The Conversation -- May 19, 2025
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⭐Tyler Pager of the New York Times: “Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was diagnosed on Friday with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement on Sunday. The diagnosis came after Mr. Biden reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to find a 'small nodule' on his prostate. Mr. Biden’s cancer is 'characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,' the statement said. 'While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,' according to the statement from Mr. Biden’s office, which was unsigned. 'The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.'” The AP report is here. MB: This is terribly sad news. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here are some details of the President's diagnosis, by Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post. Gina Kolata has the New York Times' report. The AP's report, by Carla Johnson, is here.
“Trump Orders the Government to Stop Enforcing Rules He Doesn’t Like.” Maxine Joselow, et al., of the Washington Post: “Across the government, the Trump administration is trying a new tactic for gutting federal rules and policies that the president dislikes: simply stop enforcing them.... In some cases, Trump has personally ordered a halt to enforcement.... 'The conscious effort to slow down enforcement on such a broad scale is something we have never seen in previous administrations,' said Donald Kettl, a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. 'It amounts to a dramatic assertion of presidential power and authority.'... Critics say the administration is breaking the law and sidestepping the rulemaking process that presidents of both parties have routinely followed.”
Marie: We don't need to be lectured on how the Shortsighted, Short-fingered Vulgarian is destroying the U.S.'s status as the world's most powerful nation, but here are two academics to endorse our observations: ~~~
Michael Posner, in a New York Times op-ed: “In the late 1980s, Joseph Nye, the Harvard political scientist who died this month, developed the concept of 'soft power.' His central premise, that the United States enhances its global influence by promoting values like human rights and democracy, has guided U.S. foreign policy for decades across both Republican and Democratic administrations. Donald Trump has made clear that he fundamentally rejects this vision. As president, he has ordered a sweeping overhaul of the State Department that will cripple its capacity to promote American values abroad. At the center of this effort are drastic cuts to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — the State Department’s core institution for advancing soft power, which I led under President Barack Obama. Unless Congress intervenes, the debasement of the bureau’s role will impair America’s ability to challenge authoritarianism, support democratic movements and provide independent analysis to inform U.S. foreign policy. The long-term result will be a United States that is weaker, less principled and increasingly sidelined as authoritarian powers like Russia and China offer their own transactional models of global engagement.... Lawmakers from both parties need to stand up to [Marco Rubio] and demand that the State Department continue to support the Bureau....” ~~~
~~~ Kyle Chan, in a New York Times op-ed: “For years, theorists have posited the onset of a 'Chinese century': a world in which China finally harnesses its vast economic and technological potential to surpass the United States and reorient global power around a pole that runs through Beijing. That century may already have dawned, and when historians look back they may very well pinpoint the early months of ... [Donald] Trump’s second term as the watershed moment when China pulled away and left the United States behind.... Mr. Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the pillars of American power and innovation. His tariffs are endangering U.S. companies’ access to global markets and supply chains. He is slashing public research funding and gutting our universities, pushing talented researchers to consider leaving for other countries. He wants to roll back programs for technologies like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing and is wiping out American soft power in large swaths of the globe. China’s trajectory couldn’t be more different.... America ... may end up as a profoundly diminished nation.”
Here's one way the domestic scene is a train-wreck, too: ~~~
~~~ Dan Richards, in a New York Times op-ed: “... as Europe embraces the night train, the United States seems to be sleepwalking into a transport dead end, slashing funding for public infrastructure and firing transit workers. Long-distance public transport in America may be heading inexorably toward a binary choice: fast, exclusive and environmentally ruinous or slow, tortuous and run-down.... In ... [Donald] Trump’s second term, with many climate commitments and environmental protections already up in smoke, the road ahead seems clear: more gas-guzzling cars, planes and rockets. The national rail system is written off as either irreparably broken (like the long-suffering Amtrak) or a mismanaged white elephant (as with several stalled high-speed rail projects).... The secrets to China’s fantastically successful matrix of high-speed railways are clear: consistency of vision, courage of conviction, a successful nationwide rollout and, crucially, adequate funding.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Last night I watched a ridiculously improbable 1946 propaganda film noir called "The Stranger." It is set in a small Connecticut town, where a Nazi hunter, with the aid of local townspeople, saves the free world for democracy. (As I said, the plot & premise were ridiculous.) But the opening scene of the quintessential American town square struck me because the "action" was a bus driving into the town and letting travellers off at the local general store. I live in a small town not unlike the one depicted in the movie. You won't see a bus stopping by here. They might fly by on the nearby Interstate, but even there I've never seen a bus except perhaps for a few tourist buses carrying leaf peepers in the fall.
Sometimes Andy Borowitz's headlines look real. Here's today's: "Qatar Signs Historic Deal to Own US President." MB: I'd say the royal jet plane was part of the package deal.
Josh Boak of the AP: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Sunday that Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, may pass along some of the costs from ... Donald Trump’s tariffs to its shoppers through higher prices. Bessent described his call with the company’s CEO a day after Trump warned Walmart to avoid raising prices from the tariffs at all and vowed to keep a close watch on what it does. As doubts persist about Trump’s economic leadership, Bessent pushed back against inflation concerns, praised the uncertainty caused by Trump as a negotiating tactic for trade talks and dismissed the downgrade Friday of U.S. government debt by Moody’s Ratings.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Katie Baker of the New York Times: “Even before ... [Donald] Trump was re-elected, the Heritage Foundation, best known for Project 2025, set out to destroy pro-Palestinian activism in the United States.... Now, four months after Mr. Trump took office, Heritage Foundation leaders are taking an early victory lap.... In interviews with The Times — the Heritage Foundation’s first public comments since Mr. Trump took office about its blueprint for shaping U.S. public opinion on Israel — Project Esther’s architects said there were clear parallels between their plan and recent actions against universities and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on both a state and a federal level.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Still Not Cruel Enough, But Budget Bill Makes It Through Committee. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “The House Budget Committee late Sunday night revived ... [Donald] Trump’s stalled bill to cut taxes and spending, after a handful of fiscally conservative Republicans relented and allowed it to advance even as they continued to press for deeper reductions to health and environmental programs.... On Sunday, after a weekend of intensive negotiations with House Republican leaders and White House officials, [the rebels] switched their votes to 'present,' allowing the measure to move forward without lending their support. It sent the bill past a crucial procedural hurdle but indicated that there was still major trouble ahead for the package, which Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants the full House to consider before Memorial Day.” The NBC News story is here. The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson comments on the bill and on other matters, some related and some not. She recounts one incident from October 2024, in which Trump attended a forum where he “corrected” people knowledgeable about tariffs: “It must be hard for you to, you know, spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong.” He is such a dimwit. ~~~
~~~ “Attack of the Sadistic Zombies.” Paul Krugman: “... this reconciliation bill — that is, legislation structured in such a way that it can’t be filibustered and may well pass with no Democratic votes — is different in both degree and kind from what we’ve seen before: Its cruelty is exceptional even by recent right-wing standards. Furthermore, the way that cruelty will be implemented is notable for its reliance on claims we know aren’t true and policies we know won’t work....The House Reconciliation Bill, by slashing benefits — especially Medicaid — will cause immense, almost inconceivable hardship to the bottom 40 percent of Americans, especially the poorest fifth....” Read on.
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: “Above the Law, a legal industry website with a long history of skewering the nation’s most elite firms, has found a moment and plenty of inside tipsters.... Since March, when Mr. Trump began targeting for retribution top law firms whose clients and past work he does not like, Above the Law has become a rage read for lawyers incensed at the firms that accommodated him.” Here's the main Webpage for Above the Law. The headlines are pretty great: "Wingnut Texas Judge Overrules SCOTUS Trans Decision Because YOLO; James Comey Enjoys Long Walks On The Beach… So MAGA Gonna Send Him To El Salvador Prison Camp and so forth.
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Louisiana. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “Seven inmates remained on the loose Sunday night after escaping from a New Orleans jail Friday, probably with help from inside the facility, according to local authorities, who warned that the escapees should be considered 'armed and dangerous.' Deputies discovered the inmates had disappeared Friday at 8:30 a.m. during a routine headcount and immediately began 'emergency protocols,' Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson told reporters Friday, adding that her deputies were working with local and state law enforcement to try to recapture them.... Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said the jailbreak could be the largest in the state’s history and 'should never have happened.'... Jonathan Tapp, special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, said during Sunday’s news conference that the agency 'strongly' believes that inmates are receiving help on the outside to evade capture.” ~~~
~~~ AP: “Officials increased the reward for the capture of seven inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet as at least a dozen law enforcement agencies pressed their expansive search for the men for a third day on Sunday. FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp said at a news conference that seven of the 10 men who originally escaped on Friday are still at large and that the FBI is offering $10,000 per inmate instead of the $5,000 previously announced.”
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Israel/Palestine, et al. Tia Goldenberg, et al., of the AP: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his decision to resume limited aid to Gaza after a weekslong blockade came after pressure from allies who said they wouldn’t be able to grant Israel the support it needs to win the war so long as there were 'images of hunger' coming out of the Palestinian territory. Israel has faced condemnation from the United Nations, aid groups and some European allies for its blockade of goods into the war-ravaged territory, including food, fuel and medicine. On Sunday it said it would allow a 'basic' amount of aid into Gaza to prevent a 'hunger crisis' from developing. Food experts have already warned that the blockade risked sparking famine in Gaza, a territory of roughly 2 million people.... Under the newly launched air and ground offensive, Israel plans to displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and secure aid distribution inside the territory. Netanyahu said Monday that the plan would include 'taking control of all of Gaza.'... The aid that would be let in would be 'minimal,' Netanyahu said, without specifying precisely when it would resume....”
Poland. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: “Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw, appeared on Sunday to have eked out a narrow win in the first round of Poland’s presidential election, a vote seen as pivotal as the government seeks to unwind hard-right policies put in place by a previous administration. Mr. Trzaskowski, a member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform, won 30.8 percent of the votes cast, according to exit polls released by Polish state and private television stations. But competing against 12 rival candidates, he fell far short of a majority, finishing just ahead of Karol Nowrocki, a candidate backed by the hard-right Law and Justice party, who took 29.1 percent. The two men are set to compete in a runoff on June 1.”
Romania. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: “In a setback for Europe’s surging nationalist forces, Nicusor Dan, a centrist mayor and former mathematics professor, on Sunday won the presidential election in Romania, defeating a hard-right candidate who is aligned with ... [Donald] Trump and has opposed military aid to Ukraine. With more than 98 percent of ballots counted, preliminary official results gave 54 percent of the vote in the presidential runoff to Mr. Dan, 55, the mayor of Romania’s capital, Bucharest. His opponent, George Simion, a nationalist and fervent admirer of Mr. Trump who had been widely seen as the front-runner, drew only 46 percent. As he slipped behind Mr. Dan in early counting, Mr. Simion told supporters that 'we are the clear winners of these elections.' He called for national protests should the final count show him as the loser, railing against what he said was an attempt 'to steal the victory of the Romanian people.'” MB: Extremely Trumpy.
Vatican, etc. Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: “President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass on Sunday and met later with the new pontiff in private, days after Leo expressed a personal desire to help end the war with Russia. The meeting took place after the newly elected pope offered on Friday to host talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Vatican and said he would make every effort so that peace could prevail.... 'Martyred Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace,' Leo said at the end of the service, echoing language used by his predecessor, Pope Francis.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Adam Nichols of the Raw Story: “JD Vance’s efforts to schmooze were rebuffed by Pope Leo XIV Sunday — as the pontiff shook him off to meet with other world leaders.... [Vance] tried to speak to the leader of the Catholic church, who shook his hand but barely spoke in the 17-second encounter.... The awkward greeting with Vance followed a sermon in which subtle digs were aimed at ... Donald Trump's administration. Though he didn't name Trump, the pope talked about 'hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: “Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio held their first formal meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Monday as the Trump administration seeks to reset relations with the Vatican by working together on resolving the war in Ukraine and de-emphasizing fundamental disagreements over migrant policy.... Vatican readout of the papal audience confirmed only that it happened, with no mention of content. It noted that Vance subsequently met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, a senior Vatican diplomat, for 'cordial talks' on topics that included 'ecclesial life and religious freedom,' as well as respect for humanitarian law and negotiated solutions in conflict zones.... On Saturday, Rubio met with the Vatican’s point man on Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and welcomed the Holy See as a possible venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks and as a facilitator for returning the hundreds of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war.” Here's the AP report. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The photo that heads the WashPo story reminds me of a couple of juvenile deliquents boasting to the headmaster about a prank they pulled, as he smiles along -- right before he lowers the boom on the little punks. I cannot take Little Marco & JayDee seriously.
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
I checked with the Mayo Clinic re: Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
It's a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably
high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much
attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder
may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others.
NPD is found more commonly in men.
This condition cannot be cured.
Thirteen symptoms are listed. Guess who fits neatly into all of those
symptoms.
Here's a clue: Donald Trump.
Test
Cancer diagnosis
There’s some kind of weird historical alignment going on right now. News of A cancer diagnosis for the last truly American President comes at a time when the country’s first dictator, a savagely stupid, greedy and bigoted fat boy, oversees the demolition of a once great nation. And on the other side of the world, China is stepping quickly through the opening provided by that imbecile.
It’s looking less likely every day that we will be able to recover from the savage idiocy and wanton destruction of the nation’s institutions, economy, and health by a regime based on hatred and self defeating stupidity, following the outline (Project 2025) which itself is based racism and power mad delusions.
Like Joe Biden, we have received our own diagnosis of late stage cancer. The cancer cells, Trumpist ignorance and hatred of the American Experiment (as no experiment that does not line the pockets of the Trump Crime Family is dismissively cast aside) along with the devolution of a political party now hopelessly debased and diseased, have been advancing for almost a decade, and almost overnight it seems, have spread to all corners of the body politic.
Cancer has been described as a traitor to the body. Quite right, it eats away at healthy cells the way Trump and Musk the despicable holy rollers like Mike Johnson and Sam Alito attack the body’s systems.
It has even spread to Democrats. Vide Gavin Newsome, who has determined that if he wants to be a post-Hitler president, must up his cruelty quotient by stepping on the most vulnerable in his state, the homeless and immigrants in need of healthcare. The idea being, I suppose, that if he pretends to be just another cancer cell, the cancer will accept him as a member of its wrecking crew.
We are close to end stages here. All empires eventually fail. We are like citizens of Rome who suffer under a demented emperor who grabs as much loot as he can and who believes himself to be a god.
The vandals are on the way.
Dark ages are ahead.
Even if we survive the cancer, the body will never be the same. The traitor cells have done their job.
Adding to ForrestMorris's diagnosis, from Bluesky:
decompensation
and a bluesky note from congressman Lloyd Doggett
wanna be tyrant