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INAUGURATION 2029

Marie: I don't know why this video came up on my YouTube recommendations, but it did. I watched it on a large-ish teevee, and I found it fascinating. ~~~

 

Hubris. One would think that a married man smart enough to start up and operate his own tech company was also smart enough to know that you don't take your girlfriend to a public concert where the equipment includes a jumbotron -- unless you want to get caught on the big camera with your arms around said girlfriend. Ah, but for Andy Bryon, CEO of A company called Astronomer, and also maybe his wife, Wednesday was a night that will live in infamy. New York Times link. ~~~

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts. 

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Constant Comments

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Friday
Oct262018

The Commentariat -- October 27, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Another Horrible Hate Crime. CBS Pittsburgh: "Eight people have been killed and a number of others injured after a shooting situation at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday. KDKA's Meghan Schiller reports that a suspect, a white male, has surrendered. The SWAT team had been talking with the suspect, and he was crawling and injured. It is unclear the extent of his injuries.... Police sources tell KDKA's Andy Sheehan the gunman walked into the building and yelled, 'All Jews Must die.'... Others had been shot but the extent of their injuries in unknown at this time." ...

... Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "The police in Pittsburgh reported 'multiple casualties' after responding to a report of an active shooter at a synagogue Saturday morning, a police commander said. Chris Togneri, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh police department, said that three officers had been shot and that the suspect was in custody." ...

     ... New Lede & ff.: "At least 10 people were dead and several injured after a gunman opened fire during a service at a synagogue on Saturday morning, law enforcement officials said.Two law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Robert D. Bowers, 46.... Social media activity linked to Mr. Bowers suggested a history of virulent anti-Semitism, filled with slurs and references to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. Erika Strassburger, the city councilwoman for the district that includes the synagogue, the Tree of Life, said Mr. Bowers surrendered to the police after being barricaded in the building and was taken to the hospital."

Eli Stokels & Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times: "[Yesterday presented] yet another moment of mixed messages and missed opportunities for leadership from a president who, in times of national crisis, has repeatedly delivered the expected 'presidential' performance only briefly and from a script, before returning to his familiar political attacks. In this case, moreover, the attacks were the very sort that had critics charging that his provocative rhetoric -- including the harsh jibes at [George] Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others -- were what goaded the would-be bomber to target them.... Aides also refused to say whether Trump had been briefed on the arrest before or after his 10:19 a.m. tweet in which he suggested doubts about the attempted bombs.... Trump's inability to sustain a unifying message in the midst of national trauma -- in this case potential assassinations of two former presidents, former Cabinet officials and several members of Congress -- sets him apart from all predecessors, according to Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.... Trump did not call any of the Democrats who were the intended targets, as past presidents likely would have."

*****

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "As he left Washington for his latest campaign rally [in Charlotte, North Carolina], President Trump made it clear that he was no longer going to sit through another news cycle without President Trump at the center.... The president, who made a show on Wednesday of being 'nice' as bomb scares were affecting several of his political enemies, resurrected some of his favorite political insults two days later. Taunts including 'Crooked Hillary' and 'Cryin' Chuck Schumer' were brought out once again in a pull-out-all-the-stops partisan effort 11 days before the midterms. While Mr. Trump did spend a few minutes railing against the Democrats and their immigration policies -- 'A vote for Democrats is a vote for open borders,' he once again falsely claimed -- he reserved special ire for the news media.... 'We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,' Mr. Trump said. 'The media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.' Mr. Trump brought up [Maxine] Waters briefly on Friday, but then stopped, saying he wanted to 'be nice.'" ...

... Whiner-in-Chief. Brent Griffiths of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday evening accused the media of using a nationwide bomb-threat scare to 'score political points against me' and the GOP ahead of the midterm elections. 'We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,' Trump told supporters during a rally in Charlotte, N.C., alluding to the actions of a fervent Trump supporter who was arrested and charged Friday for allegedly sending 14 potentially explosive devices to prominent Democrats.... Trump cast himself as a unifier and chided journalists for covering his administration too critically, calling on the media to cover his administration more fairly and to help end the 'politics of personal destruction.' Echoing a talking point of his political allies, Trump said the media gave Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) a free pass after the accused shooter of the 2017 Republican congressional baseball practice was found to have volunteered for Sanders' presidential campaign and curated a Facebook page of left-wing memes that criticized the president and GOP lawmakers. Trump said he has not blamed Democrats when 'radical leftists seize and destroy public property and unleash violence and mayhem.' The president has recently begun using the slogan 'jobs, not mobs' and as recently as Oct. 20 said 'Democrats produce mobs, Republicans produce jobs.'" Mrs. McC: That last sentence is Griffith fact-checking Trump then & there; we like to see that. ...

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with the nationwide bombing campaign against outspoken critics of President Trump, a significant breakthrough in a case that has gripped the country in the days leading up to the midterm elections. A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, of Aventura, Fla., just north of Miami. The arrest came even as the crude pipe bombs continued to appear across the country. [Besides the pipe bombs sent to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)] & former DNI James Clapper, discovered earlier today,] "a third was intercepted before it reached Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat. Mr. Sayoc, a registered Republican, has a lengthy criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991 that includes felony theft, drug and fraud charges, as well as being arrested and accused of threatening to use a bomb, public records show.... Photos of [Sayoc's white] van showed that one of the stickers depicted Mr. Trump standing in front of flames and the American flag. Another was of Hillary Clinton's face in the crosshairs of a rifle scope. A third said: 'CNN Sucks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon, but the story has been updated multiple times.) ...

... Here's the criminal complaint against Sayoc, via Lawfare. ...

... Jay Weaver, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Federal agents arrested a South Florida man outside an auto parts store on Thursday as a prime suspect in a string of pipe-bomb mailings to prominent Democrats and other critics of ... Donald Trump. A trail of DNA evidence on the packages or the devices helped investigators narrow a nationwide manhunt to Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old man from Aventura, law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald. Sayoc was being questioned by FBI agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force following his arrest. Agents also seized and towed away his white van, which had most of its windows covered in pro-Donald Trump and right wing stickers. Photos of the van, posted by a Twitter user who said he saw the car at a stoplight in April, show rifle scope images over the faces of H[l]ilary Clinton, left wing filmmaker Michael Moore and President Barack Obama.... The arrest was made at an AutoZone in Plantation instead of his home to avoid any potential dangerous confrontation, sources told the Miami Herald. News partner CBS4 reports a 'loud explosion' was heard at the time of the arrest, possibly from an FBI flash bomb device. Sayoc was a frequent poster on social media sites and his Twitter and Facebook accounts were filled with pro-Trump memes and attacks on Democrats -- including a string linking Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, with billionaire George Soros, a major party donor and recipient of one of the menacing mailings." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kelly Weill & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Cesar A. Sayoc, the Florida man reported to be the mail bombing suspect, frequently posted conspiratorial pro-Trump messages on Twitter or made threats to Democratic leaders, including some who would later receive potentially explosive devices in the mail this week.... The account and his Facebook profile, which feature pictures of Sayoc, 56, at Trump rallies, also contain some of the same images plastered to Sayoc's van, including flags for Florida's Seminole tribe and collages of pro-Trump and anti-CNN meme stickers. The Facebook account is almost exclusively pro-Trump content, including pictures and videos Sayoc purportedly filmed at one of the president's political rallies.... The account also posted video of what appears to be Sayoc himself chanting Trump's name at what looks like an indoor Trump rally.... And the Twitter feed is littered with far-right conspiracy theories or violent threats aimed at some of President Trump's most outspoken critics. He appears to have repeatedly tweeted about George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist who has long been the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. At one point, Sayoc purportedly wrote 'you will vanish' in a tweet aimed at the billionaire." There's more. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Via the Miami Herald.

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post deconstructs the images Sayoc attached to the windows of his van. ...

... "A Trump Superfan." New York Times: "The man arrested by the authorities on Friday in connection with a series of bombs sent in the mail appears to be an outspoken supporter of President Trump, according to his posts on social media. The man attended a rally by Mr. Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Oct. 13, 2016; the president's inauguration on January 20, 2017; and then another rally at Orlando Melbourne International Airport on Feb. 18, 2017.... [Cesar] Sayoc, wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' cap, attended Mr. Trump's inauguration...." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Although Sayoc identifies with the Seminole Tribe, a spokesperson for the Tribe says "it can find no evidence ... [he] is or was a member or employee of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, or is or was an employee of Seminole Gaming or Hard Rock International." This is not for nothing. Tribal membership is carefully audited. ...

... David Dayen in the Intercept: "Cesar Sayoc, the Donald Trump-loving Floridian who was taken into custody in relation to pipe bombs mailed to prominent Democrats, was foreclosed on in 2009 by a bank whose principal owner and chair is now Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The documents used to enact the foreclosure were signed by a prominent robo-signer and seemingly backdated. Nonetheless, the evidence was good enough for the famously inattentive Florida foreclosure courts to wave the case through. Years later, Sayoc became a supporter of Trump, who came into office and appointed a treasury secretary who ran the bank that snatched Sayoc's house.... In yet another irony, [George] Soros was one of the investors in the bank that executed the foreclosure on Sayoc's home.... Kamala Harris, another mail bomb recipient, had an opportunity to prosecute OneWest Bank over similar foreclosure-related abuses in California when she was state attorney general, but declined to do so. Eric Holder, yet another recipient, did next to nothing to sanction bankers over foreclosure crimes." ...

... San Francisco Examiner: "Federal and local authorities were investigating reports of suspicious packages in Burlingame and Sacramento this morning. Both packages were allegedly addressed to Democrats who have been outspoken about their opposition to ... Donald Trump. The FBI put out a statement on Twitter at 11:23 a.m. PST on Friday stating that 'explosives technicians are on scene' at a U.S. Postal Service location in on Rollins Road in Burlingame. The package was rendered safe around 1 p.m.... A spokesman for California billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer confirmed that the package was addressed to Steyer and intercepted at a mail facility in Burlingame. Steyer has been a vocal critic of President Trump and has spearheaded a campaign to impeach him."

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "The Black Leadership Summit [to whom Trump was speaking in the clip above] is organized by Turning Point USA (TPUSA), with Candace Owens, the communications director of the group, being the most prominent leader of the initiative. Trump praised Owens as 'incredible.' On Wednesday, Owens tweeted: 'Caravans, fake bomb threats -- these leftists are going ALL OUT for midterms.' This tweet was later deleted. Owens is one of numerous prominent Trump supporters to float a false-flag conspiracy theory about the mail bombs, implying the they were organized by leftists to make conservatives look bad." ...

... Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Standing in the White House's ornate East Wing, the president expressed annoyance that numerous bombs sent to Democrats and a news organization that Trump had long demonized had taken the spotlight from his Medicare drug prices announcement [link fixed] the day before. He told the audience of young black leaders he was addressing that the Democratic Party has betrayed them. He laughed along as some in the crowd chanted 'Fake News!' And he echoed a chant of 'Lock him up!' about liberal philanthropist George Soros, one of this week's bomb targets.... Trump ... has shown little interest in trying ... to unify the country.... Throughout the week ... Trump assailed the 'Fake News' media, shirked any personal responsibility for his incendiary rhetoric and, on Friday morning, used his bully pulpit to advance a baseless conspiracy theory that the bombs were both fake and orchestrated by the left. Roughly an hour later, authorities arrested 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc ... whose white van was covered in pro-Trump and anti-Democratic images. Later Friday afternoon, as he departed Washington for a rally in Charlotte, Trump told reporters he has no plans to tone down his rhetoric -- 'I could really tone it up,' he said -- and noted that the suspect 'was a person that preferred me over others.' He also rejected the notion of responsibility: 'There's no blame. There’s no anything.'" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would be hard to read a teleprompter with less apparent enthusiasm while still appearing to be awake:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: In his limp remarks, Trump never mentioned the names of any of the targets, nor did he mention the letters F, B & I. Of course others wrote his remarks, but the speechwriters followed his directions. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lamented [in a tweet] Friday that the news media was more focused on covering 'this "Bomb" stuff' rather than politics, a development he asserted was slowing Republican momentum in advance of the Nov. 6 midterms. 'Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this "Bomb" stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows -- news not talking politics,' Trump said in a midmorning tweet. 'Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: "This 'Bomb' stuff" targeted two former U.S. presidents, a former vice-president and numerous other high government officials and high-profile private citizens. "This 'Bomb' stuff" threatened the lives of these individuals as well as the lives of an untold number of ordinary USPS workers and office and home workers throughout the country. Trump's concern? Maybe the media's attention to "this 'Bomb' stuff" will help Democrats take over one House of Congress & start investigating me, Donald Trump. "Very unfortunate." ...

     ... Update. Matt Miller noted on MSNBC that the FBI identified Sayoc on Thursday and certainly would have told Trump yesterday what they knew about him & the devices he sent. So Trump's tweet about "this 'bomb' stuff" was almost certainly made after he knew the alleged perp was one of his supporters. In addition, FBI director Chris Wray said in a news conference this afternoon that the bombs were not fakes, or as Trump put it "bomb" (in quotation marks). That makes Trump's tweet dismissing the bombs as "bombs" doubly egregious. ...

... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday that bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. has been charged with five federal crimes for sending explosive devices to more than a dozen Democratic political figures, celebrities and news organizations.... The charges include interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and other persons, threatening interstate commerce and assaulting federal officers.... FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators used DNA and fingerprint evidence pulled from the packages to locate Sayoc. Wray emphasized 'these are not hoax devices' and described some as 'improvised explosive devices.' The comments came hours after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on whether the devices were real. In a tweet Friday morning, Trump put scare quotes around the word 'bomb,' an apparent nod to false-flag conspiracy theories voiced by some of his supporters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Maxwell Strachan of the Huffington Post: "... [George] Soros has become the right wing's main boogeymen over the last decade. His most vicious critics tend to be members of the Nazi frog set, employing longtime anti-Semitic tropes to depict Soros as a Jewish puppet master. But other critics make their money at Fox News, where Soros is treated as the Moriarty of liberal America, the spider at the center of a vast web. In the eyes of his most unwavering detractors, Soros is a Nazi-sympathizing, left-wing 'globalist' hellbent on using his billions to destroy the conservative movement.... Since April, people on Fox News have depicted Soros as a 'dirty word' and a 'radical' who 'hates the United States.' Here are other comments about Soros that have been broadcast on Fox News since April, based on TVEyes' rough transcripts.: (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... This Trumpbot, whom NBC News' Ali Vitali met outside Trump's rally in North Carolina, will not let the FBI & all hoodwink him:


... Rick Wilson of the Daily Beast: "Twitter Javerts like Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Ann Coulter, Frank Gaffney, John Cardillo, Laura Loomer, Jacob Wohl, and alt-right thought leader and Pizzagate promoter Jack Prosobiec all jumped to sell the idea that Trump's gushing sewer of inflammatory rhetoric could never inspire a serial bomber. Their mirror-world version of Occam's Razor was that this must be a fiendishly clever leftist plot to disrupt the November elections. Just hours before the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, the president reinforced their fevered belief that this was obviously a left-wing electoral plot.... Trump's unique social media presence is a weapon of radicalization. No one else in the American political landscape stokes the resentments, fears, and prejudices of his base with equal power.... What's shocking about what we've seen from Sayoc's social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem. The slurry of conspiracy theories (particularly all things Soros), birtherism, xenophobia, boomer memes, and MAGA spank-bank material in his Twitter and Facebook feeds is the raw distillate from Infowars, Breitbart, and Fox.... This is the future of the GOP under Trump; it's not a party; it's a backwater sub-Reddit careening from crisis to crisis, chasing an increasingly elaborate set of conspiracies to paper over the raging inconsistencies of the Dear Leader's message and conduct." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "... the relationship between the two parties and violence is not symmetrical, and the fact that alleged bomber Cesar Sayoc had a strong identification with Trump and his partisan message is not a coincidence. The Republican Party encompasses an extremist fringe that nurtures violence in a way the Democratic Party does not. Political violence -- when it is attached to political ideology at all, as opposed to simple mental illness -- is associated with Manichean, paranoid, illiberal thought.... The difference is that the left-wing version resides outside the boundaries of two-party politics, because the Democratic Party is fundamentally liberal not radical.... The Republican Party, on the other hand, has followed a course that has made its rhetoric amenable to extremism. Republican radicalism enabled the rise of a conspiratorial authoritarian president, and that president has expanded the bounds of the party's following farther out to the fringe. It is getting harder and harder to distinguish the 'normal' elements of conservatism from the 'kook' parts. That some of those kooks would resort to violence is not an accident but a statistical likelihood. Trump's party is a petri dish for diseased minds."


Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: Newt "Gingrich, speaking Thursday at an event held by The Washington Post, said that if Democrats subpoena Trump's tax returns during the next Congress, Trump will be 'trapped into appealing to the Supreme Court.' 'And we'll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it,' he said. The remark, which drew audible gasps from the audience, suggested Republicans like Gingrich are counting on Kavanaugh to protect the secrecy of Trump's tax returns if Democrats take control of the House in November and begin aggressively investigating his finances. Trump has repeatedly refused to release his tax returns. Releasing them is a practice followed by previous presidents and the major parties' White House nominees."Mrs. McC: Josh Marshall commented on Gingrich's remark in a post safari linked yesterday.

Michelle Boorstein & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "... thousands filled the soaring nave of the Washington National Cathedral for the interment service of Matthew Shepard, the young man whose murder 20 years ago horrified the nation and became a milestone in the fight for gay rights.... Presiding over the worship service at the second-largest cathedral in the country, in front of a crowd of about 2,025 people, was Bishop Gene Robinson, whose elevation in the early 2000s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church marked another huge -- and controversial -- milestone in the push for LGBT equality.... Rippling through the Cathedral at times was the crackling energy of a political rally, with Robinson urging the crowd not to simply commemorate Shepard but to train their eyes on continued discrimination against sexual minorities, especially transgender people, who he called a 'target' right now." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Election 2018

One target of Trump and the mail bomber doesn't seem to be quaking in his boots:


... John Verhovek of ABC News: "An at times incredulous former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail again Friday ahead of the November midterms, attacking what he calls outright lies by Republicans on the issue of health care and telling the crowd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 'In Washington, they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team.'... Stumping for Sen. Tammy Baldwin, gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers, and a slew of Democratic congressional candidates in the Badger State, Obama again cast the election as a critical and fateful moment for the nation."

Kansas. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "On Election Days past, voters cast their ballots at the only polling place in this town of 27,000: the sprawling civic center on the north side of Dodge City. But with a construction project expected to start there soon, the county clerk moved the polls this year almost four miles away, past the railroad tracks and beyond the city limits. That switch, which in some places might be little more than a footnote in a local newspaper, stoked anger and was perceived by some Democrats as a blatant attempt to suppress the vote of Dodge City's Hispanic majority. On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to intervene and reopen the civic center for voting. The swift backlash and widespread attention to Dodge City's change came in no small part because of restrictive voting laws championed by Kansas' secretary of state, Kris Kobach, a frequent A.C.L.U. foe who also happens to be the Republican nominee in this year's extremely close race for governor.... [The county clerk, Debbie Cox (R),] said she had mailed letters to residents about the new polling place this fall, but she acknowledged that newly registered voters also received cards not long ago bearing the earlier address, not the new one." ...

Texas. They're Ultra-conservative, but They Really Don't Like Ted. Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editors: "U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz represent the hard left and right of American politics. Neither stands in the middle ground, where the real work is done to lead America. But only O'Rourke seems interested in making deals or finding middle ground. That is why the El Paso Democrat would make the best senator for Tarrant County's future, and the future of Texas.... This Editorial Board has recommended conservative Republicans such as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney for president, along with U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. But Cruz does not measure up. This office needs a reset. The Star-Telegram Editorial Board endorses Beto O'Rourke for U.S. senator."


Brian Stelter of CNN: "While negotiations continue between Megyn Kelly and NBC, the network announced on Friday that her 9 a.m. talk show has been canceled. 'Megyn Kelly Today is not returning,' the network said in a statement. 'Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other "Today" co-anchors.' Her exit from NBC News is not official yet. But it will be soon. It's a foregone conclusion among all the players involved, multiple sources said Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Too bad she mixed it up with Trump. Otherwise, she's a natural to replace Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense.

Garret Keizer, in the New Republic, writes that nihilism explains Trumpism.

Beyond the Beltway

Karen Zraick & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Ky., on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, the police said on Thursday. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was ordered held with bail set at $5 million. The police said they were investigating the motive for the attack, which killed Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E. Stallard, 69. Both were black, while Mr. Bush is white, and the son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though the police said they could not confirm that account. Mr. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

BBC News: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said the suspects in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi would be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia. At a conference in Bahrain, Adel al-Jubeir accused the western media of 'hysteria' in its coverage of the case. His comments come a day after Turkey said it wished to extradite 18 Saudi nationals authorities say were involved in the murder.... 'On the issue of extradition, the individuals are Saudi nationals. They're detained in Saudi Arabia, and the investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia,' Mr al-Jubeir told a security conference in Bahrain. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are not known to have an extradition treaty."

Comments Off
Thursday
Oct252018

The Commentariat -- October 26, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Obviously, I can't take time off to go to the dentist. Good for the FBI & other law enforcement personnel. Phenomenal work. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with the nationwide bombing campaign against outspoken critics of President Trump, a significant breakthrough in a case that has gripped the country in the days leading up to the midterm elections. A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, of Aventura, Fla., just north of Miami. The arrest came even as the crude pipe bombs continued to appear across the country. [Besides the pipe bombs sent to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)] & former DNI James Clapper, discovered earlier today,] "a third was intercepted before it reached Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat. Mr. Sayoc, a registered Republican, has a lengthy criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991 that includes felony theft, drug and fraud charges, as well as being arrested and accused of threatening to use a bomb, public records show.... Photos of [Sayoc's white] van showed that one of the stickers depicted Mr. Trump standing in front of flames and the American flag. Another was of Hillary Clinton's face in the crosshairs of a rifle scope. A third said: 'CNN Sucks.'" ...

Via the Miami Herald.... Jay Weaver, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Federal agents arrested a South Florida man outside an auto parts store on Thursday as a prime suspect in a string of pipe-bomb mailings to prominent Democrats and other critics of ... Donald Trump. A trail of DNA evidence on the packages or the devices helped investigators narrow a nationwide manhunt to Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old man from Aventura, law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald. Sayoc was being questioned by FBI agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force following his arrest. Agents also seized and towed away his white van, which had most of its windows covered in pro-Donald Trump and right wing stickers. Photos of the van, posted by a Twitter user who said he saw the car at a stoplight in April, show rifle scope images over the faces of H[l]ilary Clinton, left wing filmmaker Michael Moore and President Barack Obama.... The arrest was made at an AutoZone in Plantation instead of his home to avoid any potential dangerous confrontation, sources told the Miami Herald. News partner CBS4 reports a 'loud explosion' was heard at the time of the arrest, possibly from an FBI flash bomb device. Sayoc was a frequent poster on social media sites and his Twitter and Facebook accounts were filled with pro-Trump memes and attacks on Democrats -- including a string linking Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, with billionaire George Soros, a major party donor and recipient of one of the menacing mailings." ...

... Kelly Weill & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Cesar A. Sayoc, the Florida man reported to be the mail bombing suspect, frequently posted conspiratorial pro-Trump messages on Twitter or made threats to Democratic leaders, including some who would later receive potentially explosive devices in the mail this week.... The account and his Facebook profile, which feature pictures of Sayoc, 56, at Trump rallies, also contain some of the same images plastered to Sayoc's van, including flags for Florida's Seminole tribe and collages of pro-Trump and anti-CNN meme stickers. The Facebook account is almost exclusively pro-Trump content, including pictures and videos Sayoc purportedly filmed at one of th president's political rallies.... The account also posted video of what appears to be Sayoc himself chanting Trump's name at what looks like an indoor Trump rally.... And the Twitter feed is littered with far-right conspiracy theories or violent threats aimed at some of President Trump's most outspoken critics. He appears to have repeatedly tweeted about George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist who has long been the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. At one point, Sayoc purportedly wrote 'you will vanish' in a tweet aimed at the billionaire." There's more. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would be hard to read a teleprompter with less apparent enthusiasm while still appearing to be awake:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: In his limp remarks, Trump never mentioned the names of any of the targets, nor did he mention the letters F, B & I. Of course others wrote his remarks, but the speechwriters followed his directions. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lamented [in a tweet] Friday that the news media was more focused on covering 'this "Bomb" stuff' rather than politics, a development he asserted was slowing Republican momentum in advance of the Nov. 6 midterms. 'Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this "Bomb" stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows -- news not talking politics,' Trump said in a midmorning tweet. 'Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: "This 'Bomb' stuff" targeted two former U.S. presidents, a former vice-president and numerous other high government officials and high-profile private citizens. "This 'Bomb' stuff" threatened the lives of these individuals as well as the lives of an untold number of ordinary USPS workers and office and home workers throughout the country. Trump's concern? Maybe the media's attention to "this 'Bomb' stuff" will help Democrats take over one House of Congress & start investigating me, Donald Trump. "Very unfortunate." ...

     ... Update. Matt Miller noted on MSNBC that the FBI identified Sayoc on Thursday and certainly would have told Trump yesterday what they knew about him & the devices he sent. So Trump's tweet about "this 'bomb' stuff" was almost certainly made after he knew the alleged perp was one of his supporters. In addition, FBI director Chris Wray said in a news conference this afternoon that the bombs were not fakes, or as Trump put it "bomb" (in quotation marks). That makes Trump's tweet dismissing the bombs as "bombs" doubly egregious. ...

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday that bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. has been charged with five federal crimes for sending explosive devices to more than a dozen Democratic political figures, celebrities and news organizations.... The charges include interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and other persons, threatening interstate commerce and assaulting federal officers.... FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators used DNA and fingerprint evidence pulled from the packages to locate Sayoc. Wray emphasized 'these are not hoax devices' and described some as 'improvised explosive devices.' The comments came hours after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on whether the devices were real. In a tweet Friday morning, Trump put scare quotes around the word 'bomb,' an apparent nod to false-flag conspiracy theories voiced by some of his supporters." ...

... Maxwell Strachan of the Huffington Post: "... [George] Soros has become the right wing's main boogeymen over the last decade. His most vicious critics tend to be members of the Nazi frog set, employing longtime anti-Semitic tropes to depict Soros as a Jewish puppet master. But other critics make their money at Fox News, where Soros is treated as the Moriarty of liberal America, the spider at the center of a vast web. In the eyes of his most unwavering detractors, Soros is a Nazi-sympathizing, left-wing 'globalist' hellbent on using his billions to destroy the conservative movement.... Since April, people on Fox News have depicted Soros as a 'dirty word' and a 'radical' who 'hates the United States.' Here are other comments about Soros that have been broadcast on Fox News since April, based on TVEyes' rough transcripts."

Michelle Boorstein & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "... thousands filled the soaring nave of the Washington National Cathedral for the interment service of Matthew Shepard, the young man whose murder 20 years ago horrified the nation and became a milestone in the fight for gay rights.... Presiding over the worship service at the second-largest cathedral in the country, in front of a crowd of about 2,025 people, was Bishop Gene Robinson, whose elevation in the early 2000s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church marked another huge -- and controversial -- milestone in the push for LGBT equality.... Rippling through the Cathedral at times was the crackling energy of a political rally, with Robinson urging the crowd not to simply commemorate Shepard but to train their eyes on continued discrimination against sexual minorities, especially transgender people, who he called a 'target' right now."

Karen Zraick & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Ky., on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, the police said on Thursday. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was ordered held with bail set at $5 million. The police said they were investigating the motive for the attack, which killed Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E. Stallard, 69. Both were black, while Mr. Bush is white, and the son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though the police said they could not confirm that account. Mr. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "While negotiations continue between Megyn Kelly and NBC, the network announced on Friday that her 9 a.m. talk show has been canceled. 'Megyn Kelly Today is not returning,' the network said in a statement. 'Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other "Today" co-anchors.' Her exit from NBC News is not official yet. But it will be soon. It's a foregone conclusion among all the players involved, multiple sources said Thursday." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Too bad she mixed it up with Trump. Otherwise, she's a natural to replace Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense.

*****

9:45 am ET Update. William Rashbaum & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: "Federal authorities discovered two more explosive devices, one addressed to Senator Cory Booker and the other to James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, law enforcement officials said on Friday. The package sent to Mr. Clapper was addressed to CNN's offices in New York, similar to a pipe bomb found Wednesday that was addressed to John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director via CNN.... The package addressed to Mr. Clapper at CNN was discovered on Friday morning at a United States Postal Service facility in Midtown Manhattan, a few blocks south of the news network's building. The package for Mr. Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, was found in Florida, the F.B.I. said." Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead.

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed President Trump on Thursday about her trip this week to Turkey, where she listened to audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia appeared to acknowledge that its agents had murdered the dissident Saudi journalist in a 'premeditated' operation." Mrs. McC: But don't worry, people. Trump won't remember any of the "details" of the briefing, so he won't be able to pass them on to the Chinese & Russians on that "rarely used," "government authorized" iPhone of his. ...

... Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "... according to the New York Times, Chinese and Russian spies are listening [to Donald Trump's phone conversations], especially to his unsecured cellphone. But President Trump would like you to know that he 'rarely' uses his cellphones. He says so in this morning's toilet tweets, sent from his iPhone[.]... I think this is going to be it for President Trump. This is the kind of scandal that can bring down a presidency. He has no choice but to resign in disgrace now." Thanks to Akhilleus for the hilarious link. ...

... Matthew Rosenberg & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump dismissed a report about Chinese and Russian spies listening in on his cellphone calls as 'soooo wrong,' yet he acknowledged the crucial vulnerability being exploited by foreign agents -- that he uses a cellphone to make calls.... Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a tweet that the president's cellphone habits were a big problem 'if true.' [Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), said,] 'We need an investigation to definitively determine whether Trump has compromised classified information.'... Mr. Trump, of course, spent much of the 2016 presidential campaign attacking Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured email server while she was secretary of state. He accused her of putting American secrets at risk, and basked in the chants of 'lock her up' at his rallies."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "At the end of a week in which 10 suspected pipe bombs were sent to prominent liberal leaders over a 72-hour period, President Trump took to Twitter past 3 a.m. Friday to criticize CNN, another recipient of a suspicious package.... 'Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing,' the president tweeted at 3:14 a.m., 'yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, "it's just not Presidential!'... The 3:14 a.m. tweet, which was posted after an incomplete version of the tweet was published and deleted about 30 minutes prior, comes in the same week that the president both condemned the pipe bombs and again targeted the media for the coverage of his administration." ...

... William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities investigating a spate of pipe bombs sent this week to several prominent critics of President Trump have turned their attention toward southern Florida, believing that a number of the explosive devices were mailed from the area, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.... All of the 10 packages that have been discovered since Monday bore return addresses from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic congresswoman from Florida.... Though investigators initially believed that some of the packages were delivered by hand or by courier, they have now concluded that all 10 were likely sent through the mail, a person briefed on the matter said." ...

... Laura Jarrett of CNN: "The FBI said in a tweet Thursday morning that it could confirm three more packages that were 'similar in appearance to the others.' 'One in New York addressed to Robert DeNiro, and two in Delaware addressed to former Vice President Joseph Biden,' said the tweet from the FBI's official account. This brings the total to 10 suspicious packages that have been discovered since earlier this week." This is a running report on developments. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Andrew Restuccia & Gabby Orr of Politico: "A day after several leading Democrats were found to have been targeted by package bombs, Republicans have identified one of their own as a victim: ... Donald Trump. As of Thursday afternoon, less than 36 hours after the first packages were discovered, White House officials and outside advisers bitterly protested the notion that Trump's vitriolic rhetoric might have inspired whoever sent the packages. The alleged main offender was a familiar one -- the news media, which conservatives insisted had rushed to unfair conclusions in an effort to undermine the president less than two weeks before the midterm elections.... 'I think it is absolutely disgraceful that one of the first public statements we heard from CNN yesterday was to put the blame and responsibility of this despicable act on the president and on me personally," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Thursday. She subsequently told reporters that Trump is no more responsible for the attempted bombings than Sen. Bernie Sanders was responsible 'for a supporter shooting up a baseball practice field last year,' referring to the June 2017 Alexandria, Va., shooting in which four people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) were shot. The coordinated pushback echoes one of Trump's most frequent reactions to harsh criticism: give no ground and shift the blame to others." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'd like to point out how stupid the Steve Scalise argument (which I've heard elsewhere) is. Bernie Sanders no more incited supporters to violence than Jodie Foster urged John Hinckley, Jr. to shoot President Reagan & Jim Brady, even tho Hinckley said he tried to assassinate Reagan to impress Foster. Trump, on the other hand, regularly celebrates violence, demonizes adversaries & occasionally even encourages his followers to perform violent acts. Sarah Sanders & her ilk are comparing an apple to a big sour Orange. ...

... AND as Michelle Goldberg: writes, "rudeness toward powerful people" is not "akin to [physical] assault": At a rally in Wisconsin Wednesday Donald Trump "blamed the press for America's climate of simmering rage. 'The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,' he said. It was an audacious act of misdirection, especially since the attack included a bomb sent to the New York offices of CNN, one of Trump's favorite punching bags. But while Trump's words were meant to further derange American political debate, they were, in one sense, clarifying. They demonstrated the rank disingenuousness of conservative complaints about 'incivility,' a term that's increasingly used to conflate expressions of political anger with political violence, equating yelling at politicians with trying to kill them.... The violent part of the right is integrated into the Republican Party in a way that has no analogue on the left. [Goldberg provides several examples.]... Of course, no one has done more to stoke political violence than Trump."

... Jonathan Chait: "... the important issue here is not Trump's inability to convincingly advocate civility for an entire news cycle.... The issue is Trump's conviction that he should not be subjected to any scrutiny or criticism.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career. [As a businessman,] he was fanatical about intimidating reporters with legal threats.... In his incarnation as a political candidate, Trump has mostly lost his ability to intimidate the media with legal threats. (Politicians have a prohibitively high standard for libel in the United States.) But his expectation and worldview are the same.... It is a supreme irony that Trump used his speech last night to delegitimize criticism. 'No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains.' But ... Trump, in his psychological makeup and aspirations, is precisely such a historical villain." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... the President has chosen not to rise above the tumult or even console or counsel those who opposed him. He did not mention the victims by name. Or give any indication that he is concerned that some people might see his flaming rhetoric as a spur to violence. Trump's response to Wednesday's events was a reminder of the gap between presidential expectations and performance that has often been evident in his response to grave national moments, crises and natural disasters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "At a raucous rally in Montana last week, a Trump supporter -- juiced up by the president's crude praise of a congressman who body-slammed a reporter -- looked directly at CNN reporter Jim Acosta. Then he ran his thumb across his throat. And laughed. Later, Acosta described 'the Trump effect.' 'It has normalized and sanitized nastiness and cruelty in a way that I just never thought I would see,' he said, shortly after that Montana rally. The Trump effect is a straight line from years of his hateful rhetoric to real-world danger. It's a line that goes directly from disrespect to pipe bomb. And -- almost inevitably -- it will eventually go from failed attempt to spilled blood. If you can't see it, you aren't looking." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Instagram deleted a post from right-wing figure Milo Yiannopoulos praising the recent mail bombs sent to prominent Democratic officials, after initially refusing to take the post down when it was reported as hate speech. On Thursday afternoon, Yiannopoulos posted a picture of himself with a caption expressing his regret that the bombs hadn't detonated. Yiannopoulos also told his 386,000 followers that he was upset that no mail bomb was sent to this publication, The Daily Beast.... Instagram [initially] said [the post] 'does not violate our Community Guidelines.'... Yiannopoulos' post was removed roughly two hours later. 'This content violates our policies and has been removed from Instagram and Facebook,' Instagram spokeswoman Stephanie Noon said in an email. 'We prohibit celebration or praise of crimes committed, and we will remove content praising a bombing attempt as soon as we're aware.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Instagram, which is a Facebook company, seems pretty confused about what its own "community guidelines" mean.

... Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs, who is prone to peddling conspiracy theories and is a prominent supporter of President Trump, asserted without evidence on Thursday that it was 'fake news' that suspicious packages were mailed this week to high-profile Democrats and the New York City offices of CNN. 'Fake bombs,' Dobbs wrote in a tweet posted to his verified account Thursday morning. 'Who could possibly benefit by so much fakery?' Dobbs deleted his tweet after immediate and widespread condemnation. Authorities have said that the bombs found in the packages were rudimentary, but functional. After Dobbs deleted the tweet, he posted a second tweet which carried the same suggestion. In the second tweet, Dobbs wrote that 'Fake News had just successfully changed the narrative from the onslaught of illegal immigrants and broken border security to "suspicious packages."' Dobbs later deleted that tweet as well." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "President Trump proposed on Thursday that Medicare pay for certain prescription drugs based on the prices paid in other advanced industrial countries -- a huge change that could save money for the government and for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. As part of a demonstration project covering half the country, Medicare would establish an 'international pricing index' and use it as a benchmark in deciding how much to pay for drugs covered by Part B of Medicare.... The drug proposal would take effect in late 2019 or early 2020 at the earliest.... [The program] would be phased in from 2020 to 2025.... Mr. Trump's announcement was part of a flurry of initiatives emerging from the White House ahead of next month's midterm elections...." ...

Nobody's had the courage to do it, or even wanted to do it. -- Donald Trump, on his proposal to lower some drug prices in the future ...

... [Trump is] ignoring that his predecessor, Obama, proposed some similar reforms. -- Dan Diamond, in a straight news report linked below

It's hard to take the Trump administration and Republicans seriously about reducing health care costs for seniors two weeks before the election when they have repeatedly advocated for and implemented policies that strip away protections for people with pre-existing conditions and lead to increased health care costs for millions of Americans. -- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-Ny.)

On the eve of the midterm elections, the president is proposing a small step on drug price relief when a giant leap is urgently needed. Instead of nibbling around the edges, he should demand in his State of the Union speech that Congress send to his desk within 30 days a broad price negotiation bill that applies to all drugs in the Medicare program. -- Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) ...

... Dan Diamond of Politico: "... Donald Trump tried Thursday to make good on a campaign vow to lower drug prices.... But his populist proposal didn't appear likely to budge the national debate around health care, just days ahead of the midterm elections.... It's too wonky for Republicans playing defense in local races, it gave Democrats a fresh opportunity to slam the administration's attacks on patient protections and it won't help most voters pay less for prescriptions at local pharmacies.... 'Trump is promoting insurance policies that aren't required to cover any prescription drugs,' said Andy Slavitt, who ran Medicare under President Barack Obama.... Trump's sweeping proposal mostly landed with a thud in Washington and on the campaign trail. The handful of Republicans to release statements issued mild remarks saying only they would take a look at it.... For many Republicans, Trump's plan was not only wonky but anathema to their belief in competition as the solution to high prices.... Some GOP leaders also are angry that Trump would bypass Congress and use a pilot approach made possible by an Obamacare provision that many revile."

Julie Davis & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "President Trump is considering taking executive action to bar migrants, including asylum seekers, from entering the country at the southern border, according to people familiar with the plan. The effort would be the starkest indication yet of Mr. Trump's election-season push to play to his anti-immigrant base as his party fights to keep control of Congress. The proposal amounts to a sweeping use of presidential power to fortify the border and impose the kind of aggressive immigration restrictions and enforcement measures that Mr. Trump has made his signature pursuit. It would also be the most drastic in a series of steps that Mr. Trump has taken or threatened to take in recent days -- including preparations on Thursday to send as many as 1,000 active-duty Army troops to help secure the southern border -- as he works to stoke fears of what he has called an 'onslaught' of immigrants only days before the midterm elections." ...

... Barbara Starr of CNN: "Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to sign deployment orders as soon as Thursday that could send 800 or more troops to the border with Mexico to help border patrol authorities stop a caravan of migrants from Central America moving through Mexico to enter the US, according to three administration officials.... The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross. The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas.... President Trump hinted at the upcoming effort with a Thursday morning tweet, saying 'I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Mad Dog Foils Trumpy Dumpty Again. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "In several recent tweets, including a new one Thursday calling the migrants' advance a 'National Emergency,' the president said he would deploy the U.S. military to the border. But the additional personnel won't be 'trigger pullers' performing an enforcement role. Instead, they'll be assigned to provide aviation, transport and other logistical support, and the contingent will include doctors and lawyers.... It sounds as if the Pentagon is deploying them in more of a humanitarian-relief capacity, as they would after a natural disaster such as a hurricane. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is not sending tanks or combat troops." Mrs. McC: Meep Meep. Watching Mattis get the better of Trump is a little like watching a version of a Road Runner cartoon. ...

Reassurance. Frank Dale of ThinkProgress: "The U.S. government does not plan 'right now to shoot at people' traveling in a migrant caravan making its way north from Central America, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. In an interview at the U.S.-Mexico border with Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Thursday, Nielsen explained that border agents don't intend to use firearms against the migrants..., However, President Donald Trump's DHS Secretary warned that border agents 'do have the ability, of course, to defend themselves.'" --s

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The US mission to the United Nations is seeking to eliminate the word 'gender' from UN human rights documents, most often replacing it with 'woman', apparently as part of the Trump administration's campaign to define transgender people out of existence. At recent meetings of the UN's Third Committee, which is concerned with 'social, humanitarian and cultural' rights, US diplomats have been pushing for the rewriting of general assembly policy statements to remove what the administration argues is vague and politically correct language, reflecting what it sees as an 'ideology' of treating gender as an individual choice rather than an unchangeable biological fact." Mrs. McC: Oh great. Now we're trying to spread discrimination around the world. And you thought Trump wasn't trying to be a world leader. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Woodruff & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, the Saudi intelligence chief taking the fall for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hobnobbed in New York with Michael Flynn and other members of the transition team shortly before Trump's inauguration. The topic of their discussion: regime change in Iran. Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince, dispatched Assiri from Riyadh for the meetings, which took place over the course of two days in early January 2017, according to communications reviewed by The Daily Beast. The January meetings have come under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller's office as part of his probe into foreign governments' attempts to gain influence in the Trump campaign and in the White House, an individual familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast.... Steve Bannon was involved as well in conversations on Iran regime change during those two days in January, according to the communications.... 'It's concerning to me as a former intelligence official because of the fact that it smacks of covert action planning, which is the most sensitive thing the U.S. government does and is so uniquely the province of the sitting president,' [former CIA acting director John McLaughlin] said."

Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "In early January, Roger Stone, the longtime Republican operative and adviser to Donald Trump, sent a text message to an associate stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- and felt optimistic about his chances. 'I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,' Stone wrote, in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. 'It's very real and very possible. Don't fuck it up.' Thirty-five minutes later Stone added: 'Something very big about to go down.'... As [Robert] Mueller's team zeroes in on Stone, they have examined his push for an Assange pardon ... and have questioned at least one of Stone's associates about the effort." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Pyke of ThinkProgress: "It's open season for environmental crimes in the U.S., a new report from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) suggests. Prosecutions under environmental law fell 10 percent for the 2018 fiscal year from their 2017 levels, which were themselves a substantial drop from prior years. Overall, federal prosecutions for environmental crimes are now down 40 percent from 2013 levels.... The 109 new environmental cases brought by federal prosecutors last fiscal year is roughly half the figure from 20 years earlier. Prosecutors have been slackening their environmental caseloads ever since the start of President Barack Obama's second term.... The willful sabotage of environmental regulation and enforcement at the federal level has left state officials to fill the breech." --s

The Best People, Ctd. Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump announced late Monday that he intends to nominate a former agrochemical industry official to lead the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The selection of Aurelia Skipwith, who worked at Monsanto for six years, to head FWS carries on a Trump administration trend of filling top environmental regulatory positions with officials from companies regulated by the agency.... Environmental and conservation groups largely condemned Skipwith's nomination, noting that she spent the past year and a half at the Interior Department helping to oversee the administration's dismantling of wildlife and national monument protections." --s

...Josh Marshall of TPM: "At an interview [Thursday] with The Washington Post, Newt Gingrich said that if the Democrats subpoena the President's tax returns 'we'll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it.' In other words, he made the loyalty oath. He's the President's man." With video. --s

Actual Packing of the Courts. Li Zhou of Vox: "Senate Republicans have made yet another unusual procedural move in an effort to jam through more judicial nominees.... Not only did Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley hold a confirmation hearing for a slate of nominees this week -- even though the Senate is in recess and not a single Democratic senator was in attendance -- the panel also considered a Ninth Circuit pick who doesn't have the explicit approval of either of his home state senators. That approval is typically conveyed via what's known as a 'blue slip.' It isn't required to move a nomination forward, but it is one of the rare courtesies typically given to home state senators.... That's exactly what happened, however, with Ninth Circuit nominee Eric Miller, someone who multiple activist groups have cited as controversial for previous positions he's taken regarding Native American tribal sovereignty."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday referred a woman who accused Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct for criminal investigation, questioning whether she and her high-profile lawyer, Michael Avenatti, knowingly provided the committee with false information. In a letter to the attorney general and the F.B.I. director, the chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, detailed a series of apparent contradictions between sworn claims submitted to his committee and subsequent statements to the news media by the woman, Julie Swetnick, and Mr. Avenatti, who could also be investigated. Mr. Grassley also said that committee investigators had been able to find no information substantiating the claims and instead unearthed 'substantial information calling into question her credibility.'"

Supreme Conflicts. Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Brett Kavanaugh, the new supreme court justice, counts the Trump administration's solicitor general [Noel Francisco], who will be arguing cases before the high court on behalf of the president, as a close professional friend, according to [new] emails that offer new insights into an all-male dinner club that Kavanaugh used to attend.... It is not clear whether the dinners continued after Kavanaugh became a federal judge in 2006.... The so-called 'Eureka' dinners ... were briefly raised in a written question that was submitted to Kavanaugh by senators following his initial confirmation hearing.... What Kavanaugh's answer did not fully explain was that the dinners were attended by an elite group of men closely associated with the Federalist Society, the rightwing organization that has played a major role in vetting and choosing judicial appointments for Republican presidents.... [The] new revelations about the identity of his circle of professional friends raise questions about how the close-knit relationships Kavanaugh forged with other lawyers might influence his rulings in the future." --s...

Election 2018

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "As President Trump criss-crosses the country on Air Force One during the final days of the midterm campaign, a trio of Democratic senators are demanding information about whether the White House is properly reimbursing taxpayers for campaign-related travel. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) argue there have been multiple instances throughout Trump's presidency when he traveled out of town for an official event but engaged directly in political activity, such as calling for the election of a certain candidate. It amounts to a 'frequent blurring of the lines' between official and campaign events, the senators say, and they're asking the White House to hand over documents that may shed light on how it has compensated taxpayers for political expenses."

Alabama. Mini Moore. Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones: "[N]ext month, there's a chance voters will usher in one of [former Senate candidate Roy] Moore's former aides and judicial acolytes: Republican Tom Parker, an associate justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, is vying to become its next chief justice. Given his reputation for religious zeal and his writings on abortion, many fear that a Parker victory could have major consequences for reproductive rights in the state.... Like his old boss, Parker suggested on a radio show in 2015 that state courts should resist the legalization of gay marriage. And both men have come under fire for their apparent nostalgia for the Confederacy.... Parker has expressed a desire to restrict access to abortion: Earlier this year, he said the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirms the constitutional right to an abortion, was 'invented out of whole cloth just to satisfy a political agenda.'" --s

** Iowa. Irony Is Dead. Sophie Murguia of Mother Jones: "Iowa Rep. Steve King, the conservative lightning rod known for his racist and anti-immigrant rants, made headlines again Thursday when the Washington Post revealed that he met with members of an Austrian far-right party during a trip paid for by a Holocaust memorial group. The Republican congressman had been on a five-day trip to Poland funded by From the Depths, a group that educates people about the Holocaust, before visiting Vienna and giving an interview to Unzensuriert, a website associated with Austria's Freedom Party. The party was founded by a former Nazi SS officer[.]" --s

Kansas. Complete Clusterfuck. Roxana Hegeman of the AP: "After moving Dodge City's sole polling site outside city limits, county election officials sent newly registered voters an official certificate of registration that listed the wrong place to cast a ballot in the midterm election -- the latest election snafu to surface in the iconic Wild West town where Hispanics now make up the majority of the population.... 'I didn't know this could get worse, and it did: "Hey, let's move the site and not tell new registrants where they are supposed to go,"' said Johnny Dunlap, chairman of the Ford County Democratic Party. Local election officials are now scrambling to notify newly registered voters who might be confused by its official registration notice that listed only their regular polling site -- not the temporary site for the November election." --safari: Whoever is engineering this election sabotage is looking for a high post in Kobach's cabinet. ...

... Kansas. John Hanna & Heather Hollingsworth of the AP: "Kansas election officials are reviewing text messages claiming to be from President Donald Trump and telling residents that their early votes hadn't been recorded, as Democratic leaders were quick Thursday to worry that they were part of efforts to 'steal' a close governor's race. State Elections Director Bryan Caskey said the Kansas secretary of state's office received 50 or 60 calls about the texts Wednesday, mostly from the northeastern part of the state. Caskey said the office is trying to determine whether the texts broke a law before determining what to do next.... Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley ... and Kansas House Minority Leader Jim Ward [two Democrats] said during a Statehouse news conference that they worry the texts are confusing voters because at least a few Democrats received them.... The texts to voters link to a website for the Republican National Committee, and Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kelly Arnold said he suspects that's who sent the messages. He said the texts didn';t come from state party officials. The RNC didn't respond ... to an email seeking comment." --safari: That Kobach, famous for dedicating his life to voter suppression, is overseeing a process filled with so many irregularities, is a surprise to exactly no one. ...

... Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The deposition video that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach feared would be used in campaign ads against him as he runs for governor will not be made available to the media, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson's order was a win for Kobach.... A transcript from the deposition is already public; however, the transcript does not convey Kobach's body language and tone during the deposition. In the video, which TPM viewed at the trial, he is uncomfortable, frustrated and often combative with the attorney deposing him." Robinson is a Dubya nominee --s...

Nevada. Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Far-right media figures aren't the only ones promoting dark conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs sent this week to Democratic figures and news organizations. Amy Tarkanian, former chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a surrogate for her husband Danny's 2018 congressional race, shared messages on Wednesday suggesting that the 'fake' bombs were a Democratic political ploy.... [T]he Tarkanian campaign sent TPM an email saying that 'Mrs. Tarkanian is a political commentator. She has her own views and Danny has his own.' 'Danny does not believe that Democrats are behind it,' the statement continued.... Amy Tarkanian served as chair of the Nevada GOP from 2011 to 2012" --s

Election 2020

Molly Ball of Time: "Michael Avenatti, the lawyer and possible presidential candidate, caused a stir with his contention that there’s only one type of candidate who can beat President Trump. In an interview with TIME published Thursday, Avenatti said the Democrats' 2020 nominee 'better be a white male,' because society affords more credibility to white men than it does others. Though the statement has struck many as inflammatory, it represents a real, if usually private, debate within the Democratic Party -- one that is likely to recur as the next presidential election approaches." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Avenatti is right, then his theory is bad news for him. I assume, based on his name, that Avenatti has at least some Italian heritage. When I was young, a whole lot of Anglo-Americans would not have considered someone named Avenatti to be "white." There was a reason some Italian-Americans briefly formed an anti-defamation league, a reason there were no Italian-Americans on the Supreme Court until 1986 (and it took a mostly-Irish -- that is, another ethnic group subjected to negative stereotypes -- President to nominate him), etc. If you think times have changed, look at why we have President* Trump.


Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that a Trump administration memo seeks to define the word 'sex.'... On Wednesday, the administration filed a brief in the Supreme Court laying out its legal rationale for its conclusion. The brief is, to put it mildly, a dumpster fire. It ignores the plain text of the law, attempts to dismiss two seminal Supreme Court decisions, and completely disregards the facts of one of those cases. Should the Trump administration's effort to redefine 'sex' succeed, moreover, it would have profound implications for American civil rights laws.... Numerous federal laws prohibit discrimination 'because of ... sex,' or 'on the basis of sex,' or otherwise provide that 'sex' discrimination is not allowed.... Just as significantly, the Trump administration’s argument raises serious questions about whether the words of the law matter so long as the Supreme Court is dominated by conservative activists." --s


Daisuke Wakabayashi & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Google gave Andy Rubin, the creator of Android mobile software, a hero's farewell when he left the company in October 2014.... What Google did not make public was that an employee had accused Mr. Rubin of sexual misconduct. The woman, with whom Mr. Rubin had been having an extramarital relationship, said he coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013.... Google investigated and concluded her claim was credible.... [Then-CEO Larry] Page asked for [Rubin's] resignation. Google could have fired Mr. Rubin and paid him little to nothing on the way out. Instead, the company handed him a $90 million exit package.... After Mr. Rubin left, the company invested millions of dollars in his next venture.... Mr. Rubin was one of three executives that Google protected over the past decade after they were accused of sexual misconduct. In two instances, it ousted senior executives, but softened the blow by paying them millions of dollars as they departed, even though it had no legal obligation to do so. In a third, the executive remained in a highly compensated post at the company. Each time Google stayed silent about the accusations against the men."

**Booming Inequality. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "Billionaires made more money in 2017 than in any year in recorded history. The richest people on Earth increased their wealth by a fifth to $8.9tn (£6.9tn), according to a report by Swiss bank UBS.... The report by UBS and accountants PwC said there was so much money in the hands of the ultra-rich that a new wave of rich and powerful multi-generational families was being created.... The world's 2,158 billionaires grew their combined wealth by $1.4tn last year, more than the GDP of Spain or Australia, as booming stock markets helped the already very wealthy to achieve the 'greatest absolute growth ever'. More than 40 of the 179 new billionaires created last year inherited their wealth, and given the number of billionaires over 70 the report's authors expect a further $3.4tn to be handed down over the next 20 years." --s

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jordan Crucchiola of New York: "The end of Megyn Kelly Today is near, but is Kelly herself also done at NBC? Sources close to the morning-show host tell People and CNN that her hour-long program is kaput, and Vulture has learned that her lawyers will meet with NBC executives as soon as Friday to discuss her future. According to NPR's David Folkenflik, Kelly 'will not return to the network.' Earlier discussions between Kelly and NBC higher-ups about her role reportedly started a few weeks ago, according to The Hollywood Reporter, placing them well before her comments about blackface Halloween costumes not necessarily being racist -- comments for which she has since apologized...." Mrs. McC: I, for one, am having a terrible time getting past a crying jag over this. For one thing, it's so unfair that I never got to see the show or was even fully aware that after her first NBC show flopped, she landed in daytime.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Adieu, Amazon. Dom Philips of the Guardian: "Polls show that Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former army captain has 78% support in Rondônia [in the Brazilian Amazon], leaving his leftist rival Fernando Haddad in the dust.... And his radical proposals -- to neuter federal environment agencies, give the green light to destructive hydro-electric dams, freeze the demarcation of new indigenous reserves and open up existing ones to mining -- chime with voters here, including those breaking environmental laws.... Bolsonaro has previously promised to withdraw Brazil from the Paris climate deal, although on Thursday he said he changed his mind on pulling out of the deal. But he has pledged to put an end to 'environmental activism' by ICMBio, and the environment agency Ibama, and may fold the environment ministry into the agriculture ministry -- whose chief will be chosen by the agribusiness lobby." --s

Maria Cheng of the AP: "The Kenyatta National Hospital is east Africa's biggest medical institution, home to more than a dozen donor-funded projects with international partners -- a 'Center of Excellence,' says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... [At this hospital] and at an astonishing number of other hospitals around the world, if you don't pay up, you don't go home. The hospitals often illegally detain patients long after they should be medically discharged, using armed guards, locked doors and even chains to hold those who have not settled their accounts. Mothers and babies are sometimes separated. Even death does not guarantee release: Kenyan hospitals and morgues are holding hundreds of bodies until families can pay their loved ones' bills, government officials say. Dozens of doctors, nurses, health experts, patients and administrators told The Associated Press of imprisonments in hospitals in at least 30 other countries, including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China and Thailand, Lithuania and Bulgaria, and others in Latin America and the Middle East." --s

News Lede

Bloomberg: "The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter as consumers opened their wallets, businesses restocked inventories and governments boosted spending, marking the strongest back-to-back quarters of growth since 2014."

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Wednesday
Oct242018

The Commentariat -- October 25, 2018

Afternoon Update:

MSNBC is reporting that the FBI now believes that all the package bombs were sent through the mail. Also, at least some of the packages come from Florida. ...

... Laura Jarrett of CNN: "The FBI said in a tweet Thursday morning that it could confirm three more packages that were 'similar in appearance to the others.' 'One in New York addressed to Robert DeNiro, and two in Delaware addressed to former Vice President Joseph Biden,' said the tweet from the FBI's official account. This brings the total to 10 suspicious packages that have been discovered since earlier this week." This is a running report on developments. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "... the important issue here is not Trump's inability to convincingly advocate civility for an entire news cycle.... The issue is Trump's conviction that he should not be subjected to any scrutiny or criticism.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career. [As a businessman,] he was fanatical about intimidating reporters with legal threats.... In his incarnation as a political candidate, Trump has mostly lost his ability to intimidate the media with legal threats. (Politicians have a prohibitively high standard for libel in the United States.) But his expectation and worldview are the same.... It is a supreme irony that Trump used his speech last night to delegitimize criticism. 'No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains.' But ... Trump, in his psychological makeup and aspirations, is precisely such a historical villain." ...

... Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... the President has chosen not to rise above the tumult or even console or counsel those who opposed him. He did not mention the victims by name. Or give any indication that he is concerned that some people might see his flaming rhetoric as a spur to violence. Trump's response to Wednesday's events was a reminder of the gap between presidential expectations and performance that has often been evident in his response to grave national moments, crises and natural disasters." ...

... Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "At a raucous rally in Montana last week, a Trump supporter -- juiced up by the president's crude praise of a congressman who body-slammed a reporter -- looked directly at CNN reporter Jim Acosta. Then he ran his thumb across his throat. And laughed. Later, Acosta described 'the Trump effect.' 'It has normalized and sanitized nastiness and cruelty in a way that I just never thought I would see,' he said, shortly after that Montana rally. The Trump effect is a straight line from years of his hateful rhetoric to real-world danger. It's a line that goes directly from disrespect to pipe bomb. And -- almost inevitably-- it will eventually go from failed attempt to spilled blood. If you can't see it, you aren't looking." ...

... Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs, who is prone to peddling conspiracy theories and is a prominent supporter of President Trump, asserted without evidence on Thursday that it was 'fake news' that suspicious packages were mailed this week to high-profile Democrats and the New York City offices of CNN. 'Fake bombs,' Dobbs wrote in a tweet posted to his verified account Thursday morning. 'Who could possibly benefit by so much fakery?' Dobbs deleted his tweet after immediate and widespread condemnation. Authorities have said that the bombs found in the packages were rudimentary, but functional. After Dobbs deleted the tweet, he posted a second tweet which carried the same suggestion. In the second tweet, Dobbs wrote that 'Fake News had just successfully changed the narrative from the onslaught of illegal immigrants and broken border security to "suspicious packages."' Dobbs later deleted that tweet as well."

Barbara Starr of CNN: "Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to sign deployment orders as soon as Thursday that could send 800 or more troops to the border with Mexico to help border patrol authorities stop a caravan of migrants from Central America moving through Mexico to enter the US, according to three administration officials.... The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross. The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas.... President Trump hinted at the upcoming effort with a Thursday morning tweet, saying 'I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency.'"

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The US mission to the United Nations is seeking to eliminate the word 'gender' from UN human rights documents, most often replacing it with 'woman', apparently as part of the Trump administration's campaign to define transgender people out of existence. At recent meetings of the UN's Third Committee, which is concerned with 'social, humanitarian and cultural' rights, US diplomats have been pushing for the rewriting of general assembly policy statements to remove what the administration argues is vague and politically correct language, reflecting what it sees as an 'ideology' of treating gender as an individual choice rather than an unchangeable biological fact." Mrs. McC: Oh great. Now we're trying to spread discrimination around the world. And you thought Trump wasn't trying to be a world leader.

Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "In early January, Roger Stone, the longtime Republican operative and adviser to Donald Trump, sent a text message to an associate stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- and felt optimistic about his chances. 'I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,' Stone wrote, in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. 'It's very real and very possible. Don't fuck it up.' Thirty-five minutes later Stone added: 'Something very big about to go down.'... As [Robert] Mueller's team zeroes in on Stone, they have examined his push for an Assange pardon ... and have questioned at least one of Stone's associates about the effort."

*****

Scarcely a day goes by that President Trump doesn't prove anew he is the worst president* in American history. Today is no exception. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning ...

Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror. Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful. Clean up your act....try to act Presidential. The American people deserve much better. BTW, your critics will not be intimidated into silence. -- John Brennan, in response to Trump's tweet ...

... Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn of Mother Jones: "Hours after explosive devices were sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and CNN, President Trump told a crowd in Mosinee, Wisconsin that bombs are bad, but so is [are!] the media. 'Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself,' the president, who only last week celebrated a congressman's physical attack on a reporter, said. 'Such conduct must be fiercely opposed and firmly prosecuted,' he went on. 'We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony. Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective,' he continued, weeks after calling Democrats 'evil.'" ...

... Andrew Restuccia & Gabby Orr of Politico: Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump decried "'political violence' and presenting himself as a bipartisan healer during remarks at the White House.... 'Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective,' a staid Trump said later at the start of a rally in Wisconsin, adding later, 'By the way, do you see how nice I'm behaving today? Have you ever seen this?' Trump's solemn remarks were a jarring contrast with his typical raucous political rallies, where he regularly whips his supporters into a frenzy by mocking his critics and political opponents. In Trump's world, [Hillary] Clinton should be imprisoned, [Barack] Obama 'founded' ISIS, CNN is 'fake news,' billionaire George Soros is funding liberal protesters and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who called on activists to confront administration officials, should 'be careful what you wish for.'... During his Wednesday rally, Trump couldn't help but take some shots at the media and the Democrats. 'The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,' he said.... 'They've got to stop.'" ...

... Veronica Rocha of CNN: At the Wisconsin rally, "... Donald Trump pointed the finger Wednesday night at Democrats and the news media for the turbulent national political environment, on the same day explosive devices were mailed to the Obamas, the Clintons, CNN and other public officials. Trump took no responsibility for the tone of the political discourse. [Besides citing media 'negative & oftentimes false attacks & stories,] he complained of 'mobs' -- a reference to protesters, who opposed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination and confronted Republican senators on Capitol Hill, and who have challenged GOP lawmakers and Trump Cabinet officials at restaurants and in public. 'No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains, which is done often and all the time. It's got to stop. We should not mob people in public spaces or destroy public property. There is one way to settle our disagreements -- it's called peacefully, at the ballot box. That's what we want,' Trump said." ...

I will always remember where I was when the president responded to a mass internal assassination attempt with a powerful, stirring 'Ditto!' -- Joel Stein, in a tweet today ...

... Marcus Gilmar of Mashable: "As authorities investigated explosive devices sent to the home of Hillary Clinton, the office of Barack Obama, and the building that houses CNN's New York office..., Donald Trump incurred the wrath of Twitter for putting in the least possible effort condemning the threats by quote-tweeting Vice President Pence. Earlier in the day, Pence sent a tweet condemning the actions as 'cowardly' and 'despicable,' the kind of message you expect from a leader. Trump, then, decided the best he could do was a quote tweet of Pence with an added line that amounts to 'Yeah, what he said!'... Later on Wednesday afternoon, both First Lady Melania Trump and the president gave fuller statements on the incidents, though President Trump didn't mention any of the recipients by name." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Explosive devices were sent to former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as to CNN's offices in New York, sparking an intense investigation on Wednesday into whether a bomber is going after targets that have often been the subject of right-wing ire. The three devices were similar to one found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor who has come under fierce criticism from conservatives and conspiracy theorists. None of the devices harmed anyone. Law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether all the devices were sent by the same person or persons. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mr. Soros and CNN have all figured prominently in the pantheon of conservative political attacks -- many of which have been led by President Trump. He has often referred to major news organizations as 'the enemy of the people,' and has had a particular animus for CNN." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... The story has been updated multiple times. The lede & new information as of 7 pm Wednesday: "Pipe bombs were sent to several prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, setting off an intense investigation on Wednesday into whether a bomber is going after political figures vilified by the right wing. CNN received a similar bomb, addressed to John O. Brennan, a career intelligence officer who served as Mr. Obama's C.I.A. director. The discovery of the device caused a mass evacuation of the Time Warner Center in Midtown Manhattan, where the network is located.... Mr. Brennan [is] a Republican and a harsh critic of Mr. Trump. The president revoked his security clearance in what was seen as an act of retribution.... All the packages were mailed in manila envelopes lined with Bubble Wrap and bearing return addresses with the name of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman and a former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, the F.B.I. said. The mailing labels were computer-printed and six first-class stamps were affixed to all of the envelopes. A fifth device sent to Mr. Obama's attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., was apparently misaddressed, and because Ms. Wasserman Schultz's name was on the return address, it was ultimately delivered to her district office in Florida, the F.B.I. said.... Another package addressed to a Democrat, Representative Maxine Waters of California, was intercepted at a Congressional mail facility, Ms. Waters said in a statement. In recent months, Mr. Trump and Ms. Waters have often ridiculed each another." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Good for the Times for implicitly laying the blame on Trump. And think of that: the POTUS* is -- as we've said for a long time -- inciting violence against his political enemies. This is, needless to say, a first in modern American history. Investigators certainly will find the perp. ...

... AP: "The FBI is confirming that two additional suspicious packages, addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters, have been intercepted that are similar in appearance to five others that were received. The FBI updated its tally in a tweet Wednesday night. It came as federal authorities said a package addressed to Waters with similar markings and characteristics to the other devices was intercepted at a Los Angeles mail facility. Earlier in the day, Waters said her Washington office was the target of a suspicious package, though it wasn't immediately clear if that was related to the others." ...

... Here's the FBI's statement on the packages. ...

... AP: "A law enforcement official says a package addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden appears similar to packages containing bombs sent to prominent Democrats and has been intercepted at a Delaware mail facility.... The FBI confirms there is law enforcement activity at the U.S. mail facility in New Castle, Delaware. It says federal agents and New Castle County Police are responding to the facility." ...

... Daily Beast: "A suspicious device addressed to Robert De Niro has been sent to an address in New York City, two law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast. One of the officials said the device was 'identical' to those sent to former president Obama and the Clintons yesterday. De Niro has been repeatedly critical of President Trump...." ...

... Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "The U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday that reports of a suspicious package addressed to the White House are 'incorrect.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "In the home stretch of the fall campaign, President Trump has called Democrats 'evil' and argued they are 'too dangerous to govern.' He has denounced Barack Obama's presidency and demonized former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, inspiring chants of 'Lock her up!' at his rallies. The president has also used his bully pulpit to taunt Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) as a 'low I.Q. individual,' impugn former CIA director John Brennan and fan conspiracy theories about liberal philanthropist George Soros. And he has called the news media 'the enemy of the people,' singling out CNN's reporting as 'fake news.' This week, these targets of Trump's rhetoric became the intended targets of actual violence in the form of pipe bombs, many of which turned up Wednesday. Investigators have not disclosed information about the origin of the packages, and no evidence has surfaced connecting the acts to any political campaign. Still, a common theme among the targets was unmistakable: Each has been a recurring subject of Trump attacks.... The president sounded a call to all Americans to unite, though he did not address the tone of his own campaign rhetoric.... Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded in a joint statement: 'President Trump's words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence.'" ...

     ... Here is Schumer & Pelosi's joint statement. ...

     ... Here are notes & a statement CNN president Jeff Zucker sent to staff. ...

... Democrats Did It. Kelly Weill & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Minutes after news broke of 'potential explosive devices' being mailed to the homes of former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, along with CNN's New York City studio, the dark corners of the conservative Internet were declaring it a plot to gin up empathy for Democrats. Cries that the bomb threats was merely a 'false flag' operation were evident on Twitter and pro-Trump forums. Many of the personalities pushing the claim were fringe types. But not all of them. Popular talk radio host Rush Limbaugh hinted that the attempted bombings were set-up by Democrats, saying they would serve a political 'purpose.' 'It's happening in October,' Limbaugh said. 'There's a reason for this.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Dan Spinelli of Mother Jones: “'Breaking! Alex Jones Predicted False Flag Attack to Blame Patriots,' read the top headline Wednesday morning on Infowars, which Jones owns and operates.... Michael Flynn Jr., the son of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, called the packages a 'political stunt' given the 'suspicious timing' of Wednesday's news.... Ann Coulter ... called bombs 'a liberal tactic.'... John Cardillo, a host on Newsmax, a conservative media outlet run by Trump golfing buddy Christopher Ruddy, said investigators should look at 'far left groups' who 'know they're losing.'" ...

... They Have No Shame. Will Sommer: "House Republicans' campaign committee released a new ad attacking billionaire Democratic donor George Soros as a 'radical' on Wednesday, just two days after a bomb was found in Soros's mailbox. The new ad from the National Republican Campaign Committee's independent expenditure arm..., is aimed at Minnesota House candidate Dan Feehan, who is locked in a close contest with Republican Jim Hagedorn." ...

... Todd Gillman & Robert Garrett of the Dallas Morning News: "On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz joked that his opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, could share a jail cell with Hillary Clinton and spoke darkly of Democratic mobs. A day later, federal authorities said they'd found seven mail bombs sent to the former secretary of state and others, among them former President Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder, billionaire Democratic donor George Soros and CNN -- a network that drew chants of 'CNN sucks!' at Cruz's big rally with ... Donald Trump on Monday night. Stumping in Dallas on Wednesday, Cruz denounced overheated rhetoric and political violence of any kind -- and lay the bulk of blame on the left for poisoning the nation's civic discourse.... He rejected the idea that he or Trump shares responsibility for stirring passions.... The White House rejected the possibility that attacks on liberal politicians and the news network Trump loves to bash were inspired by his harsh rhetoric, describing Democrats as 'evil' and journalists as the 'enemy of the people.'" ...

... Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: Meghan McCain, a host of ABC's "The View" and a daughter of John McCain, said Mitch McConnell's being heckled in restaurants was like Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton's getting bombs in the mail. Mrs. McC: Uh-huh. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: In case you're thinking that the bomber(s) could be a "false flag" -- and that's not impossible -- there's this: Ben Collins of NBC News: "An image on the explosive device sent to former CIA Director John Brennan on Tuesday appears to be a parody of an ISIS flag taken from a meme that has been circulating on right-wing corners of the internet since 2014. The print-out appears to show a parody flag that replaces Arabic characters with the silhouette of three women in high heels, and a middle inscription reading 'Get 'Er Done' -- which is the catchphrase of standup comedian Larry the Cable Guy.... The 'Get 'Er Done' flag was originally created in 2014 by the right-wing parody site World News Bureau, for an article titled 'ISIS Vows Retribution For Counterfeit Flags.' It has since been shared as a meme on right-wing websites and forums.... The explosive device also appears to have a picture of a face next to the fake ISIS flag. The identity of the person in that picture is still unknown." (It looks like a slimmed-down Trump to me, but the photo -- which apparently came from Jim Acosta of CNN -- is grainy.) If the would-be bomber is a leftist or a foreign terrorist, s/he would have to at least be familiar with right-wing memes.


** China & Russia, if You're Listening... Matthew Rosenberg & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening -- and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy, current and former American officials said. Mr. Trump's aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinel eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.... Mr. Trump is supposed to swap out his two official phones every 30 days for new ones but rarely does, bristling at the inconvenience." The Chinese have a strategy for manipulating the content of Trump's calls.

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's so surprising, because even now Trump periodically complains that Jeff Sessions hasn't put Hillary Clinton in jail yet for using a private e-mail server, which had the potential to become compromised (even tho the FBI says it wasn't). Maybe Trump thinks only men have the right to be reckless & irresponsible. As the reporters point out, Trump also still "basks" in chants of "Lock Her Up!" at his rallies. ...

The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it. I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone. Story is soooo wrong! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning ...

... Kimberly Dozier of the Daily Beast: "'It's far from a secret that cellular phone calls bouncing off towers are interceptable,' said Todd Rosenblum, a former intelligence official whose past posts include Homeland Security deputy undersecretary of Intelligence. 'The fundamental issue is that the president is not willing to adhere to the most basic norms of telephony operational security.' He added: 'The Chinese and Russians can and do augment what they learn about his emotional state and priorities in his tweets with more specific data spilled during unprotected cellular phone calls.'" ...

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "The saving grace of the situation can be found in President Trump's paranoia and lack of policy of knowledge, both of which act as guardrails preventing him from blurting out important secrets. 'Administration officials said Mr. Trump's longtime paranoia about surveillance -- well before coming to the White House he believed his phone conversations were often being recorded -- gave them some comfort that he was not disclosing classified information on the calls,' The New York Times observes. 'They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's ridiculous. Even though Trump can't understand or remember the details of policy briefings, he can likely remember the picture -- or his distorted version of the big picture -- and discuss it with his supposed friends. Since he loves to boast about his power & his plans, you know he's sharing them.

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie Bonus. I think I heard about this when it happened two weeks ago, but I didn't know there was video! Rachel Maddow brought up the Charmin-on-his-shoe episode in connection with the China-is-listening story, so here ya go:

     ... I've had many an embarrassing moment in my life, but so far to the best of my knowledge, not this one.

Megyn Kelly (Mrs. McC: that's the byline, & I'm going with it) of the Hill: "President Trump said in an early morning tweet on Thursday that he is 'bringing out the military' to secure the border with Mexico, calling it a 'National Emergency.' 'Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council is right when he says on @foxandfriends that the Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the Border,' Trump tweeted. 'MUST BE CHANDED, but I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped!'" Mrs. McC: Does anyone know what "CHANDED" means? "Changed" or "challenged"?

Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "The stock market stumbled yet again on Wednesday, as the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed more than 3 percent despite solid earnings reports from companies like Boeing and Altria. Declines in the tech sector generated significant pressure.... Stocks have fallen for 13 of the past 15 trading days, including a 3.3 percent drop on Oct. 10 that was the market's worst fall in eight months. The S.&P. 500 is now down more than 0.6 percent for the year." ...

... Damian Paletta & Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "U.S. stock markets fell sharply Wednesday, erasing all gains for the year and muddying one of President Trump's favorite talking points two weeks before the midterm elections.... The financial swoon threatens to undermine a market rise for which Trump has frequently claimed credit and to highlight controversial aspects of Trump's agenda, including tariffs many companies are blaming for their struggles and a tax cut that polls suggest the public views as inadequately helpful for the middle class.... 'I have created such an incredible economy,' Trump said in Montana last week. 'I have created so many jobs.'... In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he falsely denied imposing any tariffs on imports, even though he has implemented numerous tariffs against a range of countries this year.... Trump has also promised a 10 percent middle-class tax cut, a proposal that caught his aides by surprise and that lawmakers said was exceedingly unlikely in the near future.... Trump has increasingly looked to shift focus away from economic indicators he once touted and toward immigration and other issues -- and assign blame elsewhere for any economic setbacks. He has pummeled the Federal Reserve...." ...

... Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump struggled mightily Tuesday to explain a new tax cut proposal he first mentioned in an offhand remark last week. The president said in an interview with Wall Street Journal reporters that he'd been working on the proposal 'for a long time' with Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.... 'I would have put it into the original bill,' Trump said, referring to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which he signed into law last December. 'But we couldn't have done it originally because we ― you know, we've become ― I mean, we're doing really well. The numbers are really good.'... Finally, Trump gave up. 'In fact, if you call Kevin Hassett, let him tell you, because I was going over it,' the president said, referring to his top economic adviser." Hassett told reporters to go to the press office. "The press office has not provided any additional information. It's almost as if there is no proposal at all.... 'The thing that's amazing to me is this keeps happening and all the policy reporters in town kind of take it seriously,' [said Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center], pointing out that Trump has previously made slippery promises about taxes, immigration plans and health care." Thanks to MAG for the link.

Jordan Weissman of Slate: "... now that we are approaching the final days of the midterm races, [Donald Trump's] flights of fabulism seem to be reaching bizarre new altitudes. For instance: [in a tweet Wednesday, Trump claimed,] 'Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.' This is the sort of night is day, black is white, opposite-day variety of lie that Trump sometimes resorts to when he is desperate or frustrated.... Republicans spent much of 2017 attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which bans insurers from discriminating against patients with pre-existing conditions. Democrats fought to protect it. Meanwhile, the White House has backed a federal lawsuit in Texas that seeks to strike down all of Obamacare, including its pre-existing condition rules, as unconstitutional. To say Democrats 'will not' protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, while Republicans 'totally' will is a simply surreal and childlike argument.... Because everything Trump does comes garnished with a grotesque twist of irony, the president is pushing all of this out at precisely the moment his own administration is undercutting the pre-existing conditions protections that already exist.... This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a new rule that would give states the option to let residents use their Obamacare premium subsidies to buy skimpy, 'limited duration' health plans."

Ken Dilanian & Anna Schecter of NBC News: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office has obtained communications suggesting that a right-wing conspiracy theorist might have had advance knowledge that the emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman had been stolen and handed to WikiLeaks, a source familiar with the investigation told NBC News. Mueller's team has spent months investigating whether the conspiracy theorist, Jerome Corsi, learned before the public did that WikiLeaks had obtained emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers -- and whether he passed information about the stolen emails to Donald Trump associate Roger Stone, multiple sources said. Mueller's investigators have reviewed messages to members of the Trump team in which Stone and Corsi seem to take credit for the release of Democratic emails, said a person with direct knowledge of the emails."

Saudi Story 4.0 (or so). Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor said on Thursday that the death of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been 'premeditated,' the latest change in the kingdom's official story of how he was killed. Saudi officials previously said that a 15-man team that had flown to Turkey to confront Mr. Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, leading to a 'fistfight' with Mr. Khashoggi. When he screamed, one of the men put him in a chokehold, killing him accidentally, they had said. The Saudi prosecutor's new statement, which was announced through the kingdom's state-run news media, said the conclusion was based on new information received from a joint Saudi-Turkish investigation taking place in Turkey. The latest change is almost certain to cast further doubt on the kingdom's explanation of what happened to Mr. Khashoggi." ...

... John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "CIA Director Gina Haspel listened to audio purportedly capturing the interrogation and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, giving a key member of President Trump's Cabinet access to the evidence used by Turkey to accuse Saudi Arabia of premeditated murder. Haspel, who departed for a secret trip to Turkey on Monday, heard the audio during her visit, according to people familiar with her meetings.... A person familiar with the audio said it was 'compelling' and could put more pressure on the United States to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the death of Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. 'This puts the ball firmly in Washington's court,' said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and scholar at the Brookings Institution. 'Not only will there be more pressure now from the media but Congress will say, "Gina, we would love to have you come visit and you can tell us exactly what you heard."'" ...

... Kevin Sullivan & William Branigin of the Washington Post: "In his first public comments since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi security agents in Istanbul three weeks ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Wednesday that his country is doing all it can to complete an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. Addressing a gathering of more than 3,000 business leaders from around the world at the Future Investment Initiative, Saudi Arabia's signature economic forum, often called 'Davos in the Desert,' Mohammed acknowledged no responsibility in the case. He called the killing 'a heinous crime' that was 'really painful to all Saudis' and to all other people. He accused unidentified critics of trying to use the case to 'drive a wedge' between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and pledged that this would not happen as long as his father is king and he is the crown prince." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "The image of the Saudi crown prince shaking the hand of a son of the slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi stoked outrage on social media on Wednesday as suspicions continue that the crown prince had a role in the killing.... The younger Mr. Khashoggi appears stone-faced when the crown prince shakes his hand.... Mr. Khashoggi's son Salah is a dual Saudi-American citizen and has been barred from leaving the kingdom, friends of the family say, presumably to keep his relatives who are already in the United States from speaking out about the killing." The caption on the photo of the two men that accompanies the story calls the meeting "staged."

Chris Opfer of Bloomberg: "The Justice Department [Wednesday] told the U.S. Supreme Court that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity without violating federal law. Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the high court that a civil rights law banning sex discrimination on the job doesn't cover transgender bias. That approach already has created a rift within the Trump administration, contradicting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's view of the law it's tasked with enforcing. A Michigan funeral home wants the high court to overturn a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decision finding that the company violated federal workplace discrimination law when it fired Aimee Stephens, a transgender worker. The EEOC successfully sued on behalf of Stephens in that case, but the Justice Department has the sole authority to represent the government before the Supreme Court. The DOJ told the high court that the Sixth Circuit got the case wrong.... The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming months whether to take up the case. It's also been asked to consider two other cases testing whether sexual orientation bias is a form of sex discrimination banned under the existing law."

Election 2018

See also stories linked above related to Donald Trump's lies about tariffs, fake middle-class tax cuts & pre-existing conditions.

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "Republicans are starting to point to evidence -- and some fresh numbers -- that their chances of retaining the House majority when voters go the polls in 13 days may have slightly improved. And even some Democrats agree.... Most of the battleground House races are being fought on Republican turf (63 out of 69 seats, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll). That means that Democrats have a built-in edge that makes it easier to capture the net 23 seats needed to regain House control. But there's decent evidence those House races remain tight or could be tightening. That's not to say Democrats aren't still favored to take over the House -- by polls, history and sky-high enthusiasm to vote against President Trump." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Florida. David Smiley & Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald: "Sequels rarely live up to the original. But in their second and final meeting before the Nov. 6 election for Florida governor, Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum delivered a bare-knuckle brawl of a debate so heated that a racial slur was spelled out letter by letter on live television. DeSantis, a Trump-endorsed former congressman, painted his opponent as a corrupt on-the-take politician. Gillum, the unapologetically liberal mayor of Tallahassee, cast DeSantis as a vapid extremist who encourages racism."

Georgia. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Georgia election officials to stop summarily tossing absentee ballots because of mismatched signatures, delivering a crucial win to voting-rights advocates -- and to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams -- less than two weeks before Election Day. The ruling resulted from two lawsuits filed earlier this month after election officials in a single Atlanta suburb, Gwinnett County, rejected hundreds of absentee ballots with signature discrepancies, missing addresses or incorrect birth years.... U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ... ordered Secretary of State Brian Kemp to instruct all local election officials to stop rejecting absentee ballots over the mismatched signatures. Instead, such ballots will be marked 'provisional,' and the voter will be given the right to appeal the decision or confirm his or her identity. Kemp and the Gwinnett County election board were named as defendants in the suit."

Montana. Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee sent out a mailer in a key state in the battle for the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections that erroneously informed voters about how to vote absentee. The mailer told voters in Montana, where incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D) is engaged in a competitive fight against Republican challenger Matt Rosendale, that absentee ballots could be postmarked until the day before the election as long as they were received within 10 days of Nov. 6. But election officials told local reporters that the state's rules stipulate that ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, regardless of the postmark. The RNC said the error was a mistake it was working to fix."

Texas. Dallas Morning News Editors: "... we favor U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke for U.S. Senate. The pivotal issue before our country is public leadership, and here we believe O'Rourke's tone aligns with what is required now. This inclusive and hopeful tone, along with O'Rourke's approach of starting with shared principles and working toward solutions, offset any policy differences we have with him. Leadership is more than policy, and whether we are addressing the very real challenges before us now turns on our ability to find points of agreement.In this respect, O'Rourke is the stronger candidate. In conducting his campaign, he has displayed a demeanor that offers respect for each person and a humbleness that will allow him to open the door to working with those who hold political views different from his." Mrs. McC: The editorial board of the Morning News is super-conservative: "On economic policy, for example, we supported the president's tax cuts that Cruz voted for. And we stand with Cruz in looking to remove federal regulations that stifle job creation."


Adam Goldman & Ali Winston of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. arrested the leader of a violent California neo-Nazi gang on a federal conspiracy charge after he fled the country earlier this month. Robert Rundo, 28, of Huntington Beach, Calif., is being held at the federal jail in downtown Los Angeles. He was charged in a criminal complaint that was unsealed Tuesday. Mr. Rundo apparently crossed into Mexico two weeks ago from California and then made his way to Central America. He was later brought back to the United States, where he was arrested Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, according to two people familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. He is the founder of the Rise Above Movement, a neo-Nazi gang based in Southern California whose members were involved in violent activity at protests throughout California in 2017. He and three other Californians associated with the group -- Robert Boman, 25, Tyler Laube, 22, and Aaron Eason, 38 -- were charged with inciting riots, according to court documents. Mr. Boman and Mr. Laube were arrested on Tuesday morning in Southern California. The F.B.I. said it was still searching for Mr. Eason."

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced Wednesday that his office is running an 'ongoing investigation' into the state's two Catholic dioceses and whether there has been any sexual abuse and coverup. The announcement comes a day after D.C.'s top prosecutor made a similar announcement. The statement said the probe was launched in response to the Pennsylvania grand jury report released this summer, 'that documented decades of sexual abuse and coverup by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania.' It also announced the creation of a hotline staffed by state police investigators and a website for reporting clergy abuse." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Brian Stelter of CNN: "Two years of pent-up bitterness and backbiting about Megyn Kelly have finally come to a head at NBC News. Her exit from the 9 a.m. hour of the 'Today' show appears to be imminent. Variety reported on Wednesday evening that Kelly and NBC News executives have had conversations about a new role for her. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that to CNN Business and said Kelly's show will be ending. Negotiations about the end date and other details are still underway, the person said. Kelly's offensive remarks about blackface Halloween costumes on Tuesday have raised more questions about her future at NBC.... Kelly started her show on Wednesday by apologizing for comments made the previous day. Her audience gave her a standing ovation, but disappointment inside NBC News runs deep and isn't likely to fade anytime soon. NBC News chair Andy Lack condemned her racially insensitive comments during a town hall meeting with staffers on Wednesday morning." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Ah, well, if she gets canned, Kelly will have time to make a nice Halloween costume. ...

... Ah, Looks as if She'll Stay at NBC. Brian Steinberg of Variety: "Megyn Kelly and NBC News have engaged in conversations about her taking a new role at the news division, according to a person who has spoken with the anchor, suggesting both sides have grown weary of the intense scrutiny being placed on her morning program, 'Megyn Kelly Today' and casting significant doubt on its future. Word of the shift comes after Kelly stirred outrage on Tuesday during a segment in which she questioned why it was wrong for people to don 'blackface' for Halloween costumes. The backlash contributed to [talent agency] CAA dropping Kelly as a client on Wednesday, according to an industry source (and first reported by the Hollywood Reporter). But the conversations about ending the 9 a.m. daytime show began before the controversy, the latest since the anchor joined NBC News in March of 2017." Mrs. McC: Maybe you can think of a job Kelly could handle at NBC. (And don't assume she can type or sort mail.) ...

... Update. Or Maybe Not. "Megyn Kelly Today" without Megyn Kelly. Joe Concha of the Hill: "Megyn Kelly will not be appearing on her NBC show on Thursday, two days after the host's controversial comments about blackface as a Halloween costume drew stinging criticism from inside the network, according to multiple reports. Two sources close to the situation tell The Hill that NBC and Kelly are working on an exit deal. The negotiations come less than two years after Kelly jumped from Fox News to NBC News in January 2017."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Typhoon Yutu's 180 mph winds overturned cars, knocked down hundreds of power poles and left an island of thousands without a medical center and another without an airport. Buildings were reduced to haphazard piles of tin and wood; if a structure wasn’t made of concrete, one resident said, it was probably wiped out by the mos powerful tropical cyclone to hit any part of the United States since 1935. Yutu spent roughly seven hours thrashing the small islands of Saipan and Tinian, the most populous part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, early Thursday morning local time. Residents of the islands north of Guam are accustomed to typhoons but quickly attested that this was the worst they'd seen. Yutu's gigantic eye enveloped much of Saipan and all of Tinian, leaving the islands 'mangled,' as one local official told The Washington Post. Rescue and relief operations have begun, but officials say their efforts are being hampered by dangerous weather and widespread destruction, which includes 'extensive damage to critical infrastructure,' according to an update Thursday from the governor's office. One woman on Saipan, who took shelter in an abandoned building that collapsed on her, died during the storm."

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