plenty of sci-fi stories have been predictive as well. Philip K. Dickâs novella âMinority Reportâ examined the surveillance state, of course through his own particularly paranoid idiom, but thatâs pretty much what we have now. The idea was that if the state believes someone will commit a crime, lock âem up and get rid of them before they can do it. Isnât this what Alligator Alcatraz is supposed to do? Of course MAGAts can commit as many crimes as they want. An idea Dick developed in other books.
At least in one corner of our culture, even though itâs fictional, the Other is not automatically seen as an evil threat.
Our problem today is that itâs the MAGA mindset that is the biggest threat.
More later (I knowâŚyou canât waitâŚ)
Petty BS
"A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year's Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International said Friday.
The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico.
Venezuela is on a list of countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. or its territories. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries, citing national security concerns.
Earlier in the month, the Cuban women's volleyball team was denied visas to participate in a tournament in Puerto Rico.
"They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country," said Kendrick GutiĂŠrrez, the league's president in Venezuela. "It hasn't been easy, the situation. We earned the right to represent Latin America in the world championship."
The Senior League Baseball World Series, a tournament for players 13-16, is played each year in Easley, South Carolina. It begins Saturday."
Greasing the skids
Prepping both MAGA undecideds and the eternally undecided-both sides MSM, Fascist Media (in this case Newsmaxâthereâs a crapload more) are racing to help the Dear Rapist and getting out in front of a complete pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, who procured god knows how many sad, vulnerable, sometimes homeless young girls as sexual entertainment for the Fat Felon and his micropenis.
The gag now is that poor Ghislaine was a victim too. Just like all those poor kids she lined up to be gang raped.
Oh noes! The poor thing!
Yup. A victim. Just like the Orange Monster and his entire poor, beset cabinet, and every single MAGA moron who is prevented from stepping on anyone they feel is not sufficiently loyal to the Dear Rapist.
This is how it works, inâit? Pretty soon Fatty will be bleating that âpeople are sayingâ that poor Maxwell has already done enough time (Alan Dershowitzâa regular at Epstein partiesâ has already made this claim) and should be pardoned. Toot sweet!
But because Maxwell has been tagged as Mrs. Beelzubub for years by the MAGA influencers, itâs absolutely necessary to paint her as a poor, manipulated victim soâs her full pardon can be cast as a kindness rather than a bribe for her testimony exonerating the Rapist in Chief.
Will such a transparent bit of sleazy kabuki fool the MSM? Does it get dark at night?
Skids greased! Let the payoff begin!