The Commentariat -- June 30, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Jim Acosta of CNN: "The new White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, got into a scuffle with North Korean officials on Sunday during a chaotic scene outside a meeting room where ... Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un talked privately. A source at the scene said Grisham got in 'an all out brawl' with North Korean officials as American and North Korean reporters were hustled in to view the summit. Grisham was bruised a bit in the scuffle, the source added."

Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "The number of Democratic primary voters who pick Kamala Harris as their first choice for president doubled after the first Democratic debates, vaulting the California senator into a third-place tie in a new poll. The latest Morning Consult survey found Harris increased her standing to 12 percent in the poll, which was taken after the debate ended through Friday, up 6 percentage points over the previous week."

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Zeke Miller & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "With wide grins and a historic handshake..., Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un met at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone on Sunday and agreed to revive talks on the pariah nation's nuclear program. Trump, pressing his bid for a legacy-defining accord, became the first sitting American leader to step into North Korea. What originally was intended to be an impromptu exchange of pleasantries turned into a 50-minute meeting, another historic first in the yearlong rapprochement between the two technically warring nations." ...

     ... The New York Times story, by Peter Baker & Michael Crowley, is here. ...

... Zeke Miller & Jonathan Lemire: "... Donald Trump will meet Sunday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the North and South, a day after he issued an unprecedented invitation and expressed willingness to cross the border for what would be a history-making photo op. South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that Kim accepted Trump's invitation to meet when the U.S. president visits the heavily fortified site at the Korean border village of Panmunjom." ...

... The Pathetic, Envious Liar-in-Chief Makes up Another Fantastic Lie about Obama. Inquisitr: "... before making the trip to the DMZ, Trump made a claim about his predecessor, Barack Obama, that was immediately contradicted by one of Obama's top former foreign policy advisers. Trump claimed that while president, Obama was 'begging' to meet with Kim, according to ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl reporting via Twitter. 'There were begging for meetings constantly, and Chairman Kim would not meet him,' Trump said, according to an Twitter account to deny Trump's claim, which was also reported as 'false' in the ABC News report.... The truth was exactly the opposite of the way Trump described it, according to a Los Angeles Times report. It was Kim and his predecessor Kim Jong Il -- Kim's father -- who repeatedly sought meetings with Obama and previous U.S. presidents, but were rejected."

Peter Baker & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China agreed on Saturday to resume trade talks after a seven-week breakdown, averting for now an escalation of their multibillion-dollar tariff war that has roiled global markets and threatened the future of the world's two largest economies. The agreement, brokered during more than an hour of discussion between the leaders, did not by itself signal any major breakthrough in resolving the fundamental conflict. But it represented a temporary cease-fire to give negotiators another chance to forge a permanent accord governing the vast flow of goods and services between the two nations." ...

... The Art of the Cave. Gordon Chang of the Daily Beast: "The United States will resume sales of products to Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer..., Donald Trump said in his post-G20 press conference Saturday in Osaka. The action appears to be a surrender to publicly issued Chinese demands.... On Thursday..., the Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei's removal [from the U.S.'s 'Entity List' of foreign companies U.S. companies cannot deal with without prior government approval] was one of China's three main preconditions to a trade deal.... Trump, in response to a reporter's question at the Osaka press conference, refused to confirm he would be taking Huawei off the Entity List.... Nonetheless, the president's initial words made it clear that his administration would resume the flow of high-tech American products to the embattled Chinese company.... Trump also mentioned at the press conference that he would not be imposing any additional tariffs on Chinese goods."

Mrs. McCrabbie: When Patrick wrote in yesterday's Comments, "DiJiT thinks that when Putin says Western liberalism is kaput, he's talking about California democrats and cities," I thought Patrick was joking. He wasn't. Jonathan Chait provides the evidence. Even Mueller would convict. Trump's ignorance is breathtaking. (So is his incoherence, but that's SOP.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Rebekah Entralgo of ThinkProgress: "This was hardly Trump's only flub during the Saturday's news conference. He was asked by ABC News about an exchange between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in Thursday's Democratic presidential debate over busing.... Trump's made clear he thought the term 'busing' meant using a bus to commute to school. 'You know, there aren't that many ways you're going to get people to schools. So this is something that's been done. In some cases, it's been done with a hammer instead of a velvet glove. And, you know, that's part of it[....] But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.' (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Gary Bass in a New York Times op-ed: "President Trump reserves some of his worst behavior for foreign trips.... Yet even by Mr. Trump's dismal standards, his performance this week before the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, should take everyone's breath away. More than yet another demonstration of his erratic behavior, this was also an object lesson in the dangers of his context-free hostility to the world beyond the United States. Before arriving in Japan, Mr. Trump had reportedly been musing about withdrawing the United States from the security treaty with Japan signed in 1951 and revised in 1960 -- the cornerstone of the alliance between the United States and Japan and a pillar of American foreign policy.... Though Mr. Trump implied that the security treaty favors Japan, it was largely dictated by the United States.... Mr. Trump's comment demonstrates a strategic cluelessness and historical ignorance that would disqualify a person from even a modest desk job at the State Department." ...

... Aris Folley of the Hill: "Veteran journalist Dan Rather criticized President Trump for his 'deeply strange behavior' towards Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit.... 'But that was only the beginning. He praises the leader of Saudi Arabia,' Rather continued while speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper, saying that 'to put this in context, we have to understand, and whether you're Republican, Democrat or whatever, that under President Trump, American foreign policy has become incoherent and immaturish. For example, tweeting to the president of North Korea, "Meet me at the DMZ, just to see you and say hello,"' Rather continues, referring to a tweet Trump shared on Friday.... Cooper cut in saying he thought that was 'a joke' at first.... 'The president himself doesn't seem all that interested in learning about foreign policy...,' Rather continued, telling Cooper that it's 'hard to say ... whether it's more ineptitude, ignorance or mendacity. But whatever it is, it's dangerous for the country."

LOLGOP in ElectraBlog: "Donald Trump is good at a lot of things, nearly all of them are terrible and nearly all of them exploit weaknesses in our system that have been intentionally exacerbated by America's right wing.... You don't get away with crimes like rape, tax fraud, or conspiring with foreign powers because you're lucky. You do it because you mastered the advantages you have.... The greatest advantage [the powers who made Trump possible] have is our belief is that it can't happen here. But Donald Trump already happened here and he knows he can get away with it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... As Rose, who linked the LOLGOP post for us wrote at the end of Friday's thread, "... I think the Democrats are falling into the trap described in the article of thinking that Trump is incompetent at what he does. Yes, he's stupid beyond bearing mentally unstable in the extreme, narcissistic, sadistic and just plain evil, but -- and he doesn't need intelligence for this, just gut instinct -- he's gifted at grifting, a perfect example of the idiot savant in that regard. Whoever ultimately ends up facing off against him in the general election is going to have to take this into account if they hope to bring him down."

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A federal judge has ordered a mediator to move swiftly to improve health and sanitation at Border Patrol facilities in Texas, where observers reported migrant children were subject to filthy conditions that imperiled their health. Judge Dolly M. Gee of the Central District of California asked late on Friday that an independent monitor, whom she appointed last year, ensure that conditions in detention centers are promptly addressed. She set a deadline of July 12 for the government to report on what it has accomplished 'post haste' to remedy them." ...

... Kate Cronin-Furman in a New York Times op-ed: "What's happening at the border doesn't match the scale of [some infamous] horrors, but if, as appears to be the case, these harsh conditions have been intentionally inflicted on children as part a broader plan to deter others from migrating, then it meets the definition of a mass atrocity: a deliberate, systematic attack on civilians.... Many Americans have been asking each other 'But what can we DO?' The answer is that we call these abuses mass atrocities and use the tool kit this label offers us to fight them.... Children are suffering and dying. The fastest way to stop it is to make sure everyone who is responsible faces consequences." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This sounds like an urgent call to Congress to either investigate the atrocities from the ground up or quickly appoint a nonpartisan commission to hold open hearings.

Presidential Race 2020

Anita Kumar of Politico: "Sen. Kamala Harris 'received too much credit for her attack on Joe Biden at Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate,' ... Donald Trump said Saturday. 'I think she was given too much credit for what she did. It wasn't that outstanding,' Trump said at a news conference in Osaka, Japan...." Mrs. McC: Trump's little critique is based on (1) he's afraid to run against Harris, and (2) he had no idea whatsoever about what Harris was talking about. (See Rebekah Entralgo's post above.) P.S. Notice how, at the end of her report, Kumar pretends that Trump did understanding busing. This is notably irresponsible reporting.

Trump Consultant Runs Fake Biden Website. Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "For much of the last three months, the most popular Joseph R. Biden Jr. website has been a slick little piece of disinformation that is designed to look like the former vice president's official campaign page, yet is most definitely not pro-Biden. From top to bottom, the website, JoeBiden.info, breezily mocks the candidate in terms that would warm the heart of any Bernie Sanders supporter.... All the site says about its creator is buried in the fine print at the bottom of the page. The site, it says, is a political parody built and paid for 'BY AN American citizen FOR American citizens,' and not the work of any campaign or political action committee.... His name is Patrick Mauldin, and he makes videos and other digital content for President Trump's re-election campaign.... in anonymously trying to exploit the fissures within the Democratic ranks -- fissures that ran through this past week's debates -- Mr. Mauldin's website hews far closer to the disinformation spread by Russian trolls in 2016 than typical political messaging."

Maureen Dowd: "The aloofness and arrogance of the Biden operation came spilling out for all to see under the bright lights of the debate stage. The 76-year-old seemed irritated and unprepared to address inevitable jabs from his younger, more nimble rivals.... [Kamala] Harris [ground] her stiletto on a vulnerable part of Biden's record. The reason [Anita] Hill was eviscerated and a lying Clarence Thomas ascended to the Supreme Court is that Biden, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was bending over backward to appease uncompromising Republicans on the panel -- the same men who were falsely accusing Hill of perversity, erotomania and perjury.... Biden is selling himself as someone who can work with a Republican Party that everyone but Biden realizes doesn't exist anymore."

Sam Roberts of the New York Times: "Luis G. Alvarez, a former New York City detective who pleaded with Congress this month to extend health benefits to police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died on Saturday in a hospice in Rockville Centre, N.Y. He was 53. His family announced his death in a post on Facebook. The cause was complications of colorectal cancer, for which Mr. Alvarez received a diagnosis in 2016. The disease was linked to the three months he had spent at the site of the toppled World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan, searching for survivors and for remains of his fellow officers on nearby rooftops and in the toxic rubble at ground zero."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Bari Weiss of the New York Times: "... the San Francisco school board's [unanimously decided] on Tuesday night to spend at least $600,000 of taxpayer money ... to destroy [a historical work of art].... Victor Arnautoff, the Russian immigrant who made the paintings in question, was perhaps the most important muralist in the Bay Area during the Depression.... His freshly banned work, 'Life of Washington,' does not show the clichéd image of our first president kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge. Instead, the 13-panel, 1,600-square-foot mural, which was painted in 1936 in the just-built George Washington High School, depicts his slaves picking cotton in the fields of Mount Vernon and a group of colonizers walking past the corpse of a Native American.... Arnautoff's purpose was to unsettle the viewer...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This supports my contention that school boards in general are gathering places for the stupidest people in the U.S. Thus, the San Francisco school board is being perfectly consistent with other boards when they prove they "just don't get" art even when it is carefully explained to them. Now, can we please burn Picasso's "Guernica" & replace it with a painting of playful kittens?

I've always considered school board elections stepping stones for up and coming future stupid politicians. -- Dan L., in yesterday's Comments

First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made school boards. -- Mark Twain, via Procopius, in yesterday's Comments thread

Florida. Doha Madani of NBC News: "A group of civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida Friday after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would require felons to pay court-ordered financial obligations if they want their voting rights restored. Florida's new law, SB7066, violates the prohibition against poll taxes enshrined in the 24th Amendment, claims a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, the Brennan Center for Justice and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The suit filed on behalf of 10 Floridians also claims the law was at least partly motivated by a racially discriminatory purpose in violation of the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to people born or naturalized in the United States, and the 15th Amendment that prohibits the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race or color or previous servitude."

The Commentariat -- June 29, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Mrs. McCrabbie: When Patrick wrote in today's Comments, "DiJiT thinks that when Putin says Western liberalism is kaput, he's talking about California democrats and cities," I thought Patrick was joking. He wasn't. Jonathan Chait provides the evidence. Even Mueller would convict. Trump's ignorance is breathtaking. (So is his incoherence, but that's SOP.) ...

... Rebekah Entralgo of ThinkProgress: "This was hardly Trump's only flub during the Saturday's news conference. He was asked by ABC News about an exchange between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in Thursday's Democratic presidential debate over busing.... Trump's made clear he thought the term 'busing' meant using a bus to commute to school. 'You know, there aren't that many ways you're going to get people to schools. So this is something that's been done. In some cases, it's been done with a hammer instead of a velvet glove. And, you know, that's part of it[....] But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.'"

LOLGOP in ElectraBlog: "Donald Trump is good at a lot of things, nearly all of them are terrible and nearly all of them exploit weaknesses in our system that have been intentionally exacerbated by America's right wing.... You don't get away with crimes like rape, tax fraud, or conspiring with foreign powers because you're lucky. You do it because you mastered the advantages you have.... The greatest advantage [the powers who made Trump possible] have is our belief is that it can't happen here. But Donald Trump already happened here and he knows he can get away with it." ...

... As Rose, who linked the LOLGOP post for us wrote at the end of yesterday's thread, "... I think the Democrats are falling into the trap described in the article of thinking that Trump is incompetent at what he does. Yes, he's stupid beyond bearing, mentally unstable in the extreme, narcissistic, sadistic and just plain evil, but -- and he doesn't need intelligence for this, just gut instinct -- he's gifted at grifting, a perfect example of the idiot savant in that regard. Whoever ultimately ends up facing off against him in the general election is going to have to take this into account if they hope to bring him down."

Kate Cronin-Furman in a New York Times op-ed: "What's happening at the border doesn't match the scale of [some infamous] horrors, but if, as appears to be the case, these harsh conditions have been intentionally inflicted on children as part a broader plan to deter others from migrating, then it meets the definition of a mass atrocity: a deliberate, systematic attack on civilians.... Many Americans have been asking each other 'But what can we DO?' The answer is that we call these abuses mass atrocities and use the tool kit this label offers us to fight them.... Children are suffering and dying. The fastest way to stop it is to make sure everyone who is responsible faces consequences." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This sounds like an urgent call to Congress to either investigate the atrocities from the ground up or quickly appoint a nonpartisan commission to hold open hearings.

Bari Weiss of the New York Times: "... the San Francisco school board's [unanimously decided] on Tuesday night to spend at least $600,000 of taxpayer money ... to destroy [a historical work of art].... Victor Arnautoff, the Russian immigrant who made the paintings in question, was perhaps the most important muralist in the Bay Area during the Depression.... His freshly banned work, 'Life of Washington,' does not show the clichéd image of our first president kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge. Instead, the 13-panel, 1,600-square-foot mural, which was painted in 1936 in the just-built George Washington High School, depicts his slaves picking cotton in the fields of Mount Vernon and a group of colonizers walking past the corpse of a Native American.... Arnautoff's purpose was to unsettle the viewer...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This supports my contention that school boards in general are gathering places for the stupidest people in the U.S. Thus, the San Francisco school board is being perfectly consistent with other boards when they prove they "just don't get" art, even when it is carefully explained to them. Now, can we please burn Picasso's "Guernica" & replace it with a painting of playful kittens?

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Trump Praises World's Tyrants at G-20

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as 'a friend of mine, despite concerns about the young leader among U.S. lawmakers and international officials. Trump and the crown prince held a working breakfast in Osaka, Japan, at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit. The president did not respond to shouted questions from reporters about whether he would confront the crown prince about the killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. Instead, he credited the crown prince for doing a 'spectacular job,' citing reforms that benefit women in the long-restrictive kingdom." ...

     ... Update. David Herszenhorn of Politico: "... Donald Trump enjoyed breakfast [in Osaka, Japan,] Friday with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, heaping praise on the Saudi ruler while ignoring evidence of his role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi..., including a conclusion by the Central Intelligence Agency, that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing. Appearing before their breakfast at the Imperial Hotel in Osaka, Trump and Prince Mohammed ignored at least two questions about Khashoggi's death.... 'It's an honor to be with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a friend of mine, a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of opening up Saudi Arabia,' Trump said. 'And I think especially what you've done for women. I'm seeing what's happening; it's like a revolution in a very positive way.' Trump continued, 'I want to just thank you on behalf of a lot of people, and I want to congratulate you. You've done, really, a spectacular job.'" ...

     ... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Barely a week ago, he was in theory a marked man, fingered by the United Nations as the probable mastermind behind one of the most grisly and sensational murders of recent years. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has been wandering around the world stage in Japan the last couple of days hobnobbing with presidents and prime ministers as if he were just another leader deliberating on economics and energy. No one is more important to Saudi efforts to rehabilitate their de facto ruler after the bone-saw killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi than President Trump, who joshed around with the crown prince during a summit photo session on Friday and hosted him for a personal breakfast on Saturday morning where he lavished praise on the prince as a reformer opening up his society." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's embrace of bin Salman, besides reflecting his admiration for brutal dictators & his greed for remuneration from the super-wealthy prince, also reflects his disdain for journalists. Just as he suggested to Vladimir Putin (see Baker & Crowley's NYT report, linked below) that murdering, shutting down & intimidating jounalists were good ways to solve the "problem" of "fake news," so he dismisses bin Salman's participation in the grisly murder of an American-based journalist.

Jordan Fabian & Saagar Enjeti of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday said he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea after the Group of 20 (G-20) summit that's taking place this weekend in Japan. 'After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!' Trump tweeted." ...

     ... AP: "... Donald Trump says he wants to inspect the heavily-fortified Korean demilitarized zone as an example of what a 'real border' looks like.... Says Trump: 'By the way, when you talk about a wall when you talk about a border, that's what they call a border. Nobody goes through that border.... That's called a real border.'" Mrs. McC: And you're called a real sadist. As the Hill story linked above describes the DMZ, "The region, a heavily guarded border dividing the North and South, is occupied by thousands of troops from both sides and is littered with land mines. Former President Clinton once called it 'the scariest place on earth.'"

Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared a 'cheers' as the pair gathered with other world leaders at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Japan. Trump and Putin were photographed sitting near each other at a G-20 dinner Friday night in Osaka with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seated between them.... Trump grabbed his glass and reached to clink it with Putin's cup, which appeared to be a plastic tumbler. Both then took a sip from their cups." ...

... Peter Baker & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "Like old friends reuniting, [Trump & Putin] warmly shook hands, smiled and chatted amiably. And then President Trump brushed off Russia's interference in American democracy with a joke as President Vladimir V. Putin chuckled.... Rather than challenge Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump treated it as a laughing matter..., [putting] put the issue back in the spotlight as House Democrats prepare to question Mr. Mueller on camera next month.... As reporters and photographers entered their meeting room..., the American president offered the sort of disdain for journalists sure to resonate with an authoritarian like Mr. Putin. 'Get rid of them,' Mr. Trump said. 'Fake news is a great term, isn't it? You don't have this problem in Russia, but we do.' 'We also have,' Mr. Putin insisted in English. 'It's the same.' In fact, Mr. Putin has made a hallmark of his nearly two decades in power a takeover of major news outlets. Russia's relatively few independent journalists often come under intense pressure and, in some cases, have even been killed. It fell to other leaders gathered in Osaka, Japan, for the annual Group of 20 summit meeting to volunteer the rebuttal to Mr. Putin's worldview that Mr. Trump did not." Baker & Crowley contrast Trump's effusive praise for Putin with the remarks & attitudes of world leaders Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, British PM Theresa May. ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Baker & Crowley repeatedly express the conventional wisdom that Trump's dismissal of Russian interference in 2016 is the result of Trump's discomfort with the implication that the Russians' aid tainted his 2016 victory. But I don't think that's the whole story, and I find it a much too kindly reading of Trump's motivations. As the reports above attest, Trump kisses up to plenty of murderous dictators who did nothing to help his election. Trump really likes Putin; he's "in love with" Kim Jong-un; at the G-20, he was jovial in the company of Mohammed bin Salman. He admires these monsters. He aspires to be one of them.

Gigi Sukin of Axios: "Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday that a thorough investigation into the 2016 presidential election would reveal that President Trump would not have won the presidency without the help of Russian interference, the Washington Post reports.... 'There's no doubt that Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016,' he said at a Carter Center conference in Virginia. He also indicated that he considers Trump to be an 'illegitimate president.'"

Presidential Race 2020

Julie Bosman & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "A day after a bruising primary debate in which Senator Kamala Harris laced into his history on civil rights, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. vigorously defended his record on Friday, saying that '30 seconds to 60 seconds on a campaign debate exchange can't do justice to a lifetime committed to civil rights.' Mr. Biden recited a litany of actions he had taken in his long career to promote equality, saying that 'I fought my heart out to ensure that civil rights and voting rights, equal rights are enforced everywhere.'... But his political and personal vulnerabilities as a 2020 candidate have never been more clear than they were on Thursday night...." ...

I did not oppose busing in America. -- Joe Biden, to Kamala Harris, in Thursday's debate ...

That's a big fucking whopper, Joe. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

... Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "Factoring prominently into the debate against busing [in 1975] ... was a young, liberal, 32-year-old Delaware senator by the name of Joe Biden. Asked in an interview at the time by NPR's David Ensor whether he would go so far as supporting a constitutional amendment to stop court-ordered busing, Biden was open to it. 'That would clearly do it,' he said, adding, 'I'm going to go at it through a constitutional amendment, if it can't be done through a piece of legislation.'" ...

Craig Silverman & Jane Lytvynenko of BuzzFeed News: "Not long after Sen. Kamala Harris challenged Joe Biden's record on race during part two of the first Democratic debate last night, a barrage of tweets questioned her race and US citizenship. While these claims erupted into national prominence last night, in part due to a quote-tweet from Donald Trump Jr., falsehoods about her have long been simmering in fringe conspiracy and neo-Nazi circles.... Harris was born in Oakland to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, and is eligible to run for president.... The sentiment that Harris is not an 'American Black' was also expressed in a viral tweet -- one that was briefly amplified by Trump Jr. (he later deleted his message)[.]... The smears against Harris have been percolating since long before she announced her campaign for president earlier this year." ...

... Katie Rogers & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, shared another person's tweet with his millions of followers during the Democratic debate on Thursday that falsely claimed Senator Kamala Harris was not black enough to be discussing the plight of black Americans. 'Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves,' Ali Alexander, a member of a right-wing constellation of media personalities, wrote on Twitter. 'She's not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That's fine. She's not an American Black. Period.' Mr. Trump, a valuable Republican surrogate as his father faces a bruising 2020 race, posted the tweet of unverified information, then asked his more than three million followers: 'Is this true? Wow.' By the end of the night, Mr. Trump had deleted his message, and by Friday, a spokesman said it had all been a misunderstanding.... Because his tweet was elevated by valuable surrogates like the president's son, Mr. Alexander has become part of a loose network of accounts weaponized by the Trump campaign as part of its effort to discredit candidates."

Frank Rich: "We're down from 20 [candidates] to either seven (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, Castro, and Klobuchar) or nine, if you hold out hope that the mellifluous but glib bros Booker and Beto will start putting at least as much effort into bold policy positions as they have into their pandering effusions of gringo Spanish.... By linking Biden's praise of James Eastland and Herman Talmadge to his opposition to busing, [Harris] revealed that Biden still doesn't understand that he didn't only benefit from these bigots' supposed 'civility'..., but actively enabled at least one plank of their arch-segregationist political strategy. He has chosen not to apologize for that failure. And last night, he paid a huge price by digging himself in further. His invocation in 2019 of states' rights to argue against busing ... sounds like something that would pop out of the mouth of Rand Paul, not a Democratic front-runner." Read on.

Michelle Goldberg: "We've now had two Democratic debates in which women dominated.... The question now is whether these victories can convince battle-scarred Democratic women to believe once again that a woman can beat Donald Trump. There's a bleak paradox here.... But the more you think that misogyny undermined Clinton, the less inclined you might be to support another female challenger.... This week should give us confidence that a woman can lead the fight against this grotesque president. Surely it's not riskier to back the women who won the debates than the men who lost them."

Ezra Klein of Vox: Kamala "Harris walked into the debates an unknown quantity. She walked out the winner. Given the number of Democratic factions that could plausibly unite behind Harris's banner, that's no small thing. It's a rare debate that truly shakes up the primary, but I suspect this one did."

Ledyard King of USA Today: "Author Marianne Williamson's quirky, love-conquers-all approach on the Democratic debate stage Thursday drew applause, ridicule and confusion. On Friday, she was attracting donations. From Republicans. GOP strategist Jeff Roe, who ran Texas Sen. Ted Cruz' 2016 presidential campaign, tweeted out to his 16,000 followers asking fellow Republicans "to donate $1 to keep this vibrant democrat on the debate stage. One debate performance is not enough."

David Brooks is very upset that Democrats won't give him a mealy-mouthed candidate he can vote for against Trump. Mrs. McC: Brooks is one of the slimiest, sneakiest columnists in the history of the New York Times op-ed page. This is his attempt to undermine the Democratic party by promising he will vote for a boring, uninspiring moderate if only Democrats will nominate one. Just so you'll know, Brooks is lying. Should Democratic voters follow his advice, he just won't be able to find enough to like about their dull nominee, and he'll use every column right up to November telling readers why.

A Ratings Blockbuster. Brian Stelter of CNN: "Thursday night's Democratic debate featuring Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and eight other candidates was the highest-rated Democratic match-up in Nielsen ratings history. About 18.1 million viewers tuned in for the debate across three TV channels -- NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo — according to Nielsen ... data."

Salute to America Trump & Friends. Elly Yu of the DCist: "... Donald Trump's 'Salute to America' on July 4 will include a ticketed area for VIPs around the Lincoln Memorial, officials announced Friday.... The ticketed area will be 'immediately around the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and about midway down through the Reflecting Pool,' said Matt Miller with the U.S. Secret Service.... A spokesperson for the White House said there will be a 'portion' that is ticketed for special guests, friends, and family, and the rest will be open to the general public."

Mehdi Hasan of The Intercept: "[New White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham fits right into this kakistocratic administration. Her cavalier disregard for the truth is matched by her equally cavalier disregard for the law. In September 2018, Grisham was reprimanded by the Office of Special Counsel for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits White House employees from engaging in party-political activities. Rather than fire her, Trump decided to promote her. And why wouldn't he? There don't seem to be any consequences for Trump advisers who tell lies or break the law." --s

Maybe you were wondering how Trump officials would respond to the heartbreaking photo of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria lying dead on the banks of the Rio Grande. Turns out (okay, not surprisingly,) Ken Cuccinelli, Trump's new (acting) director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services doesn't have a heart to break: "... the reason we have tragedies like that on the border is because that father didn't wait to go through the asylum process in the legal fashion and decided to cross the river and not only died but his daughter died tragically as well." Mrs. McC: According to CBS News, "Martinez' family said he spent weeks trying to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Mexico, but couldn't get anyone to talk to him. His father said he was there about two or three months." So not only is Cuccinelli a heartless SOB, he's a lying, heartless SOB if the Martinez story is true. (Also linked yesterday.)

Former Trump Campaign Chairman Gets a Perp Walk. Erica Orden of CNN: "Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Thursday in New York state's Supreme Court to state fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the third criminal case he has faced in recent years and one that may trigger a battle on double jeopardy grounds."

Debbie Nathan of The Intercept: "A Trump administration program [known as the Migrant Protection Protocols] that banishes asylum-seekers to perilous Mexican border cities could expand exponentially -- and disastrously -- with a new plan to hold mass video proceedings in tents along the border.... So far, the MPP has sent immigrants to Mexico but returned them for hearings in traditional brick-and-mortar courtrooms, where immigration judges almost always sit a few feet from the migrants and their lawyers, and journalists and representatives from immigrant advocacy groups observe from benches in the spectator section. But the new plan is to erect giant tents, each one subdivided into several courts, and each court containing migrants but no judges, reporters, or observers." --s

Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "The House of Representatives passed the Securing America's Federal Elections Act (SAFE Act) on Thursday, on a 225 to 184 vote. While the bill's provisions to ensure a paper trail for American's ballots, give accessibility and privacy for citizens with disabilities, and avoid foreign rigging would seem fairly non-controversial, just one Republican voted for the bill.... Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan and has made advocacy for wounded veterans a priority, joined the Democratic majority in supporting the bill.... 183 other Republican colleagues, voted no." --s

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House Ethics Committee announced Friday that it is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for a February tweet in which he threatened to release embarrassing personal information about ... Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen. The panel revealed in a statement that it has opened a formal inquiry into Gaetz's comment based on a March 13 complaint from a fellow lawmaker, who is not identified. According to the panel, Gaetz blew off an initial review of the complaint on May 16, an extraordinary rebuke to his colleagues. That refusal to cooperate led the committee to launch a more formal inquiry, led by a subcommittee of two Democrats and two Republicans. Gaetz, in a text, said he intends to blow off that panel too. 'If members of Congress want to spend their time psychoanalyzing my tweets, it's certainly their prerogative,' he wrote. 'I won't be joining them in the endeavor. Too busy.'... Gaetz's initial attack on Cohen came a day before the former Trump confidant was slated to testify to the House Oversight Committee...."

Adam Liptak & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may shut down a program that shields some 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation, the court said on Friday. The court will hear arguments in the case during its next term, which starts in October, and will probably issue its decision in the spring or summer of 2020, ensuring a fierce immigration debate over the outcome in the midst of the presidential campaign." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a case on an Alabama law that outlawed a common form of abortion, allowing lower court orders blocking the law to remain in place.Alabama had sought to overturn lower court rulings that struck down the ban on the abortion procedure, but the justices rejected that bid in their order." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dahlia Lithwick & Mark Stern of Slate: "As [Chief Justice John] Roberts' first term as the court's decisive vote in major political cases has drawn to a close, he has centered that gravity around upholding the legitimacy of the court as an institution -- while pushing our nation's laws as far to the right as possible without cracking the façade of that institutional integrity. In an age of crudeness and ugliness, the Last Reasonable Man still values moral seriousness over scoring points or throwing tantrums, much to the chagrin of the enemies on his own side.... If Republicans learn the lesson of the 2018 term, it's that the chief justice is on their side, until and unless they do it ugly. He has limits, which is more than one can say for most of the GOP." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the teeny upside of elitism. Roberts wants to be thought of & remembered as a proper gentleman, someone who is endeavoring to put his middle-class past behind him & demonstrate his inherent fitness for power & his worthiness for respect. He must well understand Joe Biden's admiration for the "civility" of those segregationist senators who called Biden "son" instead of "boy" even as they collaborated to curb the rights of black Americans. ...

... Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: "Chief Justice John Roberts would like the Trump administration to stop leaving a paper trail. Conservatives were outraged Thursday when Roberts joined the Court's Democratic appointees in at least temporarily blocking the addition of a citizenship question to the U.S. census because the Commerce Department had plainly lied about the purpose of that change.... Roberts did not argue that a citizenship question was unconstitutional, merely that the administration had violated administrative law by misleading the public about its decision.... The chief justice clearly wanted to side with the Trump administration, writing that 'we do not hold that the agency decision here was substantively invalid,' but that the law 'calls for an explanation for agency action' rather than the false explanation provided.... The Trump administration's dishonesty and even its bigotry are no barrier to its success at the Supreme Court, even when it demands that the Court endorse blatant discrimination and disenfranchisement. All that Roberts asks is that they lie about it more convincingly. His conservative colleagues don't even need that much."

Kartikay Mehrotra of Bloomberg: "... Donald Trump was ready to break ground Monday morning on his long-promised Mexico border wall. But a court ruling late Friday dealt the president another setback. A federal judge who last month blocked a pair of construction projects in Arizona and New Mexico added four more sites in Arizona and California. And the Oakland, California-based judge turned his temporary injunction into a permanent one. Trump promised to appeal the ruling immediately.... 'We'll appeal it right away,' he said at a news conference following the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday. 'It's very unfair. We're building a lot of wall. But we had a ruling just yesterday, late, from a judge in the 9th Circuit. There's no reason that that should have happened.'... [Judge Haywood] Gilliam agreed with the Sierra Club that Trump overstepped his authority by reprogramming federal funds without approval from Congress." thanks to Ken W. for the lead.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Gary Fineout of Politico: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday quietly signed into law a sweeping elections overhaul that restricts the voting rights of former felons, a measure civil rights groups have already prepared to challenge in court.... The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, along with the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, are expected to file a federal lawsuit in Gainesville that will challenge the new law as unconstitutional and fo targeting African Americans.... The measure crafted by [Republican state] legislators requires offenders to pay all restitution owed to victims, as well as fees or fines imposed by the court, to be eligible to vote.... Critics have likened the measure's requirement that fines and fees be paid to a modern-day poll tax, which was still in place in several Southern states into the 1960s."

North Carolina. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is currently exploring a bid for governor in 2020, delivered a sermon on Sunday denouncing America's diversity and multiculturalism and calling for Christian assimilation.... Forest issued a stern warning that diversity was destroying America.... Anti-multiculturalism rhetoric is popular among the growing white nationalist wing of the Republican Party. " --s

Way Beyond

Germany. Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "A group of German rightwing extremists [known as Nordkreuz compiled a 'death list' of leftwing and pro-refugee targets by accessing police records, then stockpiled weapons and ordered [200] body bags and quicklime to kill and dispose of their victims, German media have reported, citing intelligence sources.... The 30-odd members of the group reportedly had close links to the police and military, and at least one member was still employed in the special commando unit of the state office of criminal investigations." --s

Guatemala -- Where the Coyotes Wear Clerical Collars. Sarah Kinosian of the Guardian: "Guatemala is one of the biggest sources of migrants to the US, and across the highlands of this poor Central American country, churches and clergymen also play a role in the booming business of people-smuggling. As trusted individuals in a deeply religious society, pastors and priests can offer comfort and a promise of safety to those undertaking the dangerous trek north. They also take a cut of the profits.... 'The church is an invisible actor in migration,' said Francisco Simón, a researcher on migration and smuggling at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala.... Evangelical leaders were more frequently involved in migration than Catholic priests, Simón found." --s

The Commentariat -- June 28, 2019

Late Morning Update:

Adam Liptak & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may shut down a program that shields some 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation, the court said on Friday. The court will hear arguments in the case during its next term, which starts in October, and will probably issue its decision in the spring or summer of 2020, ensuring a fierce immigration debate over the outcome in the midst of the presidential campaign."

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a case on an Alabama law that outlawed a common form of abortion, allowing lower court orders blocking the law to remain in place.Alabama had sought to overturn lower court rulings that struck down the ban on the abortion procedure, but the justices rejected that bid in their order."

Maybe you were wondering how Trump officials would respond to the heartbreaking photo of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria lying dead on the banks of the Rio Grande. Turns out (okay, not surprisingly,) Ken Cuccinelli, Trump's new (acting) director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services doesn't have a heart to break: "... the reason we have tragedies like that on the border is because that father didn't wait to go through the asylum process in the legal fashion and decided to cross the river and not only died but his daughter died tragically as well." Mrs. McC: According to CBS News, "Martinez' family said he spent weeks trying to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Mexico, but couldn't get anyone to talk to him. His father said he was there about two or three months." So not only is Cuccinelli a heartless SOB, he's a lying, heartless SOB if the Martinez story is true.

~~~~~~~~~~

Very Funny. Trump & Putin Share a Joke about Russia's Election Interference. Jonathan Lamire & Zeke Miller of the AP: "With a smirk and a finger point..., Donald Trump dryly told Russia's Vladimir Putin 'Don't meddle with the election' in their first meeting since the special counsel concluded that Russia extensively interfered with the 2016 campaign.... Putin laughed.... The tone of the president's comment, which came after a reporter asked if he would warn Putin, was immediately open to interpretation. But it would seem to do little to silence questions about Trump's relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion that he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia." The "joke" came in response to a reporter's shouted question on whether or not Trump would warn Putin "not to meddle." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: "Open to interpretation"? You'd have to be an idiot not to see this as yet another of the dozens of known instances of Trump's (and his aides') "colluding" with Russia to skew U.S. presidential elections in 2016, and now in 2020. Trump has already said publicly he would welcome Russian help in 2020. This is a confirmation of his remarks to George Stephanopoulos. But, hey, it was a "joke." So not impeachable, right? See also David Corn's post, linked below, on Rex Tillerson's assignment in Moscow.

Presidential Race 2020

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. repeatedly found himself on the defensive in the Democratic debate on Thursday over his record as well as his personal views, with the most searing moment of the night, and the primary campaign to date, coming when Senator Kamala Harris confronted him over his comments on working with segregationists in the Senate.... She then ... recall[]ed that he had also opposed school busing in the 1970s. 'There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day,' Ms. Harris said. 'And that little girl was me.' Mr. Biden responded indignantly..., and then returned fire at Ms. Harris, who has faced attacks from the left for her record as a prosecutor in California.... 'I was a public defender, I didn't become a prosecutor.'"

... Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: When Biden responded to Harris, "he started to sound lawyerly. He had opposed only the intervention of the federal Department of Education in busing[, he said]. In fact, Biden opposed busing, then and now; it was a federal policy, and without federal intervention, Berkeley and countless other places across the country would not have integrated their schools. Harris noted that she was part of her pioneering class 'almost two decades after Brown v. Board of Education.' 'Because your city council opposed it,' Biden replied. That remark made Harris's point for her: a city council should not have veto power over civil rights. It was the first turning point of the Democratic Presidential election.... The implicit [argument] was about which of them could claim the legacy of Barack Obama."

There was a little girl in California who was bussed to school. That little girl was me. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/XKm2xP1MDH

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 28, 2019

Emma Green of the Atlantic: "Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, called out Republicans for what he described as moral hypocrisy during the second night of the first Democratic presidential debates.... The conversation had turned to the border.... 'For a party that associates itself with Christianity, to say that ... God would smile on the division of families at the hands of federal agents, that God would condone putting children in cages,' Buttigieg said, 'has lost all claim to ever use religious language again.'"

Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Eric Swalwell was the first to launch a direct attack at former Vice President Joe Biden during Thursday's Democratic primary debate, stating Biden should 'pass the torch' to younger candidates by quoting then-Sen. Biden's words to the now 76-year-old Democratic front-runner. 'I was 6 years old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic convention and said it's time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,' said Swalwell, a Democratic congressman from California. 'That candidate was then-Sen. Joe Biden. He was right when he said that 32 years ago. He is still right today,' Swalwell, who is 38, continued. Swalwell's line of attack was met with a collective gasp from the audience."

Bess Levin of Vanity Fair: "During the period between his inauguration and April 27, 2019, [Donald Trump] spewed a whopping 10,111 falsehoods in 828 days.... Which is all to say: It was downright refreshing that in the first two-hour Democratic debate on Wednesday, basically everyone told the truth!... Meanwhile, in the past day Trump has told at least half a dozen lies." --s

Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "Trump owes his victory in many ways to [Roger] Ailes and Fox. But they've also put Trump in a box. In 2016, Trump had the loyalty of the Fox News base, and he still has it.... But he's also become ... tightly wedged in the niche that Roger Ailes created, which doesn't seem to include more than, say, 43% of the American electorate.... [T]he Trump campaign is realizing, it probably isn't enough to elect Trump to a second term. His bid to reach a broader audience [with interviews on ABC & NBC], the network audience that Ailes had so much contempt for, failed. For the time being, Trump is trapped in Ailes's world.... The base-first strategy, with Fox as the linchpin, has put Trump's reelection campaign in mortal danger." --s

The Supremes Dispose

Putting "the Interests of the Established Few Above the Many." Michael Wines of the New York Times: "In two rulings that bore huge implications for American politics and governance, the Supreme Court handed Republicans a key victory by refusing to halt even the most extreme gerrymandered maps and potentially gave Democrats a win by at least delaying the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The two bitterly contested cases addressed an issue fundamental to the political system itself: How that system allocates power, and ultimately, how much of a voice the American people have in selecting their leaders. Gerrymandered maps that entrench one party in near-unbreakable power have become rampant as courts dithered over how and whether to rein them in. Now, with a green light from the justices, Republicans have an opportunity to lock in political dominance for the next decade in many of the 22 states where they control both the legislature and the governor's office. And the decision will almost certainly force Democrats, who control 14 statehouses, to reconsider their belated crusade against gerrymandered maps and begin drawing thei own -- an eat-or-be-eaten response to Republican success in gaming the redistricting process."

Ted Hesson of Politico: "The Supreme Court dealt an unexpected blow today to the Trump administration's move to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census, ruling that official explanations for the move were implausible and legally inadequate. In a surprising ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's liberals on that point. The high court returned the case to lower courts for further action, raising doubts about the administration getting the go-ahead to add the question before upcoming deadlines to finalize the census questionnaire." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. The New York Times story, by Adam Liptak is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Nicholas Wu, et al., of USA Today: "... Donald Trump said on Thursday afternoon that he would attempt to delay the 2020 census following a Supreme Court decision that would send his administration's request to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census back to a lower court, giving opponents another chance to block it. 'Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census,' Trump said in a tweet. 'I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter,' Trump tweeted. The Constitution requires the population count every 10 years to reapportion seats among the states in the House of Representatives, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a census consultant who covered the Census Bureau for the 2008 Obama Presidential Transition Team. She said the bureau must start the count on time."

... "John Roberts Just Called Out the Trump Administration for Lying." Richard Primus in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "All administrations sometimes hide, shade or slant the truth -- and occasionally lie outright. The present administration is different in that it lies regularly, blatantly, heedlessly. In the census case, the Supreme Court, for the first time, called the administration on this behavior -- ever so politely and by the slimmest of margins. But still. Now the question is whether it will have the stomach to do so in other cases -- or even in this case, if it comes back to the court in the near future.... [Thursday], a majority composed of Chief Justice Roberts and the four more liberal justices called shenanigans." ...

... Jay Michaelson of the Daily Beast: "'Reasoned decisionmaking under the Administrative Procedure Act calls for an explanation for agency action,' Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the opinion for the Court. 'What was provided here was more of a distraction.'... Finally, there is a limit to how much this administration can lie and get away with it.... In Roberts's words, 'we are presented ... with an explanation for agency action that is incongruent with what the record reveals about the agency&'s priorities and decisionmaking process.' 'Incongruent' is legalese for 'lied.' The Trump administration said one thing, but the evidence showed another.... There was good reason to doubt that Roberts, in particular, would decide the case this way. Just last year, he took the Trump administration at its word that the so-called 'Travel Ban,' which began, obviously, as a ban against Muslims entering the United States, was in fact a religion-neutral travel ban put in place for national-security reasons.... But, Roberts seemed to say, there is a limit to how much BS the Court will take." ...

... Roberts Tells Ross to Make up a Better Lie. Noah Feldman of Bloomberg looks at Chief Roberts' motivation: "On the one hand, the case is now back in [Judge Jesse] Furman's courtroom, where he will have to judge the legitimacy of some new explanation to be given by the Commerce Department.... On the other hand, Roberts gave the Commerce Department an extremely clear road map to explain what it should say.... Even if Furman finds this explanation insufficient, the Supreme Court could agree to hear an emergency appeal from Furman's ruling and rubber-stamp the citizenship question on the census.... Roberts's approach ... is to try to craft a middle ground that will make the Supreme Court seem less purely political than it would if he opted to join the conservatives. It is as if Roberts always wants to thwart a headline that says, 'Roberts Court Goes Fully Partisan Republican' on a major decision." Mrs. McC: Wow, Noah, that's so cynical.

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Thursday that political partisan gerrymandering cases present a question that courts cannot decide. The justices made the ruling in a pair of cases presented over district maps in Maryland and North Carolina, alleged to be instances of unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court's majority opinion that federal courts cannot consider such challenges. The opinion vacates previous rulings on the district maps in Maryland and North Carolina, and requests that the cases be dismissed 'for lack of jurisdiction.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. The New York Times story, by Adam Liptak is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Forget "one person, one vote." Huge victory for Republicans and against democracy. Kagan read her dissent from the bench. ...

... "A Terrible Day for Democracy." Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The Supreme Court handed down two opinions on Thursday which could shape American democracy for decades." Millhiser discusses Roberts' rationales for the gerrymandering & Census cases. " Rucho and New York both fit within a pattern common to the Roberts Court. When the court's Republicans wish to move fast and hard on a particular issue, they hand down sweeping opinions that fundamentally remake American law. When they hand victories to liberals, by contrast, their decisions tend to be very narrow and offer little relief to future litigants."

Nina Totenberg & Bill Chapell of NPR: "The Supreme Court has ruled that police may, without a warrant, order blood drawn from an unconscious person suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. The Fourth Amendment generally requires police to obtain a warrant for a blood draw. But in a 5-4 vote on Thursday, the court upheld a Wisconsin law that says people driving on a public road have impliedly consented to having their blood drawn if police suspect them of driving under the influence. It also said that 'exigent circumstances' permit police to obtain a blood sample without a warrant. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh joined Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority vote. The decision conflicts with previous court rulings in which the justices ruled that a blood draw is a significant bodily intrusion into a person's privacy and that there are less intrusive ways of enforcing drunken driving laws against unconscious motorists.... The constitutional rights case produced four opinions -- two concurring and two in dissent. In a break with his conservatives benchmates, one of those dissents came from Justice Neil Gorsuch."

The Defeat of Decency. Julie Davis & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday passed a Senate humanitarian aid package without any of the House's strict protections for migrant children in overcrowded border shelters after Speaker Nancy Pelosi capitulated to Republicans and Democratic moderates in a striking defeat. The vote came after a startling display of Democratic disarray and was an unusual setback for Ms. Pelosi, who has been adept at navigating the political complexities of a caucus split by powerful progressive and moderate factions that often work at cross purposes.... The final vote, 305 to 102, included far more Republicans in favor, 176, than Democrats, 129.... Her retreat came after Vice President Mike Pence gave Ms. Pelosi private assurances that the administration would voluntarily abide by some of the restrictions and rules that she had sought...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't believe for one minute that the Trump administration will abide by any promises. ...

... For once thing, the Trump Gang is meaner than dirt. FOR INSTANCE..., here's how the Trump Mob honors the folks Trump calls "our great military":

... Thank You for Your Service. Your Wife & Mother Have Been Deported. Franco Ordoñez of NPR: "The Trump administration wants to scale back a program that protects undocumented family members of active-duty troops from being deported, according to attorneys familiar with those plans. The attorneys are racing to submit applications for what is known as parole in place after hearing from the wives and loved ones of deployed soldiers who have been told that option is 'being terminated.' The protections will only be available under rare circumstances, the lawyers said they've been told. 'It's going to create chaos in the military,' said Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney who represents recruits and veterans in deportation proceedings. 'The troops can't concentrate on their military jobs when they're worried about their family members being deported.'"

Populist Prez* Still Working for the Common Man. Saleha Mohsin of Bloomberg: "The White House is developing a plan to cut taxes by indexing capital gains to inflation..., in a move that would largely benefit the wealthy and may be done in a way that bypasses Congress. Consensus is growing among White House officials to advance the proposal soon, the people said, to ensure the benefit takes effect before ... Donald Trump faces re-election in 2020. Revamping capital gains taxes through a rule or executive order likely would face legal challenges, a concern that reportedly prompted former President George H.W. Bush's administration to drop a similar plan. Most of the benefits would go to high-income households, with the top 1% receiving 86% of the benefit, according to estimates in 2018 by the Penn Wharton Budget Model. The policy could reduce tax revenue by $102 billion over a decade, the model found." Note to Trumpbots: You are so fucking stupid!

** Amateur Hour. Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claims the State Department was kept in the dark about key U.S. foreign-policy decisions during his time in the Trump administration because the president's son-in-law had effectively set up his own shadow operation. Jared Kushner was privately working on strategic partnerships with foreign countries and meeting discreetly with world leaders outside the formal structures of the U.S. government, according to Tillerson.... Because Kushner at times went around Tillerson and his staff, the State Department was not able to efficiently manage U.S. diplomacy.... At several points, Trump's ousted secretary of state vented his frustrations with being repeatedly undercut and left in the dark by Ivanka's husband. 'One of the challenges I think that everyone had... to learn to deal with was the role, the unique situation with the president's son-in-law [Kushner] and daughter [Ivanka] being part of the White House advisory team,' Tillerson said, according to the transcript The Daily Beast obtained.... The former chairman and CEO of Exxon said that on one ludicrous occasion he had bumped into his Mexican counterpart in Washington, D.C. purely by chance -- when the official had come to see Kushner without even informing the State Department that he was in the country." Tillerson was dining at a D.C. restaurant when the restaurateur told Tillerson the Mexican foreign secretary was seated nearby. ... Mrs. McC: The hubris of those punks Jared & Ivanka is breathtaking. ...

... Edward Wong & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: “Saudi and Emirati leaders bypassed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017 when they told Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon ... about secret plan to impose a blockade on Qatar, a critical American ally in the Middle East. Mr. Tillerson was taken by surprise when the blockade was announced, according to a transcript of an interview with Mr. Tillerson last month by a congressional committee. Mr. Tillerson, who left the State Department in 2018, said he had no knowledge that the Saudis had told Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bannon about the blockade until a committee member asked him about it in the interview. 'It makes me angry,' Mr. Tillerson said.... 'The State Department's views were never expressed.' The account highlights the extent to which Mr. Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law and Middle East adviser, and Mr. Bannon were running foreign policy during the administration's first year in the world's most sensitive regions without telling Mr. Trump's top foreign policy officials and their agencies. The interview especially sheds light on the power wielded behind the scenes by Mr. Kushner." Read on. ...

... David Corn of Mother Jones: "In 2016, Vladimir Putin mounted a sweeping attack on the US election in part to help elect Donald Trump president. Less than three months after Trump took office..., Trump sent his new secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to Moscow to meet Putin. At that meeting, Tillerson did not challenge or press Putin when the Russian president falsely denied that Moscow had perpetrated this assault on American democracy. Who says so? Tillerson himself.... Tillerson had received no instructions from Trump on how to address the issue of Putin's attack. And Trump showed no interest in any discussion of this important topic before or after the meeting." --s

Miranda Bryant of the Guardian: "A US government policy that restricts funding to organisations that conduct or support abortions has been linked to a 40% increase in [pregnancy] terminations in African countries that depend on American foreign aid, according to new research.... The study ... also found that implementation of the policy resulted in a reduction of the use of modern contraceptives and an increase in pregnancies. [A]lso known as the global gag rule..., Donald Trump reinstated the rule days after taking office in 2017 and expanded it significantly to prevent NGOs that do not sign from receiving any health assistance -- including HIV, nutrition and primary care.... Although the implied intention of the rule is to lower abortions in those countries, researchers suggested that because the abortion providers are often also suppliers of contraception it could have the opposite of effect, driving a rise in unwanted pregnancies and, in turn, abortions." --s

Nancy Scola of Politico: "Twitter said on Thursday it will begin labeling and demoting tweets from world leaders that violate its rules -- an action that appears aimed at ... Donald Trump's often incendiary attacks.... Under the new policy on so-called public interest tweets, Twitter will consider adding a notice about why rule-violating tweets are allowed to remain up. The company shared an example of such a label that reads, 'The Twitter Rules about abusive behavior apply to this Tweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain available.'... 'What they did to me on Twitter's incredible. I have millions and millions of followers, but I will tell you they make it very hard for people to join me on Twitter," [Trump] said [in a Fox 'News' interview]. "If I announced tomorrow that I'm going to become a nice liberal Democrat, I would pick up five times more followers.'"

Will Carless & Michael Corey of Reveal: "We wanted to know whether police officers nationwide were members of extremist groups.... We ultimately identified almost 400 users [through Facebook groups] we confirmed were indeed either currently employed as police officers, sheriffs or prison guards or had once worked in law enforcement. We then tried to join as many of the closed extremist groups as we could to see what members, and in particular officers, were saying inside. In a series of stories, we're laying out what we saw: officers engaging in conduct that calls into question their ability to serve their communities without prejudice. More than 50 police departments took action or launched internal investigations after we called them with our findings." --s

Caitlin Murray & Sam Morris of the Guardian: "The US women's national [soccer] team ... have each already earned $90,000 in bonuses [just to play for the quarter-finals].... Yet, if the US women were entitled to the same World Cup bonuses as the US men's national team, their rewards would already be six times larger. The women would've already earned around $550,000 each.... At most, US Soccer would pay the women $260,870 each, which is roughly a quarter of what the regular starters for the men would earn en route to winning a World Cup." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Equal pay for equal work? Ha ha ha. Adding to the disparity Murray & Morris highlight is the fact that in the U.S., women's soccer is actually more popular than men's.