The Commentariat -- August 18, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Verna Yu & Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "An estimated 1.7 million people in Hong Kong -- a quarter of the population -- defied police orders to stage a peaceful march after a rally in a downtown park, after two months of increasingly violent clashes that have prompted severe warnings from Beijing and failed to win concessions from the city's government. Huge crowds filled Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon and spilled on to nearby streets, forcing police to block traffic in the area. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of umbrellas. At the same time, protesters walked towards Central, the heart of Hong Kong's business district, and surrounded government headquarters. Police had turned down a plan for Sunday's march submitted by the Civil Human Rights Front group and gave permission only for a rally in the park. Those defying the ban risked being charged with unlawful assembly, which can lead to up to five years in prison."

The Greenland Story Is Not a Hoax. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow confirmed on Sunday that the Trump administration is 'looking at' purchasing Greenland following reports of its interest last week." The Washington Post story is here.

Allan Smith of NBC News: "Top White House economic advisers on Sunday dismissed growing concerns that the U.S. economy is headed for a recession. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro appeared on a series of Sunday political talk shows to defend the president's handling of the economy -- particularly the ongoing trade war with China -- and to downplay recent warning signs that the economy could be headed towards a downturn.... 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd pointed out that in 2007, just before the onset of the Great Recession, Kudlow wrote that 'there's no recession coming' and the pessimistas were wrong.'"

Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, was a founding member of a group more than a decade ago that described undocumented immigrants as 'foreign invaders' responsible for 'serious infectious diseases, drug running, gang violence, human trafficking, terrorism.' The group, State Legislators for Legal Immigration, was established in 2007, when an immigration revamp was being hotly debated in Congress. Its founding principle was that undocumented immigration represented an invasion of the United States on par with foreign invasion that should justify invoking war powers under the Constitution -- extreme rhetoric Cuccinelli has continued to use in recent years, and that has been adopted by ... Donald Trump and other Republicans."

Jon Haworth of ABC News: "An Ohio man has been arrested for making threats toward a local Jewish community center in New Middletown. James Reardon Jr., 20, has been charged with telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing and is being held in the Mahoning County Jail on $250,000 bond with a court hearing planned for Monday morning. On Friday, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force raided Reardon's house and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition, including dozens of round of ammo, multiple semi-automatic weapons, a gas mask and bulletproof armor.... Police initially became aware of Reardon on July 11 when he posted a video on Instagram of a man shooting a semi-automatic rifle with sirens and screams in the background. He tagged the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown in the post.... Reardon is an avowed anti-Semite and white nationalist and attended the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to WYTV."

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Jennifer Jacobs & Jacob Sink of Bloomberg: "Some top aides to ... Donald Trump sought for months for a way to give states the power to block undocumented immigrant children from enrolling in public schools -- all part of the administration's efforts to stem illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border. Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller had been a driving force behind the effort as early as 2017, pressing cabinet officials and members of the White House Domestic Policy Council repeatedly to devise a way to limit enrollment...that could be carried out without congressional approval.... Ultimately, they abandoned the idea after being told repeatedly that any such effort ran afoul of a 1982 Supreme Court case guaranteeing access to public schools." --s

Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "The global standoff between the United States and Iran took a new turn Saturday after the United States issued a warrant for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker detained in Gibraltar, just hours after the ship was ordered released. The legal action thrust the Grace 1 supertanker into the heart of tensions between Washington and Tehran a day after a dispute over its fate between Britain and Iran had apparently been resolved. The British navy intercepted the Grace 1 off Gibraltar last month on the suspicion that it was delivering oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. The move triggered the capture by Iran two weeks later of a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, apparently in retaliation. A Gibraltar court ordered the release of the Grace 1 on Thursday after Britain said it had received guarantees from Tehran that the ship would not deliver oil to Syria, prompting speculation that Iran would release the British ship. Instead, the Grace 1's departure may be further delayed as authorities in Gibraltar consider whether to act on the U.S. warrant...." ...

     ... A USA Today story, by Kim Hjelmgaard, is here.

Jason DeParle of the New York Times has a long piece on how Stephen Miller became Stephen Miller. Mrs. McC: I didn't read the story, except the part about Lyndon Johnson, which once again convinces me he would have been our greatest modern president but for his monumental mistake of pursuing the Viet Nam war. Oh, I did catch the part near the top where I learned Miller's first job in D.C. was working for Michele Bachmann. ...

... Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post also write a long story on Stephen Miller. "... Miller's power in the White House is at its peak, according to top administration officials. As one of Trump's longest-tenured and most trusted aides, his influence in the West Wing is rivaled only by Jared Kushner..., they say.... Among Miller's co-workers are a few who believe he harbors racist views. 'I don't know what other principle could animate such a laserlike focus,' said one former career official at DHS. Miller bristled at the claim, calling anyone who labels him a racist 'an ignorant fool, a liar and a reprobate who has no place in civilized society." Mrs. McC: Even if you thought his nativism was the best thing since white bread, you'd want to smack him upside the head. ...

... Michael Luo of the New Yorker: "... the United States has actually been a leader in developing explicitly racist policies of nationality and immigration." Mrs. McC: As Alex Ross of the New Yorker pointed out in a review of English-language books about Nazis, "Hitler praises America as the one state that has made progress toward a primarily racial conception of citizenship, by 'excluding certain races from naturalization.'" Hitler also wrote approvingly of the white American settlers who had "gunned down the millions of redskins to a few hundred thousand."

Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "The Trump administration has fired another shot in its war with the US press, suspending the credentials of Brian Karem, White House correspondent for Playboy and an analyst for CNN. The 30-day revocation was announced on Friday and echoes hugely controversial action taken against CNN's Jim Acosta in November 2018.... Karem had his pass suspended after an altercation with former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka in the White House Rose Garden in July, around a 'social media summit' convened by Trump and attended by some of his most ardent supporters. Both men attracted criticism for their behaviour.... In a statement on Saturday, White House Correspondents' Association president Jonathan Karl said the group was 'deeply concerned', as 'such a move could have a chilling effect on working journalists'."

** Asher Stockler of Newsweek: "Senator Ron Wyden blasted the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday after the agency's Republican commissioners blocked an attempt to fully investigate the National Rifle Association (NRA) over reports that Russia may have used the gun-rights group as a conduit for its election interference efforts, and possibly in contravention of campaign finance law.... Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the FEC, excoriated her Republican colleagues for their contrary votes which resulted in a 2-2 tie on Friday, preventing the inquiry from moving forward. 'For the Republican commissioners to apply [this] approach to a matter of such national importance, and in doing so turn a blind eye to the possibility that a foreign adversary secretly funneled tens of millions of dollars into a presidential campaign, is to bring their obstruction to a new and breathtakingly damaging level,' she said in a statement. The House Ways and Means Committee, the oversight body in the House of Representatives with jurisdiction over non-profit organizations, has so far declined to launch a formal probe of the NRA, though it is under the control of Democrat Richard Neal." --s

Mike Baker & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday for a rally at a waterfront park in Portland, Ore., where far-right groups faced off with anti-fascist counterprotesters and brought much of the downtown area to a standstill. President Trump weighed in on the tense situation in Portland on Saturday morning, calling out the anti-fascist group known as Antifa on Twitter and suggesting support for labeling it a terror organization. He did not mention any of the right-wing groups, although both they and Antifa have a history of using violence against their opponents."

If these officers felt empowered to attack a group of protesters in front of the public and the media, imagine what kind of violence must be taking place inside the prison, out of [sight], against vulnerable immigrants and people of color. -- Amy Anthony of Never Again Action (cited in the Washington Post) ...

... Providence Journal (August 16): "A correctional officer at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility [-- which houses ICE-detained immigrants --] has resigned a day after being placed on administrative leave.... Captain Thomas Woodworth resigned from his position ... on Friday, August 16, 2019,' [a] statement [from the facility] said. 'The incident which occurred on August 14 remains under active investigation by the Rhode Island State Police and under internal investigation by the Wyatt.'" On Wednesday night, a guard at the facility, believed to be Woodworth, apparently purposely drove his pickup truck into a group of protesters who were demonstrating against the jailing of ICE detainees. After initially stopping, the driver pushed forward as people screamed. Never Again Action, whose members were injured & endangered, demanded that Woodworth face criminal charges & that the officers who pepper-sprayed the protesters, sending three to the hospital, also face accountability. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Woodworth is a big white guy who ostensibly worked for law enforcement. If he were a big black or Hispanic guy not connected to law enforcement, do you suppose he would have been able to walk away from such a violent incident while police investigated? ...

... When You Think Fox Can't Get Any Worse. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast (August 16): "Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs on Thursday applauded the driver who purposely ran his vehicle through a crowd of protesters at an ICE facility, saying the man was well 'within his rights' to plow through the crowd.... Airing a clip of the incident on Thursday's broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs set the scene by placing all the blame on the demonstrators." ...

     ... Mrs. McC Note to New Drivers: It is never, ever justified, moral or legal to use your vehicle as a deadly weapon to mow down people, even if you thought they were mean to you. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Baragona notes that "An official told ABC News that the driver of the truck was not an ICE employee." The other day I incorrectly IDed him as an ICE officer. The Wyatt Detention Facility is a private operation which has contracted with ICE to hold detained immigrants.

Ali Watkins, et al., of the New York Times: "... an examination of [Jeffrey] Epstein's last days by The New York Times, gathered from dozens of interviews with law enforcement officials, Bureau of Prisons employees, lawyers and others, suggests that Mr. Epstein's death came after he started to realize the limits of his ability to deploy his wealth and privilege in the legal system." Mrs. McC: The Times today is devoting a big chunk of its front-page real estate to monsters, first Stephen Miller, now Epstein.

The Bad News: Ryan Prior of CNN: "Alaska has been in the throes of an unprecedented heat wave this summer, and the heat stress is killing salmon in large numbers." The Good News: Now there will be fewer salmon for Trump, the EPA & Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy to kill off with that salmon-killing mining project they approved.

Presidential Race 2020

Has Joe Biden Paid Attention to Anything This Century? Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "... Joe Biden doubled down on his vow to cooperate with Republicans should he be elected president, saying he successfully worked across the aisle as vice president. 'There's an awful lot of really good Republicans out there,' he said Saturday at a Massachusetts fundraiser. 'I get in trouble for saying that with Democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got sent up to Capitol Hill to fix it? Me. Because they know I respect the other team."

News Lede

AP: “The death toll from a late-night suicide bombing at a crowded wedding party in the Afghan capital rose to at least 63 on Sunday, including women and children, officials said. The local Islamic State (IS) group's affiliate claimed responsibility for what was the deadliest attack in Kabul this year. Another 182 people were wounded in the Saturday night explosion, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed the casualty toll as families began to bury the dead. Some helped to dig graves with their bare hands. Kabul residents were outraged as there appears to be no end to violence even as the U.S. and the Taliban say they are nearing a deal to end their 18-year conflict, America's longest war.”

The Commentariat -- August 17, 2019

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "In a world spiraling towards chaos, we can begin to see the fruits of Donald Trump's erratic, amoral and incompetent foreign policy, his systematic undermining of alliances and hollowing out of America's diplomatic and national security architecture.... The whole structure is teetering. To be sure, most of these crises have causes other than Trump.... But in one flashpoint after another, the Trump administration has either failed to act appropriately, or acted in ways that have made things worse.... [The U.S.] will never again play the same leadership role internationally that it did before Trump. And that's the best-case scenario.... In foreign affairs as in the economy, the consequences of not having a functioning American administration are coming into focus."

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. negotiators have made significant advances in recent talks with the Taliban, and the two sides are close to announcing an agreement on an initial U.S. troop withdrawal, along with plans to start direct discussions between the militants and the Afghan government, according to American and foreign officials. President Trump met Friday with Cabinet officials and other senior national security advisers for a briefing by Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief U.S. envoy to the talks. Attendees at the meeting, held at Trump's New Jersey golf resort, included Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph F. Dunford Jr., CIA Director Gina Haspel and White House national security adviser John Bolton. An initial withdrawal under the proposed deal would include roughly 5,000 of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In exchange, the Taliban would agree to renounce al-Qaeda and to bar it from activities such as fundraising, recruiting, training and operational planning in areas under Taliban control." ...

     ... The Time story, by Kimberly Dozier, is here.

... Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "... as the Taliban and the United States move toward a preliminary peace agreement -- which could be released in days -- there are growing fears that Afghan women will lose the gains they have made over nearly two decades.... Officials said the preliminary deal [between the U.S. & the Taliban] is not expected to include specific assurances that women will continue to have equal opportunities in education, employment and government.... Women's rights are supposed to be addressed in the future talks [between the Taliban & the Afghan government].... Experts on Afghan issues remain skeptical of Taliban claims that they support women's rights -- a declaration that, at best, is largely untested. At worst, it is defied by continued attacks, threats and oppression against women by Taliban members in local districts across Afghanistan even as their leaders say they want peace." ...

... Maybe Afghan women's rights would have received proper consideration if not for this guy: ...

... Wesley Morgan of Politico: "Trump has repeatedly made it known he wants to remove all U.S. troops from the 18-year-old Afghan conflict, a topic he returned to Friday afternoon as his advisers briefed him on the status of peace talks with the Taliban. But his public statements and leaks of his closed-door demands have weakened the hand of his negotiators by making it clear just how desperately the president wants a deal, according to multiple current and former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the deliberations."

One Night in New Hampshire

As the Worm Turns. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday advocated the return of more mental health institutions to combat gun violence, while also throwing his support behind background checks for gun purchases. Speaking with reporters in New Jersey before heading to a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump said that mental health was an under-considered factor in gun violence and that his administration would examine it 'at a level that hasn't been done before.... These people are mentally ill,' Trump said of mass shooters, 'and nobody talks about that.' Mental illness is a frequent talking point among Republican lawmakers when dealing with gun violence.... 'We have to start building institutions again because, you know, if you look at the '60s and '70s, so many of these institutions were closed, and the people were just allowed to go onto the streets,' Trump said on Thursday. 'That was a terrible thing for our country.' Trump reiterated his views during a rally in Manchester, N.H, later Thursday night, using dated terms such as 'insane' and 'deranged.' Rather than proposing methods for treatment, he spoke about the need to keep those with mental illnesses isolated and off the street." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jessica Taylor of NPR: "At his first campaign rally after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, President Trump appeared to back away from supporting a possible expansion of background checks in favor of a push for more attention to mental illness. 'There is a mental illness problem that has to be dealt with. It's not the gun that pulls the trigger -- it's the person holding the gun,' Trump said to roars and a standing ovation from the Manchester, N.H., crowd.... In the weeks since [the massacres in El Paso & Dayton, Ohio], the president has urged Congress to strengthen background checks, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association.... But at the rally, Trump didn't mention any of those policies." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "Congressional Republicans recently circulated talking points on gun violence that falsely described the El Paso massacre and other mass shootings as 'violence from the left.' A document obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and sent by House Republicans provides a framework for how to respond to anticipated questions... The answers are boilerplate Republican arguments against tougher gun restrictions. But it also included this question: 'Do you believe white nationalism is driving more mass shootings recently?' The suggested response is to steer the conversation away from white nationalism to an argument that implies both sides are to blame. '...We also can't excuse violence from the left such as the El Paso shooter, the recent Colorado shooters, the Congressional baseball shooter, Congresswoman Giffords' shooter and Antifa.'" ...

"Man of the Year." Tara Subramaniam, et al., of CNN: "At a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Thursday..., Donald Trump made a handful of false claims, including returning to a claim he's made since the final days of the 2016 campaign. He said he was once named Michigan's 'Man of the Year.'... Neither we nor anyone else has been able to find a single detail. CNN has reached out to the White House and the Trump campaign about the claim, but has not heard back.... Trump has repeated versions of the claim at least six times since [November 6, 2016], including at a roundtable with corporate leaders in Michigan in 2017 and a rally in Wisconsin this April.... During the rally, Trump also repeated several of the false claims he's been touting throughout his 2020 campaign events, including those around China and tariffs, VA Choice, and payments to Iran." The writers "look at the facts." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

Trump Fat-Shamed His Own Fan. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The man Trump mocked as heavyset at his New Hampshire rally was a Trump supporter.... The man to whom Trump appeared to be referring was sitting near [the protesters] and quickly leaped into action. He grabbed one banner from a protester and threw it into a nearby entryway. He grabbed the second and, after a brief struggle, threw it over the edge of the balcony where it fluttered into the crowd below.... The crowd cheered the man who'd grabbed the banners.... Update: The Daily Mail's David Martosko reports that Trump was in fact referring to the man who confronted the protesters, identified as Frank Dawson. Trump later called and spoke with him." The NBC News story, by Lauren Egan, is here. ...

Frank Rich: "When the American buck is faltering, the buck always stops with the president.... As last night's rambling, repetitive, and often incoherent 90-minute rant at a rally in New Hampshire indicated, Trump is in full panic that a recession may be coming.... We now have a president whose economic 'team' consists of Fox News talking heads like Larry Kudlow, sycophants like Steve Mnuchin, and nutjobs like Peter Navarro, the White House trade-war guru who this week could be found on television likening the right-wing editorial page of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal to the Chinese Communist organ, the People's Daily." Rich also comments on the Jeffrey Epstein case & the Democratic primaries. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Josh Boak & Jonathan Lamire of the AP: "Though a pre-election recession here is far from certain, a downturn would be a devastating blow to the president, who has made a strong economy his central argument for a second term. Trump advisers fear a weakened economy would hurt him with moderate Republican and independent voters who have been willing to give him a pass on some his incendiary policies and rhetoric." Mrs. McC: I'm sorry, anyone who is willing to accept Trump's white supremacist "polices & rhetoric" cannot be a "moderate."

Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 13 News (in Axios): "Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said Friday that she will not enter Israel due to the 'oppressive conditions' placed upon her visit, despite the Israeli government's permission to enter Israel on humanitarian grounds to visit her family in the occupied West Bank, including her 90-year-old grandmother." Related stories linked below. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update: Here's the New York Times' story, by David Halbfinger. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ha Ha Ha. Andy Borowitz reports on Denmark's counteroffer to Trump's inquiries into purchasing Greenland. Perfect! (Again, satire has lost its punch. Borowitz's imaginary response sounds appropriate.) Thanks to Islander for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

"NO SCAN, NO PAY." Anya Litvak of the Pittsburgh Post-Express: "The choice for thousands of union workers at Royal Dutch Shell's petrochemical plant in Beaver County was to either spend Tuesday standing in a giant hall waiting for ... Donald Trump to speak, or to take the day off with no pay. 'Your attendance is not mandatory,' read the rules that Shell sent to union leaders a day ahead of the visit to the $6 billion construction site. But only those that showed up at 7 a.m., scanned their cards, and prepared to stand for hours -- through lunch but without lunch -- would be paid. 'NO SCAN, NO PAY,' the rules said."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Oh, I'll just leave you with the headline: "A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C." I think that should be "in Washington, D.C."

Dominic Holden of BuzzFeed News: "The Trump administration on Friday took one of its most aggressive steps yet to legalize anti-transgender discrimination by telling the Supreme Court that federal law allows firing workers solely for being transgender, arguing a Michigan funeral home could fire a transgender woman because she wanted to wear women's clothing on the job.... The latest court filing asks the nation's top court to establish federal case law in a potentially sweeping setback for LGBTQ rights nationwide.... The Justice Department's brief on Friday contends the word ['sex' in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] refers to a person's 'biological sex' and, further, that transgender discrimination isn't addressed by a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that found Title VII bans sex stereotyping." Mrs. McC: Other than cruelty, there seems to be no reason for the DOJ's position.

Appeals Court Okays Jerking around Migrants. Nomann Merchant of the AP: "A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for the U.S. government to forbid Central American immigrants from seeking asylum at the two busiest stretches of the southern border in a partial legal victory for the Trump administration. The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows ... Donald Trump to enforce the policy in New Mexico and Texas, rejecting asylum seekers who cross from Mexico into either state. Under Friday's ruling, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar's July 24 order stopping the policy would apply only in California and Arizona, which are covered by the 9th Circuit. The two busiest areas for unauthorized border crossings are in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley and the region around El Paso, Texas, which includes New Mexico. Nearly 50,000 people in July crossed the U.S. border without permission in those two regions, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. The policy would deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without seeking protection there."

Appeals Court Okays Jerking around Women. AP: "A U.S. appeals court has declined once again to immediately halt new Trump administration rules that bar taxpayer-funded clinics from referring patients for abortions. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday rejected a request from more than 20 states, Planned Parenthood and the American Medical Association to block the rules from taking effect while the case proceeds. A three-judge panel and an 11-judge panel have already said the rules can take effect while the administration appeals lower court rulings that blocked them. Oral arguments are next month."

Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor & Sampson's Scalpel. Ali Watkins & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "The New York City medical examiner said on Friday that Jeffrey Epstein's death in a federal jail cell was a suicide, confirming he had hanged himself. Mr. Epstein's death had set off a wave of unfounded conspiracy theories, as people speculated online, without evidence, that he might have been killed to keep him from providing information to prosecutors about others in his social circle, including President Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew of Britain. But the chief medical examiner in New York City, Dr. Barbara Sampson, ruled out foul play. She released a terse statement saying that, after an autopsy and a 'careful review of all investigative information,' she had determined the cause of Mr. Epstein's death was 'hanging' and the manner was 'suicide.' Three of Mr. Epstein's lawyers, Martin G. Weinberg, Reid Weingarten and Michael Miller, challenged the findings and vowed to conduct their own investigation." ...

     ... The NBC News story, by Tom Winter & others, is here.

But She Does Look Lovely. Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "The NRA spent tens of thousands of dollars bringing hair and makeup artists around the country for [Susan LaPierre,] the wife of its CEO [Wayne LaPierre], two sources told The Daily Beast. The expenses -- which included plane flights and luxury hotel stays for the stylists -- are bound to fuel an already-raging debate over what some see as a spendthrift culture in the NRA's upper echelons. The NRA, meanwhile, called it a 'non-story,' and said their ex-ad firm was responsible for any such expenses." (Also linked yesterday.)

P. R. Lockhart of Vox: "Of the many myths told about American slavery, one of the biggest is that it was an archaic practice that only enriched a small number of men.... I recently spoke with [historian & author Edward] Baptist about how cotton slavery transformed the American economy, how torture, violence, and family separations were used to maximize profits, and how understanding the economic power of slavery impacts current discussions of reparations. A transcript of our conversation has been edited for length and clarity." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Australia/Fiji. Kate Lyons of the Guardian: "Scott Morrison has been accused of causing an extraordinary rift between Australia and Pacific countries by the prime minister of Fiji, who said the Australian prime minister's insulting behaviour while at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu would push nations closer to China.... Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister of Fiji and a political heavyweight in the region, said Morrison's approach during the leaders' retreat on Thursday was 'very insulting and condescending'.... Bainimarama also commented on the deputy prime minister Michael McCormack's comments that Pacific island nations affected by the climate crisis would continue to survive 'because many of their workers come here to pick our fruit', saying they were insulting and disrespectful." --s

The Commentariat -- August 16, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Frank Rich: "When the American buck is faltering, the buck always stops with the president.... As last night's rambling, repetitive, and often incoherent 90-minute rant at a rally in New Hampshire indicated, Trump is in full panic that a recession may be coming.... We now have a president whose economic 'team' consists of Fox News talking heads like Larry Kudlow, sycophants like Steve Mnuchin, and nutjobs like Peter Navarro, the White House trade-war guru who this week could be found on television likening the right-wing editorial page of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal to the Chinese Communist organ, the People's Daily." Rich also comments on the Jeffrey Epstein case & the Democratic primaries.

Ha Ha Ha. Andy Borowitz reports on Denmark's counteroffer to Trump's inquiries into purchasing Greenland. Perfect! (Again, satire has lost its punch. Borowitz's imaginary response sounds appropriate.) Thanks to Islander for the link.

Forgot this earlier. As the Worm Turns. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday advocated the return of more mental health institutions to combat gun violence, while also throwing his support behind background checks for gun purchases. Speaking with reporters in New Jersey before heading to a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump said that mental health was an under-considered factor in gun violence and that his administration would examine it 'at a level that hasn't been done before.... These people are mentally ill,' Trump said of mass shooters, 'and nobody talks about that.' Mental illness is a frequent talking point among Republican lawmakers when dealing with gun violence.... 'We have to start building institutions again because, you know, if you look at the '60s and '70s, so many of these institutions were closed, and the people were just allowed to go onto the streets,' Trump said on Thursday. 'That was a terrible thing for our country.' Trump reiterated his views during a rally in Manchester, N.H, later Thursday night, using dated terms such as 'insane' and 'deranged.' Rather than proposing methods for treatment, he spoke about the need to keep those with mental illnesses isolated and off the street." ...

... Jessica Taylor of NPR: "At his first campaign rally after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, President Trump appeared to back away from supporting a possible expansion of background checks in favor of a push for more attention to mental illness. 'There is a mental illness problem that has to be dealt with. It's not the gun that pulls the trigger -- it's the person holding the gun,' Trump said to roars and a standing ovation from the Manchester, N.H., crowd.... In the weeks since [the massacres in El Paso & Dayton, Ohio], the president has urged Congress to strengthen background checks, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association.... But at the rally, Trump didn't mention any of those policies."

Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 13 News (in Axios): "Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said Friday that she will not enter Israel due to the 'oppressive conditions' placed upon her visit, despite the Israeli government's permission to enter Israel on humanitarian grounds to visit her family in the occupied West Bank, including her 90-year-old grandmother." Related stories linked below. ...

     ... Update: Here's the New York Times' story, by David Halbfinger.

"Man of the Year." Tara Subramaniam, et al., of CNN: "At a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Thursday..., Donald Trump made a handful of false claims, including returning to a claim he's made since the final days of the 2016 campaign. He said he was once named Michigan's 'Man of the Year.'... Neither we nor anyone else has been able to find a single detail. CNN has reached out to the White House and the Trump campaign about the claim, but has not heard back.... Trump has repeated versions of the claim at least six times since [November 6, 2016], including at a roundtable with corporate leaders in Michigan in 2017 and a rally in Wisconsin this April.... During the rally, Trump also repeated several of the false claims he's been touting throughout his 2020 campaign events, including those around China and tariffs, VA Choice, and payments to Iran." The writers "look at the facts."

But She Looks Lovely. Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "The NRA spent tens of thousands of dollars bringing hair and makeup artists around the country for [Susan LaPierre,] the wife of its CEO [Wayne LaPierre], two sources told The Daily Beast. The expenses -- which included plane flights and luxury hotel stays for the stylists -- are bound to fuel an already-raging debate over what some see as a spendthrift culture in the NRA's upper echelons. The NRA, meanwhile, called it a 'non-story,' and said their ex-ad firm was responsible for any such expenses."

~~~~~~~~~~

In today's news, we learn that the POTUS* wants to buy Greenland and the CEO of a major U.S. corporation had an affair with a well-known Russian agent. These stories, along with more important shocking news -- like a captain in the Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency ramming his truck into a crowd of Jewish protesters, after which other ICE officers pepper-sprayed the protesters -- make me feel disoriented. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Anderson Cooper on Trump's pushing Netanyahu to ban two female Muslim Members of the House from entering Israel:

... Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Under intense pressure from President Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Thursday barred two members of the United States Congress from entering Israel, reversing a previous decision to admit two of the president's most outspoken critics. By enlisting a foreign power to take action against two American citizens, let alone elected members of Congress, Mr. Trump crossed a line that other presidents have not, in effect exporting his partisan battles beyond the country's borders. And he demonstrated the lengths that he will go to to target his domestic opponents.... Israel's decision to bar the two congresswomen, Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, was widely criticized, including by prominent Israel supporters.... Mr. Trump's intervention also placed him at odds with the Republican leadership in Congress...." (The story, which has been updated, also was linked yesterday.) ...

... Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 13 News (published in Axios), "President Trump tweeted Thursday that it would show 'great weakness' if Israel were to allow Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to enter the country during an upcoming congressional delegation visit on Sunday.... As Axios' Jonathan Swan and I previously reported, Trump has privately been telling advisers that he thinks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should use an anti-boycott law to bar the two freshman congresswomen over their support for the BDS movement. In response to our story, the White House said that Trump didn't pressure Israel in any way and that Israel can do whatever it wants." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update: Let's look at Ravid & Swan's report, dated August 10, which Ravid linked above: "President Trump has told advisers he thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should use Israel's anti-boycott law to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) from entering Israel, according to 3 sources familiar with the situation.... But Trump denies, through White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, ever giving any kind of directive to the Israelis. 'The Israeli government can do what they want. It's fake news,' Grisham said on Saturday." Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: Surprise! The new press secretary is just like the old press secretary. She lies. (And/or she repeats Trump's lies). (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday criticized Israel's decision not to allow Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to visit.... 'Israel's denial of entry to Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar is a sign of weakness and beneath the dignity of the great State of Israel,' Pelosi said in a statement.... 'The President's statements about the Congresswomen are a sign of ignorance and disrespect, and beneath the dignity of the Office of the President,' she said. Pelosi has had her differences with Tlaib and Omar...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Barak Ravid (in Axios): "Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced Friday that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) will be allowed to enter Israel on humanitarian grounds to visit her family in the West Bank, including her 90-year-old grandmother.... In her letter to Deri requesting the visit, Tlaib said she would 'respect [her] restrictions' and would not 'promote boycotts against Israel.'" ...

... ** Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "Wednesday night, a pickup truck pulled up to a densely packed group of Jewish protesters outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Rhode Island. The driver stopped for a second and then accelerated into the protesters, sending several to the hospital -- though thankfully, none were seriously injured. The driver seems to have been one of the detention center's guards, according to the Washington Post; after the attack, other detention center guards tear-gassed the protesting Jews. All of this was captured on video, yet there are no reports that either the truck driver or the gas attackers have been arrested. The president of the United States, who claims to care for America's Jews, has had nothing to say about this. Instead, he spent Thursday morning talking about why Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the real anti-Semites.... There is no persuasive evidence that they hate 'all Jewish people.' [as Trump tweeted Wednesday]. Trump is dramatically distorting the two Muslim women's records for crassly partisan reasons, a transparent part of his campaign to try to convince America's overwhelmingly Democratic Jewish voters that they should switch sides." ...

     ... Kevin Andrade of the Providence Journal has a story on the pick-up truck/pepper-spray incident. Officials at the facility apparently put the pick-up driver on leave. "'Captain Thomas Woodworth has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the independent investigation being conducted by the Rhode Island State Police, and the Wyatt's internal investigation,' the facility's warden said in a press release. Mrs. McC: I guess pepper-spraying is a-okay. Note that the guy using deadly force against peaceful protesters is an ICE captain. Oh, and at least one protester, a 64-year-old man, was severely injured, according to the Journal's report. ...

     ... Julia Reinstein of BuzzFeed News has more: "In a statement, a spokesperson for the state attorney general's office confirmed it was investigating 'what transpired last night at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls.'... The incident occurred just two days after the second anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a white supremacist killed a woman when he drove a car into a crowd of people." ...

... ** Peter Beinart of the Forward: "Most officials of mainstream American Jewish organizations have never been to the places Tlaib and Omar planned to go. They've never talked to Palestinians whose homes are about to be bulldozed.... They've never heard Palestinian parents explain the terror they feel when Israeli soldiers come in the middle of the night to take their children to be interrogated.... American Jewish leaders think Netanyahu is a fool because they don't realize how much he has to hide.... But he likely ... understood that if Omar and Tlaib brought the American media with them to the West Bank, they might begin to puncture the cocoon that he and his American Jewish allies have worked so hard to build.... We who are white and Jewish and can name our Bar MitzvahParshas at Ben Gurion Airport must use our privilege to go the places Omar and Tlaib could not. We must find creative ways of showing other Americans what we see there. And we must make it unacceptable for Democrats to continue to visit Israel with AIPAC -- as 41 did last week — and thus sustain the cocoon that keeps Americans comfortably ignorant about Palestinian suffering.... And when Democratic politicians began demanding, by the dozens, to see the things that Omar and Tlaib were planning to see, then the cocoon will fall apart and the American debate over Israel will change."

More Bizarre News Brought to You by the Emperor Trump. Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump has on multiple occasions brought up buying Greenland from the Danish government and the White House counsel's office has looked into the possibility, two sources told CNN on Thursday. Trump's interest in buying Greenland was first reported on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that people familiar with the deliberations said the President has raised the issue during meetings and dinners, asking aides and listening seriously about the possibility and advantages of owning Greenland. He also asked his White House counsel to research the matter, according to two of the people. Two of the people also told the Journal that Trump's aides were divided on the issue, with some praising it as solid economic strategy and others dismissing it as a passing fancy."

      ... The Washington Post story, by Damian Paletta, is here: "Trump is scheduled to visit Denmark in two weeks." Mrs. McC: I suppose the good news is that Trump is not planning, as far as we know, to declare war on Denmark & take Greenland as the spoils. ...

... Hayes Brown of BuzzFeed News: "The US has apparently considered purchasing Greenland before, including as recently as 1946 when president Harry Truman offered $100 million in gold to purchase it. Alas, poor Harry, he did not succeed in buying the ice sheet-covered landmass, but the US does have a military base there where it basically has free rein. So that's nice." ...

... Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen of Reuters: "Greenland on Friday dismissed the notion that it might be up for sale after reports that ... Donald Trump had privately discussed with his advisers the idea of buying the world's biggest island. 'We are open for business, but we're not for sale,' Greenland's foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters.... 'If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad,' foreign affairs spokesman for the Danish People's Party, Soren Espersen, told broadcaster DR.... [Officials said] Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod ... would respond later on Friday." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you oppose the purchase of Greenland, there's a super-easy way to dissuade Trump from his latest weird idea. Just tell him this: "The Inuit population makes up approximately 85%-90% of the total (2009 est.)." End of story.

Clive McKeef of MarketWatch: "U.S. stocks recovered some ground Thursday, boosted by a good earnings report from Walmart and data showing a jump in nationwide retail sales in July, helping stocks bounce from the worst one-day fall this year on Wednesday. Investors and central banks remain concerned though that President Trump's trade war with China is undermining global economic growth after China on Thursday threatened unspecified retaliation against Trump's recent threat to impose more tariffs on its imports from September." ...

... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday baselessly accused the press of trying to tank the American economy, shrugging off any blame for a prospective economic slowdown and possible recession heading into his reelection next year. 'The Fake News Media is doing everything they can to crash the economy because they think that will be bad for me and my re-election,' he said in a tweet. 'The problem they have is that the economy is way too strong and we will soon be winning big on Trade, and everyone knows that, including China!' The president offered no evidence to support his claim that the media, a frequent target of his ire, is working to weaken the U.S. economy." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Paul Krugman: "Neither I nor anyone else is predicting a replay of the 2008 crisis.... But the bond market is telling us that the smart money has become very gloomy about the economy's prospects. Why? The Federal Reserve basically controls short-term rates, but not long-term rates; low long-term yields mean that investors expect a weak economy, which will force the Fed into repeated rate cuts.... The realization that [Donald Trump] really is a Tariff Man is having a serious dampening effect on business spending, partly because nobody knows just how far he'll go.... Trump isn't the only problem here.... So what kind of contingency planning is the administration engaged in?... The answer, reportedly, is that there is no policy discussion at all, which isn't surprising when you bear in mind the fact that basically everyone who knows anything about economics left the Trump administration months or years ago."

Maggie Haberman & Peter Baker of the New York Times: At a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, "President Trump doubled down on his economic argument for re-election on Thursday night amid increasing concerns about a recession, declaring that even Americans who hate him 'have no choice' but to vote for him because otherwise the stock market will collapse.... His talk was also marked by repeated inconsistencies. The same president who last year said trade wars were 'easy to win' told his supporters that 'I never said China was going to be easy.' The same president who compared America's intelligence agencies to 'Nazi Germany' when he took office complained that Democrats 'use the term Nazi' to attack their opponents." The Politico story, by Stephanie Murray, is here. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So if the economy tanks, Trump's argument will be "I alone can fix it." Since Trump's trade wars are part of the problem, I suppose that is partially true, because theoretically he could curb his own bad actions. ...

... Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday praised a New Hampshire Republican who previously called for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be shot by firing squad. Speaking at a rally in Manchester, N.H., Trump gave a shoutout to state Rep. Al Baldasaro, who had previously served as an informal adviser during his 2016 campaign.... While advising Trump in the summer of 2016, Baldasaro called Clinton a 'disgrace' for her role in responding to the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and said that she 'should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.' CNN later reported the Secret Service was investigating the remarks at the time, and the Trump campaign disavowed what Baldasaro said. Still, Baldasaro was invited to the White House in June 2017 for a bill-signing ceremony, again prompting Trump's team to distance itself from his remarks. Baldasaro said on Twitter at the time: 'Nobody advocated shooting Hillary, just an opinion in accordance with law & CONSTITUTION on treason.'" ...

... Pot Calls Kettle Fat. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday mocked the weight of a protester who briefly interrupted his rally in Manchester, N.H. 'That guy's got a serious weight problem. Go home, start exercising,' Trump said as the individual who interrupted Trump's speech was escorted out of the arena. 'Get him out of here please. Got a bigger problem than I do,' Trump quipped. 'Got a bigger problem than all of us....' Cameras showed multiple protesters being escorted out of the arena after the crowd began booing and chanting 'U.S.A.' The interruption came as Trump slammed Democrats, accusing them of demeaning law enforcement and describing their opponents as 'fascists and Nazis.' Moments later, Trump continued with his usual remarks, telling supporters that his movement is 'built on love.'"

Karen Pinchin of PBS: "The mayor of the grieving city of El Paso [Dee Margo] told President Donald Trump in a private meeting that he's presenting 'misinformation' about crime in his city and pushed back when the president used a derogatory term to suggest he wasn't a real Republican. 'He said, "You're a RINO [Republican in name only]," and I said, "No, sir. I am not a RINO,"'" --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Trump has shown before, his means of comforting a community in distress includes insulting the mayor. Apparently, Trump thinks this is an especially good idea in majority-Hispanic cities like El Paso & San Juan, Puerto Rico.

More than 250,000 people have signed the petition to change the name of Fifth Avenue in the block in front of Trump Tower to "President Barack H. Obama Avenue." The WashPo has a story here. There's a ClickOrlando story here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) subpoenaed Corey Lewandowski and former White House official Rick Dearborn on Thursday, marking Democrats' latest efforts to receive testimony from key figures in the Mueller report." (Also linked yesterday.)

Some Weird News Just Got Weirder. Michael Corkery of the New York Times: On Monday the founder & CEO of Overstock Patrick Byrne wrote a peculiar press release titled 'Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State,' in which "said that he had been helping law enforcement agents, whom he referred to as Men in Black,' with their 'Clinton Investigation; and 'Russia Investigation.'" Then on Wednesday, Byrne confirmed that he had been in a sometimes-romantic relationship with Russian agent Maria Butina. "Her lawyer, Robert Driscoll, confirmed that Ms. Butina and Mr. Byrne had been 'romantically involved' and that, according to Mr. Byrne, government officials had instructed him on how to interact with her." The story goes on to describe some of the details of the relationship.

James West of Mother Jones: "Earlier this year, federal investigators began requesting corporate documents and questioning staff at American Media Inc., the company run by Donald Trump's longtime friend David Pecker.... FBI agents zeroed in on the circumstances behind the magazine's [special issue Saudi Arabia-themed] publication and, according to one of the sources, whether AMI had engaged in illegal influence peddling on behalf of a foreign power.... The story of how AMI came under scrutiny by the feds as a possible agent of Saudi influence is a dizzying saga of Trumpian proportions, featuring a cast of characters that includes the world's richest man [Jeff Bezos], a Saudi leader [Mohammed bin Salman] who has forged deep ties to the Trump administration, and an embattled media baron.... The Saudi influence probe could have profound implications for AMI ... because it threatens to undo a deal the company struck last year with the Justice Department over its role in the hush-money case [with Stormy Daniels and] Michael Cohen." --s

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jeremy Barr of The Hollywood Reporter: "A trove of Treasury Department emails [from 2017 & 2018] released to the non-profit organization Democracy Forward and provided exclusively to The Hollywood Reporter this week paint a picture of a close, friendly bond between the Trump administration agency and two news organizations, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.... 'The Trump administration is a revolving door for Fox News personalities and our documents expose the network as the administration's communications arm,' Democracy Forward said in a statement to THR. 'Trump administration officials revising Fox News tweets and Fox News rewriting stories to suit the administration's whims isn't journalism, it's propaganda.'" Includes many examples. --s

Spencer Woodman & Maryam Saleh of The Intercept: "In the first 15 months of the Trump administration, U.S. immigration authorities locked thousands of detainees in solitary confinement, some for months at a time, a new report from the Project on Government Oversight ... has found.... In roughly 40 percent of those reports ... across both presidential administrations, the detainee placed in isolation had a mental illness diagnosis.... The U.N. has said that solitary confinement should be banned except in 'very exceptional circumstances.' It should never be used to isolate people with mental illness or juveniles -- and no one should be held for longer than 15 days, the U.N. says." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones on the Department of Labor's proposed new rule "that would make it easier for employers to discriminate against workers who they say violate their religious beliefs, including members of the LGBTQ community, pregnant women who are not married, and others.... The rule will remain in a comment period until Sept. 16 before it is finalized." --s

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "Top political appointees at the State Department 'harassed' career staffers whom they suspected were members of the supposed 'deep state' or were purportedly 'disloyal' to the Trump administration's goals, according to a new report from the department's inspector general.... Assistant secretary Kevin Moley and senior adviser Mari Stull are named in the report as being behind much of the chaos. The report details multiple incidents in which Stull allegedly 'retaliated' against State Department employees.... Stull, a former food lobbyist who blogged about wine ... referred to [career employees] as 'Obama holdovers,' 'traitors,' or 'disloyal'[.]'" --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Kovensky includes a copy of the IG's report.

Presidential Race 2020

Pat Rynard of Iowa Starting Line: "A new Iowa Starting Line-Change Research poll shows [Elizabeth Warren] opening up a commanding lead in the Iowa Caucus. Warren was the top pick of 28% of likely Iowa Caucus-goers in the poll, an 11-point lead over the nearest competitor. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were both tied for second with 17% each. Pete Buttigieg came in fourth at 13% and Kamala Harris has the backing of 8%. Both Cory Booker and Beto O'Rourke garnered 3% of caucus-goers' support, while Steve Bullock, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer got on the board at 2%. Julian Castro, Michael Bennet and Andrew Yang rounded out the field at 1%, while everyone else had less than that.... The poll was conducted online August 9 to 11, right in the middle of peak Iowa State Fair campaigning...." ...

... Henry Olsen of the Washington Post: "Elizabeth Warren has become the flavor du jour in the Democratic presidential race on the back of two strong debate performances. But her polling numbers suggest passing former vice president Joe Biden will be a much harder task. The senator from Massachusetts has risen as the progressive's progressive, refusing to run away from controversial stances such as eliminating private health insurance in favor of a government-run Medicare-for-all system.... All the recent national polls show her support is heavily skewed to the party's left wing."

Matt Stieb & Adam Raymond of New York: Former Colorado Gov. John "Hickenlooper dropped out of the race Thursday. In a video posted to Twitter, Hickenlooper said, 'Today, I'm ending my campaign for president....' In the video, the 67-year-old fanned rumors about his running for Senate, saying he's heard 'from so many Coloradans' who want him to take on Republican senator Cory Gardner next year. 'I intend to give that some serious thought,' he said in the video."

Richard Behar of Forbes: "The day after he was taken off suicide watch, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein spent at least two hours locked up alone with a young woman, in a private room reserved for inmates and their attorneys, according to an attorney who was visiting the prison that day. 'The optics were startling. Because she was young. And pretty,' said the visiting attorney, who asked that his name not be used.... The visiting attorney noted that she didn't seem to have any files with her .... and ... that she was dressed casually.... The room is locked when prisoners go in, after their handcuffs are removed, and unlocked only when prisoners leave and handcuffs are put back on."

Religion Gone Wild. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Advocates of a 'medicine' called MMS will gather in a hotel in upstate New York on Saturday to promote what they claim to be a miracle cure for cancer that is in fact a powerful bleach that can cause serious harm and even death. The self-proclaimed 'Genesis II Church of Health and Healing' -- a group that in reality is neither a church nor a medical outfit -- plans to lure supporters ... charging $450 per person, or $800 for a couple.... Earlier this week it posted on its Facebook page a video of a man firing multiple handgun rounds in a shooting range above the caption 'More G2 Church security training'.... The peddlers claim that drinking the bleach can cure any number of serious illnesses, including cancer, HIV/Aids and malaria as well as autism.... The operation is masterminded by Mark and Jonathan Grenon, who have given themselves the title of 'bishops' within the 'church'." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This "religious" group isn't the only enterprise pushing this dangerous "Miracle Mineral Supplement." Joshua Bote of USA Today: "A solution of bleach sold as a "Miracle Mineral Supplement" has been touted as an unproven, so-called cure to multiple ailments, including cancer, autism, HIV and the flu. But the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Monday that the product, which is sold online for just under $30, can cause nausea, vomiting and dehydration. Extended use may lead to kidney failure and possible death.... The product's chemical compound has killed at least eight people, including a 6-year-old girl with autism, according to NBC News. These vendors sell a solution of sodium chlorite, which, when mixed with lemon or lime juice or another acid, turns it into chlorine dioxide. Exposure to chlorine dioxide can result in 'delays in brain development' for children, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The New York Times story, by Christine Hauser (August 13) is here.

Maanvi Singh of the Guardian: "Plastic was the furthest thing from Gregory Wetherbee's mind when he began analyzing rainwater samples collected from the Rocky Mountains. 'I guess I expected to see mostly soil and mineral particles,' said the US Geological Survey researcher. Instead, he found multicolored microscopic plastic fibers. The discovery, published in a recent study (pdf) titled 'It is raining plastic', raises new questions about the amount of plastic waste permeating the air, water, and soil virtually everywhere on Earth.... Other studies have turned up microplastics in the deepest reaches of the ocean, in UK lakes and rivers and in US groundwater." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

North Korea. Justin McMurry of the Guardian: "North Korea has fired at least two unidentified projectiles into the sea off its east coast, shortly after it denounced South Korea's military drills with the US and declared that inter-Korean talks were over." --s

Saudi Arabia. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "An international law group has submitted new evidence to the UK government alleging that the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has covered up evidence of its unlawful airstrikes on civilian targets. The allegations will put pressure on the UK government as it prepares its response to a court order directing it to reconsider all existing British government licences to export arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.... The government is expected to provide its response next month in a move with big ramifications for future UK-Saudi relations." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

Daily Beast: "Peter Fonda, the two-time Oscar nominee and star of 1969's Easy Rider, died on Friday morning at the age of 79. Fonda, the son of actor Henry Fonda, brother of actress Jane Fonda and the father of Bridget Fonda, passed away in his Los Angeles home at 11:05 a.m. surrounded by his loved ones, according to a statement from his family." The New York Times obituary is here.