The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705
Friday
May152020
The Ides of May, 2020
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here.
Mike Memoli of NBC News: "... Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not pardon ... Donald Trump if elected and insisted any prosecutorial decisions would be left to a more independent Justice Department. Answering questions in a virtual town hall-style event on MSNBC Thursday..., Biden, while not speaking to any specific potential charge, committed to ensuring that any prosecutorial decisions would be dictated by the law, in contrast to what he called the 'dereliction of duty' by Trump and his attorney general, William Barr. 'It's hands off completely. The attorney general is not the president's lawyer. It's the people's lawyer,' Biden said. 'We never saw anything like the prostitution of that office like we see it today.'"
Jill Colvin, et al., of the AP: "Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday the White House still has confidence in a rapid COVID-19 test it has been using despite new data suggesting the test may return false negatives. The head of the Food and Drug Administration [Steve Hahn] said Friday his agency has provided new guidance to the White House after data suggested that the test used by ... Donald Trump and others every day may be inaccurate and provide false negatives. The test by Abbott Laboratories is used daily at the White House to test Trump, key members of his staff as well as any visitor to the White House complex who comes in close proximity to the president or Vice President Mike Pence.... White House officials on Friday continued using the Abbot ID Now test.... FDA commissioner Steve Hahn said that if a person is suspected of having the disease caused by the coronavirus, 'it might be worth, if the test is negative, getting a second confirmatory test. That's what our guidance is about.' Hahn, asked on CBS on Friday whether he'd continue to recommend using the test at the White House, said, 'That will be a White House decision.'"
David Lim & Zachary Brennan of Politico: "... Donald Trump formally announced the former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline and a general in charge of Army readiness will lead the government's effort to speed the development of potential coronavirus vaccines. Moncef Slaoui, who left GlaxoSmithKline in 2017, will be chief scientist of what the administration has deemed Operation Warp Speed. "That means big and it means fast," Trump said, comparing the operation to the Manhattan Project, a program to develop an atomic bomb that employed more than 100,000 people. Army Gen. Gustave Perna will be the chief operating officer for the project." Mrs. McC: I watched a few minutes of Trump's self-congratulatory press event (yes, I know that's redundant). I don't know if he needs glasses or has dyslexia or what. He reads like a second-grader. A child stumbling over new words is not at all remarkable; an adult stumbling again & again is disconcerting.
Erica Green of the New York Times: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars intended primarily for public schools and colleges to private and religious schools.... She has directed school districts to share millions of dollars designated for low-income students with wealthy private schools. And she has nearly depleted the 2.5 percent of higher education funding, about $350 million, set aside for struggling colleges to bolster small colleges -- many of them private, religious or on the margins of higher education -- regardless of need.... On the Senate floor this week, Senator Chuck Schumer ... accused Ms. DeVos of 'exploiting congressional relief efforts.' He said she had been 'using a portion of that funding not to help states or localities cope with the crisis, but to augment her push for voucherlike programs, a prior initiative that has nothing to do with Covid-19.'"
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Recently people on the right have started pushing a ludicrous pseudo-scandal they're calling Obamagate. It holds that investigations by Barack Obama's administration into Russia's attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election were a form of illicit sabotage of Donald Trump and his team. The story doesn't really make sense, which is why, when asked about Obamagate, President Trump couldn't describe it.... But Obamagate is also a way to distract at least some segment of the country from a very real and very grave scandal: Trump's calamitous mishandling of the coronavirus crisis.... On Thursday, as Trump was on Twitter asking Senator Lindsey Graham to drag Obama before Congress, [Dr. Rick] Bright testified before a House subcommittee.... He described months of government lassitude early in the coronavirus outbreak, and an administration that has yet to even formulate -- never mind execute -- a plan for containing the pandemic....The real scandal of a looted government leaving citizens prey to death and destitution will fuel ever more histrionic fake ones."
Covid-19 Is a Message from God. Elana Schor & Hannah Fingerhut of the AP: "The coronavirus has prompted almost two-thirds of American believers of all faiths to feel that God is telling humanity to change how it lives, a new poll finds." Mrs. McC: But will there be pilgramages to Wuhan?
~~~~~~~~~~
Brett Samuels & Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday suggested the practice of widespread coronavirus testing may be 'overrated,' even as health experts insist it is critical to safely loosen restrictions and reopen businesses. Trump boasted about the United States's testing capabilities during remarks at a Pennsylvania medical equipment distribution center, where he announced the country has administered 10 million tests since the outbreak began. 'We have the best testing in the world, Trump told employees at Owens & Minor Inc. in Allentown. 'Could be that testing's, frankly, overrated. Maybe it is overrated.'... Trump's remarks often took on the tone of a campaign rally. The president walked on stage to 'God Bless the U.S.A.,' the same song that blares at his arena rallies when he enters. He also left the stage to the tune of his typical rally exit song, 'You Can&'t Always Get What You Want.' In between, Trump swiped at presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by calling him 'Sleepy Joe' and criticizing the Obama administration's response to the swine flu pandemic a decade ago." Mrs. McC: On your tax dime.
Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "President Trump was wary of making preparations for the coronavirus pandemic because he was concerned doing so would sent the stock market into a panic, the Financial Times reports. In a quote attributed to an unnamed Trump confidant who is said to speak to the president frequently, it's claimed: 'Jared [Kushner] had been arguing that testing too many people, or ordering too many ventilators, would spook the markets and so we just shouldn't do it... That advice worked far more powerfully on [Trump] than what the scientists were saying. He thinks they always exaggerate.'" Read it at Financial Times. Mrs. McC: This is one conspiracy story that sounds completely legit. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Guidelines Without Guidance. Rachel Roubein of Politico: "The CDC on Thursday released previously withheld guidance documents on reopening schools, restaurants and other institutions locked down during the pandemic, one week after the White House ordered the agency to revise an earlier draft it deemed 'too prescriptive.' The new CDC guidelines, which appear to be watered down from previously leaked versions, provide brief checklists meant to help key businesses and others operating in public reopen safely.... In many instances, they are shorter and less specific than previously reported drafts.... The White House had rejected at least two prior CDC drafts providing more detailed recommendations for reopening, according to documents published by the Associated Press in the previous week." Mrs. McC: So it isn't just that Trump is an incompetent president*; it's that even when a competent measure is placed under his nose, he insists that a useless measure replace it.
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "An ousted top Health and Human Services official testified before Congress Thursday that the Trump administration's timeline for a coronavirus vaccine is likely too optimistic -- and said there's currently 'no plan' in place for mass production and distribution of such a drug. Dr. Rick Bright told a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee that hopes for a vaccine within 12-18 months assumes 'everything goes perfectly.... We've never seen everything go perfectly,' Bright said." Mrs. McC: No one seriously expects the Trump administration to plan for something for the public good that is months away and will occur after he might have lost the election. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ CNN reports four key takeaways from Bright's testimony. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Dr. Bright's testimony was the first time a federal scientist -- or any federal official -- had gone before Congress and openly accused the administration of endangering American lives by bungling its coronavirus response.... After holding back for nearly a month, President Trump; his health secretary, Alex M. Azar II; and his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, all hit back at Dr. Bright, in a three-pronged assault that elevated the confrontation. Mr. Trump dismissed Dr. Bright as a 'disgruntled employee' and Mr. Navarro, whom Mr. Bright considered an ally in the White House, called him a 'deserter in the war on the China virus.' Mr. Azar insisted officials followed through on the scientist's ideas.... Mr. Azar and Dr. Bright's immediate supervisor at the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert Kadlec, declined invitations to testify, as did Mr. Navarro.... Shortly before Dr. Bright took the witness stand, his lawyers disclosed that the Office of Special Counsel ... had made a preliminary determination of a 'substantial likelihood of wrongdoing' regarding the cronyism allegation and had asked Mr. Azar to investigate."
The Case of the Disappeared Doctors. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The nation's top physicians have stopped appearing on national television for interviews as the White House exerts increased control over communications during the coronavirus pandemic and refocuses its message toward reopening the economy. The last national television appearance from a doctor on the coronavirus task force was a full week ago on May 7 when Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, appeared on CNN for a town hall." Also disappeared: Doctors Anthony Fauci, Robert Redfield (CDC), Stephen Hahn (FDA), and Jerome Adams, surgeon general.
Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged a better government response to the coronavirus pandemic, just days after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told him he 'should've kept his mouth shut' about the issue. McConnell also called Obama 'classless' for criticizing ... Donald Trump. Obama hasn't publicly criticized Trump by name and didn't do so on Wednesday. Instead, he urged 'better policy decisions' to fight the infections and protect people from the economic fallout as he shared a Vox report with expert ideas on countering the COVID-19 virus." Mrs. McC: "Classless"? Didn't you mean "uppity," Mitch? And this while Trump is accusing President Obama of "the greatest political scam in the history of our country." (Related stories linked below.)
** Edward Luce of the Financial Times: "At some point, Congress is likely to establish a body like the 9/11 Commission to investigate Trump's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.... Any report would probably conclude that tens of thousands of deaths could have been prevented -- even now as Trump pushes to 'liberate' states from lockdown. 'It is as though we knew for a fact that 9/11 was going to happen for months, did nothing to prepare for it and then shrugged a few days later and said, "Oh well, there's not much we can do about it,"' says Gregg Gonsalves, a public health scholar at Yale University. 'Trump could have prevented mass deaths and he didn't.'... Trump says America is fighting a war against Covid-19. In practice, he is stoking national disunity.... For the next six months, America's microbial fate will be in the hands of its president's erratic re-election strategy. There is more than a whiff of rising desperation." (Firewalled) --s
Be Still My Heart. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Thursday night that he was wrong to claim that the Obama administration had not left behind a plan to deal with a pandemic in the US. 'I was wrong. They did leave behind a plan, so I clearly made a mistake in that regard,' McConnell said during an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. The concession comes days after he falsely accused the Obama administration of failing to leave the Trump administration 'any kind of game plan' for something like the coronavirus pandemic during a Trump campaign online chat with Lara Trump, the President's daughter-in-law.... In reality, former President Barrack Obama's White House National Security Council left the Trump administration a detailed document on how to respond to a pandemic.... The playbook contains step-by-step advice on questions to ask, decisions to make and which federal agencies are responsible for what. It includes sample documents that officials could use for inter-agency meetings. And it explicitly lists novel coronaviruses as one of the kinds of pathogens that could require a major response. Additionally, outgoing senior Obama officials also led an in-person pandemic response exercise for senior incoming Trump officials in January 2017 -- as required by a new law on improving presidential transitions that Obama signed in 2016."
Katie Benner & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina, temporarily stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, a day after F.B.I. agents seized his cellphone as part of an investigation into whether he sold hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stocks using nonpublic information about the coronavirus. The seizure and an accompanying search for his electronic storage accounts, which were confirmed by an investigator briefed on the case, represented a significant escalation of the inquiry by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission and suggests Mr. Burr, one of the most influential members of Congress, may be in serious legal jeopardy. Given the sensitivity surrounding the decision to obtain a search warrant on a sitting senator, the move was approved at the highest levels of the department, a senior Justice Department official said, meaning that Attorney General William P. Barr signed off on it." The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, guess what. Mitch McConnell gets to pick Burr's temporary replacement. Let's see if he chooses someone likely to spend every waking minute discrediting the Russia probes & "investigating" Biden, Obama and anyone else Trump wants to discredit.
Marianne Levine & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Kelly Loeffler has turned over documents to the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee amid ongoing scrutiny over her stock trades, according to her spokesperson."
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has turned over documents to the FBI and answered questions from law-enforcement officials about her husband's controversial stock trades, a spokesman for the California Democrat said on Thursday. Feinstein, a former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke with the agency 'voluntarily' and 'provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband's transactions,' the spokesman added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Roni Rabin of the New York Times: "Neurologists in New York City, Detroit, New Jersey and other parts of the country have reported a flurry of ... cases [of strokes in young, fairly healthy people, probably tied to Covid-19]. Many are now convinced that unexplained strokes represent yet another insidious manifestation of Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The cases add to evidence that the coronavirus attacks not just the lungs, but also the kidneys, brain, heart and liver.... Patients with severe Covid-19 may develop clots in the legs and lungs that can be life-threatening, doctors said.... In rare cases, it seems to trigger a life-threatening inflammatory syndrome in children." ~~~
~~~ Mara Gay of the New York Times: "Young, healthy people like me are getting very, very sick from the disease caused by the coronavirus. The day before I got sick, I ran three miles, walked 10 more, then raced up the stairs to my fifth-floor apartment as always, slinging laundry with me as I went.The next day, April 17, I became one of the thousands of New Yorkers to fall ill with Covid-19. I haven't felt the same since.... [Twenty-seven] days later..., I can't walk more than a few blocks without stopping.... When I see photographs of crowds packing into a newly reopened big-box store in Arkansas or scores of people jammed into a Colorado restaurant without masks, it's clear too many Americans still don't grasp the power of this disease."
Michigan. David Neiwert of Daily Kos: "It was billed to Michiganders as 'Judgement Day' in Lansing on Thursday, the day when hordes of 'Patriots' opposed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 lockdown orders were supposed to descend on the state Capitol and force the state government to back down. State lawmakers, fearing a repeat of the April 30 protest when hundreds of armed militiamen attempted to invade the House chambers, had even canceled the day's legislative session and closed down the Capitol building. Yet if the size of the crowd is any indication -- a handful of people numbering less than 200 at best -- any judgement rendered was entirely on the side of the authorities who ordered the lockdown. Moreover, the absurd behavior of the protesters -- including a brawl involving one protester who tied a flag onto a fishing rod and decorated it with a noose and a doll intended to represent Whitmer -- confirmed once again that they are mainly a small, fringe collection of ridiculous, addlepated conspiracy theorists with a disturbing violent streak and zero popular support."
New York. Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Reporter Kevin Vesey reported on anti-lockdown protests in Commack, New York for News 12 Long Island on Thursday. 'I'll probably never forget what happened today,' Vesey posted on Twitter. 'I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic,' he explained." --safari: Includes video that is well worth watching. It's surreal, like a zombie apocalypse, but for lobotomized pod people.
If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC , just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Thursday ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump has embarked on an aggressive new drive to rewrite the narrative of the Russia investigation by making dark and unsubstantiated accusations that former President Barack Obama masterminded a sinister plot to bring him down. On Twitter, on television, in the Rose Garden and even on an official White House social media page, Mr. Trump in recent days has taken aim at his most recent predecessor in a way that no sitting president has in modern times, accusing Mr. Obama of undefined and unspecified crimes under the vague but politically charged catchphrase 'Obamagate.' The president went even further on Thursday by demanding that Mr. Obama be hauled before the Senate 'to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA,' a scenario that itself has no precise precedent in American history. Within hours [Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)], Mr. Trump's most faithful Republican ally in the Senate, promptly announced that he would indeed investigate, although he would probably not summon Mr. Obama.... 'This was all Obama, this was all Biden,' Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network that aired on Thursday. 'These people were corrupt, the whole thing was corrupt, and we caught them.'" ~~~
~~~ Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday brushed back ... Donald Trump's pleas for the Judiciary Committee chairman to haul in former President Barack Obama for testimony about the origins of the Russia investigation and the FBI's handling of the investigation into Michael Flynn. Just moments after Trump appealed directly to the South Carolina Republican on Twitter, Graham reiterated that he does not intend to call Obama before his committee -- and he warned of the precedent such an action would set. '... I have grave concerns about the role of executive privilege and all kinds of issues,' Graham said in a brief interview. 'I understand President Trump's frustration, but be careful what you wish for....'" ~~~
~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: Acting DNI Richard Grenell hand-carried to AG Bill Barr a list of names of Obama-era officials who had requested the identity of a person who was cited in an intel report for making clandestine contacts with Russian and other foreign officials. The person was Michael Flynn. "A Fox News camera was pre-positioned at the entrance [of the 'Justice" Department's headquarters], seemingly tipped off to record footage of the dramatic scene.... The practice, known as unmasking, is commonplace in government. But in the case of Flynn, Trump and his allies used the list of names to claim Barack Obama, [Joe] Biden and their appointees deliberately sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration as part of a long-running conspiracy they have dubbed 'Obamagate.'... These efforts are being amplified by wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News Channel and elsewhere in conservative media.... 'We sort of have the smoking gun because we now have the declassified document with Joe Biden's name on it,' Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Thursday.... And in a remarkable turn Thursday, Trump urged Congress to call Obama to testify and even suggested those involved -- including Biden..., former FBI director James B. Comey and former CIA director John Brennan -- go to prison. 'I'm talking with 50-year sentences,' Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network that aired Thursday. 'It's a disgrace what's happened. This is the greatest political scam, hoax in the history of our country.... People should be going to jail for this stuff.'"
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post tutors political reporters (and headline writers) on how to write copy that doesn't falsely "boost" Trump's fake attacks. Sargent uses the stories about the release of the "unmasking" document, which -- since it's a nothingburger -- "actually does not 'boost' Trump's claims about the Russia investigation or 'discredit' it. And if there is 'no evidence of wrongdoing,' then it cannot legitimately be 'turned into an election issue.'" Mrs. McC: Sargent's admonitions would apply to electronic media reporters, too. Thanks to Anonymous for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the NYT & WashPo stories linked above, Baker does a fairly good job of pooh-poohing the conspiracy theory; Rucker, et al., mess it up badly. (Pissed me off so much I complained to Rucker about it.) And none of these stories ever mentions that another person who got the story on Flynn, albeit in general terms, was Donald Trump. Who told him? Barack Obama. Two days after the presidential election, at a meeting in the Oval Office, Obama warned Trump off Flynn. Worse than the media, however, are Democrats, who are doing a remarkably poor job of pushing back on the Trump ruse. They keep treating Trump as if he's a normal president*. According to the WashPo report, "'This is all about diversion,' Biden said [in an interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America'].... 'This is a game this guy plays all the time. The country is in crisis.... He should stop trying to always divert attention from the real concerns of the American people.'" That's not nearly sufficient to bat down a fake story. This is not a "diversion." It's an utterly false narrative. Express outrage. Say you would have been derelict in your duty had you not inquired about who the subversive miscreant was. Say Obama warned Trump about Flynn the first moment he could. Say the real wrongdoer was Trump, who -- knowing what Obama told him about Flynn -- hired Flynn anyway. ~~~
~~~ The headline on this NBC News story is good, but the reporting is mostly he-said/he-said. ~~~
~~~ "Trump Allies Push 'Obamagate,' But Record Fails to Back Them Up." Carol Lee, et al.: "... President Donald Trump and his allies have begun escalating their attacks against former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden..., by accusing them and other Obama administration officials of conspiring against Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump and his allies call it 'Obamagate,' and the claims are multifold: ... [blah-blah]. Former Obama administration officials say it is false that Biden or Obama knew in advance about the FBI's interview of Flynn, which took place four days after Trump took office -- a contention that is corroborated by a review of the very documents that Trump and his allies are citing to bolster their claims. The Obama officials also argue that there was nothing improper about requests ... to 'unmask' the name of the American who turned up in intelligence collected from the phone of Russia's then-ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Unmasking is a routine procedure approved each year by the National Security Agency for authorized purposes -- amounting to several thousand requests each year." ~~~
~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn's criminal prosecution has directed the law firm that Flynn fired to reappear as an interested party in the controversial proceeding. On Thursday, that firm complied by filing a notice of appearance. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia on Thursday ordered the clerk of the court to 'add Covington & Burling LLP ('Covington') as an interested party in this matter and directed counsel for Covington to file a notice of appearance on behalf of Covington as an interested party.'"
Emoluments! Trump's Million-Dollar Boondoggle. David Fahrenthold & Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government has paid at least $970,000 to President Trump's company since Trump took office -- including payments for more than 1,600 nightly room rentals at Trump's hotels and clubs, according to federal records obtained by The Washington Post. Since March, The Post has catalogued an additional $340,000 in such payments. They were almost all related to trips taken by Trump, his family and his top officials. The government is not known to have paid for the rooms for Trump and his family members at his properties but it has paid for staffers and Secret Service agents to accompany the president. The payments create an unprecedented business relationship between the president's private company and his government -- which began in the first month of Trump's presidency, and continued into this year, records show." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's bad enough that Trump gets supplicants to take rooms in his hotels, but this is you & I involuntarily supplementing his income.
All the Best People, Ctd. Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "A nonprofit organization run by President Trump's nominee to lead a federal media agency with oversight of Voice of America and other news outlets is under investigation by the District of Columbia's attorney general, a senior U.S. senator said Thursday. Michael Pack is a conservative filmmaker with ties to Stephen K. Bannon whom Trump has picked to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The D.C. attorney general's office is investigating whether Pack's use of funds from his nonprofit, Public Media Lab, was 'unlawful and whether he improperly used those funds to benefit himself,' Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement Thursday. Menendez said the D.C. attorney general's office informed the committee of the active investigation earlier Thursday, the same day Pack was scheduled to face a key panel vote on his nomination, before that vote was postponed. Pack has been under scrutiny for tax issues since at least September, when CNBC reported that at least $1.6 million in donations from his nonprofit were sent to his independent production company, Manifold Productions."
Jacob Bogage & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Weeks before a Republican donor and top White House ally becomes postmaster general, the U.S. Postal Service has begun a review of its package delivery contracts and lost its second-highest executive, which will leave its board of governors without any officials who predate President Trump.... Democratic vice chairman David Williams resigned April 30, fed up with Trump's approach to the agency, according to people familiar with his thinking.... Also, Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman submitted his resignation on May 8. Stroman had years of experience working with congressional Democrats and had become the agency point man on vote-by-mail initiatives for the November election.... The moves, confirmed by six people..., underscore how Trump is moving closer to reshaping an independent agency he has dubbed 'a joke.'... Trump has recently threatened to withhold a $10 billion line of credit approved by Congress in a coronavirus stimulus package unless the Postal Service quadruples what it charges to deliver packages. Independent analysts warn that such a change would devastate the agency, which has increasingly relied on such deliveries for a fast-growing portion of its business." ~~~
~~~ Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Trump has frequently accused the [USPS] without evidence of undercharging for package delivery and accused them of giving Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the Post, preferential treatment."
Adam Schiff's chilling warning about Donald Trump comes true. If you have time to watch Chris Hayes' opening segment from last night's show, please do. He does a good job of showing how just the news of the last few days demonstrates Trump's increasing lawlessness & the willingness of his compliant cronies to carry out his malevolent wishes:
Marty Johnson of the Hill: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the Education Department on Thursday, saying that the recent rule changes to Title IX by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos 'sharply limit educational institutions' obligations to respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault.' 'Betsy DeVos has created a double standard that is devastating for survivors of sexual harassment and assault, who are overwhelmingly women and girls. We are suing to make sure this double standard never takes effect,' Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, said in a statement."
News Lede
New York Times: "Jerzy Glowczewski, 97, flew 100 missions for the No. 308 'City of Krakow' Polish fighter squadron, according to Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. He was widely believed to have been the last surviving member of the valiant brotherhood of exiles who fought with the Royal Air Force when he died on April 13 of Covid-19 in a nursing home in Manhattan. On New Year's Day in 1945, Mr. Glowczewski helped turn back the final major offensive on the Western front by the German Luftwaffe, shooting down a Focke-Wulf 190 over Belgium from his Spitfire fighter plane.... 'It was probably one of the last classic dogfights in which survival depended on the acrobatic skill and lightning reflexes of the pilot, he [said]." Mrs. McC: A life well-lived and another obituary to warm your heart.
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Reader Comments (19)
The stories recalling that the Orange Menace hired Flynn despite being warned off by the last real president miss the point. The Traitor-in-Chief didn’t pick Flynn despite Obama’s admonition, he hired him BECAUSE of it.
Learning that Flynn was an unsavory, untrustworthy, self-dealing corner cutter who placed his personal monetary gain above his sworn duty to country and constitution was a recommendation for Trump, not a warning. An underhanded sleazeball who puts himself first and who’s being looked at by the FBI for crimes against the nation? My kinda guy! Sounds just like the sort of greedy, scheming chiseler I can use. Just like me. Hired!
Naturally anyone just like Trump can’t possibly be in the wrong. Besides, Ruuuussssia! Must be a conspiracy.
The new fake CDC "guidelines" appall me. As Politico reports (linked above), "For instance, a 63-page unpublished draft reported by the Associated Press on Wednesday suggested schools separate children's belongings and consider keeping cafeterias and playgrounds closed if possible. For camps, it suggested restricting attendance to those coming from areas with low transmission. The documents published Thursday did not include these recommendations."
The "White House" (Jared? Ivanka? a Liberty U. intern?) found the originally-proposed guidelines "too prescriptive." No, they're not. By definition, "guidelines" are not "prescriptive"; guidelines are suggestions and recommendations. They are not rules & regulations, which of course are "prescriptive." In the Politico example, they "suggest" schools keep cafeterias closed, "if possible." Well, some schools may have a physical plant that would make it "possible" for them to open the cafeteria & seat students at appropriate distances from one another. So those schools have reason not to follow the suggestion. But the suggestion itself is helpful; it urges administrators to "consider" alternatives to the usual lunchroom melee: gee, maybe we should send the kids home for lunch, or maybe we should set up extra tables & chairs in the gym, or maybe we should run only half-days of classes for each student so they can eat at home before or after school. Whatever. The original guidelines provided a good jumping-off point for administrators to fit to their own school's circumstances.
More on emoluments.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/appeals-court-green-lights-emoluments-suit-against-trump-257884
From my reading of Politico's reporting it sounds like the Dem-appointed judges made a legal argument. The R's, a personal one.
But then, I'm biased.
Have always thought the same about the vaunted Originalists, whose legal analyses start from what they wish were blessed by the Constitution and then work backwards to find support for their desired outcome.
For Republicans, who are egoists if they are anything, everything starts and often ends with them.
@Procopius: Not sure what stories you read. I looked over the last few days of stories I linked on unmasking, and they all used language like "requested the unmasking" or just "unmasked." I had the impression from the get-go that Grenell's little list was of Obama-era officials who had asked for the identity of the unnamed person. And the need to know the name of "Individual No. 1" or "Former Official No. 1" or whatever the intel docs called him seems obvious: if a former high-level U.S. government official, possibly someone in your own administration (as turned out to be the case), is betraying or potentially betraying the country, you want to know who that is and what you can do about it.
@Marie: Your anger is exactly what is needed, not only for Biden but for the messages Democrats need to expound on. We have to stop being mealy mouthed, we have to fight Trump and Republicans with the same ferociousness they dish out so very well. Right now Fatty is fairly bursting at the seams–-he's caught in the vortex of his own whirlpool and he's angry and when a man like this, as Schiff warned us, is given leeway he's bound to accomplish even more disasters. Michael Cohen, by the way, also warned us. "If you cross Mr. Trump, he'll crush you."
Here's Susan Glasser (who has been following Trump forever) from The New Yorker:
" Trump has been running this play for a long time already, and it seems to me not so much about electoral politics as it is a reflection of the ongoing temper tantrum that is Trump’s response to the global pandemic—a catastrophe that has upended Trump’s Presidency and may well spell his political doom. It’s about his fury at being impeached, and his rage at having as an enemy a virus that doesn’t give a damn about his Twitter feed. Trump’s attacks on Barack Obama, above all else, are a barometer for measuring the level of Trump’s raging insecurity, and what they tell us now is that Trump is having an enormous meltdown, almost certainly connected with his diminishing prospects for reëlection."
“Happiness, not in another
place but this place…
not for another hour
but this hour”
Walt Whitman, “A Song for Occupations,” Leaves of Grass
@PD, to Glasser's quote I would add "...and increasing prospects of further investigation leading to incarceration."
The Vile Turtle has been forced to back off from his previous lie (one of multitudes) about Obama not telling him and his venomous, slithering reptile of a little king how to deal with the pandemic. In my view this still indicates that these people are too goddam stupid to figure things out for themselves. “Waaahhh! That horrible black guy (how did he ever get into OUR White House?) didn’t tell us what to do about this virus thing. We’re screwed. And it’s all his fault! Waaahhh!”
But it’s worse. He did tell them what to do. And they didn’t do it.
It’s one thing to cry your eyes out because daddy didn’t show you how to open the bathroom door on your own. But if he did and you refused to do it, you’re condemned to crap in your pants. Forever.
Stupid is one thing. Willfully stupid is another.
Can Joe Biden please stop acting like the hall monitor (now, Donald, don’t run, and be polite to the other children) and start acting like a president? Start kicking some ass, Joe. Jesus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/politics/betsy-devos-coronavirus-religious-schools.html?
Betsy says "we need to rethink education."
I would say Betsy needs to think.
But like the stable genius in the White House, she doesn't have to.
She has money, in Amerika a proven substitute for thought.
In addition to saying in Pennsylvania that testing was overrated, the occupier also said: "If we didn't do any testing, we would have very few cases."
I think he should lead by example and stop testing at the White House. No testing, no cases. Right?
Via The Guardian.
Sad how O(ne )M(an) and his band of followers can ruin a country so quickly.
Duh.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/05/15/trump-without-doing-covid-19-coronavirus-testing-we-would-have-very-few-cases-here-is-the-reaction/#372ab0d1518c
Forbes columnist says what might not have needed to be said, but says it well. As do many others.
I also join AK in wishing the Dems would counter the blizzard of lies.
"Obamagate--" they can't even come up with a different name for their lies. But that is good enough for the welcoming committee in Allentown yesterday. I heard one woman on NPR this morning or yesterday saying so fervently, WE LOVE HIM... For someone to love someone this malevolent, that person has to be as devoid of scruples, logic, empathy, and all the other things as the Orange Monster and his peeps are. It's one thing to be politically opposed, quite another to be fascist and incompetent and evil. I hope we are not to be treated with six months of blubbing from Joe Biden about "bringing folks together." I don't want it, nor does anyone with any awareness that I know. No more wasting time in reaching out or appealing to these jerks waving Lump signs-- No more stupid tapdancing as people on teevee do-- we need to be serious about expressing the hatred for the Monster AND trumpism. I am so sick of hearing people desperately trying NOT to offend the Offal-In-Chief. He IS a monster, and an idiot and a sick ticket. AND it is the fault of the morons in Allentown. They actually deserve him. May they all contract the virus, like the woman claiming her family doctor who says oh, fresh air and sunshine will cure this disease-- she doesn't believe ANYTHING--she listens to Faux all day and hates the people in larger cities, especially if they are black or brown. Ugh. It makes me want to shower when I hear the crap spewing from their mouths.
Oh, vanity!
Yes, the Pretender likely needs glasses--among many other things.
The Manhattan Project, huh?. Bet he doesn't even know how it got its name.
Am reading a thick biography of Gen. Leslie Groves who headed that gargantuan effort. Much of interest there, but what strikes me sharpest is the character of the men who attended West Point in the 1920's and 30's and who ultimately led the WWII effort. There were intelligent, certainly driven to succeed, but also possessed of steady and strong character.
Interesting that more than Groves was the son of a minister in the days before mega churches and the money is god dispensation.
Have never been impressed by military titles alone, but that gallery of accomplished men is genuinely impressive--many names still today more familiar than Groves--.and stand in stark contrast to the Flynns and Pompeos: men intelligent and driven maybe but wholly lacking in character.
What happened to West Point?
The same thing that happened to the rest of the country, I'd posit.
Mitch was just taking a page out of Trump's playbook, playing both sides. He got screams his message out about how awful the former occupant of the White House was and how everything happening now is all Obama's fault. Then he says "oops my bad." As always the first statement gets front page coverage, but the correction gets pushed to page sixteen. He knew he was lying all along, but by issuing his weak correction he tries to claim some integrity too.
It strikes me that the obvious counter for “Obamagate” is Deathgate. There’s plenty of factual back up from Trump’s piss poor response, him and his sycophants pushing sacrifice and death (oh well), moving the goal posts ever higher in order to claim false “wins” and continuously exposing everyone near him to COVID by ignoring masking and social distancing. Dems are so bad at PR.
The zombie recovery check for $1200 I mentioned a few weeks ago that was sent to the deceased woman (whose name was followed by "DECD" in the address) for whom are trustees just won't die.
We returned it via the USPS per the instructions on the envelope and the USPS kindly sent it back to us. We persisted and tried to return it again. This time, so far, so good.
But today we received in a separate envelope a letter from the White House signed by the Pretender, which among other things praises this "hard working" dead woman.
Aside fron that amusement, the letter, a very thinly disguised campaign mailer sent at taxpayer's expense, galled me for its brazen effrontery, but I take some satisfaction in knowing that she is one person who won't be voting for him in November.
At least I don't think she will.